The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 57
by Little PandaFellow townsmen meet fellow townsmen, two eyes stream with tears1 (Returning to the Capital)
“Chuan de? What river chuan?”2
“Aiya.” Wang Wei waved his hand impatiently and, facing Ming Qin, enunciated clearly, “Not river chuan, it’s ‘chuan de’, the ‘chuan’ from ‘chuanyue’ (transmigration)!”3
“Chuan de?” Ming Qin was puzzled, a little unsure if she had misread his lips.
“That’s right! Chuan de!” Wang Wei waved the paper in his hand and said with exaggeration, “Look at this incredibly modern layout, look at this incredibly clear structure, and these concise abbreviations. Such a perfect medical record is simply a miracle in this fossil age, my goodness.”
“This…” Completely unable to understand what this crazy old man in front of her was saying, Ming Qin scratched her head and said, “This medical record was written by my Shijie. She always wears her clothes properly…” Probably?
“My god, your Shijie is either a ‘chuan de’, or a genetic mutation of this era.”
Wang Wei paid no mind to the shadow guard’s words, simply holding the stack of paper and sighing to the heavens, “A heaven-sent talent! I thought my life’s research would have no one to take it over, just like Sherlock Holmes without Watson, Harry Potter without Ron Weasley. I just knew that the heavens sent me here to let me achieve great things, this little girl, I really…”
Although she really didn’t want to interrupt the old man’s enthusiasm, Ming Qin still spoke up and asked, “Imperial Phy… Uncle Wang, don’t get excited yet. Looking at this medical record, do you think you can treat it?”
“Aiya, this is a piece of cake. What illness could possibly stump a cross-era genius like me?” Wang Wei’s eyes widened as he looked at Ming Qin, answering his own question, “None! No illness can stump a great genius like me.”
After speaking, Wang Wei hurriedly turned and went into the house, grabbed a cloth bundle, and haphazardly threw the bottles and jars from the table into it. Then he picked up a few toolboxes from beside his bed, no longer caring about his treasured collection of ‘babies’, put on a hooded cap, and headed straight out the door.
Ming Qin, who was left behind, quickly followed in confusion, asking anxiously, “Uncle Wang, Uncle Wang, where are you going?”
“Does that even need to be said.”
Wang Wei turned back, threw everything in his hands to Ming Qin, and then said cheerfully, “Of course I’m going to the capital to take on an apprentice, the sooner the better!”
It was not yet fully winter, but one could already faintly see a thin mist when breathing out.
Inside Changning Palace, the dilong4 had already been lit, and it was warm all over.
The tiger laying on the ground had just eaten its fill and was yawning lazily.
Song Shuqing stood alone by the bed, focused on taking the pulse of the woman lying on it.
Although the pulse could barely be maintained, as the one-month deadline approached, it was faintly growing weaker and weaker, signaling the gradual fading of Murong Yan’s life force.
Sighing, Song Shuqing turned to carefully massage the woman’s stiff muscles from long-term inactivity, her mind pondering.
Will Qinqin come back at all?
The medicine I gave her should be finished.
Perhaps I should have gone with her to Jingzhou back then.
Her chaotic thoughts were interrupted by a low growl from the tiger. Hu’er stood up alertly, staring at the closed doorway, its whip-like tail flicking on the ground.
After a short while, the door was pulled open. The visitor was the newly enthroned, eleven-year-old Murong Wan, who had come without an entourage.
“This subordinate has seen Your Majesty.” Song Shuqing hurriedly bent at the waist and made a zuoyi5, then patted Hu’er’s head reassuringly.
The well-behaved Hu’er saw that it was not a stranger and retracted its bared teeth, once again sitting down lazily.
“Dispense with the ceremony.” Murong Wan’s childish face showed the first hints of a sovereign’s majesty. Dressed in a yellow robe, he waved his hand and then asked with a concerned tone, “Commandery Princess Chongwen… how is her physical condition?”
“This subordinate and the members of the Supreme Medical Court have already exhausted all our efforts.” Song Shuqing said respectfully, but her tone was a bit dry. “But we can only barely maintain her condition.”
“What about Ming Qin?” Murong Wan frowned, his expression a little urgent. “Zhen6 heard she went to Jingzhou to seek a doctor. Is she alright? Do you have any news of Ming Qin?”
Shaking her head, Song Shuqing remained slightly bowed and said, “This subordinate has not yet heard anything about Ming Qin’s situation.”
“Is that so…”
The young emperor’s face showed some disappointment. He walked forward and looked at Murong Yan, who was sleeping peacefully with her eyes closed. He turned his head to Song Shuqing at his side and said, “If you need any medicinal herbs, or silver, just tell Zhen. As long as it can cure the Princess, Zhen will definitely help.”
The busy young man did not stay for long. Before leaving, he said in a low voice to Murong Yan, “Princess Jiejie, you must wake up quickly. When the time comes, Zhen will hand over the entire punishment of the deposed crown prince to you. You must recover quickly.”
Commandery Princess Chongwen is the person Ming Qin cherishes most. She must be alright.
As the emperor returned to the Imperial Study, the woman also left with her medicine box.
In the dead of night, a sleepless Song Shuqing carried a pot of wine and sat alone on the high palace wall for a drink.
She had been like this for the past few days, hoping to see the foolish donkey of a Shimei she longed for from this vantage point. The cold wind made her a little chilly, but Song Shuqing just took a large gulp of warm wine, continuing to wait quietly and alone under the night sky.
Ah, ah, I really want to go back to the Shu region.
Although I was always bored to death at the teahouse, compared to being swamped with work in the palace, I’d rather go back and stare blankly at the shop door.
Besides, I was never like Da Linzi, someone willing to throw themselves completely into the Shadow Guard Camp, for the country and its people.
Although Da Linzi loves to drink and nag, ever since Shifu was injured, he voluntarily shouldered the burden of reorganizing the Shadow Guard Camp. He’s so busy every day he’s dizzy, with no time at all to drink like he used to.
And me, I have no special feelings for this country or the Shadow Guard Camp. I just want to be lazy and listen to music every day…
Ah! I suddenly really want to hear Ziyan play the qin.
I haven’t seen Ziyan in so long.
I wonder if, after all this time, Ziyan has composed any new, beautiful qin pieces?
Once Qinqin comes back, as long as Qinqin gets better, we can go back to the Shu region together…
Song Shuqing tilted her head back and looked at the cloudless sky, inexplicably feeling that even the moon was a bit glaring.
For some reason tonight, she waited for an especially long time.
When the sun rose, the first ray of sunlight hit her face.
Song Shuqing squinted her eyes and gave a tired yawn. She picked up the wine on the tiles and was about to leap down when she noticed that at the city gate, which had just opened in the distance, a black figure on horseback was galloping along the still-quiet street.
Who is that? In such a hurry.
Don’t they know there’s a speed limit for galloping horses in the street! A speed limit!
Do they think they won’t be discovered in broad daylight? Truly too naive.
They’re going to get a ticket, what a poor little thing.
Just as Song Shuqing was halfway through her schadenfreude, she suddenly froze.
Wait.
That familiar cape.
That familiar, dashing figure carrying an old man…
Isn’t that Qinqin?
Qinqin really made it back, within a month?!
So shocked she almost slid off the roof tiles, she casually tossed the wine pot in her hand, jumped to the ground in a few moves, and hurriedly ran towards the palace gate.
After hastily showing her token to the Imperial Guard on duty, she exited the palace and saw the dust kicked up by the horse’s hooves. It seemed to have lost control, galloping its hooves towards her, charging straight at her.
Several soldiers nervously extended their long spears, intending to pierce the crazed mount that was getting closer and closer.
“Qinqin! The horse, stop the horse!”
Ming Qin’s head was lowered, the black cape flying behind her. Half of her face was covered by her overly long hair, her expression unseen. She just gripped the horse’s belly tightly and did not answer.
“Shadow Guard Xiao Ming, Shadow Guard Xiao Ming! We’re going to crash, we’re going to crash into the wall!”
The old man being held by Ming Qin looked at the approaching palace wall, patted the unresponsive person beside him, and yelled at the top of his lungs, “I haven’t achieved my eternal enterprise yet, I don’t want to die ahhh!!!”
“Could it be…” Seeing that the rider remained unmoved, Song Shuqing bit her lip and her heart sank.
Tapping her toes on the ground, she shot forward alone. Song Shuqing’s nimble figure flickered like the wind. As she passed the horse, she twisted her wrist, grabbed the saddle, and with a skillful force, dragged the loudly shouting, crazy old man off the horse’s back.
Then, holding her breath, she pulled, flipped, and mounted.
She landed behind the rider, reached her hands forward around Ming Qin, hooked the reins, and pulled with all her might. The galloping horse reared up its front hooves, nearly throwing the two people on its back off.
Song Shuqing held the reins, tightly supporting the completely stiff Ming Qin. A tearing pain came from her arm muscles, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Only when she felt the crazed horse land heavily, standing still and panting with heavy breaths, did she let out the breath she was holding and dismount.
Seeing that they were less than four or five chi from the city gate, the hearts of Song Shuqing and the gate guards, which had been hanging high in their throats, were all set down.
“Young lady! Young lady!”
Wang Wei, his eyes blurry with tears, snot and tears all over his face, stumbled towards Song Shuqing, who was calming the horse. “You are my life-saving benefactor, young lady… blegh, blegh, blegh.”
The short old man’s legs gave out and he sat down with a plop, hugging Song Shuqing’s thigh and complaining loudly, “I thought I was going to die! These past few days, no eating, no sleeping, I didn’t even have time to pull up my pants after peeing before she dragged me on the road, and I get horse-sick… blegh, blegh, blegh.”
“I thought I was on a roller coaster… blegh, blegh, blegh, I’m past the age for going to an amusement park. I was about to die, you’re my life-saving benefactor.”
He was speaking incoherently.
Song Shuqing walked with difficulty. “Let go of my leg! What the hell are you talking about… wait, a roller coaster?”
She looked suspiciously at the old man who was about to wipe his nose on her sleeve and suddenly said, “I like to drink Coca-Cola.”
Wang Wei, who was crying his eyes out, actually looked up, his wrinkled face showing some disdain. “Truly no taste… blegh, blegh, blegh, Pepsi-Cola is obviously better.”
After speaking, the two of them froze in unison, looking at each other in shock from their respective positions, one up and one down.
Before the drama of ‘fellow townsmen meet fellow townsmen, two eyes stream with tears’ could be staged, they heard a thump. Behind them, Ming Qin could no longer hold on and tilted sideways, falling from the horse’s back.
“Qinqin! Qinqin!” No longer caring who was a fellow townsman, Song Shuqing shook off the leg that was being hugged and ran towards her Shimei who had fallen to the ground.
“Qinqin! Qinqin, wake up!”
Unfortunately, Ming Qin did not respond.
The author has something to say:
I used to try to reply to every comment, but recently the comments have increased and this app actually won’t let me reply to every single one (shocked!?)
After a certain limit, I have to keep verifying or something…
So I might reply one by one less often, but I will still read every comment!
Also, I’ve listened to all the songs everyone recommended, but I really can’t reply one by one… (this app is so broken) Thank you all so much for sharing your beloved songs with me~
Regarding starting a Weibo7, I originally considered getting one if I signed a contract and got more serious, to share some inspiration or character designs with everyone.
But unfortunately, I still haven’t successfully signed a contract (bitter smile). It’s really puzzling that I’m still being rejected even though quite a lot of people are reading. So for now, being lazy and hating to use social media, I’ve put off starting a Weibo… (so useless~)
For the plot points that everyone loves to see, you’ll just have to imagine them more… I will give more clues…
LP: Re-translated on August 28, 2025
Footnotes
- 老乡见老乡，两眼泪汪汪 | lǎoxiāng jiàn lǎoxiāng, liǎng yǎn lèi wāngwāng | A famous Chinese saying that literally translates to “When fellow townsmen meet fellow townsmen, their two eyes stream with tears.” It describes the overwhelming emotion and sense of kinship felt when people from the same hometown meet unexpectedly in a faraway place.
- 川 | chuān | The character for “river”.
- 穿越 | chuānyuè | Literally “to pass through” or “to cross over.” In modern Chinese webnovels and media, this is the standard term for transmigration, the act of a person’s soul traveling to another time, world, or body.
- 地龙 | dìlóng | Literally “earth dragon.” The traditional Chinese system of underfloor heating, where smoke and hot air from a furnace were channeled through a network of pipes under the floorboards, warming the room from below.
- 作揖 | zuòyī | A traditional Chinese form of greeting or showing respect, performed by clasping one’s hands together and bowing.
- 朕 | zhèn | The unique first-person pronoun used exclusively by the Emperor of China to refer to himself.
- 围脖 | wéibó | Literally “scarf,” a common nickname for the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo (新浪微博 | Xīnlàng Wēibó), which is similar to Twitter.
the two transmigrator LMAO. Song Shu Qing needs her own novel. she’s hilarious
the two transmigrator LMAO. Song Shu Qing needs her own novel. she’s hilarious
Ooh imagine murong Yan wakes up and finds Ming qin dead dead. Not fun. But the doctor will probably cure her. Fun to see the two transmigrators interact.
Thanks for the chapter
What will happen if the princess wakes up, and finds this thing. And thank you for the chapter! 😭
Ooh imagine murong Yan wakes up and finds Ming qin dead dead. Not fun. But the doctor will probably cure her. Fun to see the two transmigrators interact.
Thanks for the chapter
What will happen if the princess wakes up, and finds this thing. And thank you for the chapter! 😭