The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 31

One Lifetime, One Couple (Accosted)

For the past few days in the wilderness, Ming Qin had left the space inside the carriage entirely to Murong Yan, wrapping herself in a blanket to sleep outside with the horses.

To be more precise, Ming Qin had never actually slept on a proper bed during a mission.

            

Even on guard duty, she would only take brief rests on ceiling beams or roof tiles, keeping a fraction of her focus alert to any movement in the surroundings.

Tonight, however, a drizzle was falling outside, so Ming Qin had originally planned to sit in the corridor to rest and keep watch.

“This… doesn’t seem quite right,” Ming Qin said, scratching her head as she stared at the bed, which was indeed large enough for two. “It feels like it goes against the rules.”

            

In the darkness, Murong Yan’s eyes shone bright. She tightly clutched the corner of Ming Qin’s sleeve, her voice soft as she said, “Ah Qin, between you and me, there’s never been such a thing as rules.”

Ming Qin, however, misunderstood, thinking Murong Yan was displeased because she, as a Shadow Guard, always lacked proper decorum before the Commandery Princess. Filled with guilt, she said, “I’ve let you down. I will be much more proper from now on.”

Looking at the foolish girl apologizing before her, Murong Yan really couldn’t help but smile. Changing her approach, she said softly, “Ah Qin, I’ll be a little scared if I’m alone.”

            

Hearing this, Ming Qin patted her chest and promised solemnly, “You don’t need to be afraid! I’ll guard the outside and won’t sleep at all. If any bad guys show up, I’ll be the first to beat them up and drive them away! You can rest easy.”

“But this is our first time staying in this inn, and I’m still uneasy by myself.” In the darkness, Murong Yan’s eyes looked slightly wet. She gripped Ming Qin’s arm with her cold hand and whispered, “Stay by my side and keep me company, alright?”

Ming Qin had never been able to refuse this woman when she spoke in such a soft voice. Even though she still felt a bit odd about it, she agreed.

            

Moving the brazier a bit closer to Murong Yan, she checked and locked the window latch, then obediently lay down in her clothes on the edge of the bed closest to the door.

The woman on the bed turned over, lying on her side to face Ming Qin, and whispered, “Ah Qin, I’m cold.”

“But the brazier is already burning quite hot. Adding more charcoal wouldn’t be good.” Ming Qin turned to face Murong Yan, explaining in a low voice for fear that she would be upset.

            

“Hold me.” Murong Yan slipped her arms out of the quilt and reached toward the person in front of her. Her eyes, hidden in the darkness, overflowed with yearning and attachment.

Ming Qin shifted herself closer. She let Murong Yan pillow her head on one of her arms, while she obediently rested her other hand on the woman’s back.

“Sleep,” Ming Qin said softly.

            

The woman’s soft breath brushed against her neck, itching slightly.

In the next second, a familiar, silk-like softness suddenly pressed against her lips. Murong Yan tilted her head up slightly, her breathing a bit shallow as she pressed against her.

Ming Qin considerately leaned down so the woman in her arms would not have to strain herself, and the shallow pecks deepened into a long, lingering kiss.

            

One of Murong Yan’s hands moved to touch the throat of the person before her, while the other climbed up her back.

There was a distinct difference in temperature even between their lips. Pressed tightly together, they seemed to be exchanging something.

Urgently seeking a hotter temperature from the source of warmth in her embrace, Murong Yan finally obtained the sweet, warm spring she yearned for. She held it, letting the heat accumulate in her mouth, and only when she could no longer hold it did she devoutly swallow it down, drop by drop.

            

The warm sensation seemed to spread through her limbs and bones, and her fingers clutched Ming Qin’s clothes tightly, as if stimulated by the sensation.

After a long time, so long that her body felt as if it had also been dyed into a pool of warm spring water, Murong Yan reluctantly pulled away, panting softly.

Ming Qin pressed her lips to the woman’s slightly damp forehead—tasting a faint hint of salt—and murmured with helpless amusement, “Now you’re too hot.”

            

“I’m not,” Murong Yan retorted with a smile, savoring the sweetness left in her mouth.

“This is just right.”

The next day.

            

The winter sun was slow to rise. Without waiting for dawn, Ming Qin got out of bed to wash up.

Exhausted from the journey of the past few days, the woman on the bed remained fast asleep. Ming Qin treaded as softly as a cat to prepare Murong Yan’s clothes, then went downstairs to ask the inn servant where she could find a good eatery nearby.

She was reluctant to wake the rarely resting woman too early, so she waited until the sky was fully bright before going back upstairs. Inside the room, Murong Yan had already changed her clothes, her expression clear and awake.

            

Ming Qin knelt before the bed, meticulously adjusting the leather straps on the prosthetic limb while reporting to her, “One of the young lads just told me there’s a morning market next door. There’s a stall selling pretty good baked flatbread. Why don’t you wait here, and I’ll buy some back for you?”

Hearing this, Murong Yan shook her head and said, “I’ll go with you.”

“But…” Ming Qin hesitated. Although it was not a long walk, she was still worried it would be too physically exhausting for Murong Yan.

            

“I can do it. Ah Qin, let me try, alright?” The woman’s expression was calm, but her words carried a quiet determination.

“Alright.”

Looking at Murong Yan like this, Ming Qin nodded. “I’ll be right by your side. Tell me the moment you can’t bear it.”

            

After all, carrying the woman about was child’s play for her.

Once they had put on their cloaks, Ming Qin helped Murong Yan downstairs. After leaving a word with the innkeeper’s wife, they walked slowly toward the morning market.

Though the walk took less than a cup of tea’s time¹, Murong Yan struggled. Her face turned pale, and she bit her lower lip tightly, causing Ming Qin—who was guarding her from behind—to feel her heart skip in concern.

            

They were almost within sight of the morning market’s entrance archway when Murong Yan, unable to hold out any longer, came to a halt. Her body went soft as she gasped, “Ah Qin… I can’t go on.”

With a swift stride forward, Ming Qin caught her, supporting her hips and pulling her into a secure embrace.

“You’ve already done wonderfully. Yanyan has walked so far.”

            

Coaxing her gently, and as if afraid she would feel discouraged, Ming Qin added, “Yanyan is very good. You did the right thing by telling me when you couldn’t bear it. We’ll take our time, there’s no rush.”

Opening her cloak, Ming Qin half-hid Murong Yan inside her embrace and walked slowly toward the morning market. Fearing the woman would find the bustling, crowded market too overwhelming, she settled her onto a bamboo stool in a quiet spot near the entrance. Only then did Ming Qin turn and bound excitedly into the market.

Resting her chin on her hand, Murong Yan watched Ming Qin run off with a spendthrift momentum that made it look as though she wanted to buy out the entire market. She felt like laughing, but her view was suddenly blocked by the figures of several men.

            

“Beautiful lady, sitting all alone here… Who are you waiting for?”

The leader, a man dressed in luxurious silks, stared with a frivolous smile at Murong Yan, whose face was uncovered. “Could you be waiting here for your prospective husband—namely, this young master right here?”

Hearing this, the men following behind him let out a chorus of whistles and boisterous laughter.

            

No anger flared in Murong Yan’s heart; she simply felt a wave of irritation.

She wanted to get up and leave, but her exhausted leg was still trembling slightly. Reluctant to cause a scene, she suppressed her temper and said, “This palace—this young lady is indeed waiting for the one she loves, and by great fortune, that person is not you.”

Seeing this woman in commoner’s clothing dare to talk back, the men grew even more excited. “Oho! The lady certainly has a sharp tongue. You’re so good-looking, ordinary men wouldn’t be worthy of you.” The leader adjusted his collar, oozing self-confidence. “It’s better if this young master accompanies you.”

            

The guard by the wealthy man’s side, carrying a saber at his waist, chimed in smoothly as if fully accustomed to this routine, “Do you know who this young master is? He is the second son of the current Vice Minister of Personnel! If you become a chambermaid-concubine² for our young master, it’ll be like a sparrow flying up a branch to become a phoenix.”

The Ministry of Personnel? Wasn’t that the most corrupt faction of all?

It was a department completely controlled by the Crown Prince’s faction, which managed the appointments, dismissals, promotions, and transfers of all civil officials nationwide. They used their authority to throw the imperial court into absolute chaos, rotten to the core.

            

And the son of the Vice Minister of Personnel was an infamous, profligate dandy—a tyrant who oppressed the common people and abducted women. He was nothing but a brute wrapped in official skin.

At these thoughts, Murong Yan’s voice sank coldly. “Fine birds choose the trees they roost in. Furthermore, this young lady only desires one lifetime, one couple³. I’ve never once considered being a concubine in my life, so I’m afraid this withered branch will have to find someone else.”

“You!”

            

The wealthy man froze, only realizing after a moment that he had been compared to a withered branch by this commoner woman. He was so shocked he couldn’t speak.

“Though, you did get one thing right.”

Murong Yan looked at the man before her with utter disdain. He was dressed up like a peacock, desperate to broadcast his status as a young lord to the entire world. She let out a cold snort. “Indeed, no man in this world is worthy of this young lady. Not even if your old man came himself.”

            

Insolent and humiliated, the man’s face flushed red with rage as he shouted, “What a brazen woman! Let’s see if you can still bark like this when you’re in bed, pinned beneath this young master!”

The man’s vulgar roaring deeply annoyed Murong Yan. Gathering her breath, she prepared to stand and leave.

Seeing her attempt to leave, the man reached out to grab Murong Yan’s collar.

            

Yet in the blink of an eye, his hand was struck down by another woman who suddenly materialized before him.

She was tall, holding two baked flatbreads in her hands, and was smiling cheerfully.

Yet her eyes gleamed with a fierce, murderous light as she stared straight at him, making the man shudder involuntarily.

            

“Is there something you require from my lady, young master?” Ming Qin spoke up, stepping forward to shield Murong Yan behind her.

“That hurts like hell!”

The wealthy man suddenly shook his hand, howling and wailing in pain.

            

“How dare you strike this young master?! Men, seize her!” The armed guards around him closed in, drawing their long sabers in a threatening display of sheer arrogance.

“Hurts?”

Ming Qin didn’t feel the slightest bit of tension in the situation. She merely tilted her head in confusion and flexed her palm. She didn’t think she had hit him very hard; it had really been nothing more than a light tap.

            

“How are you going to make amends to this young master now?!” the wealthy man roared, blue veins bulging on his neck.

Behind her, a frowning Murong Yan was about to speak, but Ming Qin reached back to stop her.

Handing the baked flatbreads to Murong Yan, Ming Qin gave her a reassuring smile and whispered, “Don’t say a word. We absolutely mustn’t let anyone else notice you.”

            

Ming Qin turned back around, her smile completely gone. With an incredibly serious expression, she addressed the group of men. “Since that’s the case, an eye for an eye. I’ll let you hit me once, young master.”

The wealthy man was taken aback by the woman’s proposal. His eyes widened, and then a hint of excitement crept in. “You said it yourself!”

Looking at Ming Qin’s plain features and shabby clothes, he didn’t feel the slightest urge to show tenderness to the fairer sex.

            

The wealthy man licked his lips and stepped forward, rotating his wrist. Seeing the woman’s calm, completely indifferent expression only fueled his anger. He shouted, “Don’t you dare dodge!”

“Go ahead. I won’t dodge,” Ming Qin said unconcernedly, planting her feet slightly apart and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Fine!”

            

The man clenched his fist, bent his knees to gather force, and twisted his waist to land a heavy 『thud』 of a punch right onto Ming Qin’s face.

Though his punching hand throbbed with excruciating pain as if he had struck a boulder, the man still looked smug as he watched the woman’s head snap back from the force of his heavy blow.

Straightening her posture, Ming Qin looked up and asked calmly, “Alright. Have you let out your anger now?”

            

She seemed completely unfazed by her rapidly swelling cheek.

“You… Doesn’t it hurt?” The wealthy man looked with a trace of terror at the woman before him, who was neither crying nor begging for mercy.

“No,” Ming Qin said, raising a hand to touch her cheek. She remarked indifferently, “Though you’re indeed a bit stronger than I expected. You’re certainly no weakling.”

            

“You… Lunatic!” Fully unable to comprehend the woman before him, the wealthy man waved his hand and hurriedly left with his equally dumbfounded guards.

Ming Qin was a bit puzzled by their reaction, but she was glad they were gone.

She smiled, entirely ignoring the ache in her swollen cheek, and turned to look at Murong Yan behind her. “Hurry up and try this baked flatbread,” she said caringly. “See if it tastes good.”

            

But Murong Yan only kept her head lowered.

“What’s wrong? Is it not good? Or should I go buy something else?”

Ming Qin crouched down, only to see Murong Yan’s eyes reddening as if she were on the verge of tears. In that instant, a surge of fury welled up in Ming Qin’s chest, and a murderous aura burst from her eyes. “Did those men hurt you just now?!”

            

Her blade slid from its sheath.

Murong Yan remained silent. It was only after a long moment that she spoke.

“You really are so foolish.”

            

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