As soon as he returned to the mansion, he heard that his mother had caused a ruckus at Shuiyunju.
He had also learned the ins and outs of the matter.
When he entered the room, his face wasn't looking good. Seeing Yu Huiyan kneeling on the ground sobbing only made his mood worse.
Princess Jiahe pulled Yu Huiyan up and led her to Liang Yuzhou's side.
Yu Huiyan, with tears streaming down her face, looked at Liang Yuzhou pitifully.
"Cousin, my arrival has upset Concubine Song. Please, send me back tonight. I won't come to the Duke's Mansion again."
"What silly things are you saying!" Liang Yuzhou frowned slightly. "When Aunt passed away, I promised her that I would take good care of you."
Yu Huiyan's eyes glistened with tears. Was it only because of her mother's last words that he took care of her?
She had resorted to retreating as a means to advance several times. Couldn't Liang Yuzhou really understand the hints in her words?
If he just married her and she became the legitimate wife and took over the power of managing the household, would Song Wanchu still be able to cause trouble?
Princess Jiahe was so angry that she slammed the ledger down in front of Liang Yuzhou.
"Look at what good deeds Song Wanchu has done. Spending a bit of her dowry money, she calculated the accounts with me so precisely and even had the old lady send it to me. What does she mean? This is an insult to me!"
Liang Yuzhou looked at the ledger and his brows knitted even tighter.
Yu Huiyan sobbed non - stop. "It's all my fault. I'll go and apologize to Concubine Song. I'll kneel in front of her and beg her not to make things difficult for Aunt!"
Saying that, she really was about to run out with tears running down her face.
"Zhou'er, don't you understand? When the carriage accident happened, you saved Huiyan instead of her. She's been holding a grudge ever since. Relying on the old lady's support, she bullies and excludes Huiyan!
You don't know how many unpleasant things the old lady said today. She's always treated Huiyan as an outsider and can't tolerate her. Isn't it all because of Song Wanchu's instigation? Huiyan has been pushed to this state by her. Are you just going to watch?"
Liang Yuzhou handed Yu Huiyan a silk handkerchief and comforted her softly, "Just stay here at ease. No one can drive you away!"
He put the ledger in his sleeve and strode out of Fragrant Snow Pavilion.
Yu Huiyan clenched the silk handkerchief in her hand, hiding the flash of triumph in her eyes.
...
Song Wanchu was just taking off her clothes, preparing to change the medicine on her wound, when suddenly a cold gust of wind blew in. Her body was enveloped by a tall, dark shadow.
She looked up and met Liang Yuzhou's cold eyes.
A large part of his shoulder was wet with tears. One could easily imagine how Yu Huiyan had been nestled in his arms, crying so heartbreakingly.
Her heart felt as if it was being cut by a blunt knife one stroke at a time.
"If the Second Master has something to say, could you please wait until I've applied the medicine?"
She motioned for Nanzhi and Suyue to unwrap the gauze on her back.
The blood - soaked gauze was peeled off layer by layer, revealing her bruised and purple back. Although the flesh was no longer turned out as it was at first, the hideous scars, like centipedes, still coiled on her fair and smooth skin, shocking to behold.
The hemostatic powder was very effective, but as soon as it touched the wound, it would make the wound unbearably itchy and painful. Song Wanchu had to clutch the quilt tightly under her and bite her lip hard to keep the groans from escaping her throat.
Nanzhi was already being very careful, but Song Wanchu still turned deathly pale from the pain and trembled constantly.
"Miss, please bear with it a little longer."
Every time they changed the medicine, Nanzhi and Suyue would cry.
"Let me do it."
Liang Yuzhou suddenly reached out and took the medicine.
Song Wanchu was surprised. Because she was lying on her stomach, it was clumsy and strenuous for her to turn her head to look at him.
"Stay still." Liang Yuzhou said expressionlessly, but his hands didn't stop.
He wrapped his right hand with gauze, then poured the medicine powder into his palm. Dipping his hand in the powder, he gently applied it to her wound.
This way of treating the wound really reduced the pain a lot.
"Have you learned?"
Nanzhi and Suyue were staring at each other with big eyes, not understanding what had come over Liang Yuzhou. Why was he suddenly so nice to the miss?
Suddenly being asked by Liang Yuzhou, both of them were stunned.
"Forget it. You're so clumsy. From now on, I'll apply the medicine myself."
As he bandaged her wound, Song Wanchu's heart fluttered.
"Lift your waist."
The warm breath brushed past her neck, causing a tingling sensation. Liang Yuzhou had somehow gotten very close. One hand supported her slender waist as he wrapped the gauze around her waist. His whole chest was almost pressed against her back.
At first glance, one might think he was in a rather intimate position...
The two young maids, Nanzhi and Suyue, blushed and ran away with their eyes covered.
Song Wanchu's face flushed brightly. Liang Yuzhou suddenly thought of the peony flowers blooming brightly in the study.
Under the nourishment of the rain and dew, the petals unfurled layer by layer, passionate and charming.
It was very much like Song Wanchu in her riding outfit, galloping on horseback.
His long fingers moved up inch by inch, brushed past her chest, and gently held it.
"No..."
Song Wanchu's body trembled slightly. A blush crept onto her cheeks. She was so ashamed that she buried her whole face in the soft pillow.
Because she had been injured repeatedly, the two of them hadn't been intimate for two months. Liang Yuzhou's gaze fixed on her snow - white shoulders, and his voice was a bit hoarse. "You're still as sensitive as before."
Song Wanchu decided to bury her head in the pillow and pretend to be dead.
She admitted that after three years of intimacy, her body had long been firmly in Liang Yuzhou's control. At night, he was like a passionate demon, making her fall into the abyss of lust and creating the illusion that Liang Yuzhou deeply loved her.
Although her body still had a reaction at this moment, her heart was sober.
And it hurt even more.
Liang Yuzhou wasn't so beastly as to torment her when she was still seriously injured. He just swallowed hard with difficulty and planted a kiss on her red earlobe.
"Does it still hurt?"
Song Wanchu was slightly stunned. She couldn't remember when the last time Liang Yuzhou had spoken to her in such a gentle tone was.
Liang Yuzhou helped her put on her nightgown. When she struggled to turn over, he supported the back of her neck with his arm.
At the moment of turning over, the distance between them was once again shortened. Liang Yuzhou's lips touched the tip of her nose.
The flame that had just been suppressed was reignited by this moment of tenderness.
Her soft lips were captured by him and were kissed and nibbled in his mouth, causing a series of tremors.
Song Wanchu was kissed until her breathing was disordered.
A triumphant smile flashed across Liang Yuzhou's face. His fingertips caressed her delicate red lips.
"I've gotten the peony flowers back for you. I'll send them to you tomorrow."
There was a hint of warning in his tone. "From now on, don't give away the things I give you casually!"
If Song Wanchu didn't know very well that Liang Yuzhou didn't have much affection for her, she would have thought he was jealous.
"Is Miss Yu considered an outsider?"
She had figured it out. Letting go and leaving would be good for all three of them. Her smile became more and more relieved. "Didn't the Second Master say that Miss Yu looks very suitable in vermilion?"
"When did I say that?" Liang Yuzhou was slightly annoyed.
Song Wanchu thought for a while. He really hadn't said it in reality. He had said it in a dream. She had confused the two.
But wasn't it obvious enough to give Yu Huiyan the vermilion agate bracelet?
"I remembered wrongly." Song Wanchu calmly admitted her mistake. "But the Second Master's affection for Miss Yu is obvious to me. I just thought of that flower as a way to show my respect."
She didn't want anything from him anymore.
His phoenix - like eyes narrowed slightly. When Liang Yuzhou was angry, his eyes seemed especially deep and imposing.
"Since you know my attitude towards her, don't try to drive her away again and again!"
All the tenderness from before disappeared. His eyes were like ice, making anyone who met his gaze feel cold.