The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 63

My peony flower

In Changning Palace, a huge tiger lay sprawled out on the veranda, yawning as it watched the snow falling outside.

Inside the room, three or five jade vases held a few blooming plum blossoms. Even so, the fragrance of the flowers couldn’t quite mask the strong scent of Chinese medicine in the room.

Ming Qin, lying on the bed, had just been forcefully given a soothing potion, and now she was enjoying a rare sound sleep.

Watching the unconscious figure lying under the covers, her closed eyelids hiding Ming Qin’s always clear eyes, Murong Yan sat down by the bedside, lovingly running her fingers over her cheek.

Her fingertips brushed over a few white scars on Ming Qin’s face. Even though the wounds had healed, they still displayed a noticeable difference in color from her original complexion, disrupting her once pure and clean appearance.

Seeing Ming Qin’s profile in her field of vision, the once soft ear was gone, with only a black hole remaining in her right ear. Murong Yan, without fear but filled with tender love, gently touched it, running her fingertips around the wound.

Ming Qin’s tightly pursed lips were deathly pale, devoid of any color, except for a slight tearing at the corners due to daily forced feeding, with a touch of striking red.

Murong Yan pushed her hair back from her forehead and leaned in to softly imprint her lipstick-adorned lips onto Ming Qin’s, gently caressing them.

The person who had been in a coma for a long time emitted a bitter, medicinal odor from their mouth, but the woman paid no attention, using her warm lips to evenly spread the lip balm, being extremely careful not to hurt her beloved.

Little by little, the gentle caresses turned into tender kisses, emitting suggestive sounds in the room with no one else around.

With one hand resting on Ming Qin’s shoulder, Murong Yan lay across the bed, her upper body still dressed. The constriction of the iron chains around her waist and abdomen, fastened to Ming Qin, caused some discomfort, but she paid it no mind, pressing tightly against her.

She had heard the so-called “Sleeping Beauty” story from Song Shuqing. Although it seemed strange, Murong Yan could only believe her solemn assurances.

No.

She had to believe them.

Ah Qin, you are the most cherished person to me.

Without a doubt.

So I can wake you up, right?

Murong Yan wrapped her arm around the waist of the person in her embrace, burying her face in the crook of the neck, as if trying to relieve the suffocating feeling inside, taking in deep breaths of air.

When you wake up, we will escape from here.

Escape from this place that haunts me day and night.

This time, we will go together, wherever we go, we will be together.

Murong Yan’s fingers touched Ming Qin’s collarbone, gently caressing back and forth.

She leaned her body in closer, as if wanting to become one with Ming Qin.

Suddenly hearing footsteps in the corridor, and after two knocks on the door, Song Shuqing walked in.

Murong Yan, who had heard the sound, propped herself up and held Ming Qin in her arms, her white hair scattered, her eyes coldly fixed in the direction of the newcomer.

When she saw that it was Song Shuqing, her tense body relaxed.

“It’s you.” Murong Yan glanced at Song Shuqing and then ignored her, not paying any attention to the woman’s gaze. She bent down and lovingly kissed Ming Qin’s forehead. “No wonder Hu’er let you in.”

She never liked being disturbed, especially when Ming Qin was rarely able to sleep peacefully, and she could touch her.

“… Princess.”

“You shouldn’t let Hu’er stand guard. Just now, the Doctor Wang was telling me how frightened he gets every time he comes to treat her,” Song Shuqing opened the medicine box in her hands and took out gauze and ointment, “Besides, you’re also half a patient yourself. Let someone else help you take care of Qinqin…”

“No need.”

Coldly refusing, Murong Yan got up and took the items from Song Shuqing’s hand, bending down to carefully apply the ointment to Ming Qinqin’s swollen limbs. “No need for others to intervene. Besides, I don’t want anyone else to touch Ah Qin.”

Without stopping her movements, Murong Yan just raised her eyes silently, warning Song Shuqing as if to say allowing her to come close was already a favor.

Watching the visibly bruised and dignified princess tirelessly caring for her beloved, Song Shuqing sighed helplessly and murmured, “You two really are something.”

Fortunately, Qinqin’s condition had indeed improved. The frequency of her painful moans gradually diminished, and most of the time, with the help of calming soup, she lay there quietly without struggling.

Next, they could only leave it to fate for Qinqin to recover further.

“As for the deposed crown prince.”

Getting down to business, Song Shuqing respectfully bowed, “It has been handled in accordance with the orders…”

Murong Yan looked down at the person beneath her with tender affection, paying little attention to the report from the person beside her. She asked in a faint voice, “How long did he hold out?”

“In the granary and in the throes of passion… he didn’t make it for even half an hour. After that, he was hung with medicine…” Song Shuqing recalled those intricate, bloody scars like fish scales, pinching her finger as she spoke, “Not even a thousand cuts, but he breathed his last at just three hundred.”

“Just three hundred? Were the rest made up for?” Murong Yan’s expression remained calm as she placed her hand against Ming Qin’s face, as if she were merely asking about the weather.

“It has been made up for. The body has been cremated into ashes,” Song Shuqing explained, then scratched her head, “It’s just that tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and I need to wait until the day after to send someone to scatter the ashes in the mountains.”

As someone who had once been a hardworking laborer, she really didn’t want her subordinates to have to work overtime during the New Year.

“Is it already New Year’s Eve…”

With lowered eyes and a soft voice, Murong Yan turned to Song Shuqing and said, “Thank you, you’ve done a good job. You can go now.”

Faced with such a clear dismissal, Song Shuqing touched her nose and picked up the medicine box. Just before leaving, she suddenly said, “If you’re going to be home for the festival tomorrow, you can let me come over. After all, I’m just twiddling my thumbs in the palace.”

Murong Yan didn’t reply, just let Song Shuqing leave.

She looked at the person in front of her, burying her head in Ming Qin’s chest, her hands tightly clasping her clothes, murmuring softly.

“Besides being by Ah Qin’s side, where else can be called home…”

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Ming Qin is falling.

Or perhaps she isn’t.

But the light in front of her is fading, getting smaller and farther away.

In the midst of complete silence, suddenly, dusty memories flood into her mind, so distant that she isn’t even sure if they are real.

『Where’s the money? Is there no money left at home?』

『You spent the last of the money on alcohol yesterday.』

『Don’t we have some things left at home? Can’t we sell them for money?』

『But… I’ve already pawned all my bracelets.』

『How useless can you be! Now we don’t have money for wine, and we can’t even afford firewood for the winter! We won’t make it through this tough time.』

『You can’t drink anymore. Maybe you can go help with some escorting jobs. We still have three children to support at home.』

『Go, sell the girl.』

『What?! But… but she’s so young, even the brothels won’t take her.』

『Do you want me to abandon our son then?』

『I… 』

『Just dump her anywhere!』

So dark.

So cold.

Ming Qin didn’t know if it was the bone-chilling cold of winter or the unpleasant memories that made her feel a tearing pain throughout her body.

It was like falling into a lake, with something foreign flooding her lungs, making her nose sting and causing uncontrollable coughing. But every cough brought more water rushing in, making her feel like her chest was going to explode.

She wanted to cry for help, but found that opening her mouth only made the air in her lungs disappear, replaced by more cold and more pain.

The long-lost intense pain reminded Ming Qin of the past, when her shattered self could still feel the agony of those times.

How did she endure it back then?

Did she grit her teeth and bear it?

But now, she’s in too much pain to bear. What should she do?

Give up.

She can only continue to sink, there’s nothing else she can do.

Something has wrapped around her foot, pulling Ming Qin down slowly into the abyss.

She doesn’t care, closing her eyes.

After all, her vision is already pitch black, isn’t it?

『Ah Qin.』

『Ah Qin.』

『Keep on living.』

『For me, keep on living.』

A woman’s voice echoed, and Ming Qin, her consciousness clouded, did not know who it was, but felt as if a long, long time ago, this familiar voice had already penetrated her heart.

With each call, she felt as if she were being embraced, kissed. In the darkness where she was clearly alone, that little warmth was so rare.

Twelve years old.

Red.

Candy.

The images in her mind gradually became clear.

It’s as if she’s back in that year, nestled in the embrace of the woman in red. In the moonlight, she was like a redemption descending from the heavens, bringing a bright and radiant light that drove away her endless pain, like a rat in a sewer.

Perhaps, in a daze, she saw the person’s sparkling eyes and smiled when she was fed a sweet rice candy, and her young self had already fallen, entrusting a piece of her sincere heart.

Her shattered consciousness pieced together memories, frame by frame becoming clearer, mixed with the calls from above. Ming Qin struggled to open her eyes, trying to look up and see that single point of light.

It’s Yanyan.

The one and only person, the one she had always held in her heart, the reason for her existence, had always been Yanyan.

Her peony flower.

…Is she crying?

Tangy, restrained, and heart-wrenching sobs.

『Ah Qin, I miss you so much.』

Don’t cry.

『Ah Qin, don’t leave me.』

My peony flower, my light, please don’t cry.

『Don’t die.』

Ming Qin wanted to speak words of comfort, but when she tried, the water swallowed her up, and the words that welled up from deep within her heart couldn’t be conveyed.

Yanyan, please don’t cry.

Even though she was deeply submerged, Ming Qin still knew that the woman was shedding tears and wailing, and that feeling broke her heart, making it unbearable, far more than the pain in her body.

She wanted to wipe away her tears, wanted to hold her gently and comfort her, wanted to kiss away the winding tears on her cheeks.

But as she reached out, Ming Qin realized how helpless she was as she continued to fall.

The distance was getting farther and farther, but the calls in her ears were becoming clearer and every one of them made her heart tremble.

It’s not working.

She couldn’t bear it, couldn’t bear leaving Yanyan alone to cry.

Struggling in the water, Ming Qin felt her soul being pulled, as if it were being torn in two, but she still struggled to regain control of her body.

Ming Qin’s mind was filled with only one person, urging her to break free from the bindings, to resist, to give it her all.

Yanyan.

Don’t cry anymore.

Finally, perhaps because of her unwavering will, or perhaps because the voice calling out was too poignant, the thing wrapped around her ankle loosened slightly.

Seizing the opportunity, Ming Qin immediately resisted stubbornly, and in the moment of freedom, she slid her arms upward.

Striving to approach the light, she felt her body slowly floating upward.

Looking up.

Yanyan, wait for me.

Don’t cry anymore.

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LP: Re-translated on April 05, 2024

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