The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 53
by Little PandaWhether it’s kissing, companionship, or even fighting for her life
The instant Ming Qin was about to open her mouth to answer, Song Shuqing directly covered her mouth with a hand and forcefully dragged her out of the prison cell.
At the dungeon entrance, Song Shuqing pressed her lips together and asked with a grim expression, “You couldn’t possibly… be planning to actually agree, right?”
Nodding, although Ming Qin’s expression was gloomy, she still said with a matter-of-fact look, “This is the most reliable method.”
“Reliable my ass, how did I teach you math, huh?!”
“One life in exchange for one month?”
The irritable Song Shuqing slapped her Shimei’s head and said, “Let’s not even talk about whether that cunning venomous snake of a man will keep his promise. Let’s say you live to be fifty, that’s still more than ten thousand days left. Ten thousand versus thirty, there’s no way that’s an equal sign, right? Were you sleeping during negotiation class? This sounds like a super bad deal!”
Standing ramrod straight, Ming Qin, who always lowered her head and obediently took her Shijie’s scolding, suddenly raised her voice.
“It’s worth it, it’s worth it.”
Her body couldn’t help but tremble. “As long as it’s for Yanyan, even if I have to prepay with thousands of reincarnations1, it’s still worth it!”
Thinking of Murong Yan, whom she watched over day and night, her withered hands and sunken cheeks, her life force that was constantly fading with time, Ming Qin murmured as if talking to herself, “Even if there’s only a sliver of a chance, I must fight for it.”
“…Qinqin.”
Looking at the beloved Shimei she had raised with her own hands, Song Shuqing felt a pang in her heart and said with a sour bitterness, “Sometimes, life and death are fated. Mortals cannot force it…”
“I don’t want to!”
“Shijie, look, I’ve never forced anything in my entire life, right?” Ming Qin clenched her fists, excitedly interrupting the person before her. “But Yanyan… Yanyan is different… I don’t want to watch Yanyan die… and do nothing…”
Blinking her eyes, her voice choked with sobs.
“This… is not because of ruler and subject, nor is it because of friendship. Shijie…” Puffing out her chest and raising her head, Ming Qin looked directly at her Shijie, her tone clear.
“My heart delights in her, and I am willing.”
Love, not knowing from where it arose, looking back, one realizes it has already gone deep2.
She paused, as if thinking about how to explain the surging feelings in her heart to the person before her, then said, “On the way to the capital, I kept thinking, and I realized that if it weren’t for Yanyan, I probably would never love a person like this again in my life.”
“I am willing to do anything for her, whether it’s kissing, companionship, matters of the bed, or even now, fighting for her life.” Ming Qin’s tone had probably never been so resolute, completely unaware that she was speaking the sweetest and also the most bitter words of love.
“If Old Master Heaven3 wants to snatch Yanyan away, I will fight my way into the Yincao Difu4 and snatch her back! As long as Yanyan is alive, I’m not afraid of anything.”
Looking at her Shimei’s impassioned tone and determined expression, Song Shuqing was speechless, feeling extremely conflicted inside.
She hadn’t expected that her Shimei, who was originally completely clueless about feelings, her head seemingly coated in paste, would, after having her joints cleared5, know so thoroughly what she wanted, rushing forward like a derailed train.
Even if there was a mountain wall ahead, even if it meant the train would be wrecked and she would die, she would absolutely not turn back.
“Shijie, I won’t die.” Seeing her silent Shijie, Ming Qin became a little anxious, racking her brains to persuade her. “You all always say I’m as strong as an ox, and Shadow Guards are not afraid of poison, right? I was fine even after being shot by Xiao He’s poison arrow before.”
Thinking of the wound on her Shimei’s right shoulder, if being forced to have the bone scraped6, and being left with an uneven, hideous scar that spread across her back muscles like a spiderweb, could be called “fine”…
“I will absolutely not be defeated by poison!”
Ming Qin placed one hand over her heart to swear an oath, and with the other, she shook her Shijie’s shoulder, trying hard to suppress the sourness in her nasal cavity. “Shijie, please, this extra month will let Shimu and the Supreme Medical Court develop an antidote. Yanyan must live. She must live a life of peace, joy, and happiness.”
The always-nonchalant Song Shuqing held her head. Looking at her Shimei, whose eyes were shimmering with tears as she humbly begged her, she felt utterly tormented inside.
Having lived two lives, she was still completely clueless when faced with this difficult choice.
“You…”
Looking up at the sky, as if that was the only way to stop the sourness in her heart from breaking its dam, Song Shuqing said with helpless resignation, “Whatever.”
“Qinqin has grown up. Shijie can’t control you anymore.”
Changning Palace.
A woman lay on the bed. No matter how closely one looked at her hair, not a single black strand could be found. From a distance, one would think she was an old woman, but upon approaching, one would find that her tightly closed eyes and brows were still picturesque, and her face was without a single fine line. It was just excessively pale and thin, making her all the more pitiable.
At the foot of the bed, a tiger lay beside it, flicking its tail again and again.
Although she was unconscious, the woman’s entire body had been meticulously cared for. The carefully applied kouzhi7 kept her lips moist even in the dry autumn season.
Just lying there so quietly, if an outsider didn’t know, they would only think she was a quiet and serene person sleeping.
The woman’s palms were coated with hand cream. Ming Qin held her soft fingertips, carefully filing her nails, and then dyeing them with crimson koudan8.
Yanyan loves beauty, I know this. If she wakes up and finds she has lost her composure, she will be sullen and unhappy.
Ming Qin cautiously performed the task she was not skilled at, her expression focused.
“…Qinqin.”
“…Qinqin, Qinqin”
“Qinqin!”
After Song Shuqing, who was carrying medicine, yelled in her ear, Ming Qin blankly stopped her work and looked back at the newcomer.
“What are you doing? You didn’t answer when I knocked, making me call for so long…”
While handing the medicine bowl to Ming Qin, Song Shuqing complained, but she suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence. “Don’t tell me, you can’t hear? How could it be so fast! What kind of bullshit poison is this.”
Anxiously looking at her Shimei, Song Shuqing reached out a hand to check.
“No, no, don’t worry.” Ming Qin smiled and pushed away the hand reaching for her ear. “I was too focused, that’s why I didn’t hear. Besides, it’s been a bit hard to use since my right ear was shaved off.”
Half-convinced, Song Shuqing was about to speak, but was interrupted by the person before her.
“Seven days have already passed. How is Shimu’s progress?” The smile on Ming Qin’s face froze as she asked with an uneasy expression.
“Everyone at the Supreme Medical Court is working hard…”
Song Shuqing answered, yet it was as if she hadn’t answered at all.
“Is that so.” Ming Qin lowered her eyes and didn’t say much more.
Taking out a bamboo tube the thickness of a little finger from her robes, Song Shuqing directed her Shimei to hold the unconscious woman and tilt her neck back. She slowly inserted the object in her hand into Murong Yan’s slightly open mouth, all the way to her throat.
“Be a little gentler.” Cradling her beloved, Ming Qin frowned and said worriedly, “Don’t let her feel pain.”
“I’m already being very gentle, okay! Don’t be so neurotic every time.” She rolled her eyes at her overanxious Shimei while slowly pouring the medicine into the bamboo tube.
Her overly protective Shimei seemed to have become possessed ever since returning to the capital.
As long as anyone touched the Commandery Princess, she would become extremely nervous, afraid the Commandery Princess would be hurt or bumped.
She was still okay with herself and the imperial physicians, but if an unfamiliar face entered the room, she would react intensely and defensively. Like Hu’er, she would stare deadly at the newcomer, only stopping short of baring her teeth.
At first, not knowing the situation, she almost beat up the Commandery Princess’s brother, the Ever-Victorious General, thinking he was a bad guy. The two of them went back and forth in the courtyard, smashing several rockeries9.
In the end, if Shimu hadn’t come out to stop them, the tense Shimei probably would have insisted on twisting the man’s arm off before she would stop.
While slowly pulling out the tube, Song Shuqing asked nonchalantly, “Do you want my help with the nursing work later? How long has it been since you last slept?”
“No need, I can handle it.” Ming Qin shook her head decisively. “I’m not sleepy.”
She wiped the brown medicinal soup that had seeped from the corners of the woman’s mouth and gently laid the person in her arms down, her eyes filled with an indescribable attachment.
“Fine.”
Looking at her Shimei, whose eyes were trending towards evolving into a panda’s10, Song Shuqing felt a bit helpless but didn’t want to persuade her further.
After packing up her things, the woman silently turned to leave, seemingly carefree, with her back to Ming Qin. Her hand didn’t pause in opening the door, but she suddenly spoke out, as if testing, “Hey…”
“About the Commandery Princess’s antidote…”
The volume wasn’t low, but the person behind her had no reaction at all.
As expected.
Qinqin is a liar.
A big liar!
Song Shuqing wanted to turn around and curse, to grab the person behind her by the collar and lecture her for her foolishness, to shake this devoted person awake and make her face reality.
But in the end, the woman did nothing, only opening the door and striding away.
The author has something to say:
This person, Sen Lin11, hereby solemnly promises that after this angsty part of the story is over, I will give out tang12 and che13 (if this app allows it).
I estimate that the main text can probably be finished before Christmas.
LP: Re-translated on August 24, 2025
Footnotes
- 輪迴 | lúnhuí | From Sanskrit ‘saṃsāra’. The cycle of death and rebirth in Buddhist and other Indian religions. The concept implies that one’s actions in this life affect their future lives.
- 情不知從何處所起，一往而深 | qíng bù zhī cóng hé chù suǒ qǐ, yī wǎng ér shēn | A famous line from the Ming dynasty play ‘The Peony Pavilion’ (牡丹亭 | Mǔdān Tíng) by Tang Xianzu. It describes a love that develops unconsciously but becomes profound and all-consuming once realized.
- 老天爺 | Lǎotiānyé | Literally “Old Master Heaven.” A colloquial and somewhat personified term for Heaven, God, or a supreme cosmic force that governs fate. It is a common expression in everyday speech.
- 陰曹地府 | yīn cáo dì fǔ | A comprehensive term for the underworld in Chinese mythology and folk religion. It is the realm where souls are judged after death.
- 打通關節 | dǎ tōng guān jié | Literally “to clear the joints.” This phrase can mean to bribe someone or to clear up a bottleneck/misunderstanding. Here, it’s used metaphorically to mean that once Ming Qin understood her own feelings, she became completely clear and resolute.
- 刮骨 | guā gǔ | Literally “to scrape the bone.” A painful surgical procedure to remove poison or infected tissue from a bone. It is famously associated with the historical figure Guan Yu, who underwent the procedure while playing a game of Go to show his fortitude.
- 口脂 | kǒuzhī | Literally “mouth grease.” A traditional Chinese cosmetic, similar to lipstick or lip balm, often made from animal fat or beeswax and colored with minerals or plant dyes.
- 蔻丹 | kòudān | A traditional red nail dye made from the juice of balsam flowers (鳳仙花 | fèngxiānhuā). It was a popular cosmetic in ancient China.
- 假山 | jiǎshān | Decorative, man-made rock formations common in traditional Chinese gardens, designed to mimic natural mountains.
- 熊貓 | xióngmāo | Literally “panda.” In modern Chinese slang, having “panda eyes” (熊貓眼 | xióngmāo yǎn) refers to having dark circles under one’s eyes from lack of sleep.
- 森林 | Sēnlín | Literally “Forest.” This is the author’s pen name.
- 糖 | táng | Literally “candy” or “sugar.” In fanfiction and web novel communities, this is slang for sweet, fluffy, or romantic moments between characters.
- 車 | chē | Literally “car.” In this context, it is internet slang for explicit or smutty content (i.e., driving a car, 開車 | kāichē).
Aww i love their relationship. Both for Ming qin and murong Yan and for Ming qin and song shu qing. They’re all adorable, does that mean murong Yan has no gray hair anymore?
Is it going to be tragedy? 😭
Please tell me its not …
Aww i love their relationship. Both for Ming qin and murong Yan and for Ming qin and song shu qing. They’re all adorable, does that mean murong Yan has no gray hair anymore?
Is it going to be tragedy? 😭
Please tell me its not …