Chapter 12 Chapter 12 He had nothing left, only...
Throughout the entire process, Liang Shao never blamed Shan He, nor did he feel that his future was delayed because of her.
The reason for writing the divorce agreement was that "arranged marriages are extremely bad customs."
He didn't care at all that he couldn't pass the military examination. After all, his initial dream was to enlist in the Beichuan Army and experience the real battlefield. At that time, Liang Shao, who was only sixteen years old, felt that a good man should have ambitions beyond his hometown, and only by truly killing the enemy could he truly serve his country.
But his grandfather forbade it, and his elder brother forbade it too. They said the battlefield was dangerous and Liang Shao shouldn't go. They even hid Liang Shao's nameplate and red-tasseled spear to prevent him from secretly joining the army.
Therefore, Liang Shao had no choice but to use his marriage to Xue Shanhe as a bargaining chip to make a deal with Old Master Liang. At that time, Liang Shao planned and decided to first marry Shanhe to keep his grandfather at ease, and then divorce her as soon as his grandfather passed away and go to Beichuan.
But he hadn't expected people's hearts to be so fickle. The moment Shanhe said "let's have a child," the moment her trembling hands wrapped around his neck, something shattered in his heart. What would Shanhe do after the divorce? She had experienced the confiscation of her family's property; her relatives and friends were either dead or had long since ceased contact. What would she do? He refused to admit he was attracted to Shanhe, yet his gaze couldn't help but follow her. His grandfather and elder brother hadn't taught him about family responsibility; with Shanhe, he began to think for the first time: if he died on the battlefield, what would happen to his grandfather, his brother, and Shanhe? If his momentary pleasure, his own fame, had to be exchanged for their remaining years of suffering, he would rather not have it. And what about his and Shanhe's child? Would he, like him, lose his father at a young age? Or would he have to recognize someone else as his father?
People with a heart and a soul are such a hassle; they even have to consider other people's feelings when they're dying.
That night, Liang Shao sat on the stone steps of Shuyu Pavilion, crushing the moonlight in his palm.
*
The funeral arrangements for Old Master Liang were overseen by the clan elders, who always prioritized the brothers Liang Ye and Liang Shao. Shanhe, the second mistress from a different surname and of government slave origin, was naturally rarely remembered by the elders. From Liang Ye's return until the burial of Old Master Liang, his former students came from all over the country to pay their respects, all accompanied by the Liang brothers. Only when they brought female relatives were Shanhe invited to greet them. Liang Shao would only return to Shuyu Pavilion around midnight each evening, exhausted from his work.
Shanhe thus had much more time to paint.
That time, Wu Tianqi took away her embroidered portrait of "The Palace of Eternal Life," and ten days later sent a servant to say only two things:
Firstly, twenty-four of Shanhe's paintings were selected and inserted into the book as embroidered portraits. Shanhe earned one hundred and forty-four taels from these twenty-four paintings. Wu Tianqi exchanged them for one hundred and fifty taels in silver notes, with the extra six taels serving as a deposit for the next job.
Secondly, Wu Tianqi intended to separate from the bookstore and have Danxia Painting Studio publish a book consisting solely of illustrations. Wu Tianqi encouraged Shanhe to conceive of the stories he wanted to illustrate in his spare time.
Therefore, whenever Shanhe had free time, she began to conceive the content of the illustrated book. This was much more difficult than creating illustrations for a book. Illustrations are made up of existing scenarios described in the book, with the artist refining and processing them. But creating an illustrated book requires the artist to independently conceive a complete story. While keeping it a secret from Liang Shao, she discarded more than ten sketches, still without any inspiration.
That day, after the burial of Old Master Liang, Liang Ye, Liang Shao, and Shan He returned home from the Liang family ancestral graves. The carriage stopped at the second gate of the Liang residence. Liang Shao had already alighted, and Shan He was about to get out, supporting Qing Yue, when they heard a rather unfamiliar male voice outside the carriage curtain. It shouldn't be a member of the Liang family. Shan He paused and waited inside the carriage.
She heard the man say to Liang Shao, "Second Master, the Ministry of Personnel has sent a document. Regarding the case of Yuetuo Village last time, I am to take up the post of magistrate of a county in the capital region immediately. I will depart the day after tomorrow, and I will host a farewell banquet at my home tomorrow. Second Master must come."
As the magistrate of a county in the capital region, serving under the emperor's nose, his future career will surely be smooth sailing.
Shanhe gripped the car window railing, her knuckles turning white. She lowered her eyes, her heart churning with turmoil.
After a moment of silence outside, Liang Shao said in a hoarse voice, "Alright, congratulations. I will definitely attend the banquet tomorrow."
Zhang, the magistrate, was overjoyed and bowed to Liang Shao, saying, "I am truly grateful to you, Second Master. If you ever need my help in the future, I will certainly do my utmost."
After Zhang, the magistrate, left, Shanhe helped Qingyue out. As soon as they lifted the curtain, they saw Liang Shao standing beside his horse, stroking its mane with one hand, his eyes lowered and silent. Liang Ye stood about ten paces away, his lips pursed, his brows furrowed as he stared at Liang Shao. Shanhe knew that Liang Shao was angry. He had been sullen these past few days, not only because of the passing of Old Master Liang, but also because of this matter.
In the case of Yuetuo Village, from beginning to end, Liang Shao was always at the forefront. He was the one who broke the clues and apprehended the murderer. That night, he set up an ambush, enduring the bites and buzzing of insects for most of the night while lying on the beams of a dilapidated temple, before finally capturing the culprit. That very night, Old Master Liang was at home, completely forgetting about him and Shanhe. He had given so much of his energy and sacrifice, only to receive a simple sentence in the official documents: "Chief Judge Liang Shao assisted him." How could he swallow this insult?
Just as Shanhe was about to step forward to comfort Liang Shao, a stranger suddenly ran out from the end of the passageway, waving a letter in his hand. He stopped panting in front of Liang Ye and exclaimed, "Master! Master... good news, good news!"
Seeing that Liang Shao was unhappy, Cheng Bao stepped forward and kicked the servant in the buttocks, cursing, "On the day of the old master's funeral, what kind of shit are you spewing from your mouth!"
The servant cried out and fell to the ground, holding up the letter and handing it to Liang Ye: "You've passed the exam! You've become a Jinshi! The palace examination is in a month! The governor invites all the Jinshi who passed the exam in Mizhou to a banquet at Ruyi Tower tomorrow."
The three of them froze. Liang Ye and Shan He hurriedly looked at Liang Shao, only to see his hand, which had been gently stroking the horse's mane, frozen in mid-air, his entire body like a statue. After a moment, Liang Shao turned around, his face still bearing his usual smiling expression, seemingly nonchalant, and said to Liang Ye, "Congratulations, brother!" But he choked on those words and couldn't say anything more. Liang Shao quickly bit his lower lip and strode into the hanging flower gate.
Shanhe caught up with Liang Shao and went behind the screen wall together.
Once Liang Shao and Shan He were no longer visible, Liang Ye's gentle demeanor vanished, his face darkening and his eyes sharpening. He gripped the envelope, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. Liang Ye said coldly, "Twenty strokes of the cane."
The messenger exclaimed in confusion, "Ah!" before being grabbed by the arm and dragged towards the front courtyard. He cried out repeatedly, begging Liang Ye for mercy, but only saw Liang Ye walk into the hanging flower gate without changing his expression. Cheng Min, a servant who was usually favored by Liang Ye, approached with cold eyes and his sleeves rolled up. He lifted his eyelids and sneered through his nose, "Since the old master passed away, nothing has mattered more to our master than Shuyu Pavilion. If you make the second master unhappy, you're making the eldest master unhappy. From now on, be more mindful of what to say and when, so you won't suffer this beating for nothing."
Inside the second gate, Liang Shao, being tall and long-legged, quickly left Shan He behind.
Shanhe lifted her skirt and hurried over. When she reached the pavilion entrance, she turned to Qingyue and Chengbao and said, "You two stay at the door, I'll go and persuade him. Don't let any more of those clueless people in." With that, Shanhe went straight inside. Pushing open the main room door, she saw Liang Shao sitting in a yellow pearwood armchair, his fingers as a pillow, a red stain hanging from the corner of his eye.
“Ah Shao…” Shanhe walked over carefully.
Hearing Shanhe's voice, Liang Shao sniffed and smiled, "Shanshan, you're here. I'm fine—" Before he could finish speaking, Shanhe had already grasped his face, and he looked up at her.
Shanhe saw his smile, but she also clearly heard the tremor and sob in his voice. Having spent so much time with Liang Shao, she understood his nature well. She remembered that two years ago, the old master had asked her to choose between Liang Ye and Liang Shao. At that time, the old master's assessment of Liang Shao was "naturally unruly and lacking ambition." Yes, Liang Shao was very different from ordinary young men. He loved excitement and laughter, and wherever he went, he had a large group of friends, yet he neglected family affairs, didn't care about household matters, and didn't study the classics. But once he started doing something, he devoted himself to it meticulously. This was true of the old master's funeral, and it was also true of the Yuetuo Village case. The virtuous men described in the classics seemed irrelevant to him; he always acted only for himself, as long as he was happy and as long as he was true to himself. He didn't listen to others. Therefore, he had been at odds with the old master for more than half a year because he had been forced into an arranged marriage.
What was he so stubbornly insisting on? Shanhe didn't understand before, until Wu Tianqi placed that 150-tael silver note in her hand, until that light piece of paper felt as heavy as 150 taels of silver, Shanhe finally understood that what Liang Shao wanted was freedom and equality.
Therefore, he would say that arranged marriages were extremely outdated customs, and he would protest against the old man for being forced into the marriage. He had never actually disliked the old man; in the old man's final days, Liang Shao helped clean up the vomit and excrement the old man had ingested. At that time, Shanhe stood by, watching Liang Shao wipe the old man's body with a damp cloth, muttering, "Zhao'er, Zhao'er, you only remember your son! Humph, I am Liang Shao!" This world bestows all sorts of names upon people, good and bad, to replace their original names. For example, Liang Ye was Liang Juren, and Liang Shao was Liang Tixing—these were good names. On the other hand, Xue Shanhe was a government slave woman, and Xue Yin was a treasonous official—these were bad names. After a while, people forget their original names, only remembering the fragmented gossip, naturally praising the good and cursing the bad. Sometimes, even Shanhe herself accepted that she was born a government slave, and therefore deserved to be inferior and looked down upon. But then Liang Shao shouted out: "I am Liang Shao!"
Shanhe suddenly understood that Liang Shao's resentment wasn't about marrying a woman from a government slave background, but rather the force that compelled him to marry a stranger. This force came from Old Master Liang, so he could only resent the old master.
Shanhe looked directly into Liang Shao's eyes. Liang Shao didn't cry, but she did. A tear slid from her eye and landed on Liang Shao's cheek. It was probably this tear that brought out all of Liang Shao's pent-up grievances, and two lines of tears rolled down his cheeks in an instant.
"Shanshan..." he choked out as he hugged Shanhe, burying his head in her stomach. Shanhe, too, couldn't hold back her tears and gently stroked Liang Shao's head.
Unable to go to Beichuan, unable to pass the martial arts examination, and unable to get promoted, he was destined to spend his life in Mizhou, holding onto this mediocre official position bought with gold and silver, and being ridiculed as a swindler who sold official posts. Yet, Liang Shao was clearly skilled in martial arts, wielding a red-tasseled spear with dazzling skill. Despite his pure and kind nature, he was still labeled as eccentric and unrestrained. Shanhe felt even more ashamed; without her, Liang Shao's path might have been much easier.
While Shanhe was lost in thought, Liang Shao wiped away his tears and looked up at her. He reached out a hand and gently rubbed away the tears clinging to Shanhe's cheek with his fingertips, a smile spreading across his lips. But as soon as he smiled, the tears were instantly squeezed out and slid down his cheeks even faster.
"Why are you crying?" Liang Shao said with a smile through his tears. "Shanshan, thank goodness I have you."
These words pierced Shanhe's heart. Old Master Liang had passed away, Liang Ye was going to the capital to pursue fame and fortune, and Zhang, the judicial officer, was taking up his post as magistrate of a county in the capital region. Liang Shao had nothing, received nothing, only Shanhe remained, his wife—a woman from an arranged marriage, born a government slave. And now, even she was leaving.
A note from the author:
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