The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 8
by Little PandaThe Belated Rebellious Phase
After returning from Cang Yue Tower, Ming Qin shut herself in her room for five full days.
Whenever someone came looking for Ming Qin, all they got was her listless voice and a tightly shut door.
This abnormal behavior made all the junior martial brothers and sisters in the Shadow Guard Camp nervous. The moment Song Shuqing returned to camp from her mission, she was pushed by the crowd to go find Ming Qin.
“Qinqin.” Song Shuqing knocked gently on the door, her patience holding. “It’s me, open up.”
A moment of silence.
“Qinqin, are you going to open the door and let me in, or am I going to find my own way in, after which you can wait for me to pull your ears?” Song Shuqing’s tone was gentle, but the content of her words was an undisguised threat.
“…”
The door slowly creaked open. Ming Qin stood by the entrance, clutching her sleeves and muttering, “…You promised you wouldn’t pull my ears after we grew up.”
Song Shuqing walked straight to a stool and plopped down. She looked at her junior martial sister, whose face was full of sorrow. Her eyes, usually sparkling, were now clouded over, and her figure was slumped in a dejected posture, giving off a pitiful air.
“What’s wrong?” Song Shuqing frowned, looking at this version of Ming Qin.
“…Nothing.” Ming Qin sat on the edge of the bed, avoiding Song Shuqing’s gaze.
“Who wronged you?” The moment Song Shuqing returned, she heard that something major had happened to Ming Qin. Not only had she locked herself in her room in a sickly state, but she also refused to show her face no matter what kind of food her junior martial siblings used to coax and tempt her.
One shimei had even whispered in Song Shuqing’s ear that she once saw Ming Qin hiding in a corner of her room, brewing medicine for her soon-to-die beloved while weeping and sighing.
At first, Song Shuqing had dismissed the comment, but seeing Ming Qin now, she felt she was starting to believe it.
“Everyone in the camp is very worried about you.” Song Shuqing said softly. “Master is also very concerned after hearing about your situation.”
The moment He Jingshou was mentioned, Ming Qin buried her face in her quilt, mumbling something indistinctly.
“What did you say?” Song Shuqing couldn’t hear clearly.
Ming Qin suddenly sat bolt upright, pounded the bedframe, and shouted, “Master is a hateful demon! I hate Master the most!”
Her lips trembled in a pout.
Hearing Qinqin—who had always been obedient and regarded as the apple of her master’s eye1—say such a thing for the first time, Song Shuqing was stunned. Could this be the so-called belated rebellious phase?
Regretting that she hadn’t read more parenting books in her past life, Song Shuqing felt a little unsettled as she reached out to pat Ming Qin’s head. “There, there, Qinqin. Tell shijie how Master bullied you.”
Ming Qin looked at Song Shuqing, treating her ever-brilliant and clever shijie like a life-saving straw. In a great rush, she repeated the conversation she’d had with their master that night, the words tumbling out like beans from a sack.2
When she finished, Song Shuqing thought for a moment, then asked with some confusion, “How did you come to know the Commandery Princess Chongwen?”
Ming Qin then told her how she had been pursued through the Capital by the Crown Prince’s soldiers and how she had no choice but to ascend the tower, where the Commandery Princess helped her escape.
“From the sound of it, this Commandery Princess Chongwen is a person of honor and loyalty.” Even though Ming Qin’s account was jumbled, Song Shuqing nodded and listened carefully.
Seeing that Ming Qin was still puffed up with anger after finishing her story, the seated woman said with amusement, “Do you know why Master won’t let you see the Commandery Princess?”
Ming Qin shook her head, aggrieved.
Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, Song Shuqing sat up straight and asked, “What do you know about the Commandery Princess Chongwen?”
Ming Qin tilted her head and thought. “Commandery Princess Chongwen, Murong Yan, is twenty-eight years of age. She is the legitimate daughter of the current Emperor’s full-blooded younger brother, the Prince of Yu. Her legitimate elder brother is the Ever-Victorious General, Murong Can.”
Song Shuqing listened, nodding encouragingly.
“She was born in the fifteenth year of the Yongtai era at the Northern Border, along with her brother. She was personally named by the Previous Emperor,” Ming Qin continued. “In the ninth year of the Shuntian era, she moved to the Capital with her mother, the Princess Consort of Yu. At sixteen years old,3 she composed a poem on peonies at the Spring Festival Poetry Meet, using the flourishing flowers as a metaphor for a prosperous age. She received a hall full of applause and was granted the title ‘Commandery Princess Chongwen.’ His Majesty also bestowed upon her a marriage to the Heir of Marquis Changping.” Her tone, which had been as flat as if she were reciting a book, paused for a moment.
“In the winter of the eleventh year of Shuntian, her mother, the Princess Consort, passed away from illness. She observed a three-year mourning period at the imperial mausoleum. In the autumn of the fourteenth year of Shuntian, she was attacked by assassins during a royal hunt. She killed three of them at the cost of her right leg. For her meritorious service in protecting the Emperor, she was granted Changning Palace, but her marriage engagement was voided due to her disability.”4 Ming Qin’s mouth was a little dry, and her speech quickened.
“In the sixteenth year of Shuntian, the Crown Prince began to rule as regent. In the name of letting her recuperate, but in reality to keep the Prince of Yu in check, he built Cang Yue Tower and has imprisoned the Commandery Princess there to this day.” Ming Qin licked her bottom lip and let out a soft breath.
“Slow on the uptake you may be, but you’re not bad at memorizing your books,” Song Shuqing said, nodding with satisfaction.
“A few days ago, the Crown Prince sent people to kill the Eighth Prince in Qiongzhou. Now, among the imperial heirs, besides the Crown Prince, only the sickly Fifth Prince in the Capital and the nine-year-old Eleventh Prince remain. For the Crown Prince, the throne is as good as his for the taking.”5 Song Shuqing’s face grew serious. “Most of the imperial court has already turned disloyal. All our small Shadow Guard Camp can do is try our best to protect His Majesty the Emperor and the remaining princes’ lives, and wait to see how things develop. Do you understand these principles?”
Ming Qin nodded in confusion. She understood the principles, but what did any of this have to do with her not being able to see the Commandery Princess?
Song Shuqing looked at her face and sighed helplessly before explaining, “The only thing the Crown Prince, who already controls most of the court officials, fears is the Prince of Yu, who commands a large army at the Northern Border.”
She poured herself a cup of water and continued, “I’m afraid he won’t make any rash moves until he successfully kills the Prince of Yu or dismantles his military forces. After all, the Prince of Yu, who protects our borders, holds immense prestige within the army.” She slowly took a sip of water.
“If we are suspected of having contact with the Prince of Yu, our ever-cautious Shadow Guard Camp would basically be jumping right in front of the Crown Prince and shouting, ‘Hey, hello there! The Prince of Yu is clearly on our side!’ If the Crown Prince becomes a cornered dog ready to jump the wall,6 it would be bad for His Majesty the Emperor, the Shadow Guard Camp, and even the Commandery Princess Chongwen, who is a hostage.” Song Shuqing looked at Ming Qin, whose face had turned deathly pale.
Shocked by the twists and turns, and realizing that such a complex reason lay behind what seemed like a simple matter, Ming Qin felt as if her head had been filled with paste. “So that’s why. Master isn’t a hateful demon after all.”
“Master is usually quite annoying, but this time he was just flustered out of concern.”7 Having said so much, Song Shuqing was a little tired. “However, after hearing what you’ve said, I actually think this Commandery Princess Chongwen is a worthy person to contact.”
Ming Qin looked at her shijie with suspicion. “But, didn’t you say the Shadow Guard Camp can’t be suspected of having contact with the Prince of Yu? And that it would bring danger to the Commandery Princess?”
Song Shuqing gave her junior martial sister a look of disdain. “Not wanting to be suspected is one thing, but making contact when we should is another.”
The Prince of Yu was far away, yet he could still make the mad dog-like Crown Prince hesitate. If they could take this opportunity to befriend the Commandery Princess Chongwen, it might be beneficial to the future conflict.
Besides…
This Commandery Princess Chongwen seems to have a special fondness for Qinqin, Song Shuqing thought, looking at the silly girl before her.
“As for the Commandery Princess’s safety,” Song Shuqing blinked, “are you so easily discovered? And won’t you protect her?”
“Of course I won’t be discovered! And I will protect the Commandery Princess!” Ming Qin nodded her head excitedly. She was aware of every movement within a twenty-zhang radius,8 her qinggong was excellent, she had never failed at stealth, and she had never lost a fight. She was confident that she would never let a bad person touch a single hair on the Commandery Princess’s head.
“Of course, I know you will,” Song Shuqing said perfunctorily to Ming Qin’s endless torrent of words, her mind already elsewhere.
In fact, from a certain perspective, the Commandery Princess was the safest person in the entire Capital.
She had once secretly investigated the Crown Prince’s residence and discovered that all the women sent into his palace bore a sixty to seventy percent resemblance to the Commandery Princess Chongwen’s portrait. Adding that to the various rumors circulating in private, the intelligent shijie had long since pieced together the general picture.
“But,” Ming Qin suddenly grew dejected, “she told me to get lost last time. I’m afraid she doesn’t want to see me again.”
Song Shuqing watched her shimei curl up on the bed, tracing circles on the bedframe in frustration. She offered some comfort, “That’s because she misunderstood you. She said that on impulse because she was hurt and angry. As long as you tell her what you’re really thinking, she definitely won’t be angry anymore.”
Ming Qin thought about her words, then nodded emphatically. With a shua, she stood up and was about to charge out the door.
“You can get lost and go take a bath first.”
Song Shuqing hurriedly pulled her back. Looking at the disheveled and frazzled Ming Qin, she said, “Forget the Commandery Princess. If you dared to barge into my room stinking like this, I’d kick you out before you even opened your mouth.”
The author has something to say:
Shijie is really worried sick, huh?
Also, I don’t know if it’s too late to say this, but the background and setting are all made up without any historical research. Just have fun reading, thank you everyone.
LP: Re-translated on June 05, 2025
Footnotes
- Literally ‘flesh of the heart,’ a term of endearment for someone’s most cherished person.
- Literally ‘to pour out beans,’ a colloquialism for spilling all of one’s thoughts or secrets at once.
- The original text says ‘two eights’ (二八), a traditional way of saying sixteen years old (2 x 8 = 16).
- The original text uses the term 地缺 (dì quē), literally ‘earthly lack/deficiency,’ a classical euphemism for a physical disability.
- The original text uses the idiom 囊中取物 (náng zhōng qǔ wù), which means something is as easy to obtain as taking an object from one’s own bag.
- A chengyu (four-character idiom), 狗急跳墙 (gǒu jí tiào qiáng), meaning that a desperate person will do something reckless when cornered.
- A chengyu (four-character idiom), 关心则乱 (guānxīn zé luàn), meaning that one’s judgment becomes clouded when they are overly concerned about someone or something.
- A zhang (丈) is a traditional unit of length, approximately 3.3 meters.
Lmao that ending. Thanks for the translation!
What the hell, why is she so cute, I don’t generally find things cute but Ming is so precious…