Yaoguang, standing not far away, heard these words.
She frowned and looked at Shi Luohan. This man was so handsome, but why was he as persistent and annoying as the Second Master?
It was such a waste of his upright-looking face.
"Master Shi, please stop forcing the mistress to give an answer. With the imperial edict and the title conferred by the emperor, the mistress is now the rightful and well-recognized mistress of the Duke's Mansion!"
Shi Luohan shot her a glance, with sparks shooting from his eyes. "What imperial edict, what title? They're nothing but shackles binding Wan Chu. Since I dared to kill for Wan Chu, I dare to break these burdens off her!"
"Brother, keep your voice down!"
Song Wanchu panicked and scanned around, afraid that someone might overhear.
Yaoguang stared at Shi Luohan expressionlessly, rolling her eyes mentally.
Who does he think he is? If he has the guts, he should fight the Second Master head-on.
"Mistress, I seem to hear the Second Master groaning. Is his wound hurting?"
Song Wanchu's heart skipped a beat.
"Why don't you go in and check on him? This servant will see Master Shi off on your behalf."
Shi Luohan gave her a cold look. "No need. I'm not here as a guest."
He looked deeply at Song Wanchu. "Wan Chu, I'm waiting for your answer."
Out of courtesy, Yaoguang still walked a few steps with him.
Suddenly, Shi Luohan turned back, staring at her high nose bridge and deep, bright eyes.
"Have I... seen you somewhere?"
Yaoguang's heart tightened, but her expression remained unchanged. "I've always been by the mistress's side."
"Even earlier, a few years ago."
Shi Luohan had traveled far and wide and met people from all over. He could tell at a glance that Yaoguang didn't look entirely like a person from the Central Plains.
He vaguely had a little impression of Yaoguang, but he just couldn't recall it for the moment.
Yaoguang unconsciously clenched her hand in her sleeve, and her throat felt a bit dry. "I've seen so many ordinary-looking people like you that I can't remember them."
Shi Luohan raised his eyebrows, his tone teasing. "Why are you so nervous? I'm just asking casually. It's as if you're really afraid of being recognized."
He strode forward, and Yaoguang clearly heard him let out a soft sneer.
Yaoguang was annoyed!
This man, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes looking so upright, but actually so petty and fussy!
Wasn't he just taking revenge on her for finding an excuse to get the mistress back to the Second Master's side?
A man as tall as nine feet, but with a heart smaller than the tip of a needle.
...
Yaoguang wasn't lying to her. When Song Wanchu walked into the tent, a smear of blood stabbed her eyes.
Liang Yuzhou was bare-chested. The back that had just been bandaged was bloody again.
He had his back to Song Wanchu at first. Hearing the noise, he turned around and happened to meet her gaze.
The man in front of her was biting a long piece of gauze. His powerful and imposing aura was gone. There was a broken light flashing in his eyes, like a defeated beast, licking its own wounds alone.
Song Wanchu had never seen Liang Yuzhou so vulnerable. It seemed that he would break if she touched him gently.
She kept a straight face, using anger to cover up her momentary softness.
"I've already told you to lie down and rest. Why do you keep moving around?"
Seeing her pick up the medicine bottle, Liang Yuzhou obediently lay on the couch, his thick eyelashes drooping.
Song Wanchu applied medicine to his wound again and bandaged it.
She wrapped her finger with gauze, dipped it in some warm water, and gently wiped the blood around the wound.
The well-defined muscles on the man's back were tightly tensed, obviously in pain.
She vaguely remembered that a few months ago, it was her who was lying on the couch with a bleeding back.
He also wrapped his finger with gauze and wiped her wound.
At that time, she didn't understand Liang Yuzhou's sudden tenderness.
It turned out that when he said he loved her, everything actually had traces to follow.
Her finger gently wiped along the criss-cross scars on his back.
In the past, she had complained that Liang Yuzhou had never asked about the origin of the scar on her heart. Until today, she suddenly realized that she had never asked about the origin of the scars on Liang Yuzhou's body either.
She knew that he was different from those pampered sons of noble families. He had fought on the battlefield.
But in the past three years, Liang Yuzhou's cold treatment of her had consumed too much of her emotions. She actually had never had a calm conversation with Liang Yuzhou.
Their husband-and-wife relationship was abnormal from the very beginning.
"Five years ago, I followed my father to suppress bandits. I chased after the eight bandit leaders alone and fought with them for a whole day. These scars were left from that battle."
Liang Yuzhou seemed to have guessed what she was thinking. His deep and hoarse voice slowly told the story.
Five years ago, he was still an eighteen-year-old teenager.
Song Wanchu's fingertips gently stroked those scars.
Before she developed a heart disease, she had also practiced swordsmanship with her father and elder brother. She knew a little about weapons.
The scars on Liang Yuzhou's back were caused by various different weapons, such as swords, knives, fire-tipped spears, battle axes...
Fighting eight fierce bandits alone, how much pain must he have endured?
"Why did you work so hard?"
Liang Yuzhou could feel the warmth of her palm on his back. It was hot and itchy, like an invisible hook, tugging at his heart.
He turned to one side and looked deeply into her eyes. "Because I was eager to make contributions. My father never paid much attention to me. He only took my elder brother to show off in front of the emperor. I knew that if I wanted to compete with my elder brother for the position of the heir apparent, I had to make great contributions so that I could have a chance to be appreciated by the emperor."
Song Wanchu's throat felt a bit blocked. Listening to his calm narration, her heart felt heavy.
Children who are not loved always have to work extra hard to reach the height that others can easily achieve.
Because he was born to Princess Jiahe, he had been ignored and prejudiced by the old duke since he was born.
"Aren't you supposed to look down on fame and wealth?"
Liang Yuzhou slightly curled his lips, and there were tiny waves of light flashing in his eyes. It seemed that he was thinking of something very beautiful. His cold face seemed to be blown open by the spring breeze.
"After I met you, I didn't think so anymore. That spring, you said in the valley that you wanted to marry me. I couldn't sleep all night after I got back."
Song Wanchu's heart skipped two beats. That feeling was like her passionate love from many years ago had finally received a response after going through a long journey.
Ripples were rising on the lake of her heart.
"I thought about it all night and decided not to muddle along anymore. If I wanted to marry you, I couldn't welcome you into the mansion as an ordinary son of the Duke's Mansion. Becoming the heir apparent was also to give you dignity. I wanted to give you the best, so I fought with all my might to win the first merit in suppressing the bandits."
It was a pity that just as he showed his talent and was praised by the emperor, at the celebration banquet, he caught the attention of Princess Lingyang.
"Wan Chu, I regret it. I was too self-righteous. I was busy striving for glory but forgot to get to know the real you. If I had known earlier that you didn't care about dignity and glory, I wouldn't have fought for the first merit. We could have just been an ordinary couple..."
Suddenly, a few drops of tears fell on his back.
They seeped into his flesh, burning his heart.
He panicked all of a sudden. "Wan Chu..."
"Liang Yuzhou, are you stupid?" Song Wanchu's eyes were blurred with tears. She choked and scolded him. "If you liked me, why didn't you say so? It made me..."
It made her think that her love was just one-sided.
"If I had said it, would you have liked me a bit more?"
"Liang Yuzhou, are you really not lying to me?"
"I'm not lying to you."
"What about in the future?"
Liang Yuzhou looked into her clear and beautiful eyes. Suddenly, he felt a tide surging into his chest, drowning his breath.