Autumn came unusually early this year.
The chill had already set in the city, while outside the city, the grass and trees were withered and yellow, presenting a desolate scene.
Song Wanchu sat inside the carriage, while Shi Luohan rode on horseback. They were separated by a carriage wall and remained silent.
Nanzhi and Suyue, the two girls, would glance at each other from time to time. The dull atmosphere was suffocating.
Suyue wracked her brains to find a topic. "I heard that the emperor is going to confer an official position on Young Master Shi. He'll be a Yunhui General, a third - rank official!"
Nanzhi also tried to liven up the atmosphere. "The emperor always cherishes talent and appreciates capable people. Since Young Master Shi was taught by Lord Song, the emperor thinks highly of him even more."
Shi Luohan looked cold and expressionless. "I refused. Participating in the martial exam was never for the sake of becoming an official and gaining fame."
Nanzhi and Suyue looked at each other speechlessly. Well, Young Master Shi had effectively ended the conversation.
The atmosphere remained dull. Song Wanchu looked at Shi Luohan's sharp and cold side - face. Her chest felt stuffy, as if she were being submerged by the rising tide, unable to breathe.
The night before her father went on the expedition, he called the two of them over. She thought it would be an ordinary conversation before the departure, but her father placed their hands together.
"Luohan, Wanchu is my only daughter. I'd never be at ease if I handed her over to someone else. Would you like to marry her and take good care of her for the rest of her life?"
Shi Luohan was overjoyed and agreed without hesitation.
At sixteen, although Song Wanchu still had a girlish heart, she was no longer naive.
The way Brother Luohan looked at her had been changing day by day, with his love becoming more and more intense.
But she secretly loved Liang Yuzhou and had never given Brother Luohan any response.
She had never thought that she would have any relationship with Brother Luohan other than as siblings.
Her father then asked her, "Wanchu, would you like to marry your brother?"
She saw the nervousness, expectation, and uneasiness in Shi Luohan's eyes. Even this usually calm man's hands were trembling slightly.
What was she thinking at that time?
She knew that Liang Yuzhou had a childhood sweetheart cousin, and they were in love. Liang Yuzhou would never look at other girls.
The promise she had made to Liang Yuzhou when she was young was just a fleeting echo in the valley.
The noble and elegant Second Young Master Liang was a high branch she could never reach.
Her silence was seen by her father as a girl's shyness and reserve.
Shi Luohan helped her out. "Father, Wanchu is grown - up. How could she say such things in front of us?"
And her shy silence was taken by her father as an acquiescence.
"Wait until I come back, and we'll hold the wedding banquet."
But later, her father died on the battlefield and his body was wrapped in horsehide. The Song family was in mourning. He never got to see the wedding banquet of his adopted son and daughter.
"Miss, we're here."
Song Wanchu snapped back to reality.
When getting off the carriage, Shi Luohan stretched out his arm.
Song Wanchu originally wanted to hold his wrist, but Shi Luohan grabbed her hand instead and put his other arm around her waist, hugging her down in a very intimate posture.
The man's breath brushed against her neck, leaving a warm trace.
Song Wanchu's heart tightened, and she quickly turned around to take the sacrificial offerings from Nanzhi.
Shi Luohan's eyes dimmed.
"Miss, Young Master Shi, there's someone paying respects at Lord Song's grave!"
Suyue suddenly pointed at Song Hengyi's tomb and shouted.
In front of the tombstone, there was a thin figure.
Hearing Suyue's shout, he slowly turned his head.
Although this man was emaciated and his hair was gray, Song Wanchu and Shi Luohan recognized him at a glance.
Their pupils dilated in shock.
Han Cheng, the deputy general of the old duke!
He and her father had been on good terms when he was alive. They had trained soldiers together in the military training ground. Song Wanchu and Shi Luohan had even attended his funeral...
It was rumored that he had also died in the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass, with no body left!
"Uncle Han, you..."
Song Wanchu kept sizing him up. Seeing his shadow on the ground, she was sure it wasn't a ghost.
He was actually alive!
Han Cheng's eyes scanned back and forth between Song Wanchu's and Shi Luohan's shocked faces, showing a bitter smile.
"Wanchu, Luohan, I'm here to visit my comrade - in - arms."
He was only in his forties, but his eyes were so vicissitudinous that it seemed as if he had lived three lifetimes.
"Why didn't you return to the capital with Lord Song's army if you're still alive?"
Shi Luohan was extremely puzzled.
Han Cheng's bitter smile was filled with endless bitterness. "In the bloody battle at Pingsha Pass, only Lord Song managed to break through the encirclement. I was seriously injured and passed out in a pool of blood. I was captured by the Hu people. They forced me to surrender, imprisoned me, and tortured me. I lived a life worse than death in the Hu tribe for a year. Later, I managed to escape, but I didn't dare to return to the capital because no one could testify for me. I would be regarded as a traitor and a spy. So I've been living in hiding for two years..."
By this point, the information he conveyed was enough.
As for how he met Liang Yuchuan, received his relief, and was arranged by Liang Yuchuan to appear in front of Song Hengyi's tomb...
These were things that Song Wanchu and Shi Luohan didn't need to know.
His shabby clothes and worried face were quite convincing.
Shi Luohan fell into deep thought after hearing this, while Song Wanchu hadn't recovered from the shock.
Han Cheng let out a long sigh and smiled helplessly. "Sometimes I think it would have been better if I had died on the battlefield like your father. At least I could have enjoyed the honor after death. Look at me now. I'm neither human nor ghost."
"Was your father's death just a simple sacrifice for Lord Song?"
Shi Luohan asked.
Song Wanchu's heart suddenly tightened.
Her father's death had always been a mystery to her.
Her intuition told her that Liang Yuzhou knew more, but he refused to say.
She had always wanted to ask, but there had been too many things recently. Her mind was in a mess, and she had been pushed forward without finding a suitable opportunity.
Han Cheng was an eyewitness to that bloody battle. He must know...
Han Cheng's eyes flickered a few times, and he seemed to be avoiding their gazes. He hesitated and was reluctant to speak.
"Is Uncle Han afraid of offending the Duke's Mansion?"
Shi Luohan was anxious, and his tone became more urgent. "Although I'm not very capable, I can promise that as long as Uncle Han is willing to tell the truth, I'll protect you even if I have to risk my life!"
Han Cheng swallowed hard. "It's not that I don't want to say. I'm just afraid that Niece Wanchu might..."
"I can bear anything. Uncle Han, please tell me."
Song Wanchu looked determined.
Only then did Han Cheng look directly into her eyes and slowly said, "Your father shouldn't have died. It was the old duke's misjudgment that sent him and a thousand soldiers to their deaths at Pingsha Pass."
It was as if her brain had been hit by a blunt object. Song Wanchu's ears were buzzing. Han Cheng's face was sometimes clear and sometimes blurred. Her heart was beating so fast that she could hardly control her breathing.
Han Cheng's voice seemed to come from afar, with a distant echo. "Your father was collecting grain and grass at Pingsha Pass. A group of trouble - makers complained, saying that your father had beaten the common people violently and taken the grain without paying. The old duke led his troops to arrest your father.
I advised him not to be deceived. Those trouble - makers were lying. General Song was never a cruel and domineering person.
The old duke was self - willed and didn't believe your father's explanation. He was angry that your father had ruined his good reputation of being a good military commander and wanted to punish your father severely.
On the way back to Liangzhou City while escorting your father, we were attacked by the Hu people. The whole army was wiped out. It was your father who fought desperately to create a way out for the old duke, so that he could break through the encirclement.
It was the old duke who killed your father!"
The old duke killed your father.
The old duke killed your father.
Liang Yuzhou's father killed your father.