The sudden interrogation left Song Wanchu utterly stunned.
In her memory, Brother Shi had always spoken to her in a gentle voice. He had never been so stern and harsh like this.
The hazy veil between them seemed to have finally been torn apart. Shi Luohan cast all his forbearance and self - restraint behind and directly, without any disguise, interrogated her.
Since Liang Yuzhou's appearance, he seemed to have become a thorn between them.
Shi Luohan was the one who had been stabbed deeper.
Song Wanchu knew about his uneasiness and anxiety, and she had tried her best to soothe him.
She promised to marry him, allowed more intimate actions between them, and went with him to draw fortune sticks and hang wish notes.
When Liang Yuzhou asked her if she really wanted to marry Shi Luohan, she gave Liang Yuzhou an affirmative answer.
She had also tried her best to draw a clear line with Liang Yuzhou.
"Brother Shi, what do you want me to do for you to believe that I really don't care about him anymore?" Song Wanchu asked softly.
Her voice was gentle, like flowing water caressing one's heart, without any aggressiveness, so calm.
But Shi Luohan caught a fleeting glint of tears in her eyes.
She was smiling, hiding her grievances behind the smile.
Shi Luohan's heart suddenly tightened.
He had lost his composure.
"Wanchu, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I..."
He should have vented his anger on Liang Yuzhou, but instead, he had been sarcastic to Wanchu.
He wanted to explain, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't find any words to describe his remorse.
"Brother Shi, I understand you."
As soon as Liang Yuzhou appeared, his sense of crisis flared up.
And he had always been one step behind Liang Yuzhou in everything. He felt that he hadn't been able to protect her as he should, and being outshone by Liang Yuzhou made him even more anxious.
Song Wanchu still spoke softly, "As long as it can smooth out the wrinkles in your heart, I'm willing to do anything for you."
She looked at Shi Luohan with sincere and bright eyes.
In that moment of silence, Shi Luohan's mind was invaded by dark and selfish thoughts. His reason told him that some words shouldn't be said now, but his possessiveness towards Wanchu drove him on. His blood rushed to his head, and he couldn't suppress his impulse.
"Wanchu, let's announce our engagement publicly. On the second day of the second lunar month next year, the weather will be warm, and it's an auspicious day. Let's get married, okay?"
After saying that, he held his breath nervously.
Song Wanchu's pupils shrank slightly, and her hands unconsciously tightened on her knees.
But after only a moment's hesitation, she lifted a smiling face, "Sure, I'll do whatever you say, Brother Shi."
The "Sichuan" - shaped wrinkle between Shi Luohan's eyebrows smoothed out and disappeared, and a look of joy appeared on his brows.
"Then I'll write a letter to Uncle and Aunt?"
"Okay."
Shi Luohan was as happy as a child. He ran to the door of the room, then rushed back and gave Song Wanchu a big hug.
"Wanchu, we'll definitely be very happy."
After he left, Song Wanchu sat in a daze in front of the small couch for a long time, looking at the shadow of the plum trees outside the window, her eyes neither sad nor happy.
But they were also empty and listless.
She didn't even take a bite of the refreshments that Nanzhi and Suyue had prepared for her.
It wasn't until it gradually got dark that Nanzhi lit the lamp.
She placed the candlestick on the small table. Song Wanchu turned her head slightly, and only then did Nanzhi notice that the girl's eyes were red - rimmed and there were tears in the corners of her eyes, on the verge of falling.
Nanzhi felt heartache and her eyes ached.
Young Master Shi had pushed the girl too hard.
"Girl, if you don't want to marry Young Master Shi so soon..."
"I want to marry Brother Shi." Song Wanchu tried to smile, but the tears in her eyes betrayed the sourness and grievances in her heart.
"Brother Shi has waited for so many years. I don't want to let him down anymore."
Nanzhi turned her head away and wiped away her tears, "Girl, you can't force yourself just to fulfill Young Master Shi. If you can't bring yourself to say it, I'll go and talk to Young Master Shi. He loves you the most, and he'll understand."
The girl hadn't gotten over the previous heartache.
She had loved and hated to exhaustion. Her broken soul was still incomplete. How could she be ready to accept the next relationship?
Moreover, it was about having a romantic relationship with Young Master Shi, whom she had called Brother for more than a decade?
Song Wanchu gently shook her head, and the tears in the corners of her eyes finally fell, "Brother Shi has done so much for me. It's my turn to do something for him."
Nanzhi used to think that Young Master Shi was the perfect match for the girl.
But he knew that the girl wasn't ready yet and still forced her to agree to marry him.
Men, they're all bad in their own ways!
...
After the Winter Solstice, the Lesser Cold arrived in a blink of an eye.
Although the winter in Yunzhou was warm, it was still the coldest time of the year, and the temperature had dropped a lot.
Song Wanchu hadn't gone out much for several days.
Early in the morning, just after she finished washing up, a maid from Cihui Courtyard came to deliver a message, "Master has prepared a table of vegetarian food today and invited Taoist Priest Qingzhou to dinner. It will be served in the old lady's room. The old lady told me to come and inform the girl and ask you to go and accompany them."
Song Wanchu was just about to insert a hairpin into her bun when her hand trembled, and the hairpin fell to the ground, shattering into pieces of white jade.
"If the girl doesn't want to see him, just plead illness and don't go."
Suyue mumbled as she picked up the fragments on the ground.
She resented Liang Yuzhou as much as the girl did.
The girl had loved him and hated him to the bone.
She had never loved that so - called young master, and she only had pure anger towards him.
Even though he had saved the girl, told her about the relationship between the Yue family and the princess, and reminded her of the dangers around her, it couldn't offset the harm he had done to the girl.
Song Wanchu sighed and chose another hairpin to put on her head, "Uncle invited him to thank him for saving me. If I don't go, won't it make it hard for the old lady and Uncle?"
Suyue was full of anger, "That man is like a dog - skin plaster. You can't get rid of him!"
At the lunch table, there weren't many people. The old lady sat in the middle. On her left was Liang Yuzhou, and on her right was Song Wanchu.
Shi Luohan sat next to Song Wanchu. Chu Shangxu sat next to Liang Yuzhou, followed by Chu Yueying and Mrs. Ning.
Chu Yueying really wanted to sit next to Taoist Priest Qingzhou.
Unfortunately, an unmarried girl wasn't allowed to sit next to an outside man.
She was sandwiched between her father and mother, and with the old lady sitting right in front of her, she didn't even dare to look at Taoist Priest Qingzhou openly.
During the meal, she stole many glances at Liang Yuzhou.
But Taoist Priest Qingzhou never once looked at her.
Chu Yueying was a bit anxious.
She picked up her wine cup and summoned up the courage to stand up.
"Taoist Priest Qingzhou, I'd like to toast you. You saved Sister Wanchu. You're a great benefactor to our whole family!"
Liang Yuzhou's deep, ink - like eyes finally met her gaze.
Chu Yueying's heart was beating so fast that it felt like it was about to fly out of her throat. Looking at that handsome and well - defined face, her eyes were infatuated.
How could there be such a perfect man in the world? He stood there like a finely carved white marble statue, noble and holy, with a faint sense of cold and broken beauty.
She really wanted to hug him and comfort him.
Grandma Chu's face darkened slightly, "You're just a child. What do you know about toasting? Sit down quickly."
Liang Yuzhou got up slowly, but his eyes were looking at Song Wanchu, "Miss Chu, are you toasting on behalf of the rightful person?"
Song Wanchu's heart suddenly tightened.
Damn man, was he hinting at her?