The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 29
by Little PandaOnly Playing Tricks on This Person (Little Fox)
Ming Qin drove the carriage onto the main road, and seeing the sky darken, she found an inn.
Patting the sturdy horse and telling it to rest well, she tipped a young boy whose cheeks were red from the cold as he swept the stables. Ming Qin then wrapped the scarf twice around Murong Yan’s neck, draped the simple robe Cao Yun had given her over her shoulders, and tied the hood securely before leading the woman into the inn.
There weren’t many people inside, but a merchant caravan heading towards the capital seemed to be eating in the main hall on the first floor. Several men were shouting at each other with coarse voices, the air thick with the smell of alcohol.
Ming Qin silently shielded Murong Yan, blocking the gazes of others, and then called out to a middle-aged woman with her legs propped up behind the counter, “Proprietress! A room, the best one you have.”
“Oh my.”
The proprietress turned her head, looking the two plainly dressed women up and down, and replied perfunctorily with some uncertainty, “All of our rooms here are quite decent. If it’s just the two of you young ladies, there’s no need to stay in the very best one.”
“Proprietress.” Ming Qin, her expression flat, took out a small pouch of copper coins and tossed it onto the counter. She tapped it lightly with her knuckles as a hint. “My family’s young miss is frail. We must have the best room. I’ll have to trouble you to arrange it.”
Hearing the heavy thud of the pouch, the proprietress’s face immediately broke into a smile. “Oh, my dear customers! Of course, of course.”
After taking the money, she called for an attendant to lead the two upstairs.
The young lad led the way. Ming Qin subtly put an arm around the inconvenienced Murong Yan, gently supporting her up the stairs.
After entering a spacious room, she turned and instructed the attendant to prepare hot water and food, slipping him a few copper coins. The young lad, beaming with joy, went downstairs to prepare everything.
She closed the door.
Ming Qin carefully inspected their surroundings, felt the bedding, and then looked out the window before letting out a long sigh. “It’s passable.”
She lit the stove and stepped forward to help the woman undo her hood. “But it’s still a far cry from Cangyue Tower. You’ll have to make do.”
“I’m fine.”
Murong Yan looked up at the frowning Ming Qin, gave a reassuring smile, and asked, “But Ah Qin, you seem to know the ins and outs of this inn so well. Is it because shadow guards often have to stop for the night when on missions outside the capital?”
“How could that be possible?”
Ming Qin shook her head, her expression serene. She hung up the robe she had taken off and added more charcoal to the stove. “Shadow guards race against every second. Most of the time, we have to ride for a thousand li. Even after a mission is complete, we must return to report back as soon as possible. Sometimes it’s so urgent, we switch horses but not riders. I’ve dozed off on horseback several times, and in the end, I had to tie myself to the horse so I wouldn’t fall off.”
Senior Sister always said that the power of intelligence lies in speed. If the message isn’t delivered at the fastest possible pace, you lose the initiative, and the intelligence loses its value.
“Besides,” Ming Qin smiled, “if Shifu found out that a shadow guard used funds to stay at an inn during a mission, he’d probably be so angry that his beard wouldn’t just turn white from punishment, it might all fall out!”
She wasn’t sure about the other shadow guards, but she herself had definitely never done such a thing.
“However,” Ming Qin tilted her head, “if it’s a protection detail, then stopping at inns is quite common.”
“Ah Qin, you’ve been a bodyguard for others before?” Murong Yan asked, sitting down on the soft couch and narrowing her eyes.
“A few times.”
Ming Qin nodded, but her tone held a hint of complaint as if recalling something troublesome. “Mostly, I was helping my Senior Brothers and Sisters guard the disciples of high-ranking official families1. They were all so difficult to serve! They’d need to rest after walking for less than half an hour, complain about this and that, and on top of running around, they loved to take their anger out on the guards. You’re much better behaved than them!”
“Oh? So Ah Qin thinks I’m very well-behaved?”
Murong Yan seemed pleased and let out a laugh, a bit of life returning to her pale face.
“Of course.” Ming Qin set down a travel pack and began to organize it, nodding affirmatively. “You don’t make a fuss. When you can’t walk, you let me carry you obediently. You don’t snatch my map, and you don’t kick me and then not let me hit back.”
Murong Yan furrowed her brow, thinking that if she were Ming Qin, she wouldn’t have such a good temper. She probably would have thrown such a naughty charge into the forest to feed the wild wolves.
She asked again, “What about the other few solo protection missions?”
“There was really only that one time. I was guarding a crazy imperial physician2 from the capital to Jingzhou.”
Ming Qin recalled as she knelt down to take off Murong Yan’s shoes and socks. “That old man had such a temper. Once he started studying herbs, he wouldn’t even hear a thunderclap, and he wouldn’t eat. Several times I got so anxious I just had to pick him up by his belt along with his pile of jars and bottles and keep moving. He was always muttering something about… the Asian Hippo…crates (Hippocrates), the… Eastern Breaking Bad (Breaking bad), and… saying he wanted to make some green plum… tree (Penicillin)? It all confused me3.”
“Is that so? He sounds like a strange one.” Murong Yan watched the vivid expressions on the person before her, lying on her side and listening quietly.
“He certainly was a character. Oh, right! This is for you.”
As if struck by a sudden inspiration, Ming Qin pulled a thumb-sized wooden box from her sleeve and handed it to Murong Yan. The box had a groove on the bottom and a tiny hole on top, its surface polished smooth. “The old man gave this to me when we parted ways. Here, if you press this spot while pointing it at someone, a poison needle will shoot out.”
Ming Qin demonstrated, then scratched her head in embarrassment. “But… I forgot to ask the old man for the antidote, so you might have to… use it carefully.”
Murong Yan found the clever little gadget in her hand interesting, but after looking at it, she tried to return it to Ming Qin. “Such an ingenious tool, Ah Qin should keep it for self-defense.”
But Ming Qin insisted, pushing the woman’s hand back. “I’ve carried it for all these years and never used it. Besides… I’m probably faster than this poison needle anyway. If you keep it, it’ll give you some peace of mind.”
Hearing this, Murong Yan no longer refused and slipped the wooden box into her sleeve.
Just then, the attendant knocked on the door to deliver the water. After he left, Ming Qin rolled up her sleeves and poured the scalding water into the bathtub, then went downstairs again to fetch some cool water.
After preparing a soap ball made from Chinese soapberry4 and a bath towel, and testing the water temperature, Ming Qin left the room.
Worn out from four straight days of travel, Murong Yan laboriously walked to the bathtub, shedding her clothes as she went. Leaning against the edge of the wooden tub, she removed her prosthesis with a shaky hand, then supported herself with her arms and slowly sat down in the water. Only when her entire body was enveloped by the hot water did the hygiene-loving Murong Yan let out a sigh of relief.
She was not a pretentious person and knew that in a critical situation, everything had its limits. Thus, no matter how arduous and difficult the journey was, she never complained.
She was keenly aware of Ming Qin’s thoughtfulness and how she had done everything in her power for her. Perhaps it was precisely because Ming Qin was by her side that she, who had never endured such a harsh journey, was able to hold on.
Ah Qin.
Thinking of the shadow guard’s sparkling eyes when she looked at her and her warm embrace, Murong Yan’s heart fluttered.
Recalling Ming Qin’s fingers brushing against her as she cleaned her in the wild, a tide surged within her. Swept away by it, she couldn’t help but tilt her head back, biting her lower lip hard to hold back the nearly shattered cry that threatened to spill from her heart.
Ah Qin…
She washed her body meticulously. The warm water flowed over every part of her, dyeing her pale skin a rosy red. The swirling steam condensed into dense droplets on her eyelashes, making her eyes seem as if they were veiled in mist.
As the heat slowly built, her toes curled as if they were being scalded. When the temperature in the room peaked, a tremor ran through her taut torso, and then her entire body went limp, like a bowstring that had been released.
The clear water mingled with a transparent dew.
The woman, half-lying in the tub, panted softly. The momentary peak left her feeling drowsy. But more than wanting to savor the aftertaste, she now felt an urgent need to see the person in her mind.
Murong Yan’s eyelids were barely open. She stretched out her hand to hook the prosthesis placed to the side, wanting to get out before the water grew cold. Her fingers could only just catch the strap on the prosthesis when her body slipped, and she fell back into the tub. The prosthesis dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.
The instant the crash sounded, Ming Qin, who had been waiting on the roof, swiftly flipped down, pushed open the window, and called out nervously, “Are you okay?!”
She rushed towards the woman, whose face was contorted in pain. She anxiously lifted her out, wrapped her in a bath towel, and placed her on the bed. Her throat was tight with panic, and her voice was hoarse as she asked, “Are you hurt?”
Murong Yan looked at the person who had burst in, hiding the surging tide in her heart and the cunning glint in her eyes. She let out a muffled groan. “Ah Qin… it hurts.”
Ming Qin was overcome with anxiety. Grabbing the medicated liniment, she lifted the bath towel to carefully inspect her body. “Where? Where did you hit it?”
“Here.” Murong Yan lightly pointed to her side. “It hurts so much.”
Seeing the red mark on the fair skin, Ming Qin found it glaring. She was annoyed with herself for letting Murong Yan be alone, causing her to get hurt.
Pulling the quilt to half-cover the woman, Ming Qin gently rubbed the reddened area with her hand, which was slick with liniment, coaxing her, “It doesn’t hurt, it’ll stop hurting in a moment. Yanyan is such a good girl.”
Murong Yan could smell the liniment but didn’t find it pungent at all. The warmth of the fingertips on her waist sparked a pleasant, tingling weakness, seeming to continue the pleasure from before. The feeling was intoxicating.
I like it when Ah Qin calls me this way.
Unlike her usual energetic and easygoing self, Ah Qin’s ‘Yanyan’ was always mixed with a trace of doting affection within its boundless gentleness. It was as if I were to ask her for the stars, and she would unhesitatingly coax me and agree.
But Ah Qin usually avoided calling me so intimately. Only when I seemed to be in pain, injured, or wronged would she unconsciously say it, soothing my emotions and indulging my willfulness.
Murong Yan had once asked Ah Qin during a meal why she didn’t use that name more often. Ah Qin thought for a long time, then tilted her head and stammered out words that even she couldn’t quite explain.
‘Because… it feels like if I call you that, you’re not the Commandery Princess anymore.’
Ah Qin didn’t understand.
But Murong Yan did.
And because she understood, she looked forward even more to the day Ah Qin would say it on her own initiative.
The day she was no longer Commandery Princess Chongwen.
“Yanyan, does it still hurt?” Ming Qin bit her lower lip, her face full of worry.
Murong Yan nodded, lowering her gaze to hide the smile in her eyes, and still said softly, “Ah Qin, it still hurts so much.”
“It’s okay, it won’t hurt after I finish applying the medicine. Be good, Yanyan,” Ming Qin cooed in a low voice, her movements becoming even more careful as she applied the liniment.
Feeling the warmth on her waist, Murong Yan closed her eyes.
Ah, I’m truly so sly.
Will heaven forgive such a treacherous person?
But what can be done?
I feel no guilt at all.
This will be the last time. Let me play tricks on this person just this one last time.
Please forgive me.
LP: Re-translated on July 01, 2025
Footnotes
- 官家弟子 | guānjiā dìzǐ | Refers to the children or younger members of influential bureaucratic or noble families.
- 御医 | yùyī | A high-ranking physician who exclusively serves the emperor and the imperial court.
- 青梅…树（青黴素Penicillin）| Qīngméi… shù (qīngméisù Penicillin) | This is a pun and a major anachronistic joke. The physician is likely a transmigrator from the modern world. She mispronounces/misremembers the Chinese for Penicillin (青霉素, qīngméisù) as ‘green plum tree’ (青梅树, qīngméi shù) because the first two characters sound similar. The references to Hippocrates and the TV show ‘Breaking Bad’ are also from the modern era.
- 皂角 | zàojiǎo | The fruit of the Chinese honey locust tree. It was traditionally used as a natural detergent and soap in ancient China.
One could say that Ah Qin makes Yanyan *влажный*
Did she just???😳😳
satisfy hereselfffffff??😳😳
Why yes, yes she did…
Did she just???😳😳
satisfy hereselfffffff??😳😳
o la la ~
o la la ~
CN novels are always so good at disguising … “Scenes” using flowery words/descriptions 😆
Gotta get past the censorship somehow lol
CN novels are always so good at disguising … “Scenes” using flowery words/descriptions 😆
I was like “is she…??” And yep lol good for her
I was like “is she…??” And yep lol good for her
😳
😳