One day, when the king was traveling out of the palace, he noticed a unique smell of betel, which reminded him of the same manner his late queen had prepared. He followed that smell, which led him to the old lady's hut in the end. Noticing that this hut was clean, the king decided to stop to rest there. Delighted to see the king, the old lady welcomed him and offered him some tea and betel leaf. The king was amazed to find the betel leaf prepared in a peculiarly similar way to how Tấm had always done, so he asked the old lady who had made them. When she told that it was her daughter, the king demanded to see that girl.
Tấm came and bowed to him, and it did not take long for the king to recognize her. She was even more beautiful than before. Overjoyed, both of them wept, and Tấm was immediately brought back to the palace and took her former place as the real queen. Feeling grateful to the old lady, the king allowed her to come to the palace to take care of her.
When Cám and her mother saw that Tam returned and the king still loved her as before, she could not help but be afraid.
Cám, whom the king paid no attention to, wondered how Tấm was still beautiful as ever: Her hair was as gentle as the wind, and her skin was still as fair as the clouds. In hopes she could win the king's heart if she could be as gorgeous as her sister, she begged Tấm to reveal her beauty secret for having such lovely fair skin. Tam did not answer. Instead, she asked whether Cám wanted to be beautiful and promised to help her. With no hesitation, Cám immediately agreed. Tấm ordered the royal servants to dig a deep hole and boil a pot of water. Then, she told her half-sister to jump into it. Cám believed her and immediately did as she said. After that, Tấm commanded the royal soldiers to pour boiling water onto her. Therefore, Cám died a horrible death.
After killing Cám, Tấm used her corpse to make a jar of fermented sauce, then she sent the sauce to her stepmother, saying it was a gift from Cám. The stepmother believed so and ate it every day. She always commented on how tasty it was. One day, a crow flew by the stepmother's house, rested on her roof, and cried out an abnormal.
"Delicious! The mother is eating her own daughter's flesh! Is there any left? Give me some."
The stepmother became angry, cursed loudly, and chased the crow with a pole. However, when she finally reached the bottom of the jar, she discovered a skull inside. Realizing it was Cám's, the stepmother immediately dies of shock.
With no one left to wish her harm, Tấm and the king finally lived happily ever after.
[THE END]
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