The emperor took the hands of his wife, Nguyễn Phi, and proclaimed her his true love. He bestowed the title empress upon her, an unheard of honor. Gia Long asked for the gold he had given his wife so many years before. They held the pieces in proximity and the bar reunited, as if by magic. They showed the gold—seamless, scintillating, whole—to the crowd. The empress was radiantly happy. She said, “It is delightful how the gold shines united!”
That night, the Silent Prince, never free from the feeling that he had failed his dynasty, never free from the enchantment of storytelling, retired to his rooms. He unrolled a scroll of rice paper, readied his brush, and wrote, “One day Ánh, king of the great Nguyễn clan, cut a solid gold bar in two.”
THE END
The Pearl of the Orient Page 4
