The Crown Prince was a man of deep schemes, and Liang Yuzhou couldn't fully fathom his thoughts.
"It's hard to say. It depends on the Crown Prince's attitude towards this uncle."
A sense of guilt welled up in Song Wanchu's heart. If it weren't for saving her, Taoist Priest Qiu wouldn't have been exposed. He could still be a hermit living a leisurely life.
But she didn't want Liang Yuzhou to take risks and sacrifice himself.
"Why is Taoist Priest Qiu willing to sacrifice himself to help us?"
Wanchu had hit the nail on the head again. Liang Yuzhou wanted to praise her for her intelligence and insight, but the words died on his lips.
Wanchu had always been extremely intelligent. It was he who had been blind and turned a blind eye.
She didn't need his flattery either.
"Taoist Priest Qiu thinks he's very good at fortune - telling. Before he left the capital, he divined a hexagram and calculated that a new war god would be born in the Great Zhou in the year of his departure."
Song Wanchu picked up his words, "He thinks that war god is you?"
Liang Yuzhou nodded helplessly, "That's what he thinks."
Privately, he scoffed at Taoist Priest Qiu's fortune - telling tricks.
Apart from the age matching his, everything else the Taoist Priest said about the new war god was nonsense.
He had become a Taoist priest and cut off his ties with the Duke's Mansion, which held one - third of the country's military power. Where could he be a war god?
"Taoist Priest Qiu still has the world at heart."
Song Wanchu sighed at Taoist Priest Qiu's sense of the overall situation. "He stepped forward to protect you, the 'war god'."
Otherwise, Liang Yuzhou might have acted impulsively and committed a crime that would implicate his nine generations!
Liang Yuzhou caught the teasing in Song Wanchu's tone. He gently bit her ear and said, "I'll only be a war god for one person!"
"You..."
These words sounded like burning sparks in Song Wanchu's ears. In a moment, they set her whole body on fire. She covered her ears, trying to stop the heat from spreading.
They were on the run. How could he have such amorous thoughts!
"Is it a bit unethical for us to just leave like this? What if the Crown Prince wants to capture him and punish him in the capital?"
Song Wanchu was worried about Taoist Priest Qiu.
"Capture him?" Liang Yuzhou found it a bit funny. "Unless Taoist Priest Qiu wants to be captured himself, no one in this world can catch him. At most, he can't continue to mooch around in Yunzhou. He'll just have to find a new place after losing his comfortable life."
"Even so, he's lived in Yunzhou for more than twenty years. He must have feelings for this place. It's not that easy to let go all of a sudden, is it?"
"That depends on whether the Crown Prince can be persuaded by him."
At the Songhe Taoist Temple.
The wind was strong in the second half of the night, carrying a biting cold and blowing Taoist Priest Qiu's snow - white beard.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his figure tall and his shoulders broad. There was not a trace of old age on him.
Facing him was the cold - faced Crown Prince.
The two stared at each other intently, and the atmosphere was a bit tense.
Suddenly, Taoist Priest Qiu grinned and walked up to the Crown Prince, looking him up and down in circles. "Tsk tsk, you're quite similar to me when I was young."
The Crown Prince rarely smiled. "It's a blessing for me to resemble the Third Royal Lord."
Taoist Priest Qiu raised his eyebrows and looked at him sideways. "I said, there's no need for us to be so tense, right? I even held you when you were a kid."
The Crown Prince's expression was solemn. "I was less than one year old when you forged the imperial edict and ran away. I don't remember."
"Is it appropriate to dig up an elder's old accounts right away?"
Taoist Priest Qiu pretended to be angry, but he did have the crime of deceiving the emperor, and burning the imperial edict was also disrespectful to the late emperor. So he didn't have much confidence.
"You're a heartache for your father. For twenty - five years, your father has wanted to find you every day and ask you why you didn't want to assist him. When he first ascended the throne, the court situation was unstable. The Hu people in the south were restless. With internal and external troubles, he urgently needed loyal officials and good generals, but you left elegantly, disappointing the late emperor's trust and entrustment!"
"The reason why I didn't want to is very simple. I'll tell you now. You go back and tell your emperor father!"
Taoist Priest Qiu angrily flapped his sleeves and sat cross - legged on the stone table in the courtyard. "It's true that I'm his uncle. Before he ascended the throne, I noticed that his good sister had too much influence on him. I advised him that although the Princess Royal had done a great deal for him, he shouldn't indulge her in being arrogant, licentious, and bullying men and dominating women. He should be careful not to arouse public resentment.
Your father didn't take it seriously. When I said too much, he got angry and thought I had a grudge against the Princess Royal. He said I shouldn't make things difficult for a weak woman.
From then on, I knew that the Princess Royal would surely be indulged by him to be lawless, become a pest of the Great Zhou, and might even cause a great disaster that would bring harm to the country and the people!
I knew I couldn't persuade your father. If I became the regent in the future, I would surely have conflicts with him because of the Princess Royal. The regent's power was second only to that of the emperor. If I really became the regent, would I be suspected?
If we didn't get along, would it stir up the situation in the court? After much thought, I'd rather not be the regent! Isn't it elegant to eat, drink, and live a carefree life?"
The Crown Prince was speechless.
Taoist Priest Qiu's lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "All the things I predicted have happened, right? The Princess Royal could even collude with the enemy and betray the country. She has become a cancer of the Great Zhou!
Your father couldn't bear to take action against his own sister. But the disaster he caused has to be dealt with by you, the successor!
You know best how difficult it is to remove this cancer, don't you?"
The Crown Prince was rendered speechless. A faint bitterness welled up in his heart.
His father said that emperors were all lonely people and should have the art of ruling. They couldn't let others guess their thoughts.
But Taoist Priest Qiu's words had touched his heart. It was good to have someone understand his difficult and troubled heart. Even a lonely emperor needed to be understood.
The hostility that the Crown Prince had when he first came had dissipated a lot, and he became much softer.
Taoist Priest Qiu patted his shoulder earnestly. "Hong'er, you shoulder the responsibility of the world. There are too many things for you to do. Put aside your love affairs for now."
"Where is Wanchu?"
He was so close to his goal. How could he give up easily?
Wasn't a lonely emperor worthy of true love?
Taoist Priest Qiu shook his head. His expression was a bit affectionate and regretful. "I never doubt your sincerity towards Wanchu, but the emperor's sincerity is not what Wanchu wants. Your love for her will push her into the abyss."
"What about Liang Yuzhou? He hurt Wanchu so much. Why is he worthy of true love?"
The Crown Prince couldn't understand.
Why couldn't Wanchu love him? Why did his own uncle side with an outsider?
Taoist Priest Qiu's eyes were deep. He was a far cry from the absurd old rascal he had been just now. "Then let me ask you, Wanchu doesn't want to enter the deep palace. For the sake of loving her, are you willing to give up the position of the Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince's pupils constricted, and his throat went dry.
He couldn't answer this question.
Taoist Priest Qiu smiled softly. "This is the difference between you and Liang Yuzhou. He can give up everything for Wanchu, but you can't."