It turned out to be a delicate and small dagger, only as big as her palm. There was a wrist guard designed at the handle.
Liang Yuzhou put the dagger on her slender wrist and covered it with her sleeve.
It was the perfect concealed weapon that could strike without being noticed.
"Protect yourself at all times. When you feel in danger, don't hesitate. Just stab. Let him know that you're a little beast with fangs, not a sheep at others' mercy."
Song Wanchu held the dagger. It was so small that it could fit in her palm, yet it somehow gave her a sense of security.
It would surely be enough for self - protection, but was it too crazy for her to use such a deadly weapon against the Yue family?
Then she thought again. The one who gave her the dagger was Liang Yuzhou. When he went crazy, even the Princess Royal would back off.
"What if I accidentally hurt someone? Like Old Lady Yue?"
Song Wanchu had only asked casually.
She knew her place. Being powerless and without influence, how could she be so reckless as to confront the Yue family, the local overlords of Yunzhou? Moreover, there was the Princess Royal backing the Yue family.
Liang Yuzhou answered without hesitation, "Even if you kill her or the whole family, don't be afraid. I'll hold up the sky if it falls."
Song Wanchu's heart couldn't help but tremble.
Facing Liang Yuzhou, although she had become quite good at hiding her emotions and pretending to be indifferent, such a solemn promise still stirred the waves in her heart.
Especially considering that on their wedding day, she had stabbed him heartlessly with a sword and said all kinds of heart - breaking words.
He used to be the elegant and noble Second Young Master Liang in the capital, and later the young lord with great achievements and inherited glory.
If she left, countless noble ladies in the capital would fight to be his second wife. He could have continued to live a life of luxury and be surrounded by admirers.
But he would rather become a Taoist priest.
Song Wanchu had to admit that she had underestimated her position in Liang Yuzhou's heart.
The moment her long eyelashes drooped to cover her eyes, Liang Yuzhou caught a flicker of complex emotions in them.
It wasn't hatred or resentment. It seemed like a sigh, or perhaps a touch of gratitude.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. Liang Yuzhou tried his best to suppress the surging emotions. His hand on the back of her neck slowly slid to her cheek.
His fingertips caressed her cheek a few times, exuding a hint of ambiguity.
The atmosphere in the carriage became subtle.
But Liang Yuzhou didn't make any more moves. It seemed that just holding her face was enough to relieve his longing.
Song Wanchu came back to her senses from the brief daze. Her eyes were clear again. She firmly removed Liang Yuzhou's hand from her face.
The smell and warmth of his hand still lingered on her skin. She recalled all the past humiliation. The cold - faced man from before and the pious man now overlapped in her mind. He seemed the same, yet not.
But one thing was for sure. She was going to marry her elder brother. She would never look back.
She had struggled for three years in the cold winter. After this winter, she wanted to embrace the warm spring.
"Liang Yuzhou, thank you for the dagger and for telling me all this."
Polite and distant.
In Liang Yuzhou's heart, they were a long - separated couple, but Wanchu treated him like a stranger.
The little bit of tenderness just now was shattered by her own hands.
"I want to leave." Song Wanchu was straightforward in asking him to get off the carriage.
Liang Yuzhou sat still.
"You helped me this time. What reward do you want?"
Her flat tone was like a sharp arrow shooting into Liang Yuzhou's heart.
Wanchu was actually talking about rewards with him, as if he were just a chivalrous hero who did a good deed.
Liang Yuzhou's slightly lowered eyes twitched violently.
Was Wanchu trying to push him away like this?
"In your heart, did I save you just for a reward?"
"You may not want it, but I want to give it."
This way, they would owe each other nothing.
She sat there, delicate and charming, with a soft voice, like a harmless little animal. But every word she said was like a thousand arrows piercing Liang Yuzhou's heart.
His Adam's apple rolled several times as he forced down the pain and bitterness in his heart.
This was his retribution, and he deserved it.
During those three years, Wanchu must have been hurt by his cold words too, right?
At that time, her love for him was no less than his for her. She must have been more painful and desolate than he was now.
He lowered his eyes and looked at Song Wanchu's face, so close to him. "Wanchu, do you really want to marry Shi Luohan?"
Song Wanchu tried hard to see Liang Yuzhou as a stranger.
"We have nothing to do with each other. Who I want to marry seems none of your business, Taoist Priest Qingzhou."
She smiled gently. "We don't need a Taoist priest to perform rituals at the wedding banquet."
"You don't really want to marry him." Liang Yuzhou forced the topic back. "You deliberately wrote that wish note for me to see, to make me give up, right?"
Song Wanchu was speechless at his rhetorical question.
She did it on purpose.
But she didn't just write it for Liang Yuzhou. Writing that wish was also to convince herself.
Since she had decided to marry her elder brother, she wanted to take their relationship seriously and reciprocate his love.
Liang Yuzhou smiled faintly.
When he first saw that note, he was really stimulated.
But Wanchu's reaction made him less worried.
He knew better than anyone that she was such a pure - hearted person.
Maybe she would compromise for Shi Luohan's sake, but she could never convince her own heart.
Love was love, and no love was no love.
What he lost, Shi Luohan would never obtain either.
Shi Luohan stared at the carriage with a gloomy face.
They had been inside for more than half an hour.
Nan Zhi and Su Yue had treated his wound.
The wound wasn't deep, but it was a long scar, and he had lost quite a bit of blood. The two girls were terrified.
There were a bunch of corpses lying haphazardly on the ground. Zhou Sheng and Zhou Yan checked them one by one.
"Brother, look. These killers have thick calluses on their虎口. They should often practice with various weapons. Their leg muscles are strong, and their skin is dark. They should have practiced horse - riding and archery all year round. They all have scars on their bodies, and the downward arc of their shoulders is greater than normal people. It should be due to wearing armor all year round."
Zhou Yan analyzed it in great detail.
Zhou Sheng summed it up in one sentence, "They're all soldiers."
"They should be the more capable ones in the army."
Yaoguang added.
It was obvious who the mastermind behind this was, to be able to mobilize capable soldiers from the army to kidnap Wanchu.
Shi Luohan wiped the blood off his sword expressionlessly.
"It's a pity that the leader escaped. His ability to run away is much better than his martial arts."
Yaoguang sneered sarcastically. "As soon as the master showed up, he ran away like a coward. It seems he's really afraid of the master."
"The mastermind probably knows the plan has failed by now. He won't be willing to give up. Madam is in great danger."
Zhou Sheng was very worried.
Hearing the word "Madam" from Liang Yuzhou's people, Shi Luohan found it harsh.
Wanchu had nothing to do with Liang Yuzhou anymore, but these people still called her "Madam".
Were they trying to comfort Liang Yuzhou and create the illusion that Wanchu was still deeply in love with him?
Shi Luohan let out a disdainful sneer.
Yaoguang glared at him angrily. "What are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at you for meddling in other people's business!"
Shi Luohan's face was as cold as frost.
Yaoguang really looked down on his arrogant attitude, as if only he was qualified to protect and care about the madam.
She scoffed and her eyes fell on his belt.