The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 55
by Little PandaYou must wait for me, but also don’t wait for me
Departing from the capital, heading west all the way, the autumn and winter night wind was bitingly cold. The black cape was whipped fiercely, fluttering behind her with the wind.
On the grasslands, the figure of a person galloping on a horse was draped in the white moonlight. Even though the horse galloping beneath her was somewhat tired, the person on its back still whipped it without hesitation.
“Good horse, run a little more, we’re almost at the yizhan1. I’ll let you rest in a bit.” Ming Qin soothed in a low voice.
It had been four days since she left the capital, and this was already the seventh horse she had changed to. The woman did not dare to slack off in the slightest. Fearing she would fall off the horse if she dozed off, she used a leather strap to tightly tie herself to the saddle.
She took out a mantou and chewed it dryly. In the past, even with a plain white mantou with no filling, she could taste a hint of sweetness from it. But now, no sensation came from her tongue. It was merely for survival, chewing and swallowing it flavorlessly with water.
This feeling was so unfamiliar, yet Ming Qin neither cared nor was afraid.
Even if the world she perceived became completely silent, or the food she ate became tasteless, her mind remained resolute.
Before leaving the capital, Ming Qin had entered Murong Yan’s bedchamber one last time, silently looking at the woman lying on the bed.
Murong Yan’s rising and falling chest was proof that she was alive, making it seem as if she were just asleep.
Gently tidying the stray hairs on the woman’s forehead, Ming Qin rolled up her sleeves at the bedside, knelt on one knee, and applied kouzhi for her.
Piously, restrainedly.
The young shadow guard stared fixedly at Murong Yan, wanting to imprint that beautiful figure before her eyes onto her heart as deeply as a branding iron, so thoroughly that if she were to never see her again in the future, that image could still surge forth from her heart seedling2, allowing her to easily draw it in her mind.
Yanyan.
It will be alright soon.
You have to wait for me a little longer.
But also, don’t wait for me.
When you wake up, I hope that you, no longer a prisoner, can live a colorful and free life under the sun, growing wantonly like a vine, blooming wildly like a fresh flower.
At that time, the world will once again appreciate your beauty and grace.
They will.
They definitely will.
I am certain, because Yanyan, you are so perfect.
But you, so charmingly lazy and bright, must not be plucked by a scoundrel again, because I will not be there.
If, by chance, there is someone who knows how to cherish you, appreciate you, and submit to you, just as I do.
Even under the nine springs3, I will pray to the heavens day and night, wishing you and that person a happy life for the rest of your days.
A dull ache suddenly bloomed in her chest.
For some reason, how I wanted to ruin the freshly applied kouzhi.
Ming Qin smiled, feeling that this sudden thought was a bit absurd.
In the end, she did nothing, only taking one last deep look before turning resolutely and departing quietly.
When Ming Qin arrived in Jingzhou, dusty from her journey, she first went to the inn where she had parted ways with Wang Wei back then.
She inquired with the huoji4 inside, and as expected, because so much time had passed, no one had any impression of him.
However, having long anticipated this, Ming Qin was not annoyed. As long as she asked enough people, someone would eventually have a clue.
Using that inn as the center, Ming Qin began to knock on doors one by one to ask as soon as the sun had barely risen. Even when night fell, she did not stop, constantly wandering the humble alleys and side streets, searching carefully.
But even so, she was still unsuccessful.
When she passed the courtyards of merchants and officials, no matter how polite she was, the xiaosi5 inside would always perfunctorily drive her away like shooing away a beggar6. If it was a poor, small household, the people inside would mostly look at the stranger with vigilance, unwilling to listen much before shutting the door on Ming Qin.
But Ming Qin had no time to be discouraged. For a full six days, she sought news without sleep or rest. Every day she walked farther, her search area growing wider.
“Excuse me, sir, have you seen a doctor with the surname Wang? About seven chi7 tall, at the age of knowing heaven’s will8, and can speak guanhua9.”
Today, Ming Qin, still undiscouraged, knocked on the door of a luxurious residence, but the gatekeeper inside was very fierce, roaring at her to get lost.
Scratching her head, Ming Qin turned around, but suddenly felt her vision blur as if covered by a layer of mist, as if all light was about to be swallowed.
This is bad!
This won’t do.
Ming Qin quickly took out the wooden jar from her robes and, without a second thought, scooped out a handful, chewed them randomly, and swallowed.
Still not working.
My vision, not yet.
She blinked hard and pinched the bridge of her nose. Although her vision was still not clear, it was better than a moment ago.
Just as Ming Qin was about to head to the next house, the corner of her clothes was pulled by a little girl of about seven.
“Jiejie, Jiejie.”
The girl’s clothes were a bit too shabby. She had been observing this adult with a scar on her face for a while and had now finally mustered the courage to stop her. She asked, “You couldn’t be looking for Uncle Wang, could you?”
Ming Qin squatted down and asked patiently, “Good child, is the Uncle Wang you’re talking about a doctor?”
The little girl tilted her head, thinking. “Although other people always say Uncle Wang is a crazy old man and tell me not to believe him, Grandpa Wang cured my older brother’s illness, so I think Grandpa Wang should be a doctor.”
Hearing the girl’s words, Ming Qin felt as if she had found hope and asked with some urgency, “Then can you take me to find Uncle Wang? Jiejie also wants to ask Uncle Wang to help treat a person’s illness.”
“But…” The girl seemed to think of something, her expression troubled.
Seeing the person before her hesitate, Ming Qin took out two strings of tongqian10 and stuffed them into the girl’s hands, saying earnestly, “The person who is sick is really important to me, I’m begging you.”
Looking at the copper coins in her hand and the woman’s sincere eyes, the girl nodded and, taking Ming Qin’s hand, led her away from the bustling city.
The child did not walk slowly, skillfully turning left and right in the remote alleys and narrow streets. Even Ming Qin, with her outstanding memory, felt a little confused.
After an unknown amount of time, the two stopped at the foot of a hill. The area was sparsely populated, with only a single, crookedly built wooden house standing alone in the distance.
The girl had a look of disgust, and then let go of Ming Qin’s sleeve and pointed at the small house. “Uncle Wang lives there.”
Seeing the child’s strange expression, Ming Qin asked curiously, “What’s wrong with you?”
“You don’t smell that stench?” Pinching her nose, the little girl looked disgusted. “Uncle Wang’s house is always full of a strange smell, which makes it so that no one dares to come near here unless they have to. It really stinks too much. Jiejie, you should go by yourself! I’m leaving!”
Ming Qin sniffed hard but was still completely oblivious. She understood in her heart, calmly waved and smiled at the girl, and then walked towards the wooden house alone.
Knock knock knock
No one opened the door.
Knock knock knock
The door was knocked on again.
Knock knock knock
Just as Ming Qin rhythmically knocked for the thirty-second time, the door was opened.
“I told you to come in yourself! Are you deaf or do you have some kind of problem, what the hell are you knocking for?” A somewhat crazy-looking old man opened the door irritably. “I’m doing an experiment and don’t have a free hand to open the door. I’m very busy, do you get it?”
He was wearing a novelly styled white robe and beige gloves made of some unknown material, his hair a complete mess.
If by some misfortune Song Shuqing saw him, she might unconsciously shout, ‘Fuck, this old man looks just like Einstein.’
“Yi? I was wondering who it was.” The old man, who was a bit shorter than Ming Qin, looked up and, seeing the visitor, said in surprise, “Isn’t this Shadow Guard Xiao Ming?”
Wang Wei looked at the person he hadn’t seen in a long time, her face haggard and covered with fine scars, and said unconsciously, “As expected, being an shadow guard is a high-risk profession. So easy to get injured, no laobao11, no jianbao12, and probably no pension either.”
“Shadow guards can receive a stipend and retire if they are still alive after a certain age.” Reading Wang Wei’s lips, Ming Qin replied obediently, “My ears can’t hear clearly, so I didn’t hear you answer the door just now. I’m sorry.”
“And you say it’s not a high-risk profession. You could get a disability certificate and you still have to come out to work. This is exploitation! If it were me, I’d definitely go protest.” Wang Wei took off his gloves, muttering to himself, looking at this shadow guard for whom he had a bit of a good impression. “Go on, what does Shadow Guard Xiao Ming want from me?”
“Imperial Physician Wang, I need your help. There is someone in the capital who has been poisoned and needs you to take a look…” Before Ming Qin could finish, she was hastily interrupted by the old man before her.
“Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t… absolutely do not call me Imperial Physician Wang.” Wang Wei’s expression changed. He waved his hands frantically and hurriedly tried to push Ming Qin out the door. “And don’t ask me to go to the capital, not even a dog would go to that broken place!”
Ming Qin frantically grabbed the door panel, holding on for dear life, while explaining, “Imperial Physi… Uncle Wang, there is really a very important person who needs treatment, it’s really only you. Ming Qin begs you!”
She quickly slipped inside before the door was closed and, with a thud, knelt in the crowded entryway13.
The small space was filled with bottles and jars, and piled high with all sorts of suspicious medicinal herbs. Ming Qin’s knees barely found a palm-sized empty spot, and she knelt there ramrod straight.
“Hmph, the Supreme Medical Court is full of that bunch of old fuddy-duddies with half their bodies in the grave. They wouldn’t let me research this, wouldn’t let me research that. Aren’t they so great? Now they need to send someone to beg me.” Wang Wei crossed his arms and angrily blew away a lock of hair that had fallen by his cheek. “I! Am! Not! Going!”
“Uncle Wang, Ming Qin begs you, there really isn’t much time left.” Ming Qin’s tone was earnest, with a faint hint of a sob. “That poison is very tricky. The people at the Supreme Medical Court are at their wit’s end. They all say that only you would definitely have a way. I beg you to come back with me!”
“Trying to give me a tall hat14, no way!” Looking at the pitiful Ming Qin, Wang Wei turned his head and hardened his heart. “They were the ones who kicked me out, saying I was practicing evil demons and crooked paths15. A bunch of stinking fossils, stinking fossils who don’t understand science! And now they want me to go back.”
“I’m telling you, no way!” His tone was huffy.
“Uncle Wang.” The woman on the floor wanted to kowtow, but was hemmed in by the surrounding clutter. She could only keep pleading, her tone heart-rending. “Uncle Wang, Ming Qin begs you.”
She reached out, trying to stop the man before her from turning away.
“You… you’re not allowed in. I’m going to do my experiment. Scram.” The stubborn old man hardened his heart and didn’t spare her another glance, walking back into the house, leaving the person kneeling alone.
The author has something to say:
(In case you all didn’t read carefully, Ming Qin has been poisoned, and is slowly losing her five senses. The reason I set it up this way was because there are a few specific pl.ays16 I wanted to write, although it feels a bit difficult under the tyrannical power of this green app.)
LP: Re-translated on August 26, 2025
Footnotes
- 驛站 | yìzhàn | A post station or relay station. In imperial China, these were government-run posts set up along major routes to provide rest, food, and fresh horses for official couriers, officials, and other authorized travelers.
- 心苗 | xīn miáo | Literally “heart seedling.” A poetic term for the innermost part of one’s heart or consciousness, the place where feelings and thoughts sprout.
- 九泉之下 | jiǔ quán zhī xià | Literally “beneath the nine springs.” A poetic and common term for the underworld or the afterlife in Chinese culture, similar to saying “in the grave.”
- 伙計 | huǒji | A shop assistant, clerk, or waiter in an old-fashioned shop or inn.
- 小廝 | xiǎosī | A young male servant or page boy in a wealthy household.
- 叫化子 | jiàohuāzi | A somewhat colloquial or archaic term for a beggar.
- 尺 | chǐ | A traditional Chinese unit of length, roughly equivalent to one-third of a meter or about 13 inches. Seven ‘chi’ would make him quite tall for the period, over 6 feet or around 185-190 cm.
- 天命之年 | tiānmìng zhī nián | Literally “the age of knowing heaven’s will.” This is a classical reference to reaching the age of fifty, derived from a famous passage in the ‘Analects’ where Confucius describes his own intellectual and spiritual development.
- 官話 | guānhuà | Literally “official speech.” The lingua franca used by officials across different regions of imperial China. It is a precursor to modern Mandarin.
- 銅錢 | tóngqián | Copper coins. The most common form of currency in imperial China, typically round with a square hole in the center, allowing them to be strung together.
- 勞保 | láobǎo | Short for 勞動保險 (láodòng bǎoxiǎn), meaning “labor insurance.” This, along with the following terms, are modern concepts used anachronistically by the eccentric character Wang Wei.
- 健保 | jiànbǎo | Short for 全民健康保險 (quánmín jiànkāng bǎoxiǎn), meaning “(national) health insurance.”
- 玄關 | xuánguān | The entrance hall or foyer of a house. The term has roots in Daoism, where it referred to a mystical gateway, but in modern usage, it simply means the entryway.
- 戴高帽 | dài gāo mào | Literally “to wear a tall hat.” An idiom that means to flatter or praise someone excessively, often to get something from them.
- 邪魔歪道 | xié mó wāi dào | Literally “evil demons and crooked paths.” An idiom referring to heretical doctrines, wicked methods, or unorthodox practices.
- pl.ay | This is likely a self-censored word for “play” in the context of BDSM or kink scenarios (e.g., sensory deprivation play), which the author wants to write but fears will be censored.
Oh noo
Oh noo
Oof rough. Even though I’m sure it’ll all work out somehow I’m still worried
Oof rough. Even though I’m sure it’ll all work out somehow I’m still worried
Too much suffering for just a few candy chaps is not enough. I need a good amount of revenge, like the guy getting tortured for the rest of his life or getting treated like an animal, a slave, being a prostituted for some guys? Bec I’m not gonna get satisfied if he just die like duhhh Be fr