Yu Rongbai continued recklessly, "Two years ago, you traveled all the way to Hengzhou to threaten my father. You even used the grand prize of the spring hunt to get my father back to the capital. Isn't it because you were afraid that my father would expose the secrets behind the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass?
You've gone to great lengths to hide it from Song Wanchu. If she knew the truth, would she still love you so desperately?"
Liang Yuzhou's eyes were cold, his thin lips tightly pursed, and his hands were clenched into fists.
The stars in the sky were gradually dimming. It was the darkest moment before dawn.
No one could fully see his expression, but everyone present could feel the intimidating pressure emanating from him.
It was an uncontrollable impulse to see blood.
If Yu Rongbai were to die here immediately, no one would find it strange.
Yu Rongbai grinned even wider and continued to pour salt on the wound recklessly. "I bet she'd hate you to the core. She'd pick up a sharp sword and stab you hard in the heart several times."
The small courtyard was deathly silent.
Zhou Yan stepped forward and kicked him. "Nonsense! Second Master did all this to protect Lord Song's status in the Lingxiao Pavilion—"
"Zhou Yan," Liang Yuzhou said coldly. "No need to say more. Send him to the Supreme Court. He'll surely learn there what he should and shouldn't say."
He turned around and walked into the darkness before dawn.
Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan clearly felt that his aura was a bit off. They silently followed him all the way, not even daring to breathe loudly.
When they returned to the Duke's Mansion, it was already dawn.
Except for the two hours he spent sleeping with Song Wanchu, Liang Yuzhou had hardly slept all night.
There were faint dark circles under his eyes. His face was still handsome and imposing, but it showed a strong sense of fatigue.
However, he wasn't the least bit sleepy. He went to the study, took out a locked bronze box from a secret compartment, and opened it.
Inside were all kinds of letters.
He flipped through them one by one, his expression focused.
He found the secret letter Yu Jingnian had written to the Princess Dowager two years ago.
The elegant and beautiful small regular script conveyed Yu Jingnian's most sinister intentions.
He wanted to expose that Song Hengyi had beaten and robbed the common people when collecting military rations during the war, resulting in many deaths.
Such a person didn't deserve to be called a great martyr, let alone be posthumously named a third - rank general and have his memorial tablet enshrined in the Lingxiao Pavilion, the hall for meritorious officials.
Yu Jingnian asked the Princess Dowager to fan the flames in front of the emperor so that he could return to the capital under the pretext of exposing the truth.
He confidently told the Princess Dowager at length that once the emperor heard this news, he would surely ask Liang Xuguang for confirmation.
Liang Xuguang, who cared most about his reputation, would, for the glory of the family, acquiesce to the "facts" distorted by Yu Jingnian.
After all, he had also covered up part of the truth about the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass and was a despicable deceiver of the emperor.
As long as the emperor determined that Song Hengyi was guilty, all his honors would be revoked.
Song Wanchu, who had married into the Duke's Mansion because of his sacrifice, would become the biggest laughingstock in the capital.
Even if Liang Yuzhou didn't divorce her, she would leave the Duke's Mansion or even the capital because she couldn't bear the criticism of the public.
With one "concubine" out of the way, Yu Huiyan could smoothly become Liang Yuzhou's legal wife.
Yu Jingnian slandered a dead meritorious general just to satisfy his own despicable vanity.
If his daughter married into the Duke's Mansion, he could rely on the power of the Duke's Mansion. With the secret support of the Princess Dowager, the Yu family would become a prominent family in the capital!
The Yu family wanted to rise to power by stepping on the Song family.
Liang Yuzhou was furious after reading the secret letter.
At that time, he had just discovered the truth about the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass and learned the real cause of Song Hengyi's death.
At that moment, the world seemed to turn upside down. For the first time in his life, he hated his identity, hated his surname Liang, hated being born into the Duke's Mansion, and hated being Liang Xuguang's son.
He didn't dare to see Song Wanchu. He was even more afraid that his poor disguise would be seen through by the intelligent Song Wanchu.
Even when Song Wanchu was pregnant with their baby, he didn't dare to show the slightest bit of joy.
He just wanted to bury this secret in a place where it could never be seen and meanly keep Song Wanchu by his side for a lifetime.
Without saying goodbye to Song Wanchu, he rushed to Hengzhou on a snowy night under the pretext of sending charcoal to Yu Huiyan.
When Yu Jingnian found out that his secret relationship with the Princess Dowager was no longer a secret, he was extremely panicked.
Rather than rising to power with the help of the Duke's Mansion, Yu Jingnian wanted to protect his sordid secret.
The royal son - in - law having an affair with the Princess Dowager! If the emperor found out, he would surely die!
Liang Yuzhou took advantage of this psychology and reached a deal with Yu Jingnian.
He would find a way to get the emperor to issue an edict to transfer Yu Jingnian back to the capital.
In return, Yu Jingnian had to keep his mouth shut and not reveal a single bit of the truth about the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass.
The tragedy of the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass that year was ultimately caused by a shortage of military rations.
A large amount of sand had been mixed into the rations, resulting in a serious shortage of military food and shaking the morale of the army.
At that time, the person in charge of raising the rations was Yu Jingnian, the Minister of Revenue.
Shortly after the battle at Pingsha Pass, he was transferred to be the Minister of Works.
A large amount of evidence was destroyed before his transfer, so no one knew where the stolen rations had gone. It had become a muddled account.
Liang Yuzhou guessed that such a large batch of rations could be exchanged for a lot of silver.
The Princess Dowager even dared to embezzle military rations. This woman was a parasite of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
She sucked the blood and flesh of the common people, disregarded the lives of the frontier soldiers, and only cared about her own pleasure.
She even wanted to use her dirty hands to take away the glory of the Song family, take away Wanchu's life, manipulate the Duke's Mansion, and fight against the crown prince.
Perhaps...
Liang Yuzhou mused. It was time to hand over these long - preserved pieces of evidence to someone who could rival the Princess Dowager.
He sorted out the letters, resealed them, and after a busy while, it was already dawn.
Outside the house came the sound of maids and servants sweeping the yard.
Liang Yuzhou stood up and stretched his muscles.
"Get my clothes ready. I'm going to Shuiyun Residence."
Wanchu had already returned to the Duke's Mansion. She was the most rule - abiding person. By now, she must have gotten up and was preparing to go to pay respects to the old lady.
For some reason, Yu Rongbai's words were like a nightmare, making Zhou Yan extremely uneasy.
He knew that Liang Yuzhou didn't like others nagging in his ear, but he just couldn't help it. He carefully suggested, "Second Master, should you explain some things to the lady? The lady just came back..."
Liang Yuzhou gave him a cold look. "Explain what?"
"For example, some time ago, the lady's brother sued Yu Rongbai for plotting the carriage - ramming incident. Yu Rongbai was arrested and sent to the Supreme Court. After you found out, you got angry with the lady. It wasn't that you were protecting Miss Yu or favoring the Yu family. You were afraid that the Princess Dowager would bear a grudge against the lady's brother and the lady and secretly cause trouble..."
The Princess Dowager's methods were much more insidious than Yu Huiyan's!
Second Master was afraid that the lady would be hurt by the Princess Dowager again!
At the palace banquet three years ago, the Princess Dowager had wanted the lady's life!
Thanks to Second Master...