The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 45
by Little PandaAlive, I Must See the Person; Dead, I Must See the Corpse1 (The Coming of the Dragon and the Going of the Veins2)**
When Murong Yan awoke with a start, she saw Murong Can holding her hand, his hair disheveled and the rims of his eyes red.
“Elder Brother…” Murong Yan spoke with difficulty, her throat parched.
“Yue’er! You’re awake? Doctor, where is the doctor?” The moment the man saw his younger sister awaken, he hurriedly called for someone to check on her.
When Murong Can had finished his drills and returned to the Prince’s Manor, he had seen Murong Yan standing alone in a pool of water mixed with crushed ice, her hair loose and her body trembling precariously.
He had hoisted her, nearly unconscious, out of the water. If he had not been able to faintly feel a weak pulse, he would have almost thought the cold, pale woman before him was already a corpse.
Hurriedly handing his sister over to his subordinate officers and the doctor, Murong Can inquired about the ins and outs of the matter from the house servants. Fuming, he stormed into the main hall, and with a single glance, he saw his father and older half-brother gathered around a wailing and tantrum-throwing Murong Fu, coaxing him.
No one cared about Murong Yan, who had been on the verge of death alone in the pool.
No one.
He was unable to contain his anger. For a rare moment, he was no longer gentle. Disregarding the others’ attempts to stop him, he directly administered twenty strikes of the board3 to Murong Fu’s thighs, then drove the remaining people out of the hall to have a deep talk alone with Prince Yu.
Feeling indignant on his sister’s behalf, he no longer held back the words hidden in his heart. Whether it was his father’s favoritism, his mother-consort’s4 suffering, his older half-brother’s hypocrisy, Fu’er’s arrogance, or all the forbearance and grievances Yue’er had endured these past few years, it all came pouring out.
Murong Can was not sure how much the other party would take in, but he at least hoped his Father King would realize his dissatisfaction.
Or at the very least, acknowledge the sacrifices his sister had made for the sake of the family.
After a flurry of chaotic activity from the doctor and the maids, Murong Can sat by the bedside, watching his sister weakly half-reclining as she drank the warm medicinal liquid, her eyes devoid of life. He only felt a sour bitterness in his heart.
From his wide sleeve, he took out a hair rope that he had washed clean. While handing the item in his hand to his sister, Murong Can said gently, “Yue’er, I’m returning this to you.”
During the two days the woman was unconscious, he had ordered people to drain all the ponds in the manor. He mobilized a hundred men to search the muddy pond bottoms, and finally, in a fish pond in a side courtyard, he found the thing his sister regarded as a treasure.
Murong Yan’s eyes widened as she looked at the object in the man’s hand. Her cold expression shattered, and with trembling fingertips, she took the hair rope, holding it preciously against her cheek. Her eyes grew hot, and for a moment, she could not speak.
Seeing his sister’s reaction, Murong Can said softly, “Is this the item that the guard who brought you back left for you? Yue’er… you cherish it very much.”
Closing her eyes, Murong Yan clutched the black knotted rope tightly and spoke with a hoarse voice, “…I cherish everything of hers.”
Hearing this, Murong Can only nodded slightly.
In his heart, he had already deduced from the bits and pieces his sister had recounted about her escape that the guard’s chances of survival were slim. But seeing the normally calm and composed Murong Yan have a rare, unrestrained display of true emotion, he chose to say nothing.
Lifting the well-fed little tiger onto the bed board, Murong Can thoughtfully gave a few reminders, and then departed.
Early spring, green shoots broke through the soil.
The master of the northern border, Prince Yu, holding the late emperor’s posthumous edict5, proclaimed to the world the great treason of the Crown Prince’s rebellion and usurpation of the throne.
Afterward, he led his son, the Ever-Victorious General Murong Can, south, intending to sweep away the Crown Prince’s faction, who were acting against the proper course and behaving perversely6, and enter the capital to support the Eleventh Prince’s ascension to the throne.
With the tiger tally in hand, the troops of the various prefectures outside the capital city had already submitted. They only awaited a single command to assemble, gathering into a force that reached the heavens.
However, none of this had anything to do with Murong Yan.
The only thing she cared about was whether, when they passed through that forest that always appeared together with her nightmares, she would be able to see the person she thought of day and night.
Her thin arms could no longer hold the three or four-month-old tiger cub, which had been raised strong and sturdy on goat’s milk and minced meat in the Prince’s Manor.
But the young beast, attached to the woman, still lay beside her, rubbing its large head against her hand, begging to be petted.
When the army was encamped at the local prefecture, Murong Can brought three bound men before Murong Yan, who was resting in a luxurious tent.
“During interrogation, these bandits confessed that they once participated in the mission to pursue you with Xiao He,” Murong Can said, then silently handed a small oil-paper package to the woman. “Before they are convicted and imprisoned, I thought you might want to talk to them.”
For some reason, Murong Yan was a little afraid, but she still took the object her brother handed her.
Strangely, she felt the small oil-paper package was a bit scalding to the touch.
She merely held it in her hand, then looked at the three men kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs, and asked in a dry and hoarse voice, “…So, you know the whereabouts of the shadow guard who was with me that day?”
Her tone held a hesitation that others could not detect, as if she was resisting knowing the answer.
“If you mean the woman dressed in black robes…” one of the men, who had a beard, began hesitantly, “I’m afraid… she was already killed by Guard Commander Xiao…”
“Impossible!”
Murong Yan cut the man off, her suppressed voice filled with terror, nearly out of tune. “You’re lying! Ah Qin cannot be dead!”
Seeing Murong Yan’s intense reaction, the little tiger cub thought the three men before them had bullied its master’s beloved woman. It leaped down from the couch, baring its sharp white teeth and growling in a way that was both milky and fierce7.
The bearded man stammered to clarify, “I’m not lying, that woman really…” but his voice grew smaller and smaller as he watched the woman’s agitated reaction.
Murong Can stood to the side with a frown and spoke up, “What exactly happened that day? Tell us in detail, quickly!”
“The guard by that Commandery Princess’s side was indeed very strong.”
Seeing the bearded man’s timid appearance, another kneeling man, who was bald, spoke up for him. “That day, she, a lone woman, blocked us with just a sword in her hand. At that time, there were probably…” He glanced at the man with braids next to him, as if for confirmation.
The man with braids picked up the thread, “Including Guard Commander Xiao, there were fifty-one men.”
“Yes, fifty-one men. At that time, the woman drew a line on the ground, not allowing anyone to continue the chase. Even when dozens of men drew their bows at the same time, she was able to remain safe amidst the rain of arrows.”
The bald man recalled the scene from that day and continued, “Anyone who dared to cross that line would be instantly cut down from their horse by her. After more than ten men died, no one dared to try again.”
“Later, Guard Commander Xiao ordered that he would delay the woman himself, and let the rest of us take a detour to continue the pursuit…” The bald man hesitated here, took a deep breath, and continued, “While fending off Guard Commander Xiao’s attacks, that woman injured all of the other men’s horses, and then… she went mad.”
He shivered.
“Mad?” Murong Can was a little confused when he heard this. “What do you mean, mad?”
“She went mad… she really went mad. I was standing at the very front then, I couldn’t have seen it any clearer.”
The bearded man’s eyes were wide as he recalled, then he said in a trembling voice, “At that time, she had almost bled out, and her shoulder was poisoned. She looked as if she was completely unconcerned about the fact that she was about to die… but after Guard Commander Xiao said a few words to her, she became like a crazed beast, hacking at Guard Commander Xiao, not caring for her own life.”
At that time, the blood-soaked woman with reddened eyes, after her exchange with Guard Commander Xiao, had a ferocity that instantly surged in her eyes. Her entire body exuded a suffocating, bloodthirsty killing aura, like a Rakshasa8 walking out of hell.
That woman’s right hand was so soaked in blood she could barely hold her sword, and her body had been slashed several times, yet she seemed completely oblivious, continuing to wildly brandish her broken body, vowing to perish together with Guard Commander Xiao.
“The two of them fought their way through the forest, the gleam of their blades and shadows of their swords made it impossible for any of us to get close…” the bearded man said in a low voice, nudging his chin towards the paper package in Murong Yan’s hand. “Later, Guard Commander Xiao killed her and came back from the forest alone. He had also cut off one of her ears, and the rest of the corpse… was thrown into the lake.”
Hearing this, Murong Yan felt as if she was about to suffocate. With a trembling hand, she slowly unfolded the oil-paper package she had been clutching so tightly.
Lying inside was a blood-stained garnet earring.
It was a garnet earring from the same pair as the one on her own earlobe.
Her heart plummeted.
She could not breathe.
“To be able to cripple one of Guard Commander Xiao’s arms while being covered in wounds, she is truly admirable,” the bald man lamented in a low voice, even though she had been an enemy.
The man with braids recalled, “Before the two of them disappeared, I heard that woman shouting something.” He suddenly looked up, confused, and said, “Kill you?… Protect… Yan? Yanyan?”
Hearing these words, Murong Yan shot to her feet, but then swayed and squatted down, wrapping her arms around herself as she trembled violently, her teeth chattering as if she were about to faint at any moment.
“Yue’er! Yue’er!” Seeing his sister in such an abnormal state, Murong Can anxiously moved forward to support her while calling for his subordinate officer to take the three kneeling men out of the tent.
“Ah Qin… is dead!? How could she die. How could she die because of me…”
Murong Yan gripped her brother’s collar tightly, her heart feeling as if twisted by a knife, shuddering all over, her breathing erratic. “Ah Qin can’t die… I won’t allow it, I won’t allow it!”
The woman collapsed limply into her brother’s arms, the rims of her eyes red, yet not a single tear would fall. Her expression was vacant as she kept murmuring, “Won’t allow it… I won’t allow it…”
Murong Can had not at all expected his sister to lose her composure like this over the death of a guard. The woman’s despairing expression looked as if she would follow that person into death in the next second.
He felt a heart-wrenching pain, regretting that he had let his sister meet with the three men. Helpless and frantic, he comforted her, “It’s just an earring, Yue’er. It’s just an earring.”
Seeing a flicker of awareness return to Murong Yan’s eyes, Murong Can continued, “A shadow guard directly under the emperor wouldn’t die so easily. An earring alone can’t prove anything, right? Yue’er?”
The surrounding noise seemed to be blocked out.
The woman heard nothing, only stared fixedly at her brother’s opening and closing mouth, pondering his words.
That’s right.
Alive, I must see the person.
Dead, I must see the corpse.
It’s just an earring.
Just an earring.
It doesn’t prove anything, right?
Ah Qin.
In the next second, Murong Yan collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, losing consciousness.
Only Murong Can was left in the tent, holding his fainted sister, anxiously pinching her philtrum9 and shouting for a doctor outside.
LP: Re-translated on August 12, 2025
Footnotes
- 活要见人，死要见尸 | huó yào jiàn rén, sǐ yào jiàn shī | A common Chinese expression meaning that one needs to see a person whether they are alive or dead. It conveys a refusal to accept someone’s disappearance or reported death without definitive proof, demanding to see either the living person or their body.
- 来龙去脉 | lái lóng qù mài | Literally “the coming of the dragon and the going of the veins,” a chengyu derived from feng shui principles describing the topography of mountains. Metaphorically, it means the entire sequence of events from beginning to end, the whole story, or the ins and outs of a matter.
- 板子 | bǎn zi | A form of corporal punishment involving being beaten with a large, flat wooden board, usually on the thighs or buttocks. The number of strikes was specified by the person ordering the punishment and was a common disciplinary measure in households and the legal system.
- 母妃 | mǔ fēi | A term of address for one’s mother who is a consort or concubine of a king or emperor. 妃 (fēi) is a high rank for an imperial consort, below the Empress. This indicates his mother is not the primary wife of Prince Yu.
- 先帝遺诏 | xiān dì yí zhào | The posthumous edict of the former emperor. 先帝 (xiān dì) refers to the deceased emperor. 遺诏 (yí zhào) is a will or decree left behind to be enacted after death. Such an edict carried immense political weight and was often used to legitimize a successor or a major political action.
- 倒行逆施 | dào xíng nì shī | Literally “to walk backwards and act perversely.” A chengyu that describes someone who goes against the natural order, common sense, or historical trends, engaging in reactionary or outrageous acts. It implies a complete defiance of what is right and proper.
- 又奶又兇 | yòu nǎi yòu xiōng | A modern slang phrase. Literally “both milky and fierce.” 奶 (nǎi), meaning “milk,” is used as an adjective to describe something as cute, young, or babyish.
- 罗刹 | luóchà | The Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit “Rakshasa.” In Buddhist and Hindu mythology, Rakshasas are powerful, often malevolent, humanoid beings or demons. In Chinese culture and literature, the term is used to describe a fierce, demonic, or bloodthirsty figure.
- 人中 | rén zhōng | The philtrum, the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is a major acupuncture point (also known as Shuigou, 水沟) that can be pressed firmly in an emergency to revive someone who has fainted or lost consciousness.
I love the brother fūck everybody else they can die and I know my girl ain’t dead
Aww, I love murong can. He’s so sweet!
Aww, I love murong can. He’s so sweet!
I knew it! I insert curse knew it! I was wondering about it last chapter but nobody really cared about the princess hence no one bothered to follow her out. I knew it was strange. She was in the lake for far too long. It was obvious after she rushed out of the room that she was going to find that hair tie. Considering she’s a princess and is currently very frail, I thought someone would have followed her. If someone followed her, servants would have dragged her out already long before she started losing consciousness but no one arrived. Turns out, nobody actually bothered. I insert curse knew it! Hah! Serves that insert curse brat right for getting lashed!
Oh noo, she lost her ear 😭
She’s still alive right? What if she disguised her self and choose to wear the armor of the general or the general lets her go. And thank you for the chapter!
I knew it! I insert curse knew it! I was wondering about it last chapter but nobody really cared about the princess hence no one bothered to follow her out. I knew it was strange. She was in the lake for far too long. It was obvious after she rushed out of the room that she was going to find that hair tie. Considering she’s a princess and is currently very frail, I thought someone would have followed her. If someone followed her, servants would have dragged her out already long before she started losing consciousness but no one arrived. Turns out, nobody actually bothered. I insert curse knew it! Hah! Serves that insert curse brat right for getting lashed!
Oh noo, she lost her ear 😭
She’s still alive right? What if she disguised her self and choose to wear the armor of the general or the general lets her go. And thank you for the chapter!