The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 18
by Little PandaA Birthday Gift (A Heart Awakened)
“Are you sure you can even do this?”
“I can,” the man wheezed, straining.
“I paid you so much money, why does it feel like you’re still so slow?” the woman grumbled, her voice thick with disdain.
“It’s because you haven’t let me sleep for days,” the man complained.
“Xu Jun, didn’t you say you were really good at this?” the woman asked, lowering her voice.
“I’m really good! Qinqin-shijie, just let me try one more time,” Xu Jun replied defensively.
“How many times have you messed around with it already?” Ming Qin grunted in dissatisfaction.
“I swear this is the last time. I’ll definitely satisfy you,” Xu Jun promised solemnly.
“But I don’t have much time left,” Ming Qin said, her voice laced with anxiety. From inside the room came the sound of their heavy breathing, followed by a loud clattering as something was knocked over.
“Wait! What are you doing? Don’t get so close to me!” Xu Jun panted in a panic. “Wait… don’t, don’t, wait…”
Hearing this highly suspicious conversation, Lin Yan stood in the hallway, his face flushing and his heart hammering against his ribs.
With a sharp bang, he kicked the door open. Furrowing his brows in sheer, agonized dismay, he bellowed, “In broad daylight! Men and women shouldn’t be touching! What on earth are you two doing? Xu-shidi, I never expected you to be this kind of person! Qinqin, have you been corrupted by your shijie?”
Startled half to death, Ming Qin and Xu Jun froze. They turned to look at Lin Yan in the doorway, clutching several jars in their hands, their faces completely blank.
Taking in the sight of the fully dressed, completely innocent pair and the pungent smell of gunpowder filling the room, Lin Yan sheepishly rubbed his nose. “So… ah, ahaha! It’s all a misunderstanding! A total misunderstanding! Carry on, then!”
“What’s there to misunderstand this time?” Ming Qin grumbled, thoroughly annoyed at the interruption. “And Lin-shixiong, you broke my door.”
“My bad! My bad, I’ll make it up to you,” Lin Yan stammered, his face bright red as he clumsily tried to lift the door back onto its hinges.
“It’s done!” Xu Jun suddenly shouted. The bamboo tube in his hand erupted with a sudden shower of sparks, giving Lin Yan a fright.
“Terrific! We made it!” Ming Qin jumped with joy, practically dancing on the spot.
Snatching the bamboo canisters from Xu Jun and tossing him a hurried word of thanks, Ming Qin completely ignored Lin Yan, who was still struggling with the broken door. Activating her qinggong, she dashed out of the Shadow Guard Camp like a flash of lightning.
“What’s gotten into Qinqin? Why’s she suddenly so thrilled?” Lin Yan muttered, trying to wedge the door frame back into place while looking around curiously.
“She probably has someone on her mind,” Xu Jun said, letting out a massive yawn and wiping a stray tear from his eye. “She’s been breathing down my neck all month to get this thing made, and she insisted it had to be finished today.”
“What kind of top-secret contraption did you two even make?” Realizing the door was beyond saving, Lin Yan finally gave up. He turned to watch Xu Jun, who had suddenly grabbed a brush and paper.
Xu Jun scribbled furiously on the paper, muttering to himself, “I need to write this formula down quick. When I marry a wife in the future, I can use this to coax her.”
Ming Qin swept up the stairs of Cangyue Tower in high spirits. The moment she saw Murong Yan resting on the daybed, she didn’t say a single word. Instead, she scooped the woman up with one arm and spun her around in a joyful circle, laughing merrily.
“Ah! Ah Qin!” Startled, Murong Yan threw her arms around Ming Qin’s neck. Her voice was a mix of surprise and sheer helplessness. “Put me down, quickly.”
Ignoring her plea, Ming Qin supported her weight with one hand beneath her hip, while the other reached into her robes to pull out a bamboo tube. Leaning in close, she whispered conspiratorially against the woman’s ear, “I’ve brought you something great today.”
The bamboo tube was exceptionally slender, yet it felt heavy in her hand, with a short length of cotton fuse embedded at the top.
Her curiosity piqued, Murong Yan rested her cheek against the crook of Ming Qin’s neck and laughed. “What’s so secret?”
“I’ll show you right now.”
Ming Qin was about to set her down when her eyes caught a sight in the corner. Several exquisitely carved wooden chests—which she had never seen before—lay overturned on the floor. A dazzling array of jade and jewelry had spilled across the tiles, and a heap of beautifully embroidered gowns and overcoats lay torn to shreds, discarded there like common trash.
“What are these?” Ming Qin asked.
“Just some useless trifles,” Murong Yan replied dismissively, sparing not even a passing glance for the priceless treasures heaped in the corner.
Ming Qin asked, her voice turning slightly cautious. “Are those… birthday gifts sent to you?”
“Ah Qin actually knows today is my birthday?” A touch of pleasant surprise colored Murong Yan’s voice, followed by a soft smile. “Could it be that you’re being so secretive today because you’ve prepared a gift for me?”
The black-clad Shadow Guard suddenly set the woman down, looking dejected and awkwardly silent.
“Ah Qin?” Murong Yan called out softly, her tone laced with concern as she noted the sudden gloom clouding her companion’s face.
“I…” All the fiery enthusiasm Ming Qin had harbored over the past few days instantly cooled. She stared at the rare, priceless treasures in the corner—treasures she likely couldn’t afford even with a lifetime’s worth of her guard salary—and hesitated.
If Murong Yan didn’t even spare a glance for things of that caliber, how could she possibly like her crude little gift?
At the thought, a wave of discouragement washed over her. She took a few steps back. “I… I just remembered. Master has some business for me, so I’ve got to go.”
“Ah Qin!” Seeing the girl turning to leave while uttering such a clumsy lie to hide her feelings, Murong Yan felt a sudden wave of panic mixed with irritation. She grabbed the corner of Ming Qin’s robe. “Ah Qin, what’s wrong?”
Unwilling to roughly wrench her hand away, Ming Qin merely clenched her fists in distress, utterly torn over whether she should tell her the truth.
“Ah Qin,” Murong Yan said, her voice dropping. “If you’re going to lie to me, you must make it flawless.”
She allowed Ah Qin to lie to her.
Yes, she permitted it.
Just as she permitted Ah Qin to do absolutely anything to her.
But she couldn’t bear the sensation of Ah Qin hiding things from her. It was like a sharp, irritating thorn piercing a sweet dream, stirring up a turbulent wave of frantic anxiety and displeasure in her chest.
“I did prepare a gift, it’s just…” Ming Qin hung her head, terrified of seeing disdain in the woman’s eyes. “It’s just that this gift isn’t worth any money at all. My shidi and I made it ourselves. Compared to those valuable gifts over there, it’s completely unworthy of you…”
Murong Yan suddenly yanked Ming Qin closer, forcing the girl to look her in the eyes and cutting off her words entirely.
She didn’t care in the slightest what the Crown Prince had sent; just having those things sitting there filled her with disgust.
“Give me your gift,” the woman murmured, looking up, her voice softening as she spoke gently. “I don’t care if it’s expensive. I only want yours.”
Gazing into the soft warmth of the woman’s eyes, Ming Qin finally relented. “Alright.”
Though it was spring, the breeze was still a bit chilly. She wrapped a blanket securely around Murong Yan and cracked open a thin gap in each of the four windows.
“My shidi, Xu Jun—he’s incredibly skilled at making mechanical toys. Once, he built a little bird that could actually fly in the sky. Another time, he messed around with a new kind of hidden weapon and nearly burned the entire camp down,” Ming Qin explained, pulling out a handkerchief and wetting it with some water.
“During the New Year, I couldn’t take you to the city walls to watch the fireworks, and I thought it was such a pity. That’s why I wanted to make one for you…” She wrung out the handkerchief and wrapped it tightly around the base of the bamboo tube.
“My shidi and I spent over half a month messing around with this little thing. He even demanded a bunch of research funds, making exorbitant demands several times.” At the thought of her currently deflated purse, Ming Qin scrunched up her nose.
“Look, today is your birthday. It should be a day where the entire Capital is ablaze with lanterns, with everyone celebrating in joy,” she murmured softly. She leaned over the stove to light the fuse, then swiftly blew out the oil lamp. “…It’s a pity I don’t have that kind of power. I can’t light up the whole Capital for you, so I can only offer my congratulations within this tiny room.”
Ming Qin handed the bamboo tube, wrapped in the damp cloth, to Murong Yan. She wrapped her arms around her from behind, her slightly larger, calloused palm gently cupping the woman’s delicate hand as it held the tube.
“Yanyan,” Ming Qin whispered, a rare tenderness in her call.
In the darkness, Murong Yan looked up, meeting a pair of bright eyes.
“May your joy last forever, and may you enjoy many more days like this1.”
The warm smile before her was suddenly illuminated by a brilliant burst of light. Murong Yan turned her gaze toward the source of the glow, and from that moment on, she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Spars of dazzling, multicolored light shot out from the tip of the bamboo tube, resembling genuine fireworks and turning the once-gloomy room bright and clear.
It was as if the lights of ten thousand homes had truly been gathered here to celebrate her. Though the brilliance was almost blinding, she couldn’t bear to look away.
The multicolored, radiant sparks danced continuously before her eyes, sending a tremor through her long-silent heart.
Her chest swelled with a sudden ache, and her fingertips trembled so much that she nearly dropped the bamboo tube.
But just as her grip began to slip, Ming Qin’s hand tightened over hers, wrapping her in a firm, protective hold.
“It’s not hot,” Ming Qin said softly.
Ming Qin whispered softly in her ear, her voice gentle. “Don’t be afraid.”
It is hot.
Murong Yan wept in her heart.
The heat of their pressed skin and the searing warmth spreading through her chest burned so intensely that she wanted to weep.
She had believed herself long frozen solid, like the eternal winter of the far north where nothing could grow and no one could ever tread.
Yet this person beside her had charged recklessly into that forbidden domain, bringing with her a searing warmth that set her entire heart boiling.
Accompanied by the brilliant firelight, the defenses around her heart melted completely into a soft, yielding mess.
The firework in her hand began to dim, the once-dazzling sparks gradually sputtering out. Ming Qin took the empty bamboo tube and asked, “Do you like it? If you do, shall we light some more?”
Murong Yan turned and wrapped both arms around Ming Qin’s slender yet firm waist. Resting her chin on the girl’s slightly lowered shoulder, she choked out in a tight, raspy voice, “I like it. I truly like it.”
She really liked it.
Never before had Murong Yan’s mind been so piercingly clear. She was acutely aware of how every single inch of her body was screaming in unison, crying out just how deeply she loved Ming Qin.
She loved this person who held her in this tiny room, celebrating the very fact of her birth.
Clearly, she hadn’t planned for things to go this way.
Originally, she’d only wanted to pass the time.
Originally, she’d only intended to use her to stave off her loneliness.
Originally, she’d been merely a tool to soothe her pain.
Originally, she’d only wanted to possessively claim her as her own.
With a mind once full of cold calculations, she had never expected to find herself sinking, as if trapped in deep quicksand, slowly and unconsciously drowning in her own feelings.
And now, looking up, she was already far past any hope of a cure.
Murong Yan found it somewhat laughable, yet incredibly poignant, that a heart she had assumed dead could still surge with such nearly uncontrollable emotion. She tightened her arms, pressing her body flush against Ming Qin’s.
“Ah Qin.”
“Hmm?” Ming Qin paused in her movement to light another fuse.
“Thank you.”
Thank you for letting me feel, after so long, that my birth is a fortunate thing.
So cute.
Aw that’s so cute
I screamed and cried!