Song Wanchu was extremely shocked. She picked up the sachet and examined it repeatedly in the candlelight.
She considered her embroidery skills to be quite good, but the stitches of this sachet were all crooked, and the pattern of the asparagus fern looked more like it was done by a ten - year - old child...
Seeing that she still looked blank, Liang Yuzhou's face turned a bit cold.
"Six years ago, at the Starry Pavilion, you were having tea with Shen Yuhe. Shen Yuhe laughed at the asparagus fern you embroidered, saying it was extremely ugly, like a weed, and you threw it away."
The time and place he mentioned were so specific that memories instantly flooded her mind.
Yes, she remembered. This ugly sachet was truly made by her.
She started learning embroidery from her aunt after being saved by Liang Yuzhou from a grizzly bear.
At that time, she had said without a thought that she wanted to marry Liang Yuzhou, and his reply was that he remembered her words.
Full of joy, she thought they had promised each other for life. Shyly, she wanted to give him a token of love.
It took her a great deal of effort and her fingers were pricked countless times before she finally embroidered such a sachet.
That day at the Starry Pavilion, she wasn't there just to have tea with Shen Yuhe. She had heard that Liang Yuzhou and a group of aristocratic sons were there.
He was upstairs while she was downstairs. She craned her neck and looked up countless times. Among the group of noble - dressed aristocratic sons, he was the most outstanding one.
She couldn't find a chance to give him the sachet. Unfortunately, Shen Yuhe didn't understand her feelings and said with a smile that the asparagus fern she embroidered looked like a weed.
Song Wanchu was madly in love with Liang Yuzhou and only wanted to give him the best. Hearing what Shen Yuhe said, her heart turned cold.
And she never got a single glance from Liang Yuzhou.
It seemed that he didn't even notice that there was a not - so - hidden spot downstairs where a young girl was eagerly and anxiously waiting for a look from him.
Later, the group of aristocratic sons dispersed. The tea had gone cold and the guests had left.
Song Wanchu pretended to accidentally let the sachet slip out of her sleeve.
The sachet fell to the ground, and the young girl's most sincere feelings were trampled on by passers - by.
The young girl's secret feelings faded away from then on.
"Remembered?"
Seeing her expression change from shock to embarrassment, Liang Yuzhou's lips curled up slightly, and his tone was slightly mocking. "If your memory is so bad, don't make promises easily."
Song Wanchu clenched the sachet in her palm and then buried her hand in the quilt.
It was as if by doing so, she could hide her embarrassing deeds of that year.
If Liang Yuzhou had picked up her sachet, what about the medicinal herbs inside...
"Yes, the medicinal herbs were also from you."
He clearly remembered that it was a snowy winter.
A high fever made him weak and powerless. Helplessly, he had to give up his training and lie in the tent to rest.
Just when he was in a daze, a pink - and - white figure suddenly appeared outside the tent. The little girl was sneaking a peek, her cheeks flushed from the cold.
She thought no one had noticed her. She quickly put a packet of medicine at the door and then limped away.
Liang Yuzhou couldn't help but laugh. Why did she act like a thief when she was actually doing a good deed?
He drank the medicine, and it took effect immediately. He had a fever no more that night.
He didn't want to throw away the boiled medicinal herbs. He dried them and put them in that ugly sachet.
He had worn her token of love for six years.
But Song Wanchu had completely forgotten her promise.
She said that she had never thought of marrying him.
Her sweetheart was Shi Luohan, and she kept calling his name in her dreams.
Song Wanchu stared blankly at Liang Yuzhou. She seemed not to recognize him anymore.
A man who had once despised and scorned her, how could he treasure something she had originally discarded?
He was affectionate towards his childhood sweetheart on one hand and cherished her feelings on the other.
Which one was the real Liang Yuzhou?
The warm yellow candlelight softened his facial features, making him look gentle in a different way at this moment.
Song Wanchu had seen such an expression on countless nights. It was in such a look that she had lost herself and had the illusion that Liang Yuzhou also loved her deeply.
After Yu Huiyan came back, their already fragile relationship was almost broken. Song Wanchu repeatedly told herself that it was time to give up.
The scenes of the past reappeared. She pinched her palm, hoping to wake up from this unreal illusion.
"Come back with me, Second Lady Liang."
Only by keeping her under his nose could he feel at ease.
Song Wanchu bit her red lips. "Liang Yuzhou, what on earth do you mean?"
For three years, he had been elusive towards her. After Yu Huiyan returned to the capital, he had become extremely cold and had hurt her again and again.
Now, he was showing rare tenderness and love.
Her heart was in a mess. There were so many thoughts that she couldn't sort them out or see clearly.
"Don't want to go back? Are you fantasizing about flying together with your elder brother?"
Liang Yuzhou lifted the pillow and, as expected, saw the letter still lying there, accompanying her to sleep every night.
Wasn't this the same as Shi Luohan himself lying beside Song Wanchu?
Jealousy welled up in Liang Yuzhou's heart. He grabbed the letter and tore it into pieces.
Song Wanchu was too late to stop him. "Liang Yuzhou, what right do you have to insult the feelings between my elder brother and me?"
"Feelings?" Liang Yuzhou's pupils dilated. A cold and fierce aura burst out, instantly sweeping away the tender atmosphere.
"Song Wanchu, you don't want to go back. Do you want me to write you a letter of release so that I can fulfill you and your childhood sweetheart?"
It was clearly he who had been trying to force her to leave, but now he was putting the blame of being fickle on her.
On this stuffy summer night, their faces were as cold as ice.
The ripples that had just appeared on Song Wanchu's heart lake became calm again, like dead ashes.
Just now, she had actually thought that Liang Yuzhou had a bit of true love for her.
It was all an illusion, just as she had thought.
"Will the Second Master give it to me?"
She smiled casually to hide the disappointment and sadness in her eyes.
Liang Yuzhou's long and powerful fingers pinched her chin tightly, as if he wanted to embed his fingers into her cheeks.
His warm breath sprayed on her face, but his tone was terribly cold. "Don't even think about it. I won't fulfill you and your elder brother, and I won't fulfill you and any other man!"
So the reason he had come here in the rain tonight, giving her a bit of gentle illusion, was just to vent his anger on her.
He really only regarded her as a plaything.
Fortunately, he didn't know about the existence of the letter of release.
The clothes hanging on the screen were still only half - dry. Liang Yuzhou frowned but still put them on.
"Three days later, it's the old lady's birthday banquet. You'll attend it with me."
His tone was cold, like a routine notice.
"At that time, the Princess will also be there. Don't provoke her again."
Song Wanchu listened numbly.
Liang Yuzhou turned around. Seeing her slightly red eyes, he walked back to her bedside.
He half - squatted down, put his hand around her neck, and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.
"Be obedient and stay by my side. I'll give you everything you want."
"I want freedom. Will the Second Master give it to me?"
Why couldn't she escape his entanglement even when she had hidden in her own natal family?
She couldn't help but feel afraid. Even if she could get the letter of release and leave the Duke's Mansion, would Liang Yuzhou really let her go?
Liang Yuzhou's face was cold and icy. "Do you think you can get freedom by leaving me?"
The wolves and tigers outside would devour her alive!
...
Yu Huiyan returned home in a daze.
The Princess had given her wedding gifts, sending a hundred palanquins of rare treasures, which was enough to support the face of the Yu family.
The whole Yu family was immersed in a happy atmosphere, but Yu Huiyan only found it noisy and annoying.
"Little sister, didn't Second Master Liang send you back?"
Yu Rongbai noticed that Yu Huiyan was in a strange state. "Have you been crying? Did Second Master Liang bully you?"
Yu Huiyan burst into tears and threw herself into Yu Rongbai's arms.
"Brother, Cousin left me and went to find Song Wanchu! That bitch has returned the betrothal gifts, but Cousin still can't forget her! I hate her. I wish she were dead!"
The whole Yu family was looking forward to the marriage alliance with the Duke's Mansion to strengthen their status.
Hearing this, Yu Rongbai's eyes immediately turned fierce. "A low - class concubine dares to stop you from marrying into the Duke's Mansion?"
"Brother, as long as Song Wanchu is still alive, Cousin won't marry me. What's the meaning of my life? I might as well hang myself!"
As she said this, Yu Huiyan really wanted to go and find a white silk.
Since the last time Song Wanchu's uncle had sent her to the Supreme Court of Judicature, Yu Rongbai had always held a grudge against Song Wanchu.
He also always suspected that it was Song Wanchu who had instructed her uncle to beat him up when he was walking at night.
"Little sister, stop crying. Isn't it just a low - class concubine? Brother has plenty of ways to deal with her!"
Not long after, he sent someone to bring a packet of powder to Yu Huiyan.
"Three days later is the old lady's birthday banquet in the Duke's Mansion. Put this powder in Song Wanchu's wine, and then find a random man to go into her yard. I guarantee that she'll be caught in the act and her reputation will be ruined!"