Song Wanchu recognized at a glance the elegant and powerful handwriting of her elder brother on the envelope.
"My elder brother has written to me!" A faint smile finally appeared on her pale face.
"Here, here. Look how impatient you are," Wen said with a smile, pursing her lips. "As soon as your elder brother received your letter, he wrote back immediately and sent someone to rush the letter to the capital. You were still worried that your elder brother was angry with you and hadn't forgiven you. But he cares about you the most and would never blame you."
Song Wanchu held the letter in both hands. A long-lost warmth spread from her fingertips, and her body felt as if it was bathed in hot water, cozy and comfortable.
Wen led the maids away quietly.
It had been three years, and Wanchu finally received a letter from Shi Luohan. This moment was as significant as a long-awaited reunion.
In the quiet bedroom, Song Wanchu unfolded the letter and read it line by line.
The more she read, the more tightly her brows furrowed.
Her elder brother said that he had written to her every month for the past three years.
Not receiving her replies, he didn't blame her. Instead, he understood that it might be inconvenient for her to write to an elder brother who was not related by blood since she was already married.
But in fact, her elder brother had written at least thirty-some letters to her, and she hadn't received a single one.
Those letters should have been directly delivered to the Duke's Mansion, but someone had intercepted them.
Who could it be? A chill ran down Song Wanchu's spine.
Princess Jiahe was definitely not the one. She was straightforward and simple-minded, unable to keep secrets. If she knew that Wanchu and her elder brother had correspondence, she would have been eager to make a big deal out of it and label Wanchu as a flirtatious woman, then drive her out of the Duke's Mansion.
It was also unlikely to be the old lady. She had always been upright and was the one in the Duke's Mansion who understood best the relationship between Wanchu and her elder brother. She wouldn't do such a boring thing.
The old duke was busy with the court affairs and had no time for such trivial matters.
So there was only one suspect left.
Liang Yuzhou.
Song Wanchu couldn't figure it out. Her relationship with her elder brother was aboveboard and didn't affect him at all. Why did he go out of his way to do this?
An indescribable sense of grievance and anger welled up in her heart. Liang Yuzhou, who did he think he was?
He didn't respect her privacy at all!
Song Wanchu was extremely exhausted both physically and mentally. At this moment, she was like a begonia flower that had been drained of its nutrients by the cold autumn wind, on the verge of withering.
She slowly closed her eyes. The impulse to confront Liang Yuzhou face to face quickly faded away in the extreme exhaustion and pain of her body.
Forget it. She might not even see Liang Yuzhou in the next forty-some days. What was the point of confronting him?
...
As night fell, the gates of the Qi family were already closed. (Just to clarify for some readers who might be confused. As mentioned before, Song Wanchu's uncle's name was Qi Yuanjun. Since Wanchu's parents had passed away, her maternal home was actually her uncle's house.)
"Please wait a moment, Second Master. I'll go and knock on the door," Zhou Sheng said and was about to step forward when Liang Yuzhou stopped him.
"No need," he said.
"Second Master, aren't we going to pick up the lady?" Zhou Sheng asked in confusion. "If we go back like this, it will be hard to explain to the old lady."
"You go back first," Liang Yuzhou said, staring at the pitch-black gates, lost in thought.
Anyway, his thoughts were beyond Zhou Sheng's understanding.
Zhou Sheng could understand the Second Master's dilemma. He must be the least welcome person in the Qi family now.
The Second Master had really hurt the lady this time.
But under the circumstances at that time...
Zhou Sheng was not good at expressing himself and didn't know how to persuade him. He could only walk away silently and watch as the darkness gradually engulfed the tall and slender figure.
He felt an indescribable heaviness in his heart. To his surprise, the usually upright and noble Second Master Liang did something astonishing on this dark and windy night.
He leaped into the air and lightly flipped onto the wall of the Qi family, then jumped in.
Zhou Sheng's jaw dropped and didn't close for a long time.
Was the Second Master planning to steal the lady away?
He didn't dare to ask and didn't even dare to make a sound.
Liang Yuzhou stood still for a long time, looking at the dark windows of Song Wanchu's boudoir.
Finally, he couldn't help but quietly slipped into her bedroom.
A familiar faint fragrance filled the air. It was the natural fragrance that Song Wanchu exuded after taking a bath, light as water but extremely alluring.
The bright moonlight shone on Song Wanchu's peaceful sleeping face. She had no idea that Liang Yuzhou had come to her bedside like a thief.
Liang Yuzhou's face was turned away from the moonlight, hidden in the silent darkness. His expression was hard to make out.
He didn't know how long he had been looking when Song Wanchu turned over in her sleep. Her fair and slender legs playfully slipped out of the quilt and came into Liang Yuzhou's sight.
Only Liang Yuzhou knew that although Song Wanchu was dignified and elegant during the day, she was like a child when sleeping and always kicked the quilt.
The charming scene was right in front of him, but Liang Yuzhou didn't have any inappropriate thoughts. Habitually, he reached out to cover her with the quilt.
Out of the corner of his eye, he accidentally caught sight of a corner of a letter sticking out from under her pillow.
Liang Yuzhou took out the letter and read its contents by the moonlight.
His eyes were filled with turbulent emotions, and his expression was even darker than the night.
Song Wanchu, how many true hearts do you have?
And which one of them do you place on me?
The letter that secretly and restrictedly expressed love became crumpled in Liang Yuzhou's hands. He tried hard to resist the urge to tear it up and put the letter back under the pillow.
Song Wanchu was awakened by a sticky and warm kiss in her dream.
The only thing accompanying her in the bedroom was the quiet moonlight. The doors and windows were tightly closed, and there was no sign that anyone had been there.
But there was still a faint warmth on her lips.
...
Liang Yuzhou didn't return to the Duke's Mansion until late at night.
The Fuan Hall was still brightly lit. The old lady had heard what had happened in the Princess Mansion and was extremely angry. She scolded Princess Jiahe severely.
She even personally ordered that Yu Huiyan was no longer allowed to enter the Duke's Mansion.
"Where's Wanchu? Why didn't you bring her back?"
As soon as Liang Yuzhou entered the Fuan Hall, the old lady sternly questioned him.
"She didn't want to come back. Why should I make a fool of myself?"
The candlelight outlined his features more clearly. The old lady felt that he was full of a sharp edge of anger, and his face was darker than ever.
Could it be that he had been rejected by the Qi family?
It served him right. If Wanchu's uncle and aunt had said something unpleasant, he should have endured it.
The bead curtain at the door rang, and the maid Qiao Ying shouted inside, "The old duke is here!"
The old duke walked in with a stern face and suppressed anger.
He was tall and imposing, and he was usually very serious. As soon as he entered the room, there was a sense of oppression.
Liang Yuzhou looked very much like him. Their eyebrows and facial features were like they were carved from the same mold, but this didn't make the old duke like him any more.
The old duke didn't like Princess Jiahe, his wife.
When Princess Jiahe's father, the late Prince Cheng, was alive, the old duke still showed some respect for Princess Jiahe.
After the late Prince Cheng's death, the old duke became even more disgusted with Princess Jiahe's shallowness and flamboyance. He even disliked Liang Yuzhou, his son.
He favored his eldest son, Liang Yuchuan, who resembled his late wife.
Hearing that the two women had quarreled over Liang Yuzhou in the Princess Mansion, the old duke was in a bad mood. He blamed Liang Yuzhou for not being able to balance the relationship between the two women.
After paying his respects to the old lady, the old duke saw Liang Yuzhou standing there alone and couldn't help but frown.
"Wanchu didn't come back with you? This girl is usually well-behaved and sensible. Why is she so unreasonable today!"