Liang Yuzhou stared at him expressionlessly, his features cold and stern.
"You brat, are you giving me a sour look too, huh?"
"I won't touch him. I'm going to pay a visit to the Chu family."
Only then did the tense look on Taoist Qiu's face ease a bit. He stepped aside. "Go on, go on."
When Liang Yuzhou reached the door, he suddenly turned back. There was no trace of coldness on his face. The look in his eyes when he looked at Taoist Qiu was like that of a respectful junior looking at an elder.
"Thank you, Taoist Qiu."
Taoist Qiu's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he smiled contentedly. "Sooner or later, you and Wanchu will leave Yunzhou. I'm leaving too. You should give this old man some time. Let's have a drink together and bid each other a proper farewell."
Liang Yuzhou pursed his lips. He didn't show it on his face, but he was actually touched.
"Didn't you say I have a lung disease and can't drink?"
Taoist Qiu gave a haughty snort. "I didn't say you should drink. You just watch me drink."
Liang Yuzhou's handsome face was as clear as the moon and the wind. "Okay."
He looked at Song Wanchu again. "Don't think about anything. Just have a good sleep. I'll be back soon."
Taoist Qiu waved at him. "Go on, go on. Can't I take care of a little girl for a while?"
Liang Yuzhou's robe quickly disappeared at the door.
Taoist Qiu ordered a young Taoist priest to bring a table of food for Song Wanchu.
At first glance, they were all meat dishes.
What about the so - called Taoist self - cultivation of only eating vegetarian food?
As Taoist Qiu picked up food for her, he said with a beaming smile, "If people only eat vegetarian food, they'll have no strength. All the young lads in this Songhe Temple are in their teens and twenties. How can they have the strength to practice kung fu if they only eat vegetarian food?"
There were more than six hundred Taoist priests in Songhe Temple. Each of them was highly skilled and had the courage of ten thousand men. In critical moments, they could form an impregnable wall to defend Yunzhou.
After a whole night of commotion, Song Wanchu was really hungry. She picked up the rice bowl and ate little by little.
She had a small appetite. After a bowl of porridge, she was full.
Taoist Qiu looked at the barely - touched food on the table, shook his head, and scooped all the food into his own bowl.
"You ladies from wealthy families have had such a good life for so long that you can't even enjoy your meals properly."
He gobbled it up.
For a seventy - year - old man, his appetite was incredibly good.
Song Wanchu pursed her lips and smiled. "You used to be from the royal family. Why do you make yourself sound like one of the common people?"
Taoist Qiu keenly caught the change in the way Song Wanchu addressed him.
This girl hadn't been this respectful to him before.
"Don't be so formal with this 'you'. You don't have to be so polite to me. It makes me feel like I'm about to kick the bucket."
Song Wanchu wanted to say that he was the most energetic old man she had ever seen.
A war god who had emerged from the battlefield didn't have a trace of hostility on him, and his mindset wasn't old either.
Even after his identity was discovered, he didn't seem too sad. He talked about parting as if it were nothing.
His realm was higher than that of anyone in the world.
Although he was sometimes absurd and inconsistent, and as a Taoist priest, he even broke the precepts first, Song Wanchu thought he was a true hermit master.
"I'm using this 'you' on behalf of my father. He admired you the most in his life."
Song Wanchu's tone was sincere.
Taoist Qiu wiped the oil off his mouth and said seriously, "Your father was worthy of heaven and earth. He was a true hero."
Just thinking that her father didn't have to sacrifice himself, Song Wanchu's heart ached, and her expression dimmed.
Taoist Qiu glanced at her. "Do you still resent Liang Xuguang for his miscalculation that led to your father's sacrifice? Or do you blame Liang Yuzhou for hiding it from you for three years?"
"I don't know."
For a long time, Song Wanchu had no outlet for her hatred.
Taoist Qiu gave a very fair judgment. "Liang Xuguang is indeed to blame for your father's death. But ultimately, the blood - battle at Pingsha Pass was due to the shortage of food and supplies. The real culprit is the Princess Dowager. Her greed cost the lives of hundreds of Great Zhou warriors, including your father. She is a cancer in Great Zhou, sucking the fat and cream of the people of Great Zhou and poisoning the common people and soldiers of Great Zhou."
Song Wanchu not only feared the Princess Dowager but also hated her with a passion.
The warriors of Great Zhou, including her father, guarded the border to protect her so that she could continue to live a life of luxury. But instead, she, for her own selfish desires, harmed the soldiers of Great Zhou.
"If this woman isn't eliminated, she will surely cause great trouble sooner or later."
There was obvious disgust on Taoist Qiu's face.
Song Wanchu touched her right wrist. The dagger was still there. It was the last weapon to defend her.
She really wanted to plunge this dagger into the Princess Dowager's heart!
Taoist Qiu leaned forward, asking curiously and gossipily, "Do you still blame Liang Yuzhou?"
Song Wanchu was stunned and didn't know how to answer.
"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Anyway, it won't stop you two from being affectionate."
Taoist Qiu winked playfully and carried the empty bowls and plates out.
"You have a good sleep. If you need anything, just shout. My ears are sharp. I'll definitely hear you."
After eating, her body felt much warmer. As her mind relaxed a bit, sleepiness came over her.
She climbed onto the couch and fell asleep immediately.
As she was sleeping, a cold, wrenching pain hit her. She covered her lower abdomen, and her body involuntarily curled into an arch.
She reached down and felt a hand full of blood.
It was that time of the month!
Song Wanchu was really in pain and embarrassed now.
She urgently needed menstrual belts. Nanzhi and Suyue weren't by her side, and there were only men in Songhe Temple...
She curled up helplessly on the couch, leaning against the pillow in despair, her eyes blank.
She could only tell Liang Yuzhou, a man, about this kind of thing.
When would he come back?
Just as she was secretly looking forward to it in her heart, there was a knock on the door outside. "Wanchu, are you awake?"
Hearing that familiar and gentle voice, Song Wanchu almost cried with joy. "Liang Yuzhou, come in quickly!"
Liang Yuzhou pushed the door open and entered in a bit of a hurry. He heard the hint of urgency in Wanchu's voice when she called him.
"What's wrong?"
He held Song Wanchu's cold hands. Her face was pale, and there was a thin layer of cold sweat on her forehead. She seemed to have indescribable pain and embarrassment.
Without Song Wanchu saying a word, he already guessed. "Wanchu, wait for me a moment."
He went out and quickly came back, holding a package in his hand.
When he opened it, there were actually several menstrual belts made of brocade cotton.
Brocade cotton was soft and absorbent, but it was extremely expensive. Many noble ladies from wealthy families in the capital might not be able to afford menstrual belts made of brocade cotton.
Song Wanchu guessed that these menstrual belts should belong to Yaoguang.
There was only Yaoguang, a girl, around him. A big man like him couldn't carry such things around all the time.
After changing the menstrual belt, Liang Yuzhou stuffed a hot - water bottle into her hand.
The hot - water bottle was covered with a hot - water bottle cover. The fabric was of excellent quality, but the stitches were very rough. The person who did the needlework seemed to have reluctantly sewn the pieces of fabric together.
"This is Yaoguang's handiwork. She has only held a sword since childhood and has never held a needle. She sewed for a whole night to finish it. Her fingers were pricked like a beehive. The next day, she almost cried in front of me and said that if I made her hold a needle and thread again, she would immediately go back to her hometown in the north."
Song Wanchu couldn't help but laugh.
Liang Yuzhou tested the temperature of the hot - water bottle and added a scented tablet to it.
There was charcoal in the hot - water bottle. When it burned, there would be dust. Song Wanchu was afraid of the choking smell, so the fragrance of the scented tablet was used to neutralize it.
Her heart skipped a beat. Did he even remember such a small detail of her daily habit?
As the scented tablet burned, wisps of fragrance wafted out. It was actually the fragrance of peonies, her favorite.
She looked stunned, but Liang Yuzhou smiled. "These scented tablets were made from the peony flower in your room."
"You still kept that flower?"
She remembered that at that time, when she was heart - broken, she gave that peony flower to Yu Huiyan.
Liang Yuzhou got it back from Yu Huiyan and put it back on her desk. She found it annoying and threw it into the yard. She never cared about it again.
That peony flower was as passionate as fire when it bloomed, just like her love for Liang Yuzhou.
But later, she let Liang Yuzhou's feelings be blown and rained on by the wind.
He picked up that love again.
"Wanchu, in my heart, you always deserve true red."