When Cai Die was brought before Liang Yuzhou by Zhou Sheng, she thought Liang Yuzhou was concerned about Yu Huiyan's condition.
As usual, she sobbed, "Second Master, my young lady is already delicate. After being splashed with cold water, she's suffering severe chest pain. But she told this servant not to tell you, for fear that you'd worry too much."
Liang Yuzhou's expression was as bland as a tasteless cup of boiled water.
It seemed that Yu Huiyan's serious condition couldn't stir up any emotions in him.
Cai Die thought she hadn't painted a tragic enough picture of Yu Huiyan. Just as she was about to wrack her brains to exaggerate, a sudden kick landed on the back of her knee.
Her knees buckled, and she knelt on the ground.
Looking up, she met Zhou Sheng's cold and gloomy gaze. "Answer Second Master's questions honestly. If you dare to tell even a single lie, just try it."
Cai Die's scalp tingled with fear.
She shrank her head and trembled, not daring to meet Liang Yuzhou's eyes at all.
"Did Su Yue really say that she wanted to push Huiyan into the water and drown her?"
His tone was calm, as if it were just an ordinary question. But the temperature around them suddenly dropped, and a powerful and cold pressure emanated from him. Cai Die could hardly breathe.
"No, no!" She didn't dare to lie anymore. Before Liang Yuzhou could ask further, she blurted out a string of truths in fright. "Concubine Song didn't instruct Su Yue to push my young lady into the water either. It was my young lady who jumped in by herself. She even told this servant to shout and make people think it was Su Yue who pushed her..."
"So, it was all a self - directed and self - acted show on your part."
Liang Yuzhou's tone was even calmer, but beneath the calm was uncontrollable anger.
Cai Die was kneeling, her upper body almost lying on the ground. She could only see his feet, and even that tiny outline was extremely sharp.
"Second Master, please spare this servant. I know I was wrong! But it was all ordered by the young lady. This servant didn't dare not to obey!"
A mocking sneer curled up on Liang Yuzhou's sharp lips.
"Humph, as close as sisters."
Cai Die's face instantly turned deathly pale. The cousin who used to care about Yu Huiyan so tenderly seemed like an illusion. The handsome but cold and solemn young man in front of her was the real Liang Yuzhou.
"Kneel here for two hours and slap yourself 103 times."
Cai Die knew she couldn't escape the punishment, but she was confused about the number 103.
Liang Yuzhou had already walked away. Zhou Sheng answered her question expressionlessly. "Since Miss Yu moved into the Duke's Mansion, you and your young lady have called the madam 'Concubine Song' 103 times in front of Second Master. Second Master can't punish Miss Yu, so her share will be counted on you."
Cai Die felt as if all the bones in her body had been pulled out. She lay on the ground like a pile of mud, breaking out in cold sweats. It took her a long time to come to her senses.
Before she even started slapping herself, her face already ached.
"Start slapping."
Zhou Sheng supervised her to make sure each slap really hurt.
After 103 slaps, Cai Die's hands were so sore that she lost all feeling, and her face was even worse, swollen like a pig's head.
Hearing her sobbing, Zhou Sheng lifted his eyelids indifferently and fixed his cold gaze on her face without a trace of sympathy.
"Have you learned your lesson? When you get back, remind your young lady that Second Master loves and protects her, but he also has his bottom line. She crossed the line today. If there's a next time, the slaps won't just be on your face."
Cai Die broke out in another cold sweat.
She had served Yu Huiyan for many years and knew a little about the two bodyguards around Liang Yuzhou. Zhou Sheng was always prudent and would never talk nonsense.
The message he conveyed must be what Liang Yuzhou meant.
Yu Huiyan was angry after being scolded by the Princess. Seeing Cai Die walk in with her head down, her anger flared up.
If it weren't for this stupid girl revealing that she could swim, even if Song Wanchu drowned in the lake, she couldn't have proven her innocence!
"Where the hell have you been? Come here and rub my legs!"
She had knelt in front of the Princess for a long time, and her knees were almost swollen!
Cai Die timidly walked to the bedside. When she looked up, Yu Huiyan was so startled that she let out a scream. "What happened to your face?!"
"Miss, Second Master forced me to tell the truth about what happened today..."
Cai Die sobbed and told her everything.
The summer heat seemed to disappear. Yu Huiyan's heart sank.
Cousin was angry. By slapping Cai Die, he was warning her!
Song Wanchu had won cousin's pity by jumping into the lake. If she couldn't restore her image in cousin's heart in time, she would really become a useless pawn of the Princess!
...
Song Wanchu returned to her boudoir.
The layout of the room was exactly the same as it was three years ago when she hadn't gotten married.
The peonies by the window were blooming passionately and brightly. In the study, there was the pipa she loved most.
The body of the pipa was made of high - quality red sandalwood. Her elder brother, Shi Luohan, had personally gone to Langzhou and spent a thousand taels of silver to get a piece for her.
There was also a whip hanging on the wall, as well as the Ziyun Sword left to her by her father.
Since she had suffered from a chronic heart disease, she had hardly touched the whip or drawn the Ziyun Sword.
Two months ago during the spring hunt, regardless of Nan Zhi and Su Yue's dissuasion, she had resolutely mounted the horse. At the cost of half her life, she had helped Liang Yuzhou win first place.
But all she got in return was a body full of wounds and a broken heart that could never be pieced back together.
The pipa, the whip, and the Ziyun Sword - the beloved items of the past were right in front of her. Song Wanchu stroked them one by one, and a sense of guilt welled up in her heart.
She had promised to play the song "Dawn" for her elder brother when she returned to her natal family. But her elder brother had left dejectedly on the day of her wedding.
She had also promised her father that she would practice horse - riding, archery, and sword - fighting hard and become a heroic woman like her grandmother in the future.
Both her grandmother and father were gone. She could no longer pick up the whip and gallop on the grassland or practice the Purple Qi from the East swordsmanship.
She had been so willful back then when she married Liang Yuzhou. She had really let down too many people.
After taking a bath, Nan Zhi and Su Yue helped her change into dry clothes. Wen took the prescription written by Shen Yuhe and personally boiled the medicine for her.
Song Wanchu had been afraid of bitter tastes since she was a child. When taking medicine, Wen had to coax her with a plate of candied fruits.
Wen brought the candied fruits as usual, but Song Wanchu picked up the medicine bowl and drank the bitter medicine in one gulp.
The candied fruits became useless. Wen couldn't help but shed tears. How much grievance had her niece suffered in the Duke's Mansion that she could drink the bitter medicine without feeling the bitterness?
"Aunt, don't cry. I've grown up. I'm not afraid of bitterness anymore, and I don't need anyone to coax me when taking medicine. Isn't it a good thing?"
Song Wanchu comforted Wen calmly.
Wen wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Wanchu, Liang Yuzhou dared to wrong and humiliate you like this. Don't go back for the rest of the time. Stay at home in peace. Don't care what others say. We'll just live a peaceful life behind closed doors!"
It would be quite out of line for Song Wanchu to stay at her natal home without the consent of the elders in the Duke's Mansion, even though she was Liang Yuzhou's legal wife.
But she had had enough. She just wanted to be willful this once.
It would just make the old lady sad.
But the old lady would understand her, right?
Thinking of the old lady who had always taken good care of her, Song Wanchu felt a bit heavy - hearted.
Wen noticed her melancholy. She took out a letter from her sleeve with a smile and waved it in front of Song Wanchu.
"Wanchu, take a look. What's this?"