The Red Fades, the Fragrance Disappears; Who Will Pity It? (15)
After they finished tossing and turning until the middle of the night, enchanting the entire room, Xi Wen slept wearily in the messy bed. Xie Fei put on his outer robe, casually directing people to change the bedding. He carried Xi Wen to the inner room to bathe, waiting for them to finish.
The two of them slept wrapped around each other. On the morning of the second day, Xi Wen woke before the sun even rose.
She moved a bit before she realized she was hugged tightly in Xie Fei"s chest, her waist wrapped by his powerful arms, her own back pressed against his chest. Xi Wen"s little face reddened, involuntarily recalling last night in bits and pieces. Afraid to think more and more, she took a deep breath, gently pulling aside Xie Fei"s hand and carefully climbing around him to get off the bed.
After eating breakfast, Xie Fei took Xi Wen by the hand and led her to the main hall to pay respects and get to know the family members in the houses next door.
The entire process of paying respects was unusually peaceful. Seeing Xie Fei"s cold face, n.o.body dared to make things difficult. After half a shichen (one hour) the two of them returned to the courtyard.
After that, Xi Wen"s days in Xie Residence became even sweeter and more leisurely. In the Liang Residence on the next street over, it was a different sight.
Before the sun had risen, the entire master"s courtyard in the Liang Residence"s was quiet. Chen Bing"er hobbled towards the kitchen with bucket, dressed in a hemp robe. It had been just over two months since their wedding day, but her body had rapidly thinned away. Her cheeks were deeply hollowed, her face sallow, and her aura dispirited and depressed.
When she had heated up the water and cooked the meal, Mother Liang"s voice came from the courtyard next door. "Dumb b.i.t.c.h1, why haven"t you brought the water in yet? You were too lazy to get up today, weren"t you?"
Hearing the voice, Chen Bing"er"s back grew stiff. She quickly spooned the hot water from the pot to the wooden bucket. Panting heavily, she hurried to bring it next door.
Mother Liang was still yelling and swearing from down the corridor. Seeing Chen Bing"er, her expression grew ugly. Her eyes drilled into her, full of dislike. "A bride who is happy to eat but not to work! My son marrying you was really the unluckiness of eight lifetimes! Looking at your unlucky appearance, no wonder you let my son spend the night of the wedding day laying in bed. You"re obviously a village girl, you still want to become an official"s wife? I don"t know what kind of befuddling soup you gave to my son, you vixen. He wouldn"t become a son-in-law to the emperor, instead wanting to marry you, a village girl… If he wants to marry you, then just marry. Who knew you would even provoke Xie Residence, causing my son to lay on bed for a month…"
Chen Bing"er seemed to be used to Mother Liang"s yelling. Her face was blank and her hands busy.
Just at this time, Liang Shao"s voice came from the side room next door. Annoyed, he shouted, "Shut up, what are you yelling about so early!"
Mother Liang immediately shut her mouth. With a swing of her handkerchief, she glared at Chen Bing"er and returned to the house.
Chen Bing"er looked at the servants and maids who were sizing her up in silence, unable to help but feel sadness welling up in her.
…
The night of the Liang Residence"s big wedding, Liang Shao was. .h.i.t until he spat blood. Chen Bing"er"s body and mind also suffered inhuman torment. After seeing the two of them, the doctor had them lay in bed, letting them recuperate in peace for a time.
Who knew early on the second day, the Liang Residence"s scandal would travel through the entire city? The Liang family"s relatives had originally come to the city, wanting to use some of Liang Shao"s connections and expand the family business. Who knew Liang Shao would offend the imperial family that night? One after the other, fearing they would be implicated, they left the city that night.
Since Liang Shao had sneaked away to join the army, Father Liang"s prestige in the family had declined drastically. The family all jeered at him for bringing up his son improperly, forcing him into throwing away his reputation completely. In the end, he angrily took in a child from the side branch to raise. As for Liang Shao, Father Liang pretended that he had never existed.
Father Liang"s face didn"t brighten until the news came from the capital that Liang Shao had become an official. He immediately rushed to the capital to attend the wedding. In the end, he hadn"t thought that he would not only fail recover his reputation, but instead offend his family, causing his own place in the family to be in imminent danger.
Mother Liang"s own background was low, so she didn"t have much prejudice towards Chen Bing"er. Moreover, she was the girl her son liked. Under the circ.u.mstances they had become hurt, Mother Liang felt even more concerned about them.
It was a pity that good things don"t last forever. The day of Xie Fei and Xi Wen"s wedding, when eight people carried the bridal sedan around the city, it was unusually noisy as they pa.s.sed in front of the Liang Residence. Many maids and old maidservants gathered to watch. They gossipped at the doors, saying that the emperor originally wanted to marry Princess Anping to Mother Liang"s own son, but Liang Shao thought only of resisting and marrying Chen Bing"er. They also said that Laing Shao was beaten the day of their marriage because Chen Bing"er was jealous and had sneaked out of the bridal chamber to look for Liang Shao. While Mother Liang"s son was coaxing her, he said some words about Princess Anping being a medicine bottle. It was coincidentally heard by Young Master Xie, thus causing the following sequence of events.
Mother Liang, carrying a bowl of medicine, heard everything from behind them. She immediately thought of the mouthfuls of blood Liang Shao had spat out the night of the wedding. It was as though there was something digging at her heart and scratching at her lungs. Her hands were unable to control themselves from shaking; the medicine bowl fell to the ground with a clatter, shattering.
She immediately grabbed the maids and old maidservants and went to Chen Bing"er"s room. Because Liang Shao and Chen Bing"er were injured, the two of them were temporarily living apart. Now, it was more convenient for Mother Liang to settle accounts with her.
Chen Bing"er"s spirit was gravely injured. When Mother Liang smashed her door open, she was resting, her eyes closed. Now, Mother Liang hated her venomously. Seeing her relaxed appearance, her rage flared. In two steps, she grabbed ahold of Chen Bing"er"s hair and yanked up. She shouted, "In other families it"s the wife waiting on the mother-in-law. You"re really good, you really know how to relax! My family"s Shao-er2 marrying you wasn"t you become an official"s wife. The sun is already shining on your a.s.s and you still don"t hurry and go work!"
"Mother, Mother! What"s happened to you?" Chen Bing"er said anxiously. She already had a headache. With her scalp being pulled at like this, a shudder traveled directly to her head. She hurriedly covered her head.
"Don"t call me Mother, I"ve never drank the tea you made to pay respect!" Mother Liang"s red eyes stabbed into Chen Bing"er like knives, her saliva flying everywhere. "You"re a bad luck demon, a jinx! After meeting you, my son has never had anything good happen to him. First it was you causing my family"s Shao-er to lose his position as the emperor"s son-in-law, then getting him demoted from his official position, then again on the night of the wedding he was hurt because of you, becoming the laughingstock of the entire capital! You"re a husband"s death omen, I absolutely won"t agree to you becoming my Liang family"s daughter-in-law! From now on, you"re a concubine!"
As she spoke, Mother Liang remembered how she had been slaving away like a cow to wait on the s.l.u.t who had caused harm to her own son. Her heart immediately filled with hate. This was her beloved son! Although there was some rebellion, but he was really the meat of her heart. Unexpectedly, he was forced into this by a village girl with no background!
She suddenly remembered what her son had said when she had come to the capital about Chen Bing"er"s mother and father"s paired deaths. She became bewildered, her eyes pinning Chen Bing"er. She coldly said, "No, you can"t come into our Liang family"s house. You messenger of death, I absolutely won"t allow you to curse my Liang family!"
Chen Bing"er was dizzy and confused. She felt nauseated to the point of vomiting. Suddenly hearing Mother Liang"s ghastly words, her body shuddered and shrank. Her heart filled with limitless fear. Her face became deathly white. She looked at Mother Liang, strongly holding back her nausea. "Mother… What— what do you mean?"
"It"s exactly what it means! You"re the bane of the heavens! Stay away from my son! Go clean up your things and get lost!" Mother Liang said fiercely. She pointed at the doors of the house, glaring at Chen Bing"er.
Chen Bing"er was so shocked she began to shake. She grabbed at Mother Liang"s pant leg, crying, "Mother, Mother! I don"t want to! I"m the wife Liang-dage officially married, I won"t go, I don"t want to go…"
The author has something to say:
Sorry, everyone, I was just yelled at by my mom, I"m not in a very good mood. I can"t write any more. I"ll make it up tomorrow. Really sorry.
1↩: Translated liberally from 死丫頭, which is literally "dead (servant) girl". From Mother Liang"s way of speaking, I think "dumb b.i.t.c.h" isn"t terribly out of place.
2↩: 兒 is an affectionate suffix at the ends of names. The same "er" is actually part of Chen Bing"er"s name, so I"ve distinguished it with a hyphen instead. It"s something like Rick -> Ricky or Sam -> Sammy.