The old lady suddenly broke into a smile. "Back then, if Zhou hadn't met you, he would have become a Taoist priest long ago. He entered the mortal world for you and left it for you too. You've been the master of his life.
Status, fame, and wealth mean nothing to him.
You've never done anything to let down the Duke's Mansion. Instead, the Duke's Mansion owes you a great deal.
Since he left the Duke's Mansion, let him repay it for the rest of his life on behalf of the mansion."
Song Wanchu felt a lump in her throat, and her chest was filled with a warm, swelling emotion.
"What about the old duke? Does he agree too?"
The old lady replied succinctly, "He'll figure it out."
The first thing Liang Xuguang said when he woke up was to ask where Zhou was.
There was guilt and boundless self - reproach in his eyes.
He still wanted Liang Yuzhou to return to secular life and inherit the title of the Duke's Mansion.
Zhou already had military merits. If he handed over the military power to Zhou, he could die in peace even at that very moment.
He had so many things he wanted to say to Zhou.
He wanted to apologize for being blind and partial all these years.
He wanted to be a good father and make up for the debts he owed to Zhou over the years.
But the old lady only said one thing.
"Zhou is no longer a five - year - old child. He no longer needs overdue fatherly love and belated repentance."
The old duke was silent for a long time, and two lines of turbid tears streamed down his face.
At noon, Song Wanchu and Liang Yuzhou accompanied the old lady to have a vegetarian meal.
The old lady was in a good mood and had a good appetite.
Qiaoying said happily, "The old lady ate two more bowls of rice than usual."
The old lady's eyes seemed to shine with more brilliance.
Reluctantly but without hesitation, she said, "I'll go back now. Later, I'll ask the clan elders to draw up the documents and register them with the government. I'll let the whole capital know that Wanchu is my granddaughter."
She was still as decisive as ever.
Song Wanchu had already said too many words of gratitude. She just rubbed against the old lady's arms gently.
As a junior showing affection, the old lady was overjoyed.
After seeing off the old lady, Song Wanchu asked Liang Yuzhou curiously, "Why do you insist that I attend the Spring - welcoming Banquet?"
Liang Yuzhou winked mysteriously. "You'll know when the time comes."
Song Wanchu tried to read the answer from his eyes but found nothing.
"Are you worried about Princess Lingyang?"
Song Wanchu remembered that innocent yet cruel and crazy face.
She actually felt a little flustered.
This arrogant princess was deeply in love with Liang Yuzhou. She even declared that she would kill anyone who dared to be Liang Yuzhou's wife.
On the martial arts competition field, with the emperor and the queen present, she dared to set dogs on people.
Yu Huiyan almost died at her hands.
Liang Yuzhou still had the mood to tease. "Are you worried that Princess Lingyang will make things difficult for you or that I'll be pestered by her?"
Although it sounded like a question, Song Wanchu finally understood.
She now knew why Liang Yuzhou was not in a hurry to return to secular life and still maintained his identity as a Taoist priest even after entering the capital.
It was not only to show his determination to sever ties with the Duke's Mansion completely.
It was also to avoid being pestered by Princess Lingyang.
The Spring - welcoming Banquet was a state banquet. All the princes, nobles, and high - ranking families had to attend. In full view of the public, if a princess of the state pestered a Taoist priest, the emperor and the queen would lose face.
No matter how indulgent the emperor and the queen were to Princess Lingyang on weekdays, they wouldn't allow her to act recklessly on such a grand occasion.
Song Wanchu knew what Liang Yuzhou wanted to hear.
"With you by my side, I have nothing to be afraid of."
Sure enough, Liang Yuzhou looked quite proud.
Zhou Sheng came in through the main gate of the Jingchan Temple, looking excited. "My lord, my lady, guess who's here?"
Song Wanchu was surprised. "Is it the princess?"
Liang Yuzhou hooked his lips into a smile. "It's Aunt Fang."
Zhou Sheng said, "Exactly. It's Qian'er who accompanied her. Aunt Fang told the abbot that she wanted to offer incense to the empress dowager and has been invited to the main hall."
"Qian'er is the eyes and ears that the crown prince planted in the princess's mansion. Aunt Fang must know that we're here too."
Liang Yuzhou gently held Song Wanchu's hand. "It saves us the trouble of making a plan to meet Aunt Fang."
The original plan was that at night, Liang Yuzhou would take Song Wanchu to sneak into the princess's mansion secretly. The crown prince's spy would inform Aunt Fang to meet them in a secluded corner.
But the princess's mansion was full of guards, so this plan was very risky.
Since time was pressing, they had no choice but to take the risk.
Who would have thought there would be a pleasant surprise?
Song Wanchu didn't rush out to meet Aunt Fang.
After Aunt Fang had wiped the memorial tablet of the empress dowager, added sesame oil, donated money for the oil, lit incense for the empress dowager, and paid her respects, Song Wanchu slowly walked forward from the back door of the main hall.
Qian'er was smart. She quickly brought another cushion. Song Wanchu knelt down beside Aunt Fang and piously kowtowed to the memorial tablet of the empress dowager.
Aunt Fang looked at her, with complex emotions surging in her eyes. She seemed to want to say something but held back.
Not wanting to put Aunt Fang in a difficult position, Song Wanchu spoke first. "I heard that the empress dowager was a gentle and virtuous woman. It was precisely because the late emperor valued this quality in her that he promoted her from a noble lady all the way to the queen."
"Yes, the empress dowager was kind - hearted. I started serving the empress dowager when I was thirteen and accompanied her for eleven years. She was so considerate of her servants that she never lost her temper even once."
"Only a gentle and virtuous mother like the empress dowager could raise a kind and benevolent king like the emperor."
They talked one after another, starting from the empress dowager whom Aunt Fang respected and missed the most.
Once they started talking, the sense of estrangement from their long - time separation faded away.
"Before the empress dowager passed away, she sent you to serve the princess. Did you ever resent her for that?"
Song Wanchu observed Aunt Fang's expression carefully.
There were glistening tears in Aunt Fang's eyes.
When the empress dowager died, Aunt Fang was only twenty - four years old, in the prime of her youth.
With her dignity and status, she could have married a fifth - rank official as his principal wife after leaving the palace.
Even if she married into a noble family as a concubine, she would have enjoyed a life of wealth.
The empress dowager knew she was too good to let her go.
Even when the empress dowager was alive, the princess was already dissolute, extravagant, and greedy.
The emperor indulged her, and the empress dowager knew it well. This daughter of hers had insatiable desires and would surely cause great trouble in the future.
On her last breath, the empress dowager earnestly exhorted Aunt Fang to constantly admonish and restrain the princess.
But no matter how dignified Aunt Fang was, in the eyes of the princess, she was just a servant.
Thinking of her trampled and insulted dignity, Aunt Fang's eyes darkened a bit.
She looked at Song Wanchu, with a candid expression. "Before today, I never resented her. I only hated myself for being insignificant. The princess was so arrogant that I couldn't persuade her. I watched her step by step into the abyss but couldn't stop her. I'm ashamed to face the empress dowager."
Song Wanchu frowned slightly. What had happened today to make Aunt Fang's attitude towards the princess change so much?
As her eyes flitted around, she had a vague guess in her mind.
But if she took the initiative to speak up, it would seem too eager.
She kept silent and waited patiently for Aunt Fang to pour out her heart.
Instead, Aunt Fang bypassed the previous topic. "Miss Song, what did you want to see me about?"