The Star Light Shines When He Came Chapter 8

The Red Fades, the Fragrance Disappears; Who Will Pity It? (8)

After walking far away, far enough that it was impossible for Xie Fei to see her, Xi Wen relaxed and let out a breath. She looked at the box she hugged in her arms again, face red, stroking the latch with her mind in a mess. Inexplicably, her heart bloomed with a hint of sweetness.

When Ting Lan came searching with a lantern, she saw Princess Anping standing in a daze and laughing foolishly. She quickly came forward, exclaiming, "Princess, you've finally come back! Where did you go? You almost worried us to death!"

Xi Wen raised her eyes and looked at Ting Lan, displeased. With a guilty conscience, she said evasively, "I— I didn't go anywhere, I just stayed at the pavilion by the lake for a while." She went around Ting Lan, clutching the box to her chest, speedily walking into the house.

After was.h.i.+ng her face and rinsing her mouth, Xi Wen eagerly climbed onto her bed. When the palace maids had all left, she secretly took out the box from under her pillow, quietly unlatching it. Inside was a translucent, delicate jade rabbit ornament, carved vividly life-like, especially the jade rabbit's two red eyes, making the rabbit seem even more realistic.

Carefully wiping the jade rabbit ornament, Xi Wen slightly quirked the corner of her mouth, pursing her lips and laughing silently.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com.

As she basked in sweetness, she suddenly remembered Xie Fei seemed to have said "It's quite like you". Blinking, Xi Wen frowned, trying to guess what these words mean. When her smooth fingertips touched the jade rabbit's red eyes, a lightbulb lit up in her head. She finally understood what Xie Fei's words meant— he was mocking her as a crybaby!

"How is it alike?" Xi Wen mumbled, pouting resentfully. She looked at the jade ornament. After a long time, her eyes curved up into a smile again.

Just like this, she turned it over to keep looking at it. It was obviously just a simple jade rabbit ornament, but she felt that no matter how she looked it wasn't enough. In the end, Xi Wen, squeezing the jade ornament, fell asleep in a daze.

After sleeping peacefully for a night, on the second day Xi Wen woke up early. She laid in bed in a daze, her consciousness still a bit fuzzy, gradually remembering yesterday bits and pieces. Suddenly she remembered the jade rabbit ornament that Xie Fei had given her.

She wrung her hands, they were completely empty. She immediately rushed to throw aside the blankets and pillow, searching everywhere, but she came up empty-handed.

"Where's the jade ornament? Where did my jade ornament go…" Xi Wen kneeled on her bed, turning the covers inside and out in her search, not even letting the corners go unturned.

Ting Lan heard the noises from inside the house, pus.h.i.+ng aside the beaded curtains and rus.h.i.+ng in. She saw the princess looking for something on her bed like a crazy person. She hurriedly went up, asking, "Princess, did you lose something?"

"My jade ornament disappeared—" Xi Wen said anxiously.

Jade ornament?

Ting Lan "ah"ed. She asked, "Do you mean a white rabbit jade ornament?"

"Yes, do you know where it went?" Xi Wen asked eagerly, raising her head to look at Ting Lan.

Ting Lan laughed. "Princess, don't worry. Last night this servant came to add some blankets and saw the jade ornament was about to fall. I put it away for you. It's on the dressing table."

"Quickly bring it over, I want to see it," Xi Wen immediately instructed, letting out a puff of air.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com.

Ting Lan made a noise of agreement and went to bring the jade ornament over, pa.s.sing it to the princess. When Xi Wen got it, carefully inspecting it once as though it was a treasure. She laughed happily after finis.h.i.+ng her inspection. "As long as it's not broken."

"Princess, this servant seems to have never seen this jade ornament before. I don't know who gave it to you?" Ting Lan asked curiously. She watched the princess cupping the jade ornament, her eyes carrying joyful waves and little face flushed red, appearance clearly like she had fallen in love.

Xi Wen looked over Ting Lan reprovingly. She knew Ting Lan was her personal servant; some things couldn't be hidden from her. Besides, Xie Fei wasn't an outsider. Finally, smiling slightly, she protested coquettishly, "Other than Young Master Xie who else can there be?"

Ting Lan widened her eyes with pleasant surprise. "So it was son-in-law1!"

"Don't call randomly, he isn't yet." Xi Wen reprimanded coyly, blus.h.i.+ng.

"I follow your orders," Ting Lan obediently agreed. After a pause, she again covered up her mouth, laughing, "Young Master's wife2!"

Xi Wen turned red, pretending to get angry. She exclaimed, "Ting Lan!"

Ting Lan promptly begged for mercy: "Yes, Princess, this servant was wrong. I will go get you water and serve you for changing clothes and the meal." She turned and left the house, but her smile became even more obvious.

On this side Xi Wen was happily eating breakfast, but Liang Shao spent the night in the dark prison, muddle-headed and ignorant.

Because Liang Shao offended the emperor, the jailer sectioned him into the most low-level area of the prison. This kind of prison was specially designated to detain local thugs and rascals, thieves and bandits. There were usually ten people in one cell.

The prison was dark, damp, and incredibly stinky. Ants and rats scurried all over. Even with his martial arts, Liang Shao couldn't deal with them. In the beginning, he also found a relatively clean corner to stand in. Time slowly pa.s.sed. He was tired and hungry, his eyelids so heavy he couldn't keep them open. After a long struggle, he gave up, curling up in the corner and dozing off.

After a long time, there was finally an official who came to deliver the meal. Those people who were paralyzed before pounced on the food like a nest of bees. Liang Shao looked at those people with scorn, going around them and flagging down an official. He asked arrogantly, "Where's the emperor, I want to meet the emperor!"

The official sneered, throwing off Liang Shao's hand. He impatiently said, "Who are you, even wanting to meet the emperor! You just stay here, don't mess around, or laozi3 will let you try the taste of a las.h.i.+ng!"

"You even dare to speak to me in this way!" Liang Shao looked angrily at the official, face turning pale. Anger boiled in his heart, burning his internal organs. He glared fiercely at the official. "Do you know who I am? I am Great Qi's Dingbei Great General Liang Shao!"

"I don't care if you're a Dingbei or Dingnan4 Great General, that's outside!" The official looked at Liang Shao disdainfully, raising an arm to point beneath his feet. "Here, you're just a prisoner, a prisoner that the emperor even abandoned! Whether you can leave is still up for debate!"

Right, he was already… abandoned by the emperor.

Liang Shao's entire body shrank back, trembling. He returned to the corner, his face deathly pale face and devastated, two eyes looking emptily at the ground.

From far away, the sound of the official mumbling to himself came in: "Wouldn't be a great general and the emperor's son-in-law, unexpectedly offending the imperial family for a country b.u.mpkin. A great future was destroyed in a day, and who knows if it's his brain that has problems…"Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com.

Liang Shao laughed bitterly. He mocked himself in a low voice: "Right, I really am a fool."

Three days pa.s.sed in this way. Today, Eunuch Xi came holding an imperial edict. He saw Liang Shao and sighed deeply, then opened the imperial edict and began to read aloud: "By the mandate of heaven, the emperor decrees: Dingbei Liang Shao was disrespectful at the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, and also defied an imperial edict and privately took a wife. But considering his merits in battle, the death penalty can be exempted, but punishment cannot be avoided. Liang Shao will be demoted to a.s.sistant Minister of the Ministry of War, fined half a year's salary, and must return the General's Residence within two days. This is to warn others from following a bad example."

Liang Shao stiffly accepted the imperial edict with two hands, face pale and lips purple. He shakily left the yamen5. On the road, the people on the main street and alleys were all discussing his deeds. Though they were all praising him for being affectionate and loyal with the qualities of a hero, derision was deep in their eyes.

He didn't want to listen and didn't want to look. Liang Shao was dazed, covering his ears and walking faster and faster. But those words, those jeers still made their way clearly into his ears. Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore. He rushed back to his residence, distraught, not even noticing that the housekeeper and servants weren't there. 

As soon as he entered the rear court, Liang Shao saw Chen Bing'er hanging up clothes with her sleeves rolled up. Her bright and clean forehead had a thin layer of sweat s.h.i.+ning in the sun.

When she finished hanging up the clothes, she picked up the basin to turn around. Immediately, her limpid eyes turned red, teardrops overflowing. She threw down the basin and ran to Liang Shao, sobbing, "Liang-dage6, you came back."

Liang Shao lowered his eyes to look at her. Her face was like a pear blossom bathed in rain, provoking a feeling of doting. He frowned, still thinking of the gossip from outside. The hands at his sides hesitantly raised and lowered again.

Chen Bing'er's eyes were full of tears. Her cool little hands stroked Liang Shao's face, looking at him in distress: "You became thinner, your beard is also grew a lot…"

Liang Shao let her touch him, pursing his lips in silence. His eyes showed a sliver of struggle and tenderness.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com.

Seeing Liang Shao's dispiritedness, Chen Bing'er pulled back her hands in sudden realization. She rubbed away her tears with her sleeves and laughed: "Liang-dage, you must be hungry, I made your favorite dishes. I'll go get water for you to wash up, then we can go eat…" As she spoke, Chen Bing'er extended her hand to pull Liang Shao towards the well.

In his palm was Chen Bing'er's cool little hand; at his ear was the sound of her tender prattling. In a second, Liang Shao's heart softened. His hand slowly gripped her hand tighter.

The Autumn Chrysanthemum Viewing Festival was held by the city's literati not long after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Although it was called the Autumn Chrysanthemum Viewing Festival, its purpose was really a gathering for the princes to recruiting talents. Thus, the barrier for entrance was sky-high; the people who came to partic.i.p.ate in the festival were children of influential houses or outstanding in literary or martial talent. Of course, this kind of festival was also a disguised form of a matchmaking banquet, so all the partic.i.p.ants would bring their families.

Early in the morning, Xie Fei went to the palace to pick up Xi Wen. At first, Xi Wen sat reservedly in her seat. Gradually, as the carriage galloped towards the lively main street, the rising and falling sounds of peddlers selling their wares travelled in from outside; the smells of various types of snacks also floated in. Xi Wen hesitated for a bit, but in the end still couldn't resist, lifting the curtains and peering around outside.

The festival's location was in the countryside, occupying almost a hundred mu (~67,000 sq m/~700,000 sq ft). Xi Wen looked around curiously the entire way. The carriage gradually came to a stop before she realized it. Xie Fei took the lead to get off the carriage, then turned and extended a hand to her. Xi Wen quickly glanced at Xie Fei, two hands sneaking in her sleeves. After wiping off, she took his hand, red faced, and came off the carriage.

When Xie Fei and Xi Wen walked side by side into the courtyard, the people had pretty much already arrived. In a second, the entire room of people looked towards the two of them, full of surprise.

Liang Shao saw the two people from behind the crowd. Today, Xie Fei wore simple silver robes, fine black hair tied up with a tall jade crown. He was handsome and cold, his entire person emitting a dazzling radiance. At his side, Princess Anping wore a silk robe whiter the snow, face like a delicate flower, a head of black hair arranged in a flowing cloud bun7. Towards the judging crowd, she pinched Xie Fei's sleeves uneasily, looking even more like a pampered, frail darling.

In a second, Liang Shao's heart mixed up with five flavors. He turned his head, downed his cup in one gulp, then sighed heavily as though wanting to spit out the melancholy in his heart.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com.

Chen Bing'er frowned slightly at Liang Shao's side. She just saw the two people, but she wasn't jealous of Princess Anping having an even better Young Master Xie at all. She was only afraid, afraid that Liang Shao would throw her away.

No, Liang Shao was her, Chen Bing'er's person. She absolutely wouldn't allow him to abandon her, or else… 

Chen Bing'er's lowered eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness. When she raised her head, it had already returned to normal. She picked up the wine pot again and filled up Liang Shao's cup with wine.

T/N: Long story (this was like four paragraphs and then I was like “I need to stop” lmao) but I've set up a Ko-Fi! If you guys are able spare a couple of dollars, please consider donating to help me buy chapters from the original site ? I've also (finally) made a stockpile of chapters, and I can now do bonus updates!!! So every time we hit $20 in c.u.mulative donations, I'll release an extra chapter. (If you think this number is a bit high, that's because it kind of is lol but I'm a super slow translator and I need to keep a stockpile for normal updates once I get back to school/have no time anymore.) Thank you guys for reading and supporting TSLSWHC so far. You're amazing!

1↩: It sounds a little awkward but what Ting Lan actually said is 駙馬爺, something like "the emperor's respectable son-in-law". 駙馬 means the emperor's son-in-law, while 爺 in this case is used to show respect. She's preemptively calling Xie Fei as Xi Wen's husband.

2↩: I mentioned this briefly before, but Xie Fei's actual t.i.tle is 世子 (s.h.i.+zi), which is reserved for the eldest sons of the emperor or feudal princes. It's kind of more like "heir of the imperial family" than just "young master" (but it's a mouthful so I just translated it as young master), so when Ting Lan calls Xi Wen the "young master's wife" it's more specific in Chinese and it's clear she means Xie Fei and not some other male from a n.o.ble house even without context.

3↩: A colloquial and arrogant way to refer to oneself. Literally, it means "father"; as a p.r.o.noun, it's more like "I, your father" to show the user's (perceived) superiority over the other. It's also used jokingly.

4↩: Bei (北) means north; nan (南) means south.

5↩: The headquarters of a government official/department. They were in charge of governmental duties, including judging cases and issuing policies. Think of it as a unit of the government in ancient China. Yamen can be used to refer to the physical office as well as the group of people that run it. Read more here.

6↩: 大/da is big, while 哥/ge is older brother. Used for oldest brother, a polite address for a guy around the same age as you, and also boss/gang leader.

7↩: I'm having a super hard time trying to find a picture of this, but the original name is 流雲髻 (I translated it literally to flowing cloud bun). However, you can click to look at pretty art of ancient hairstyles ?