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

After a few days, when the yamen took a break, someone who was in the Ministry of War with Liang Shao asked doubtfully, "Tomorrow is a break day, so why does Liang-daren look so miserable?"

Although Liang Shao's reputation was good and he knew the ugly matters in his house couldn't be spoken about, Liang Residence had become the capital's laughing stock a long time ago. Now, the pressure on him was huge. The things he was too jittery to deal with had become too much. Sighing, he vented out the feelings of the last few months.

When he finished, Liang Shao sighed deeply. "Ai, right now, I don't even want to go home at all. It's smothering and bothersome, but I also can't not go back."

Some more people gathered around him, all talking at once. "There's always difficulties at home, the madames and ladies at my house are like that too. Every day they're arguing and shouting. They cry in a second, then become difficult. They're annoying to death!"

"Exactly, exactly! My mother and my wife also argue over the right tow manage the household every day. It's just a small matter, but they argue until my head explodes."

"You guys only have arguing, my family raises their hands and fights each other. It's noisy to the point that chickens fly and dogs jump! It's never quiet!"

In the midst of the group's racket, the official who had first asked Liang Shao cut everyone off. His small eyes narrowed in a chuckle. "Everyone, with you all arguing like this, it seems that you need me help you guys dissolve tension?"

Someone immediately asked, "You have a way? Then hurry and let us hear it."

"Heh, don't rush, don't rush. You guys come with me to a place. I guarantee you guys will forget all of your annoyances."

As soon as they heard it, they started to heckle one after the other. "Alright, alright! Then let's go now, I have to see what kind of method this is!"

Liang Shao was stuck in the crowd. He hesitated. "I—I'll pa.s.s…"

When they heard him, one after another they began to urge, "It's alright to just go and take a look, aren't you annoyed too?"

"Right, everyone is going together, what are you afraid of?"

"Exactly, exactly! You don't need to care about so much, let's go, let's go…" As they spoke, everyone pulled Liang Shao and left.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com. If you are reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen from me.

The morning of the second day, Liang Shao swayed to the house with his clothes a mess and his face full of the spring1 breeze. He had just opened the door when he saw Chen Bing'er sitting on the edge of the bed, staring fixedly at him. He smiled. "Good—good morning."

A wave of air carrying the scent of wine and rogue flew into Chen Bing'er's face. Her expression froze. Immediately, she knew clearly that her own husband had gone into a courtesan's quarters to live carefree last night. Her heart churned with fury, but she forcefully kept a smile on her face. She asked, "Liang-dage, how come yesterday you didn't send someone to let the house know you wouldn't come back last night? Bing'er worried the entire night."

"I let Fugui come back and let you know. Why… he didn't tell you?" Liang Shao took off his coat and tossed it next to the bed before toeing off his shoes and laying down.

Chen Bing'er froze, immediately realizing Mother Liang, that old hag, had played tricks again, letting her worry for nothing. Her eyes flashed, the hands in her sleeves fiercely gripping the meat of her thighs. Her expression didn't change. "Liang-dage, where did you go last night?"

Liang Shao originally had a bit of a guilty conscience, but then thought again of yesterday night's happy life and his colleagues' words. With annoyance, he said, "Isn't it annoying to mind so much? You won't let me touch and you won't let me go to brothels to play around a bit.

Chen Bing'er looked at Liang Shao in disbelief. It was still the face she was familiar with, but why did he become like another person? She felt bitter in her heart. This bitterness rushed to her brain, causing Chen Bing'er's eyes to fill with tears.

Liang Shao turned his head in annoyance, sitting straight on the bed. "Cry, cry, cry! You cry all day! I didn't die, so what are you crying for! All day your face is like you're attending a funeral, it's really annoying to death. Cry slowly by yourself!" He grabbed his coat and left the house.

Chen Bing'er fiercely balled her hands into fists, her little face deathly pale and her lip bitten until it bled. Her eyes were red, teardrops as big as beans sliding down her face. After holding herself back strongly, she finally went out of the house to look for Liang Shao.

At the same time, hearing her son and Chen Bing'er arguing again, Mother Liang's heart was filled with joy. She sent people to Liang Shao to invite him over, taking out the portraits of the young ladies she had spent the entire night picking out. She introduced them to him one by one.

Liang Shao had only come out of the land of warmth and tenderness early that morning. The taste was still left lingering in his heart. Seeing the beautiful and delicate faces of the young ladies in the painting, he recalled Chen Bing'er's thin and yellow crying face from earlier. On top of that, she wouldn't let him touch her. He also needed to continue his family line. After a few moments of pondering, Liang Shao agreed to Mother Liang's proposal to take in a concubine.

Both the mother and son, one thinking of tender warmth and one thinking of preparing the gifts for taking in a concubine in high spirits, didn't notice a thin silhouette outside the door slowly walking away.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com. If you are reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen from me.

That night, not long after they had finished eating dinner, all the people in the Liang Residence went unconscious. A thin silhouette deftly deftly in and out of the houses in the Liang Residence. When her unbleached yellow hemp robe was dyed scarlet, she finally drove a carriage and left the capital that night. Everything was carefully noted by Lu Qi, who was hidden in the darkness.

A few days later, the families living by the Liangs noticed a fishy stink coming from the Liang Residence one by one. Everyone gathered into a group and pushed their way through the Liang Residence's doors.

A horrible stink welcomed them. Everyone's eyes rolled, nauseated until they began to vomit. One by one, using their handkerchiefs to cover their noses, they looked around. They only saw the entire Liang Residence littered with corpses. Dried bloodstains were everywhere. Flies and mosquitoes flew around the corpses.

Other than the flies and mosquitoes, there wasn't even a single living being!

After such a ma.s.sacre had occurred, everyone hurriedly reported up to the capital's yamen. The constable and the coroner rushed over, and after an examination, they found nearly everyone was killed by a single cut. The exception was Mother Liang in the main room.

She was face-up on the bed. Thanks to the dye of the blood, the bedding had turned completely black. Her four limbs were tied to the corners of the bed with rope, her body completed mutilated. Her eyes stared widely and her face was filled with painful malevolence. Her chin had two bluish purple handprints and her mouth was stuffed with a handkerchief. Her breast had over twenty cuts, as if the knife had avoided causing real damage. Her belly was sliced open, and her entire lower half was like it had been cut in two, the organs missing as though they had disappeared into thin air.

The scene was so horrifying that even the experienced coroner couldn't bear to look at it. In the entire Liang Residence, only Mother Liang had suffered such torment when she was still alive, but she still died so bitterly. How much had the person who committed this violent crime hated her!

After the constables finished making inventory of the corpses in the Liang Residence, they found Liang Shao and Chen Bing'er were missing. They immediately reported up to the imperial court. The emperor hadn't liked Liang Shao anyways; hearing this news, he immediately ordered his arrest. As for Liang Residence, in order to prevent ma.s.s panic and contagious diseases, the emperor ordered for it to be burnt to nothing.

Outside Luohu Village, far from the capital, a carriage quietly galloped close to a covert mountain forest, slowly coming to a stop in front of a courtyard covered in dust.

The carriage's curtains lifted. Chen Bing'er came out wearing a new white skirt. She opened the door and cleaned a bit, then helped Liang Shao stagger off the carriage. Liang Shao resolutely turned his face away, his eyes red and swollen. Because the tendons in his hands and feet had been cut, his entire body was slumped weakly on Chen Bing'er. He wanted to struggle, but he could only think about it. Right now, he was a cripple completely at Chen Bing'er's mercy.

Chen Bing'er brought him onto the bed with great effort, then immediately moved a large chest inside. She opened the box, and a horrible stink rose up. She paid no attention to it, taking a box out. Slowly, she walked to the bedside, opening the box for Liang Shao. She smiled. "Liang-dage, look! This is a place to raise children. Didn't Mother say I couldn't give birth to any children? So I took her womb out. We'll be able to have our own children very, very soon!"

Chen Bing'er's eyes sparkled with a radiant gleam. Shakily, her hands reached out to cup Liang Shao's cheek.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com. If you are reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen from me.

Liang Shao widened his eyes in horror. The muscles on his face began to quiver uncontrollably. In this moment, he felt all of his pores shudder, coldness spreading from his feet all the way to his scalp. He opened his mouth, but he couldn't even say a single word.

Even when he had woken up on the carriage and discovered Chen Bing'er had killed tens of people in the Liang Residence, or when he found out the tendons in his hands and feet had been severed, or in those days on the carriage with Chen Bing'er had pressed against his body with a strange mood, Liang Shao hadn't felt afraid. His heart was filled completely with hate. Yet in this moment, a thread of thick terror burst through his heart, making him feel as though he was in the middle of a nightmare. The hate that was originally in his eyes disappeared completely. All that remained was the fierce, twisting fear. His eyes grew terrifyingly wide.

A voice came from deep inside his mind— I don't want to be with her, she's a lunatic, a lunatic! Hurry and run, run away!

Liang Shao opened his mouth to shout, but his crushed vocal cords could only rasp hoa.r.s.ely. He desperately struggled with all of his might, wanting to flee from this horrifying place, but he had only turned over when Chen Bing'er finished putting away the box. With a beam, she walked over, looking at him tenderly, just as if she was looking at a toy. Her smile was loving and dainty. "Liang-dage, where are you going?"

"Ah, ah, ah…" Liang Shao's entire body shrank. He used all of his might to shake his head, indicating that he wasn't going anywhere.

Chen Bing'er smiled gently, hugging his head and holding the side of his face. She whispered, "You're mine, my one person. You can't go anywhere. If you take a single step, I'll dig out your kneecaps, and have you lay next to me for a lifetime. Don't think about committing suicide. If you try to commit suicide, I'll pull out your fingernails and let you know how much my heart hurts…"

She was still chattering on at his ear, just like a childhood lover, but Liang Shao's face was filled with despair. This kind of despair was the kind of despair that had given up on life.

And he clearly knew that this kind of despairing pain would only get even stronger. Moreover, it would follow him until he died.

"…Liang-dage, Bing'er really loves you so, so much. I want to stay with you forever and ever. When we die, we also have to die together.

"It's so nice that annoying old hag is gone. Finally, there's no one who can obstruct us. You're also completely, totally mine. There's no other girls who will fight me for you.

"Liang-dage, our oath really came true, to live our whole lifetimes as a couple…"

The author has something to say:

Chen Bing'er: Don't provoke me, when I go crazy I even scare myself~

T/N: And that's a wrap for our first arc! Can anyone say they were actually expecting that ending because I was absolutely horrified when I read it lmao. Next arc is a school setting so be excited for that ? Also, here's another author's note (at the end of the first chapter of the arc, presumably after she finished writing the entire thing) that clarifies a few blurry points/plot holes in this arc:

The author has something to say (from chapter 1):

Really, the misunderstanding created with the readers at the beginning was also a reason I originally didn't write thoroughly. Here, in the first world, I'll explain some things:

1↩: A reminder(?) that spring is a euphemism for s.e.x. (This is now in the glossary. I actually don't think I said it before lmao.)