Saigon beauty makes two rich guys burn money to boil eggs.

Tran Ngoc Tra, the most beautiful woman in old Saigon, is said to be the one who made the Prince of Bac Lieu and the White Prince burn money to boil eggs as a proof of their love.

Saigon 100 years ago,The woman who was crowned beauty queen, though without a crown, possessed a powerful aura of beauty that captivated Southern Vietnam.One of the famous beauties who created the first sensation in Saigon was Tran Ngoc Tra, also known as Ba Tra. Her French name wasYvette Tea.

Tran Ngoc Tra, dubbed the "Beauty Queen of Southern Vietnam" in the early 20th century. Photo: Archival material.

From a poor villageCan Duoc (Long An), Tran Ngoc TraShe arrived in Saigon at the age of 16. Her beauty was described by her contemporaries as: "The Star of Saigon" (Étoile de Saigon), "The Beauty Queen of Southern Vietnam" or "Miss Indochina".

An old writer once met Tran Ngoc Tra and described her as an exquisitely beautiful young woman, as elegant as a queen. Dressed in silk of the same color, with a thin veil draped over her shoulders, she rode in an open-top car through the streets of Saigon..

Scholar Vương Hồng Sển, who lived at the same time as Ba Trà,He said he had spoken with her a couple of times and that the beautiful woman had condescended to visit him.He was also once infatuated with the beauty of the "Southern Beauty Queen". In the bookIn his book, "Saigon's Miscellaneous Miscellaneous," he wrote, "those who were fortunate enough to know her or be granted the honor of interacting with her considered it a way to prove their status..."

"Miss Ba Tra, the most beautiful woman in Southern Vietnam, a woman of breathtaking beauty who captivated countless wealthy young men in the South. They surrounded her, vying with each other to squander their money. They squandered all the money and possessions their parents left them, sparing no expense on women," he wrote.

Despite her stunning beauty, this woman had a very bitter childhood. Because of jealousy towards his wife, her father and paternal relatives refused to acknowledge her as their daughter. When her father died, she and her mother were driven out of their home by her husband's family.

Because of her resentment and frustration, Tra's mother vented all her anger on her daughter, resulting in frequent beatings. In the story of her life that Tra's mother shared with Vuong Hong Sen, she was beaten so severely that she lost all sense of pain. Because of this, as an adult, she viewed life with a cold, emotionless perspective.

After being forced into an arranged marriage with a Frenchman and then abandoned, Ba Trà met Toàn, a wealthy young man from Phan Rang (Ninh Thuận). Enchanted by her beauty, Toàn urged his family to arrange a marriage immediately. However, this marriage quickly fell apart after two years because Toàn began to be unfaithful and have affairs.

Heartbroken by her failed marriage, she quickly befriended and married a renowned but older doctor at the tender age of 18. However, this third marriage also ended in failure as Ba Tra had not yet forgotten Toan.

The Black and White Princes, two famous lovers of Miss Ba Tra. Photo: Archival material.

After breaking up with the doctor, Tra plunged into a life of debauchery, dating one man after another. Her "collection" of lovers included wealthy landowners and prominent young men from Southern Vietnam, such as Le Cong Phuoc (nicknamed "White Prince") - the son of Governor Le Cong Sung, Tran Trinh Huy (nicknamed "Black Prince"), the young master of Bac Lieu, and Bich, the bank owner.Indochina.

Furthermore, prominent intellectuals during the French colonial period, such as judges, lawyers, doctors, and even the gambling king of Saigon at the time, Six Ngo, were infatuated with her. They readily showered her with gifts and affection.In the ten years since her beauty blossomed, the uncrowned beauty queen of the South is said to have squandered an amount of money from ten billionaires of that era that, if converted into gold, would be over ten thousand taels.

Tran Ngoc Tra's beauty is said to have caused a rivalry between the Black and White Princes at the time. The story goes that, without her even having to ask, whenever the White Prince heard that the Black Prince had given her a valuable gift, he would inquire about the price and go to great lengths to buy an even more expensive gift for her. As a result, she possessed countless valuable items, from jewelry and designer clothes to houses and cars.

The famous anecdote recounts that, to win the favor of a beautiful woman, these two young noblemen organized a cooking contest using banknotes to make eggs (or sweet soup). According to calculations, to boil a pot of sweet soup with one kilogram of mung beans in nearly an hour, each nobleman burned almost 100 banknotes. If the Black Prince burned only banknotes of 50 dong or more, then he must have burned at least 5,000 Indochinese dong. That amount could buy 3,000 bushels of rice at that time.

The fire from the banknotes was very weak, only burning faintly, so cooking the sweet soup took a very long time, much to the tension of the onlookers. Finally, the pot of sweet soup belonging to the White Prince boiled first, and the Prince of Bac Lieu had to admit defeat.

Yvette Trà and the Black Prince Trần Trinh Huy. Photo: Archival material.

Speaking of the young master, he had studied abroad in France. Talented, wealthy, handsome, and fair-skinned, he had no shortage of beautiful women surrounding him. But young master Phuoc cast them all aside to pursue the most beautiful girl.Yvette Tea.

To get closer to the beautiful woman, the wealthy young man drove his luxurious four-wheeled vehicle to pick up Tra and take her to Can Tho for a change of scenery. He took off his diamond ring, worth over 3,000 dong (at that time, gold was only 60 dong per tael), and gave it to the Saigon Star.

Upon hearing the story, Tran Trinh Huy, the wealthy young man from Bac Lieu, not wanting to be outdone, came to meet her and gave her another ring worth twice as much as Phuoc's. However, neither the gifts from the Black and White Princes nor any of the famous playboys in Saigon and Southern Vietnam could win Ba Tra's heart, and she did not belong to anyone.

Assets acquired from wealthy individuals,Yvette Tra squandered everything at the casino. Beautiful and exceptionally intelligent, she was also a top-notch gambler. She squandered all her assets on games of chance. When she ran out of money, she was provided for by wealthy patrons.

In a conversation with Vuong Hong Sen, Ba Tra revealed that the person who loved and provided for her the most was Lam Ky Xuyen, also known as Prince Bich. He owned a branch of the Indochina Bank in Can Tho, and his father owned a large liquor company in the Mekong Delta. Lam Ky Xuyen was deeply in love with her.Yvette Trà gave her over 70,000 Indochinese francs at the time.

As the years passed, Ba Tra's youth faded, and her beauty diminished. Young gentlemen and wealthy men gradually distanced themselves from her, and she no longer had money to gamble.In 1966, it was discovered.Yvette TeaShe worked as a maid in a dilapidated shop in Cholon. In her sixties, her face was haggard, but her nose was still delicate, and her eyes were still dark and sparkling.

After Tran Ngoc Tra, Saigon saw the emergence of other famous beauties such as Tu Nhi, Co Ba Xa Bong... Each had their own way of life, but after their time, these beauties all disappeared, leaving only their fame to be passed down to this day.

According to Ngoisao.net