The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 15
by Little PandaA Good Partner is the Hardest to Find (The latter half has a heavily revised Crown Prince POV)
In the quiet room, the only sounds were the occasional rustle of Murong Yan turning a page and Ming Qin’s soft snores.
Pillowed on Murong Yan’s lap, Ming Qin slept soundly, her hands resting primly on her stomach.
Today was the Heir of Marquis Changping’s… no, he should be called Marquis Changping now.
Today was the full moon wine1 for the eldest son of the primary wife of Marquis Changping. The Eleventh Prince was representing the imperial family to offer congratulations, so he did not go to the Imperial Academy, and Ming Qin naturally had the day off as well.
So, Marquis Changping has a child now, Murong Yan thought.
If her mother hadn’t passed away, if she hadn’t injured her leg, she probably would have married Marquis Changping long ago and given birth to a child of their own.
Aside from a faint sigh at the passage of time and the world’s impermanence, Murong Yan’s heart was a placid lake.
She felt not the slightest lingering affection for that shy young man from the poetry gathering all those years ago.
It was truly impossible to develop any special feelings for someone she had only met twice, someone who had so swiftly canceled their engagement after she lost her leg.
It was human nature, true enough, but that didn’t make it any less chilling.
She held no resentment. After all, a good partner was the hardest thing to find in this world.
That assassin’s blade during the imperial hunt, the one aimed at the Emperor, had not only severed her leg but had also severed a five-year-long betrothal.
It was a clean break. Nothing worth holding on to.
Better to be without such a heartless person.
Lowering her head, Murong Yan focused her gaze on the woman resting on her lap.
From childhood to now, she had met thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people. By virtue of her status as a commandery princess, some had fawned over her, while others had been humbly subservient.
But Ming Qin was truly the only one who was good to her to the point of foolishness.
The person in her arms suddenly let out a soft hum and turned over, one hand falling to dangle off the side of the couch.
Her slightly loosened collar revealed a patch of snow-white skin on her chest. Murong Yan’s gaze lingered for a long moment before she reached out and tidied the other woman’s clothes.
Sensing the movement, Ming Qin opened her eyes.
“Did I wake Ah Qin?” Murong Yan asked, her brow furrowed in apology.
“No.” Ming Qin sat up, yawning. “I was having a strange dream. It’s good that I woke up.”
“Oh? What was it about?” Murong Yan was a little curious.
“About being abandoned as a child.” Ming Qin recalled, twisting her neck. “I could feel how cold the lake water was, and my lungs hurt so much.”
Murong Yan reached out and stroked Ming Qin’s face. “Don’t think about it anymore, Ah Qin. I won’t ask.”
She had heard Ming Qin mention it once before but hadn’t paid it much mind at the time. Hearing it again today, however, made her heart ache a little.
“It’s okay. I was so young then, I don’t really remember any of it.”
Ming Qin patted Murong Yan’s hand reassuringly. “After Master found me, he sent me to Yelan Pavilion to train with the other Shadow Guard prospects. As long as I can remember, I’ve been at Yelan Pavilion. The Shadow Guard Camp is like a home to me. I’m very content.”
Murong Yan knew how cruel the work of a Shadow Guard was and had heard Ming Qin describe the training. She found it difficult to agree with the view that the Shadow Guard Camp was a “home.”
“It was only during training one day, when they found out I hated lakes and just couldn’t learn how to swim no matter what, that Master told me how he’d found me,” Ming Qin continued. Then she hesitated, tilting her head as she thought of the Eleventh Prince, Murong Wan.
“But sometimes I wonder what it would feel like to actually have a mother and father.”
Ming Qin told Murong Yan all about what had happened at the Imperial Academy. “The Eleventh Prince was so angry he cried when that boy insulted his mother. I had no idea how to comfort him.”
She scratched her head and looked at Murong Yan. “A lot of us at the Shadow Guard Camp don’t have parents, so I didn’t know who to ask. If someone insulted your parents, would you cry too?”
Murong Yan looked at her confused expression, her mouth feeling a little dry.
After a moment of thought, she cleared her throat and said, “My father is an ever-victorious general, but he was a cowardly father and husband. So if someone were to insult him, I’d probably just feel gratified.” She gave a bitter smile.
“As for my mother, she was a very, very good person.”
Murong Yan paused, taking a deep breath. “I still remember how she would always coax me to sleep at night with her soft, gentle voice. She was a bit absent-minded, but she played the qin2 beautifully. She was born in the warm Jiangnan region, yet she was willing to move to the Northern Border for her children.”
Her voice broke for a moment, then she continued in a low tone, “So I think… if someone were to insult her, I would probably want to kill them.”
“I see. So a mother is that wonderful of a thing. I think I understand now.”
Ming Qin nodded with a dawning comprehension. “In that case, I should go and teach that bad guy who insulted the Eleventh Prince’s mother a lesson.”
Murong Yan looked at Ming Qin and said bitterly, “It’s better if you don’t understand.”
Life is already bitter enough. Understanding would only add to the sorrow. Besides…
“Ah Qin, tell me more about what’s been happening in the Capital,” Murong Yan said, changing the subject.
Ming Qin, suspecting nothing, began to chatter on about all sorts of things happening in the city, from small matters like whose dog had gone missing to big ones like what case the Dali Temple was currently investigating.
Murong Yan watched Ming Qin’s earnest face and thought:
Your heart doesn’t need to hold too much.
Not parents, not princes, not even the Emperor.
It’s enough as long as you have me in your heart.
The Crown Prince’s Eastern Palace.
Murong Xiao was being uncharacteristically gentle.
(The Crown Prince is about to do the thing this green website3 won’t let me write. I’ve already revised this at least six times and it keeps getting locked.)
(The Crown Prince hasn’t even done anything yet, and the woman before him is already on the verge of tears. (I’m on the verge of tears from all the deleting.))
Murong Xiao’s eyes were sinister as he looked at the face before him, which bore a seventy-percent resemblance to the lovely figure in his dreams. “She would never show such a timid expression.”
The woman clamped her mouth shut in terror, struggling to suppress her fear.
She knew that the person in His Highness the Crown Prince’s heart would never display such an emotion.
Only by resembling her more could she live longer.
Seeing the woman’s adjusted demeanor, Murong Xiao nodded in satisfaction.
“Jiejie, jiejie.”
(The Crown Prince is a twenty-five-year-old adult, so he did the thing this green website won’t let be done.)
His gaze was savage. He forced himself to take a deep breath, to control himself.
(The Crown Prince’s self-control is too poor, used too much force and almost strangled the lady. (You can even learn English from reading my article! I’m begging you, please don’t lock it.))
Before he could have Jiejie, he had to endure.
Murong Xiao’s heart burned with an unbearable agitation, as if scorched by fire.
He desperately wanted to rush over there right now, to see what kind of expression his jiejie would make as she yielded before him.
Would she be as cold and heartless as usual?
Or as gentle and charming as a woman from Jiangnan?
Or perhaps as stunningly beautiful as a flower in full bloom, just like when he first saw her?
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
“Jiejie is this lonely one’s.”
She can only be this lonely one’s.
The author has something to say:
I’ve been locked so many times because of this annoying Crown Prince, I’m so mad! (The worst part is that it let me through at first, but then when I just fixed a typo, it wouldn’t let me pass anymore! I’m never fixing typos again!)
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I really almost cried in front of my computer.
It just kept blocking me from posting even though I really didn’t write anything explicit. Now I’m a bit worried about what to do with the future interactions between the Shadow Guard and the Commandery Princess (I want to cry, I’m so helpless, this is supposed to be a sweet story but I can’t even give out candy).
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And I don’t know how to use wb4! Getting locked like this from morning till night is really discouraging. I worked on this from 5 AM to 4 PM UK time.
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I deleted some details and a large chunk of the Crown Prince’s psychological description. To put it simply, the Crown Prince is someone who would be diagnosed by modern psychologists with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Bipolar Disorder.
My advice to everyone is, if you encounter someone like this and you don’t have professional training, just stay as far away as possible.
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I was originally considering whether to write a second book after this one, because I have three stories playing in my head at the same time, all shouting: “Pick me! Pick me! Quick, pick me!” It’s been giving me insomnia for a long time.
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But this situation is just super heartbreaking!
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Although this sounds very negative, don’t worry, I currently have a 100,000-word buffer, so I will definitely finish this book!
I probably just need a little love and warmth~
LP: Re-translated on June 13, 2025
Footnotes
- A ‘full moon wine’ (mǎnyuè jiǔ) is a traditional banquet held to celebrate a baby’s first full month of life, a significant milestone.
- A qin (or guqin) is a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family.
- Refers to Jinjiang Literature City (jjwxc), the hosting platform, which has a green logo and strict censorship rules.
- Short for Weibo (微博), a major Chinese social media platform similar to Twitter.
just wanted to add to TL:
if the source of the confusion is that the crown prince calls Murong Yan “Elder Sister”. I checked the original text and it seems he’s using 姐姐 which is translated to “jiejie”. This is an honorific. its often used for girls/women who are slightly older than the speaker and not a whole seniority above. its a bit more automatic between siblings though there are also other honorifics between siblings but it can also be used for relatives or close friends or even people you work with. it can be used whether blood related or not or if you consider family or not. its supposed to indicate a degree of intimacy if someone can call someone else like that.
the crown prince wants to be intimate with his cousin so instead of using the term for a cousin of her level which would indicate a certain distance he uses jiejie to show closeness and intimacy.
*my understanding is from the rough explanation of my friend on chinese honorifics I can’t read most pinyin but jiejie shows up often enough in texts
anyway thanks TL for taking this up and making it easily understandable!
I’m still in doubt who the crown prince is. Is he the princess’s brother? Like son of the same father? Why if he is the crown prince, wouldn’t he have to be the emperor’s son? And since the emperor is the princess’s uncle, wouldn’t the crown prince be her cousin? I’m still confused about parentage.
Basically, Murong Yan and the Crown Prince are cousins since Murong Yan’s father, Prince Yu, is the Emperor’s brother, and the Crown Prince’s father is the Emperor.
I just want to say, thank you for taking the time to translate the story! I’m really enjoying it so far, and I really like the main leads interactions so much!
Thank you for the chapter! And the crown prince is truly disgusting.