The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 28
by Little PandaAh Qin, I Still Want More (Water)
“What did you say?!”
Murong Xiao roared, his eyes bloodshot.
His usually tidy hair crown1 sat askew, tilted to one side, and with a violent sweep of his hand, he crashed everything off the desk before him. The inkstone2, heavy with dark ink, slammed onto the floor, splattering black stains across the hems of everyone kneeling there.
As if seeking an outlet for his fury, the man snatched a jade ewer3 from his side and hurled it into the crowd. Jagged shards flew, slicing through the fine robes of several officials. Murong Xiao then lunged forward, seized the leader of the group by his hair, and forced him up to look him dead in the eye. “What did you just say?” he hissed. “Say it again.”
The agonizing pain from his scalp being yanked turned the kneeling man’s face pale. Struggling to master his trembling body, he forced his thoughts to remain clear as he spoke. “This subordinate followed Your Highness’s orders to go to Cangyue Tower to bring back Commandery Princess Chongwen. The guards and maids there hadn’t noticed any abnormalities, but by the time this subordinate arrived, the Commandery Princess was already gone. We only found an iron hook secured to the window frame. I fear… I fear she has been abducted.”
“Abducted?! Then why aren’t you out there pursuing them?!” Murong Xiao was in a towering rage. Exerting the full strength of his arm, he slammed the man’s forehead into the floorboards three or four times. The sickening, heavy thuds sent a bone-deep chill through the rest of the kneeling crowd.
Fresh blood welled from the man’s forehead, clouding his vision. Forcing his eyes open, he gasped out with great difficulty, “This subordinate… over these past two days… has sent people to search the entire Capital up and down… but we’ve still found no trace of the Commandery Princess. I fear Her Highness… has long since left the city…”
“You say she’s left the city?”
Murong Xiao flung the man aside, utterly ignoring his agonized groans as he collapsed onto the floor. “Jiejie has left the city?” he muttered to himself. “Impossible. That’s impossible.”
One of the kneeling elders spoke up. “Your Highness, I fear the Commandery Princess has been taken by the Shadow Guard Camp.”
“The Shadow Guard Camp?”
Murong Xiao looked down at the old man prostrate at his feet. “Zhang Chi, how could Jiejie…”
His eyes suddenly widened as if something had clicked. Gritting his teeth, he snarled under his breath, “Damn them! That damn shadow guard… that damn woman wearing Jiejie’s earring!”
With his hair disheveled and his feet bare, the man exuded a terrifying, wild madness.
“Zhang Chi!”
He roared, “Send men out of the city! Bring Jiejie and that wretched woman back to this prince! If you fail to find them, none of you will live to see tomorrow!”
“Your Highness!”
Zhang Chi spoke, braving the immense pressure. “Your Highness, our absolute priority right now is to find the Eleventh Prince to ensure Your Highness can ascend the throne without any lingering threats! Many generals have yet to pledge their allegiance. Commandery Princess Chongwen… is truly not…”
“Shut your mouth! You old fool, how dare you talk back to this prince!”
Murong Xiao glared venomously at his uncle. “This prince is the legitimate successor; it’s only natural that I inherit the throne. But if I can’t have Jiejie, what use is this imperial power to this prince?! Get out! All of you, get the hell out of this prince’s sight! Don’t show your faces before this prince again until you’ve found Jiejie!”
As the crowd scrambled out like frightened beasts, leaving the grand hall vast and empty, Murong Xiao slumped onto the dragon chair4. He panted heavily, clutching his head in agony as his mind raced.
Why did Jiejie run away? Why would she rather flee with some lowborn wretch than stay by this prince’s side?
Why? Just why?
If I had known it would come to this, I should have chopped off her remaining leg back then.
During that year’s Autumn Hunt, it was he who had dispatched the assassins to murder Imperial Father.
He had never expected Jiejie, who had just finished her period of mourning, to travel with Imperial Father. Nor had he expected her to shield Imperial Father from the assassins. Those useless, godforsaken fools he sent had actually slashed her leg with a poison-dipped sword, forcing her to undergo amputation.
Ah, when he loved watching Jiejie dance so much… With one leg gone, she could never dance again.
Those wretched fools!
Those blind, ignorant fools!
Even after personally lashing the assassins’ corpses thousands of times, he still had not been able to vent his rage when he saw Jiejie hovering on the brink of death.
Yet, because of that very incident, that damned Marquis Changping had actually taken the initiative to break off the betrothal.
Yes, that was exactly how it should be! That spineless, self-unaware coward was never worthy of Jiejie!
And it was a good thing the betrothal was canceled. Otherwise, he would not have had a second Princess Consort of Yu to murder.
Eight years ago, a single leg was traded to ensure Jiejie would never belong to another man.
If he were to sever her remaining leg now, would he be able to keep Jiejie by his side forever?
When Jiejie comes back, he would build an even larger cage for her.
He would clip Jiejie’s wings so she could never fly from his palm, keeping him company for eternity.
Ah… then he would no longer have to force other women to drink contraceptive soups5, nor would he be bound by traditional decorum. He would finally be able to touch the Jiejie he had yearned for day and night.
As these thoughts swirled in Murong Xiao’s head, a manic frenzy gleamed in his eyes.
On the fourth day of Ming Qin driving the carriage, save for occasional brief rests, she had spent almost every waking hour traveling day and night.
Just as long as they could distance themselves from the Capital, they would gain another shred of safety.
The rutted, uneven road made the small carriage rock and sway.
Unable to help herself, Ming Qin turned back to open the small window, speaking to the person inside. “We’ll get onto the official road6 in a bit, and look for an inn to stop for food and rest7 tonight.”
The person inside did not reply immediately. Only after a quiet pause did a weak voice drift out. “No need to worry about me, Ah Qin. Just follow the original plan and stick to the back roads.”
Anxious, Ming Qin halted the horses and jumped down from her seat. Opening the carriage door, she saw Murong Yan struggling to sit up. The princess’s face was deathly pale with dark circles shadowing her eyes, and a trace of bitter bile from her recent bout of vomiting still clung to her dry, chapped lips.
Pulling the wooden basin out from the carriage, Ming Qin showed no hint of disgust as she cleaned away the waste, muttering stiffly all the while, “It’s not because of you… It’s because the horses need to rest. And… and I need to sleep.”
Racking her brain for excuses, Ming Qin simply could not bear to watch Murong Yan suffer any more from the exhaustion of this journey.
“Ah Qin, I’m really fine.”
Murong Yan remembered that the person before her had once said she could go seven days without closing her eyes during a mission, yet now she was desperately searching for such clumsy excuses.
“No! I said both the horses and I need rest! Besides… if you fall ill, you’ll only slow down our progress!” Ming Qin spoke harshly, but her hands were incredibly gentle as she supported the woman’s head and offered her water.
Ming Qin’s eyes were filled with heartache. Not only did the carriage’s constant jolting make Murong Yan dizzy with motion sickness, but it also caused extreme discomfort to her amputated leg.
The rough, coarse rations tasted vastly different from any food she, with her noble status as a Commandery Princess, had eaten before. Yet she had not uttered a single word of complaint, instead constantly telling Ming Qin not to worry about her.
Murong Yan took only a small sip of water before turning her head away, refusing to drink another drop no matter how she was coaxed.
“You know I don’t mind,” the shadow guard said, her voice filled with grievance.
Ming Qin knew. Murong Yan was reluctant to drink more water because she did not want to trouble her when she needed to relieve herself.
When traveling through the wilderness, unlike in Cangyue Tower where everything was meticulously designed for her to use independently, she had to be half-held in Ming Qin’s arms to manage every time she needed to relieve herself.
Occasionally, when Murong Yan was so weak that she had no strength left, Ming Qin even had to place her hand on her lower abdomen to press gently, and help with the final cleanup herself.
Going for long periods without drinking water was precisely why Ming Qin was so anxious to find an inn.
“But I mind, Ah Qin,” Murong Yan said, trying to keep her voice steady, though a trace of uncontrollable sorrow pooled in her eyes. “I mind.”
She had clearly escaped the cage as she wished and thought she would find freedom, yet now she had to trouble Ming Qin even for her most basic physiological needs.
She hated this.
Whether it was the sounds she made or the sensation of losing control in front of Ming Qin, every single moment from start to finish filled her with shame.
Even though Ming Qin thoughtfully closed her eyes every single time and had offered more than once to blindfold herself and plug her ears, this sense of shame still deeply enveloped her.
In truth, Murong Yan hated her own helpless feeling, as if no matter what she did, she could never escape the feeling of being trapped.
From the bottom of her heart, she despised herself for needing to depend on others.
Or rather, it was fear.
She was grateful that she could rely on Ming Qin to escape, and she gladly accepted Ming Qin’s protection. But now that she even needed Ming Qin’s help for something like relieving herself, she suddenly felt like a burden.
Yes, a burden.
A heavy, cumbersome burden that could be discarded at any moment.
Murong Yan, who had never cared much about others, feared for the first time in her life that she would become someone to be abandoned—and it was all because of Ming Qin.
Was Ah Qin truly willing to do all this for her? Or was it simply because this was a 『task』 of the Shadow Guard Camp?
How many of these things did Ming Qin, as a 『person』, do of her own free will? And how many of them were things she had no choice but to do as an imperial shadow guard?
How long could Ah Qin, as a 『person』, tolerate her? Would she leave her the moment the task was over?
In Ah Qin’s eyes, was she Murong Yan or Commandery Princess Chongwen? Or perhaps she was just as Ming Qin had once said, no different in her eyes from a baked flatbread or a piece of candy?
She had nothing left now, unable to offer anything to keep Ah Qin. No wealth, no beauty, no status, nothing at all…
Murong Yan’s chaotic, near-hysterical thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a cool, damp sensation against her lips.
Her mind went entirely blank. Sweet, refreshing water was passed from mouth to mouth, like dew from the heavens breathing life back into a parched field of flowers.
Ming Qin carefully passed the water from her own mouth to her, gently as if worried the person in her arms might choke, and then unhesitatingly licked away the trace of sour bile at the corner of her lips.
Just now, she had watched Murong Yan sink into her thoughts, not coming to her senses no matter how softly she called. Her eyes were filled with insecurity and endless sorrow.
She didn’t know what the woman was troubling herself over, but she hated seeing Murong Yan like this.
“I told you, I don’t mind you troubling me. No matter what you become, I will never mind, so don’t mind it either, okay?” Ming Qin said with a furrowed brow and a complaining tone. Looking at the shocked face of the person in her arms, she added, “Don’t go without water. Your body won’t be able to take it.”
“Ah Qin…” Murong Yan murmured, gently touching the space between Ming Qin’s eyebrows.
Had Ming Qin just kissed her?
Was this the first time she had actively kissed her, who had nothing left and was just a burden?
She also said she wouldn’t mind no matter what she became, all while worrying about her health.
Did all this mean Murong Yan was not just a burden?
It meant she was important.
It meant 『Murong Yan』 was important to 『Ming Qin』.
Pushing aside the complicated thoughts in her head, Murong Yan felt her heart grow incredibly soft. Her eyes slightly red, she called out softly, “Ah Qin, I still want more.”
Ming Qin tilted her head slightly. “Still want more?” She took another sip of water, then lowered her head once again.
Feeling the person before her sealing her lips, Murong Yan swallowed the sweet nectar down her throat.
As Murong Yan gently stroked Ming Qin’s hair, she thought to herself:
What she wanted more of was not water.
But this would do just fine.
Footnotes
- A traditional Chinese headpiece worn by men of high status to secure their topknot, often made of metal, jade, or wood.
- A stone mortar used in traditional Chinese calligraphy for grinding and containing ink.
- A traditional Chinese vessel with a handle and spout, typically used for serving wine or tea.
- The ceremonial throne used exclusively by the Emperor of China, symbolizing supreme imperial authority.
- A herbal decoction used in ancient China as a form of contraception, often forced upon concubines to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
- State-maintained roads in imperial China used for official business, military transport, and courier services.
- A traditional Chinese travel term referring to stopping at an inn for a meal or brief rest during a journey.
omg the prince vomits. this guy is beyond gross.
and ming qin is now also a certified nurse! poor Murong Yan though. when i put myself in her situation and my crush is wiping me down there after nature’s call, i would cry inside!
I can’t stomach the crown prince’s thoughts, uugh. Men.
omg the prince vomits. this guy is beyond gross.
and ming qin is now also a certified nurse! poor Murong Yan though. when i put myself in her situation and my crush is wiping me down there after nature’s call, i would cry inside!
I can’t stomach the crown prince’s thoughts, uugh. Men.
Awww they’re just too cute
Awww they’re just too cute