The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 35

A Reward for Ah Qin

A bitter wind blew, carrying fine, powdery snow.

Ming Qin stood alone by the well, washing her nose. The water drawn from the wooden bucket was mixed with crushed ice, yet even in such biting cold, her expression didn’t change in the slightest.

            

She had likely sustained some injury, and running up and down must have triggered the nosebleed.

Ming Qin thought absentmindedly.

To someone with complete insensitivity to pain, such a minor ailment was of no consequence. Still, this ceaseless bleeding was proving rather troublesome.

            

She lowered her head and submerged her face in the bucket, hoping the icy water would suppress the warmth inside her nose.

After a moment, once she confirmed the bleeding had indeed stopped, Ming Qin changed the water to wash her stained undergarments and outer robe. Her fingers, submerged in the freezing water, were chapped, yet she didn’t feel any pain.

After hanging the washed clothes to dry in the warm stable, Ming Qin finally returned to the room.

            

The room was in disarray. Ming Qin wanted to clean up the blood splattered on the floor, but then she saw Murong Yan curled up on the wooden bed, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her thin body trembling slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Noticing Murong Yan’s abnormal state, Ming Qin hurried forward to pull her into her arms.

“Ah Qin!” Upon seeing her, Murong Yan reached out to touch her cheek, her face frantic as she checked her over. “Blood… There was so much blood just now. Ah Qin, does it hurt?”

            

“It doesn’t hurt, I’m fine,” Ming Qin said softly, leaning against her hand. “Your hands are cold. Let me boil some hot water for you, all right?”

Murong Yan didn’t answer, her trembling hands repeatedly checking to make sure the person in front of her was unharmed.

Seeing she didn’t answer, Ming Qin wanted to turn toward the charcoal brazier, but she was frantically hugged around the waist.

            

“You’re not allowed to leave!” Murong Yan cried out, tightly hugging Ming Qin as her body shivered, choking out, “Where are you going?”

Ming Qin bent down slightly and said patiently, “I’m not leaving. I only want to boil some water for you.”

“No!” The woman still seemed to be in terror, stubbornly refusing to let go. “I don’t want water. You’re not allowed to leave.”

            

Looking at the somewhat abnormal Murong Yan, Ming Qin only thought she had been frightened by the bloody scene earlier. She coaxed her gently, “All right, all right, I won’t leave.”

Ming Qin helped the woman lie down, intending to sleep on the bed with her clothes on as well, gently coaxing her to sleep with one hand.

But that night, Murong Yan slept terribly.

            

She clutched the person beside her tightly, not daring to let go in the slightest. In less than an hour, she would wake up in a sweat, reaching out to check Ming Qin’s breath.

Only after confirming that she was indeed still breathing would Murong Yan lie down again, clutching a corner of Ming Qin’s clothes. In the span of a single night, she repeated this check no fewer than ten times.

Ming Qin, who was constantly woken by the slight movements beside her, wasn’t annoyed. She simply stroked her back comfortingly whenever the woman opened her eyes in panic, until the person in her arms fell asleep again.

            

Before the sky was even bright, just as Ming Qin quietly tried to get out of bed, her wrist was grabbed by Murong Yan, who suddenly opened her eyes.

Tightly grabbing the person in front of her, Murong Yan’s fingertips trembled as she cried out in panic, “Where are you going?!”

“I’ll get up first to wash up and prepare the horses. Sleep a little longer,” Ming Qin explained, her tone calm.

            

“No, you’re not allowed to leave!”

Murong Yan struggled to sit up and said anxiously, “You can’t leave me!”

Ming Qin felt a bit strange, but she supported the unsteady woman, comforting her, “I’m not leaving. I’ll be back in a bit.”

            

“No.”

Murong Yan insisted, her voice trembling, “I’ll go with you to wash up. I don’t want to sleep anymore.” Still gripping Ming Qin with one hand, she reached for the prosthetic limb at the head of the bed with the other, clumsily trying to strap it on. Her hair, usually neatly combed, was completely disheveled.

Looking at the carelessly buckled straps and the woman’s frantic state, Ming Qin couldn’t bear it. She knelt down, gently secured her right leg, then carried her in her arms to wash up.

            

It was only then that Murong Yan’s abnormality began to worry Ming Qin.

Whenever she wanted to leave Murong Yan’s line of sight, the woman would panic, tightly clutching her hand and refusing to let her leave.

Even when Ming Qin spoke softly to persuade Murong Yan to let her step away to relieve herself, across the thin door, she would ask if she was still there every few seconds.

            

And whatever Murong Yan did, she also insisted on having Ming Qin accompany or hold her to do it, whether it was washing her face, brushing her teeth, or even relieving herself—an act she had previously been most reluctant to let Ming Qin help with.

Although Ming Qin had no complaints, looking at Murong Yan’s bloodshot eyes and haggard face, she still felt this wasn’t a solution.

Especially when, in the light snow, Murong Yan still insisted on not going inside the warm carriage, demanding instead to sit outside with the Shadow Guard to drive the horses. Ming Qin’s worry reached its peak.

            

“This won’t do,” Ming Qin frowned, looking at the woman in her arms who was starting to cough uncontrollably, fretting. “It’s too cold outside; you’ll get sick.”

“Cough… cough, cough, I’m not going in… you’re not allowed to leave.” Her throat tickled as she tightly gripped Ming Qin’s collar. Even though she was weak, her expression remained resolute. “Cough… you’re not allowed to leave… leave my side.”

“I won’t leave, I won’t leave you. I’m only driving the horses outside,” she kept assuring the woman, but Murong Yan only shook her head desperately, which made Ming Qin very distressed.

            

Flipping through the map on hand, the journey was still long. Not understanding why the woman had suddenly become like this, Ming Qin muttered with a worried face, “But what are we to do if this goes on? Your body can’t take it.”

She looked at the reins on her lap, and a sudden idea flashed in her mind.

Stopping the horses, Ming Qin suddenly reached out, held the thin woman, and leaped down onto the snow. She opened the carriage door, placed her on the soft cushion lined with fox fur, and said, “Wait here for me for a bit.”

            

“Ah Qin! Ah Qin! Where are you going?!” The sudden disappearance of warmth beside her made Murong Yan panic, desperately trying to pull back the person who was turning away.

But Ming Qin only held her down with a gentle yet firm motion, whispering softly in her ear, “Half a quarter-hour, at most half a quarter-hour. Wait for me here.” Then she turned, closed the carriage door, and sped away.

Murong Yan clawed at the door handle. “Ah Qin, come back!” But the door was wedged shut by something and wouldn’t budge at all.

            

“Ah Qin!” Her slender hands beat frantically against the door. Panic filled her mind, and the intense desire for Ming Qin to stay made her speak without thinking. “This palace commands you to return! Ming Qin, come back! This palace… Cough… cough, cough!”

A cough that pierced her lungs made Murong Yan involuntarily bend over. The pain in her chest felt as if it would pierce her lungs. Having lost her strength from coughing, she curled up on the seat, shivering involuntarily, whimpering with a muffled voice.

“Ah Qin…”

            

Murong Yan only felt as if she were in darkness. A bone-deep emptiness spread through her, torturing her like ten thousand ants devouring her heart.

Where did Ah Qin go?

Does Ah Qin not want me anymore?

            

What if Ah Qin dies?

Countless questions tumbled in her mind. A near-explosive sense of panic made every single breath hard to bear, as if she would pass out the next second.

Just as her consciousness grew hazy, the faint clinking of a chain reached her ears.

            

The carriage door opened, and Ming Qin, her shoulders dusted with snow, bent down and entered the warm carriage to help the weak woman on the seat sit up.

“Ah Qin?” Coming back to her senses, Murong Yan gritted her teeth to suppress her trembling. “Where did you go?”

Ming Qin smiled, though her face looked a bit troubled. “I just ran over to a small village nearby.”

            

She held a fine chain about eight chi long, looping the leather strap on the end around Murong Yan’s hand. “I originally wanted to find some hemp rope, but unfortunately, this was all I could find.”

The young Shadow Guard said as she clasped the iron ring at the end around her own neck.

“You stay inside. If you want to check if I’m here, just tug on this iron chain. Don’t come outside and freeze.” Handing the key to the stunned woman in front of her, Ming Qin continued, “This is probably for tethering newborn calves, but don’t worry! I left a bag of silver at their door, so it doesn’t count as stealing.”

            

Seeing Murong Yan only biting her lip and not saying a word, Ming Qin grew a bit nervous. “Don’t be angry with me, all right?” she said, her tone a bit aggrieved. “Don’t refuse to speak to me, it’s quite scary.”

Murong Yan stared fixedly at the tethered person in front of her. Her throat felt so sour and tight that she couldn’t speak. Only after a long silence did she force out a cracked, trembling whisper. “Ah Qin… why are you so good to me?”

Ming Qin scratched her forehead, the neck ring making a clinking sound. “Does treating someone well require a reason?”

            

She was puzzled.

Shaking her head, Murong Yan pulled the iron chain in her hand and held Ming Qin’s head close. As if she didn’t know what else she could give, she simply kissed her silently over and over again.

“What’s wrong?” Closing her eyes to feel the lips brushing across her eyelids, Ming Qin asked in worry at the woman’s long silence.

            

“… It’s a reward, you know. A reward for Ah Qin.”

Mingled with the tears winding down, it was both sweet and salty.

---

The author has something to say:

            

PS. I have posted the blurbs for two new stories on my author profile page.

The first one is a futuristic online gaming novel (?)

The couple is a melancholy, gentle beauty and a world-weary murderer (?)

            

(I know it sounds weird, but the story is just stuck in my head, and I can’t help it…)

The second one is a campus + urban romance story.

The couple is a sunny, sincere younger veterinarian and a gentle, healing older flight attendant.

            

(One of my teacher friends told me absolutely not to write a campus story because she gets physically uncomfortable every time she reads one, but I can’t help it either, the story is just in my head…)

You can check out both blurbs. If you like them, please add them to your bookmarks! (That would give me more motivation, I think?)

However, I really don’t want to battle wits with the censors anymore, so they probably won’t be as spicy as this story about the Commandery Princess and her Shadow Guard (please don’t be too disappointed!).

            

If the genres you like are not among these two, I will write other things in the future, so you can still look forward to them.

It’s just that after this book is finished, I might want to take a break to build up some drafts. It might be a while before I start a new story (it’s really exhausting~).

As always, praying for you, and hope you are happy~

            

---