The Star Light Shines When He Came Chapter 11

The Red Fades, the Fragrance Disappears; Who Will Pity It? (11)

When they sat down, everyone directed their gazes towards the focus of today's festival, Young Master Xie and Princess Anping.

Young Master Xie's appearance was like jade, his aura was out of the ordinary. Not only his literary talent was outstanding, but even his skill on the martial arts side was pretty high. And Princess Anping was also exceptionally beautiful, her qin skill was superior, and she had the powerful emperor as her father. They were really a pair made by the heavens and arranged by the earth.

They couldn't be envious, they could only admire it, that's all.

One after the other, everyone began to praise, "Princess Anping and Young Master Xie are truly well-matched. Simply a pair made by the heavens and arranged by the earth!"

"Exactly, exactly! This is a shining example of a genius matched with a beauty1!"

In the middle of the admiring shouts, Liang Shao suddenly heard a young lady at his side saying to her friend, "Luckily the emperor changed the betrothal. This Young Master Xie clearly beats Liang Shao completely, right? I'm really jealous Princess Anping won such a good young master as her fiancé."

"I just heard that Liang Shao said only the most outstanding young lady under the heavens could match up to him. But he turned up his nose at Great Qi's princess; he also turned his nose up at noble young ladies. Instead he fell in love with a village girl. I originally thought that village girl couldn't match him. Thinking about it now, the two are really well-matched."

As they spoke, they covered their mouths and started to laugh. Liang Shao's eyebrows twitched, deep fury ambushing his thoughts. He forcefully gritted his teeth, his eyes completely red as if they were about to shoot sparks.

The sky was no longer bright. The eldest prince rose, smiling. "Today's Chrysanthemum Viewing Festival really was wonderful. Princess Anping won first place; you can select a pot of chrysanthemums first."

Xi Wen smiled secretly, the two dimples at the corners of her mouth faintly discernible. "I want that pot of green tree peonies."

Two servants carefully lifted the tree peonies and sent them to Xi Wen, handing them to her bodyguards. When the three young ladies ranked after her had picked the rest of the precious chrysanthemums, the eldest prince declared the festival over and everyone took their leave.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

Liang Shao walked the fastest. He didn't have the heart to exchange polite greetings with the others. He didn't even wait for Chen Bing'er. His feet grew wings, leaving the courtyard in a few steps, getting on the carriage and leaving.

When Chen Bing'er went outside, she could only see the shadow of the carriage gradually getting further away. She could only hold back her tears and trot after it, shouting, "Liang-dage, wait for me, Liang-dage—"

Who knew if Liang Shao didn't hear her, or if he didn't want to come back? In the end, it was the eldest prince who assigned a carriage to send Chen Bing'er back to the residence.

When she returned to the residence, it was silent. Chen Bing'er grabbed the newly-appointed butler watching the gate and asked, "Has Liang-dage come back?"

The butler pointed at the back garden. Quietly, he said, "Master's face is ashen. As soon as he came back, he had people prepare a few jars of wine. Right now, he's in the house drinking."Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

Chen Bing'er nodded, turning to go to the kitchen. She knew Liang Shao's mood was extremely bad, but drinking on an empty stomach would hurt his health. He didn't eat much at the banquet either. He'd be hungry in the middle of the night.

After half a shichen2 (one hour), Chen Bing'er filled a lunchbox with three of Liang Shao's favorite side dishes, a bowl of plain congee, and a bowl of sobering soup and went to the wing in the back garden. The door was wide open and the room was dark. Chen Bing'er lifted her feet and softly stepped in. The heavy scent of wine assaulted her nose. She covered her nose uncomfortably, putting the lunchbox on the table. She searched for a matchbox in the side cabinet and lit the candle.

The dark room suddenly lit up brightly. Chen Bing'er turned to look at Liang Shao. He was sprawled drunkenly on the table, dozing, his handsome face bathed in the soft, warm candlelight. Because of his moodiness, his brow was slightly wrinkled, his mouth open. His mumbling was too quiet to understand.

Chen Bing'er looked at him quietly, smiling, before taking the dishes out of the lunchbox and arranging them on the table.

When Liang Shao heard the noise, he groaned lowly in annoyance. He frowned and opened his eyes, looking up to see Chen Bing'er's tender, smiling face, then looking down to see the dishes on the table. His expression was displeased. "Take them away."

Chen Bing'er froze. Warmly, she urged, "Liang-dage, eat a bit, I specially made your favorites. Congee is good for nourishing the body. Eating a bowl after drinking is best."

"I don't want to eat, take them away." Liang Shao frowned.

Chen Bing'er hesitated for a second, biting her lip unable to restrain. She picked up the sobering soup and passed it to Liang Shao. "Then— then drink this sobering soup…"

Liang Shao's eyes flashed with impatience, his face dyed with a layer of anger. Immediately, he lost control, flinging his hands and knocking over the bowl in her hands. He shouted, "You're so annoying! I already said I won't eat!"

The boiling hot sobering soup spilled on Chen Bing'er's hand. Her tender flesh immediately turned red. The air froze. A bit of regret showed on Liang Shao's face, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he frowned and closed it again.

Chen Bing'er lowered her head, covering her hand and standing motionlessly. After a while, she slowly crouched down, picking up the shards piece by piece and putting them in the lunchbox, then silently turned and walked out.

Liang Shao lowered his gaze to look at the table, regret lingering in his heart, suffocating him, making him unable to bear it.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

When she had reached the door, Chen Bing'er gripped the lunchbox in her hands tightly. After hesitating for a second, she lowered her head and quietly asked, "Liang-dage, you regret agreeing to marry me, right?"

"I…" Liang Shao hesitated, lifting his head and frowning at Chen Bing'er's thin back.

"Liang-dage, I'm sorry. Bing'er knows that today Bing'er threw away your face, causing you to be laughed at." Chen Bing'er's eyes filled with tears, the drops following her cheeks and falling to the ground. Her voice thick and low, she choked out, "But even if you hate Bing'er, Bing'er will still like you."

She covered her mouth with one hand and ran out.

Liang Shao's heart became even more uncomfortable. He closed his eyes, one hand rubbing his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw the table full of dishes. All of them were his favorites. In a moment, his regret drained away. He jumped to his feet and chased after her. As soon as he stepped over the doorway, he bumped into Chen Bing'er, who was holding a new bowl of sobering soup, about to step inside.

Chen Bing'er looked at him with reddened eyes. Hesitantly, she said, "Liang-dage, where are you…" going?

In the next second, Liang Shao pulled her into his embrace, lips lightly pressed next to her ear. He said, his tone steady, "Bing'er, let's get married."

Chen Bing'er blinked, unable to believe it. The bowl in her hand fell to the flower with a clatter, breaking into pieces. She lifted her hand and tightly gripped Liang Shao's clothes, tearful eyes hazy. She laughed: "Okay."

That night, Liang Shao sent people to pick up his parents and family and bring them to the capital.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

Ten days after the Chrysanthemum Viewing Festival, Xie Fei received the "Landscape of Bright Autumn Ink Painting" Liang Shao had lost to him. This painting even came with a gilded wedding card.

The wedding card invited Young Master Xie to attend Liang Shao and Chen Bing'er's wedding at the Liang residence in seven days, and specially indicated they could bring family.

Seven days passed by in the blink of an eye. That morning, Xie Fei went to the palace to pick up Xi Wen and go to the Liang residence. The journey was smooth and unimpeded, and they quickly arrived at the Liang residence's doors. Today, the peaceful and quiet street was instead filled with horses and carriages. You could see the lanterns adorning the Liang residence from far away. It was so lively.

Carriages stopped and started. It took quite some time before they stopped in front of the Liang residence. Xie Fei helped Xi Wen off the carriage, and the two people walked together into the Liang residence. Lu Qi signaled the imperial bodyguards behind him to send the congratulatory gifts in.

The Liang residence was full of red lanterns and red double-happiness letters. The atmosphere was cheerful and happy. Seeing Xie Fei and Xi Wen, an unbroken road of people bowed in greeting.

Xie Fei's and Xi Wen's status was high; their seats were naturally in the great hall's main room.

There were red silk ribbons and curtains all over the main room and glowing, reddish-gold candles arranged on a table in the center of the room.

Not long after the two people had each sat down in the male and female seats, Liang Shao and Chen Bing'er came out amidst the congratulatory sounds and began to bow to heaven and earth. After the three bows, the wedding matron took the new bride to the bridal chamber. Liang Shao was also dragged into the crowd to drink.

Out of nervousness, Xi Wen had drank a lot of tea and water. Not long later, she couldn't hold back and said in Ting Lan's ear, "Ting Lan, I… I want to go to the restroom."

Ting Lan glanced outside the banquet hall after hearing her words. Laughing, she said, "Princess, then this servant will send people to let Young Master Xie know, in case he discovers you aren't here and gets so worried he can't eat."

Xi Wen gave her a reproachful stare and followed. She hadn't even seen the shadow of that person, but her entire little face gradually turned red.

After hemming and hawing for a long time, she nodded. "Okay."

Thus, after Ting Lan instructed Bai Zhu, she helped Xi Wen out of her seat, looking for a servant of the Liang residence to take her to a guest room.

Because Xi Wen's status was high, the servant didn't take her to the normal guest room, but took her to a specially arranged guest room in the rear court.

When the two people had finished and come out, they discovered the servant that had escorted them had disappeared. Today, the Liang residence was hosting a banquet, so they were unusually busy. She had probably been called away by someone else.

The banquet hall was really stuffy. Those madams and young ladies all thought they had done themselves up very well, but in fact Xi Wen could feel they were secretly sizing her up and talking about her.

Although she was already used to it, no matter how much gossip there was, she was still a bit uncomfortable. It was especially so because she had never attended this kind of banquet that was lively to the point of being noisy, and never met this many strangers with insatiable curiosity towards her.

This was probably the difference between palace banquets and normal people's banquets.

Thinking about this, Xi Wen said to Ting Lan, "I want to walk a bit here, you go back and tell Young Master Xie."

Ting Lan had some hesitation. She worried that if she wasn't there, the princess could have something happen to her.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

Xi Wen laughed a bit and nodded. "Don't worry, I'll wait around here for you. Hurry there and hurry back, there won't be anything."

Ting Lan thought this was also fine, so she nodded in agreement. Before she left, she reminded Xi Wen in detail several times, only trotting away when Xi Wen agreed.

Xi Wen's health was poor, and she was already tired after a few circles. She saw a pavilion not far in the distance, and without even looking carefully she walked towards it.

As she walked closer, she found there seemed to be the shadows of people moving inside past the lush green trees.

She was just about to turn and leave, but from the pavilion came a familiar male voice: "Bing'er, you hurry and go back to the bridal chamber, I'll go back in soon. Where has there been a new bride who lifts her own veil and runs out?"

Xi Wen startled. The owner of this voice was, shockingly, Liang Shao. From his words, she could tell the other person was his new bride, Chen Bing'er.

Now, Chen Bing'er's lovable voice came, carrying resentment. "Husband, Bing'er is worried. I just found out today Princess Anping came. Why did you invite her? Is it that you… still like her?"Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com

"Nonsense!" Liang Shao scolded lightly. "She came with Xie Fei, I didn't invite her."

Chen Bing'er puffed out her cheeks, huffing. "Why did you avoid the last question? Could it be that husband, you really still like her?"

Looking at Chen Bing'er acting like a little daughter, Liang Shao didn't know whether to cry or laugh. This was something he had never seen before. In front of him, Chen Bing'er was always understanding and kindhearted, like she could do anything. Suddenly seeing her acting like she had eaten vinegar3, he wasn't annoyed, but rather even a bit happy.

Thinking this way, Liang Shao laughingly pulled Chen Bing'er into his chest. Tenderly, he said, "I have long stopped liking her. Even at first, I was just taken in by her stunning beauty, that's it. Now the most beautiful person in my heart is you. Besides, what if she gets prettier? Isn't she still a medicine bottle? She can't carry on my Liang family's ancestral line. She's just a flower vase4 without a single redeeming feature…"

He was still talking incessantly. Xi Wen had long stopped being able to understand anything. Her entire body was frozen in place, tears bursting out of her eyes on their own accord. Just as she was about to fall over, a pair of hands steadily supported her, calling in distress, "Princess!"

The author has something to say:
My thanks to little angel "19786760" for watering with 1 nutrient bottle
Little cutie "Mountain Liang" for watering with 1 nutrient bottle
Darling "Mere Worldly Possessions" for watering with 1 nutrient bottle
Thank you to all the little darlings' bookmarks and comments~~ Kiss kiss (づ￣ 3￣)づ

T/N: I'm going to start translating the author's notes. I'll go back and put in the old ones… sometime… (exception is chapter 1 because it's a spoiler, I'll translate it at the end of the arc.) Only six more chapters til the end of the arc 😮 Please consider donating some money to me so I can buy raws from the author for the second arc~

1↩: An ideal couple. (private commentary/Chinese is confusing:) I want to say that the specific wording is 才子佳人, where the half indicating the beauty doesn't have female (女) written in the characters so it could be gender neutral ;w; but it turns out 佳人 means a beautiful woman (????) Anyways I think this is kinda sexist sigh and also why does half have to be beautiful how about they're both competent and match each other instead

2↩: China used to measure time with twelve-hour segments of the day, where each segment was two hours/one shichen. Fun fact: (I just found this out on Wikipedia lol) nowadays, hours are called 小時, literally little "shi(chen)" (*´▽`*)

3↩: Acting jealous.

4↩: A common way to say someone is pretty but without any substance.

Chapter end