Chapter 69 He vomited all over himself.
Back at their lodgings, Liang Ye carefully placed Shanhe on the couch and called for servants to come in and attend to her. The maids bustled about, preparing hangover soup, wringing out warm towels, and fetching clean clothes for the two of them; the room was instantly a scene of chaos.
Shanhe lay on the couch, clutching her suffocating chest. Her mouth and chest were stained with dirt, and tears streamed down her face. She sobbed and murmured incessantly.
Liang Ye leaned close to Shan He's lips and heard her complain of stomach discomfort and headaches, feeling unwell all over. Liang Ye, holding a handkerchief, wiped her mouth while saying angrily, "Fine, fine, fine! You'll only learn your lesson when you're in pain! You knew you couldn't drink, yet you stupidly drank it all? Didn't you even ask me? You're so honest, those two are seasoned veterans, you couldn't beat them, and you can't drink, didn't you know to ask me for help? I thought you had a huge capacity for alcohol, pouring you cup after cup! Now you know you're in pain!"
Liang Ye tossed the soiled towel into the copper basin, and the maidservant hurriedly handed him a freshly wrung one. Liang Ye took it and then wiped Shanhe's face. After wiping her face, he cleaned the stains from her chest, still grumbling, "You're still complaining? When have I ever taught you to do any work? When have I never treated you like a proper lady? You willingly debase yourself, abandoning your status as a mistress to insist on burying yourself among the maids. How dare you complain about being tired? Let me tell you, you want me to let go? I won't! I'll stay with you, and I won't let you have your way! You'll be with me for life, good or bad. If I rise to prominence, you'll live a life of luxury; if I fall on hard times, you'll be with me, 'not dwelling in the mud, but in the snow and ice'!"
The maid brought two sets of clean clothes. Liang Ye discarded the dirty towel and reached out to untie Shanhe's belt.
Shanhe opened her tearful eyes and vaguely saw Liang Ye undressing her again. Feeling wronged, she thought he was aroused again. She kicked him in the chest and cursed, "Go away! Go away! I don't want you!" In her agitation, her stomach churned again. She leaned against the edge of the bed to vomit, but the maidservant rushed over with a spittoon to catch her. She only vomited up a few mouthfuls of bitter water, which burned her heart.
Enraged by her kick, Liang Ye's temples throbbed with anger. He grabbed Shanhe's ankle and slammed her back onto the bed. He immediately stood up and said to the maids, "Get out! All of you get out! Let her fend for herself!" With that, he strode to the side room and had someone help him change and wash.
Meanwhile, Shanhe lay sprawled on the couch, tears blurring her vision. Slowly, her eyelids grew heavy, and she drifted off to sleep. When she awoke, it was already dusk. A gentle breeze blew in through the carved window, carrying a wisp of white smoke rising from the incense burner to her nose. It was the fragrance of Buddhist incense and lotus flowers, which soothed her chaotic emotions.
She propped herself up, exhaled a long breath, and realized that she had changed into a clean set of clothes, untied her hair, and wiped her face clean, as if she had never been drunk and had not said those things to Liang Ye.
But Shanhe still remembered all the things she had said to Liang Ye when she was drunk, remembered that she had vomited on half of his body, remembered that she had kicked him, and that her toes were still covered with her own vomit. She shouldn't have cried, shouldn't have cursed, shouldn't have treated him like that. After all, she had been careful and perfect in every way these days, but she revealed her true colors when she was drunk.
Her head still throbbed slightly. Shanhe raised her hand to her forehead, trying to recall what Liang Ye had said, but it was all blurry, and she could only remember fragments. She decided to stop thinking about it and just sit there on the couch, feeling rather listless.
Shanhe stared at the wisp of white smoke rising from the Boshan incense burner, then dissipating, filling the air with a calming and soothing fragrance.
She felt remorse and sighed deeply. She couldn't help but feel that she had reverted to Xue Shanhe, the woman who could discuss life and death with Liang Ye and continue his poetry. But in her drunken state, she seemed possessed by Ouyang Tongyang, uttering absurd words. Thinking of this, Shanhe also felt that someone like Ouyang Tongyang, who indulged in pleasure and acted recklessly, might not be without some wisdom. Who in this world could truly be "outside the Five Elements and beyond the Three Realms"? Greed, anger, ignorance, hatred, love, aversion, and desire are the realities of a long life, while life and death are merely fleeting illusions. The last emperor of the previous dynasty was weak and incompetent, the people suffered, territory and cities were ceded, and the military and government were weak. If Emperor Gaozu hadn't been so "incompetent," he could have calmly and magnanimously said, "The world is difficult, it is the result of our arduous cultivation; hunger, suffering, cold, and pain are all illusions." There would have been no need to raise an army, no need to attack the capital, and naturally, there would be no eternal Yan dynasty as we know it today. After all, if you just endure and persevere, the hardships of a lifetime will pass.
Just as I was lost in thought, I was surprised to hear voices coming from the corridor outside.
First came Liang Ye's voice, approaching from afar, tinged with slight panting: "Awake?"
Then came the voice of a maid in the corridor: "No, there's no sound from inside. Master Liang, this is a drafty place. You just finished soaking in the bath, so you should avoid catching a cold. You should go back to your room first. I'll go check on Madam Xue."
Liang Ye said, "No need, I'll go see her and leave now."
Then came a series of soft footsteps from the corridor to the window. Shanhe slowly turned her face and saw him standing outside the window, frowning as he looked at her. She noticed that Liang Ye's lips gradually tightened, then became a straight line, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He pushed the door open, glanced at the blanket covering Shanhe, and asked in a stern voice, "Awake?"
Shanhe was stunned, perhaps because she had been thinking too much and her mind was not yet back to normal. She just stared at him for a while before nodding to him.
Liang Ye placed the back of his hand on Shan He's forehead and asked in a series of questions: "Are you still feeling unwell? Does your head not hurt anymore? Do you not feel nauseous anymore?"
Shanhe simply shook his head.
Liang Ye sat on the edge of the couch, lifting his robe, and sneered, "You've got some nerve! Spitting, cursing, and kicking—even Shao isn't as capable as you!" Before he finished speaking, he suddenly froze, glancing at Shan He's expression.
Even when Shanhe heard the name "Ah Shao," her expression remained indifferent. She spoke softly, her voice slightly hoarse: "I'm sorry, I won't drink anymore..."
Liang Ye pursed his lips but remained silent.
As dusk settled, the evening breeze, carrying half the heat of summer and half the coolness, swept into the room, brushing against Liang Ye's brocade robe and swirling around Shan He's long, flowing black hair, making it flutter wildly.
"What's wrong with you?" Shanhe asked slowly, looking at his slightly furrowed brows.
He paused for a moment before saying, "It's nothing." Liang Ye reached out and tucked her disheveled hair behind her ear, then abruptly stood up. "You rest, I'm going."
"Where to?" Shanhe asked softly.
“Yuqing Spring. The best hot spring in Wuyou Garden. Tong Yang and Lü Zhu are already there. Lü Zhu was just asking about you.”
Shanhe immediately recalled Tong Yang and Lü Zhu's wanton behavior and slowly opened her eyes wide: "Sharing a bath?"
Liang Ye chuckled, "There are several pools, all partitioned off. Green Pearl would be bored soaking alone, that's why she asked you." He pinched her cheek, "Shanshan, what's going on in your head?"
"Oh." Shanhe blushed. "Then I'll go with you."
Liang Ye said, "You should rest."
"Lying down for too long actually makes me feel uncomfortable."
Liang Ye had no choice but to comply. He called a maid to bring a cloak, tied it on for her, and said, "You are not allowed to go into the water."
Shanhe nodded: "I know that."
"You knew you could get yourself drunk?"
Shanhe remained silent, head bowed, and followed him straight to the Jade Spring. Green Pearl was already leaning against the smooth stone by the pool, holding a carved silver dish, peeling grapes and lychees with her slender, white fingers. A small mountain of grape and lychee peels had already piled up on the water-soaked bathing stones beside her. Seeing Shanhe enter wearing a satin robe, Green Pearl raised an eyebrow at her: "Oh, you're here? I thought you weren't coming."
Shanhe simply put her feet into the hot spring and slowly swam around.
Green Pearl peeled a grape and handed it to Shanhe, smiling with her eyes crinkling: "Madam Xue, are you also from Mizhou?"
Shanhe took the grapes, shook his head, thought for a moment, and then nodded: "I was born in Jinling and came to Mizhou later."
"Oh! A person from Jinling? What a coincidence, my home is also very close to there." Green Pearl had already peeled another grape and put it in her mouth, her left cheek puffing out slightly. "Madam Xue, I heard them say this afternoon that you are also a mistress?"
Shanhe was taken aback.
She lowered her eyes: "She's just a servant girl."
"Huh?" Green Pearl looked at Shanhe again, feeling a mix of regret and secret delight. "Then she's not even as good as a mistress."
Shanhe remained silent. Lüzhu continued, "However, I heard from my second master that you're probably the only one by Master Liang's side. It's only a matter of time before he takes you in. Once his old man's matter is over, your good days will begin."
Shanhe said leisurely, "Why must one be a concubine?"
Green Pearl paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, her voice growing louder and louder: "If I'm not a concubine, what else can I be? Madam Xue, Sister Xue, you're a slave! No one can rise to the top overnight, can you? If you want to be the principal wife, you have to get rid of your slave status first, right? From maid to concubine, and then from concubine to second wife, that's the proper order, isn't it?"
Shanhe looked at Lüzhu, whose round eyes were bright and clear, as if evaporated by the moisture. Shanhe asked in return, "Lüzhu, what about you? What is your plan?"
Upon hearing this, Green Pearl immediately turned around, lay down on the rock, and said with a smile, "My path is more difficult than yours. I need to have a child to rely on first."
Shanhe frowned: "Why?"
“There are two or three men like me around Second Master. He has a principal wife and two concubines in his household. If I didn’t have a son or daughter, how could I have entered the family?”
"Then what?"
"Then I entered the Ouyang family. As long as I could enter, I could make the Second Master put his heart in my room, and I could make his old man like me too. After that, all I had to do was raise the children, preferably have a few more, and quietly wait for his first wife to die."
Shanhe was startled, her eyes widening: "You..."
"What's there to be afraid of? All the people around Second Master think the same way! Even Second Master knows it."
"Then why did his wife have to die?"
"Why don't you want her to die? If she doesn't die, how will I ever get ahead? How will my child ever get ahead?"
"...What if Second Master Ouyang's wife were alive and well?"
Green Pearl chuckled, "How could that be? With so many women around Second Master, even if we don't make a move, do you think she can swallow this anger? In a large mansion, when there are too many people, things get chaotic, and when things get chaotic, she gets angry. Even the longest-lived person will die young from anger."
Shanhe lowered her eyes, unable to help but think of Lüzhu, who had been with them at the poetry gathering that morning—quick-witted and eloquent. Who would have thought that beneath her splendid robes lay such a body and such a heart? Shanhe sighed, and from then on, most of her conversation with Lüzhu was done by Lüzhu, with Shanhe offering brief replies but daring not to delve deeper.
About half an hour later, the maidservant who was serving the men came over in small steps and asked Shanhe to come over.
Shanhe asked in surprise, "Me?"
Green Pearl smiled and nudged Shanhe: "Madam Xue, if you don't come over, my second master can't come either."
Upon hearing this, Shanhe went over with the maid.
Liang Ye leaned back against the bathing stone, surrounded by wisps of milky white steam. His eyes were closed, the corners of his eyes and lips flushed a rosy red from the steam. Hearing a sound, Liang Ye opened his eyes and saw Xue Shanhe, upside down in his line of sight, kneeling on the ground, bending over and looking down at him. He couldn't help but chuckle, revealing a row of white teeth, and quietly scooped up a small handful of hot spring water and sprinkled it on her: "You've come?"
Shanhe's face was half wet. She frowned in anger, knelt by the spring, clasped her hands together, and scooped up a large handful of water to return the favor.
The two went back and forth like this, and soon Shanhe was half-wet. Her satin robe clung tightly to her skin, clearly outlining her slender figure. Liang Ye stood in the water, and seeing Shanhe's half-wet appearance, he paused and stared at her intently.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Shanshan..."
Shanhe blushed with embarrassment: "You did this to me first."
Before Liang Ye could answer, a commotion arose outside, growing louder as it approached, with Ouyang Tongyang's voice mixed in. Liang Ye and Shan He both frowned and looked over, only to see a stranger of medium build, carrying swords in both hands, striding in. Ouyang Tongyang followed behind him, pleading repeatedly, "Third Master! Third Master! Please stop! For my sake, please stop!"
The man sneered, ignoring him completely, and stormed in with his sword drawn, shouting, "Where's Liang Shao? Liang Shao! Get your third grandfather out here!"
As he approached, Shanhe and Liang Ye finally saw his face clearly. Above his nose, he was handsome and refined, but below his nose... his mouth was terribly crooked, making him look like two different faces.
Qiu Mao drew his sword and approached, getting a clear look at Liang Ye's face in the pond. He blurted out, "You are not Liang Shao!"
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Author's Note: I have an exam on September 13th, so I'll be updating every other day this week [crying emoji]
I'll continue daily updates after September 13th, and from then on I'd like to update six days a week with one day off. [heart emoji]
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