He was busy with the court and the army and rarely intervened in family affairs. He was fairly satisfied with Song Wanchu's ability to manage the household. However, her leaving for her natal home in a fit of pique without the consent of the elders made the old duke feel disgraced.
The old lady was a bit displeased. "You can't say that. Wanchu suffered great grievances today."
"What grievances? I've already inquired. It was just jealousy and bickering among little girls. How could she throw a tantrum and go back to her natal home? She doesn't care about the dignity of the Duke's Mansion at all!"
The old duke said casually, "Mother, don't spoil her too much. Even if she is the legitimate wife of our Duke's Mansion, she can't put on such airs!"
The old lady knew her son well. Back then, when he took over the Duke's Mansion from his father, the heavy burden on his shoulders made him care extremely about the dignity and glory of the Duke's Mansion.
Once it came to the dignity of the Duke's Mansion, he would become extremely cold and harsh.
Even though she wanted to defend Wanchu, the old lady didn't dare to scold her son in front of him.
She just frowned and shook her head, indicating that she didn't agree with the old duke's words.
The old duke glanced at Liang Yuzhou. Seeing his straight and handsome figure, which had a bit of his own charm when he was young, his anger dissipated a little.
"Your position of legitimate wife has been vacant for many years. Coincidentally, the eldest princess proposed marriage for Yu Huiyan. If Huiyan marries into our family, it will be a closer relationship. You should pay more attention these days, prepare the betrothal gifts, and choose a date to go to the Yu family to propose marriage. It's best to get married before the New Year. This will also be one less thing to worry about."
Liang Yuzhou didn't give any response. There was only a sarcastic sneer on the corner of his mouth.
Yu Jingnian got his official position through improper means. His father clearly looked down on his underhanded methods and also looked down on Yu Huiyan, who was brought up by her mother. But since the eldest princess got involved, he thought it was a good marriage.
Hearing this, the old lady frowned even tighter. "What about Wanchu? Yu Huiyan has been taught by Princess Jiahe to be so petty. How can she compare with Wanchu's grace and generosity?"
Her son valued interests and face too much. In terms of human relationships, he was as cold as a piece of black iron that had been around for thousands of years.
Just because he didn't want to offend the eldest princess, he wanted Wanchu to compromise.
In the old duke's ears, the old lady's words were too partial.
"Mother, I know you like Wanchu and want to make her the legitimate wife. But we can't ignore the face of the eldest princess! I'll discuss it with the eldest princess when I see her another day. I'll make an exception to keep Wanchu as a noble concubine. After Zhour and Huiyan get married, Wanchu just needs to hand over the power to manage the household. It won't affect anything."
He thought it was a win - win solution.
The old lady didn't agree with this solution at all, which completely ignored Wanchu's situation. Her tone became solemn, suppressing her anger. "If you do this, it will be hard to give an account to her father in the underworld!"
Back then, Song Hengyi blocked hundreds of enemies alone to protect the old duke's safe retreat. He fought until he was exhausted. There were exactly twenty - eight blood holes in his body. Until he took his last breath, he still maintained a fighting posture, with his hand tightly gripping the long spear. Several people working together couldn't open his hand to take it away.
That long spear was buried with him in the coffin. It was so tragic.
Everyone who heard about it shed tears.
When the sacrifice of Song Hengyi was mentioned, the strictness between the old duke's eyebrows faded a little, showing a trace of guilt.
But that trace of guilt soon disappeared.
"Mother, you're being soft - hearted. After Song Hengyi sacrificed himself, the emperor, out of respect for me, posthumously conferred on him the title of a third - rank general. His memorial tablet was placed in the Lingxiao Pavilion (the Lingxiao Pavilion is set here as a place where the court enshrines the memorial tablets of loyal and good generals. It can be understood as being worthy of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple), giving him great honor. Wanchu is nominally a concubine but actually a wife. She has been in the limelight for three years. After Huiyan enters the family in the future, she will still be a noble concubine. What is there to be aggrieved about!"
In his eyes, family interests were more important than love between children.
The eldest princess had considerable influence in the court and had a deep brother - sister relationship with the emperor. There was no need to offend the eldest princess for the sake of a Song Wanchu.
Thinking of this, the old duke was even more determined to accept the eldest princess's proposal of marriage.
Liang Yuzhou, who had been standing silently all this time, suddenly spoke up, "I don't agree."
The old duke was taken aback. "Don't agree to what? Don't agree to marry Huiyan or don't agree to let Wanchu continue to be a noble concubine?"
"Neither." Liang Yuzhou's answer was straightforward.
The old duke was already dissatisfied with his actions and was holding back his anger. Liang Yuzhou's words completely ignited his anger.
"Rebellious son! You didn't listen to a single word I just said, did you? What good will it do the Duke's Mansion to offend the eldest princess?"
Liang Yuzhou had been deep - minded and didn't like to talk since childhood. The old duke had never been able to guess his thoughts.
The old duke was very puzzled. Liang Yuzhou and Yu Huiyan had grown up together and had a deep - seated affection. He even risked using the first prize in the spring hunting to plead for Yu Jingnian, just to prevent Yu Huiyan from suffering in the desolate place of Hengzhou.
The eldest princess's proposal of marriage should have been a beautiful story. Why did he disagree?
"If you feel sorry for Wanchu, go and pick her up tomorrow. If she's angry, just coax her. Which young couple doesn't quarrel? Wanchu is virtuous and understanding. She definitely won't have a cold war with you for too long. You two are throwing tantrums and not caring about the dignity of the Duke's Mansion. Your grandmother and I are so embarrassed!"
A look of disdain flashed across Liang Yuzhou's handsome face. He said coldly, "What else do you care about besides dignity?"
The old duke was a brave general on the battlefield, an important minister in the court, and a good father to Liang Yuchuan.
But not to him.
What Liang Yuzhou saw in his father was the coldness and contempt for his mother, and the strictness and harshness towards him.
He had already taken off his battle armor, but he still wrapped himself in cold steel, carefully guarding the family business left by his ancestors.
His father asking him to pick up Song Wanchu wasn't really caring about whether Song Wanchu had been wronged. It was because she carried the title of the noble concubine of the Duke's Mansion and couldn't damage the dignity of the Duke's Mansion.
"Rebellious son!"
Every time Liang Yuzhou spoke, the old duke would get even angrier. "The century - old glory of the Duke's Mansion will surely be ruined by you, you bastard!"
"Do you want me to be like you, Father?"
Liang Yuzhou's voice was cold. The sharpness in his eyes made the old duke's heart tremble.
"For the sake of dignity and status, even though you didn't love mother, you still married her. Then, when you were drunk at night, you hugged the memorial tablet of your deceased wife and begged for forgiveness, embarrassing mother again and again. You not only failed love but also couldn't maintain a good marriage. You're a typical failure. Do you still want me to follow in your footsteps?"
The old duke's long - standing knot in his heart was exposed by his son on the spot. He felt like his fig leaf had been torn off. Like a furious lion, he suddenly took out the snake - skin whip from his waist and lashed out at Liang Yuzhou.
Liang Yuzhou neither dodged nor flashed. He just took several whips head - on.
In his great anger, the old duke didn't know how much strength to use. One whip landed on the side of Liang Yuzhou's face. The whip mark wound its way down his neck and quickly swelled up.
"Villain! How dare you lecture me? I'm just asking you, are you going to marry Huiyan or not?"
The whip marks on Liang Yuzhou's neck had already oozed blood, staining his collar bit by bit. He seemed not to feel the pain and stubbornly refused to submit.
"Whoever cares about dignity and doesn't want to offend the eldest princess can marry her!"
"You! You scoundrel. It would be better to beat you to death!"
The old duke was extremely angry. He raised his arm high again.
"Father, stop hitting!"