Marrying the Same Husband

"Moonlit night in Giang Nam, where tranquil late hours steep the western tower."

"When clouds part, the ice reflects a clear mirror; deep in the water, the jade hook sinks."

"When will the waxing and waning cease..."

The night wind rustled. From the pavilion in the rear courtyard of a certain residence in Binh Dinh County, the lingering sound of a zither and a graceful singing voice drifted out, making listeners feel as if they had arrived on a moonlit night in Giang Nam.

Above the pavilion, dim lamplight shone through the window, illuminating a graceful figure.

On the soft couch near the window, Ha Chi Tinh sat kneeling at a long table, her ten jade-like fingers, slender as green bamboo, plucking at the zither strings, her red lips slightly parted, singing softly.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

A burst of hurried footsteps interrupted the zither music.

After Ha Chi Ngung entered the pavilion, she dashed up the stairs to the room on the second floor.

Beside the long table was a low table.

On the low table was a teapot, a half-drunk cup of fragrant tea, and a plate of preserved fruit.

Ha Chi Ngung walked to the low table, sat down on the floor, picked up the half-drunk cup of fragrant tea, and drained it in one gulp, saying with a smile, "Sister, today I found out something interesting."

Ha Chi Tinh glanced at her younger sister, her hands lifting from the zither strings. She picked up a piece of preserved fruit with two fingers, took a delicate bite, then snatched the teacup from Ha Chi Ngung's hand and said, "If you want to drink, can't you pour it yourself? Using my cup."

"Elder sister, between you and me, why distinguish between yours and mine? Didn't we agree before that we would marry the same husband?" Ha Chi Ngung reached out and put her arm around her sister's neck, giggling.

"Chi Ngung." Ha Chi Tinh's face flushed red, and she scolded softly, "Those were childish words from when we were young; they can't be taken seriously."

"I don't care, I took them seriously anyway."

Ha Chi Ngung stood up, walked to the sword rack beside her, and picked up her long sword.

Clang—

The long sword was unsheathed.

Ha Chi Ngung performed a sword flourish, lifted her glistening, sharp chin, and said, "Besides, if you choose a husband to your liking, sister, he must satisfy me as well. Like that pedantic scholar you fancied before, who couldn't even carry things on his shoulders – absolutely not. Never mind that he couldn't fight, he also had such an impoverished and stuffy look..."

"Chi Ngung!"

Ha Chi Tinh's eyebrows shot up.

What young woman doesn't long for love? Especially since she was already nineteen, long past the age for marriage, she naturally had someone she admired in her heart, but it was ruined by Chi Ngung.

According to Chi Ngung, any man who wanted to marry them, the sisters, must surpass the elder sister in literary talent and defeat Ha Chi Ngung in martial arts.

Such conditions were naturally extremely harsh.

Ha Chi Tinh held the title of "First Talented Woman of Thanh Chau Prefecture," writing excellent poetry and prose. Those in the entire Thanh Chau Prefecture who could compare to her could be counted on one hand.

And those who could surpass Ha Chi Tinh had no achievements whatsoever in the martial path.

As a result, to this day, both remained unmarried.

Seeing her younger sister's nonchalant expression, Ha Chi Tinh sighed softly and changed the subject, "What interesting thing?"

The long sword was returned to its scabbard.

Ha Chi Ngung sat down, placed the long sword on the low table, propped her chin with one hand, and picked up the tea her sister had just poured with the other, saying with a smile, "I heard that recently a Killing Star has appeared in the county town, specifically targeting people from the Thanh Ha Bang. In two days, he killed fifty or sixty Thanh Ha Bang members. And who the culprit is, or what he looks like, they don't even know. It scared them so much that they haven't dared to go outside the city lately, haha..."

Ha Chi Tinh listened quietly. Although she had no interest in such matters of killing and fighting, it was fine to treat it like a story from a novel to pass the time.

"I heard it's because a Thanh Ha Bang branch leader named Tran Ho was killed on his way back. Not a single one of his underlings survived, and the money chest he was carrying was also taken by the culprit." Ha Chi Ngung sat up straight, her finger tapping lightly on the low table as she said:

"Sister, I found out that this Tran Ho was no good person either – bullying fellow villagers, openly abducting commoner women. He must have done too many evil things and then encountered some knight-errant who fought for justice. I really didn't expect that in such a filthy place as Binh Dinh County, there would actually be such a person."

Ha Chi Ngung's eyes sparkled.

Unlike her elder sister Ha Chi Tinh, she was not fond of the zither, chess, calligraphy, or painting, nor reading or needlework. Instead, she enjoyed wielding spears and staffs, especially admiring the knight-errants in storybooks who punished evil and promoted good. She always hoped that one day she could befriend such a person.

Hearing this, Ha Chi Tinh gently pressed her forehead, not understanding what her younger sister thought about all day. She constantly looked down on the common folk at the bottom rung of society, and when in a bad mood, would even call them "rabble," venting her frustrations on them.

Yet, she admired knight-errants who stood up for the common folk, even if it meant trampling the law.

"Chi Ngung, there you go again. Whether it's Jianghu knight-errants or gang villains, Father dislikes these kinds of people the most," Ha Chi Tinh sighed.

"Ai." Ha Chi Ngung also sighed, slumping onto the low table. "I don't know when we can finally leave this wretched place. I finally hear about someone interesting, but I don't even know who he is. Sister, I want to go back to Nam Duong."

...

Two days later.

Phuc Trach Village.

[Number of dao swings +1, Demon-Breaking Dao Technique experience +1.]

In the courtyard, Tran Mac braved the cold wind, swinging and slashing his Tang Dao.

After breaking through to the eighth rank, Tran Mac had maintained twenty thousand dao swings and slashes daily for these two days.

Demon-Breaking Dao Technique (intermediate 164521/200000).

The cellar was left for Truong Ha to dig; the space inside had been expanded considerably.

To prevent collapse, a lot of firewood had been taken down to use as support.

Perhaps it was because of his massacre of Thanh Ha Bang members those two days.

Recently, the Thanh Ha Bang had been much quieter, no longer sending people out of the city to search villages.

Just as Tran Mac thought the storm over this matter had passed.

The next day, Tran Mac was practicing his Tang Dao swings in the courtyard as usual.

Truong Ha, who should have been coming to expand the cellar as usual, rushed over in a panic, his expression flustered as he said, "Brother Mac, not good, the Thanh Ha Bang people are here again!"

Tran Mac's expression tightened. After hearing Truong Ha out, this time there were several dozen men, and each was armed with a large dao and strong crossbows.

Truong Ha leaned close to Tran Mac's ear and whispered, "Brother Mac, could it be that the Thanh Ha Bang already knows we were the ones who did that thing, so they've come looking for us? I also heard them asking the villagers if there are any formidable people in our village."

"They probably don't know yet. Otherwise, they would have come straight for us. Perhaps it's still an investigation. Don't panic, relax."

Tran Mac whispered, then turned around. Han An Nuong was watching him so nervously, vaguely seeming to have guessed something. She stammered, "Uncle..."

Tran Mac smiled, feigning ease, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, it's nothing."

Tran Mac gave the dagger to Han An Nuong, telling her to go into the cellar and hide.

Afterwards, he buried his Tang Dao in the vegetable garden, detached the handle from his wood-chopping dao, and tucked it into his waistband, covering it well with his cotton-padded jacket. He and Truong Ha then quietly waited for the Thanh Ha Bang members to arrive.

Very quickly, a group of Thanh Ha Bang members searched their way to the outside of Tran Mac's house.

This group was not much different from the previous group of Thanh Ha Bang members.

After entering the house, they searched the entire premises up and down. Any valuables they found, they took right in front of Tran Mac.

The difference was, this group seemed to have been specially trained, and their coordination with each other was seamless.