The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 75
by Little PandaShijie Arc, Chapter Five
Fortunate in this life to meet a worthy person.1
These past two days, Song Shuqing had been exceedingly happy, successfully experiencing the feeling of what it meant that spending money makes you the master.2
The chefs at the Chunfeng Pavilion were highly skilled. Song Shuqing blissfully ordered every single item on the menu from top to bottom, even pulling Zi Yan along to critique and appreciate them all with her.
Not only could she listen to Zi Yan’s zither music at any time, but after eating her fill, she could also lie lazily on the top courtesan’s lap, napping in the sun. When she had nothing better to do, she even taught the woman how to play Wuziqi3 with her.
In short, they were two days of utter sin.
“Why? Why? Zi Yan, you tell me!”
As Song Shuqing put on her hood, preparing to leave, she clutched the corner of Zi Yan’s sleeve, her face full of reluctance. “Why must wonderful times always pass so quickly?”
The shameless shadow guard was just short of dropping to her knees, hugging the woman’s thigh, and crying that she didn’t want to go.
“Song-daren…,” Zi Yan said, looking calmly at the person clinging to her side like a gummy candy. “It’s time. If you don’t leave now, someone will be up to throw you out.”
The tall, brawny bouncers stationed at the Chunfeng Pavilion were accustomed to using their fists to 『escort』 out customers who had spent all their money but shamelessly lingered to drink and cause trouble.
“It’s not like those guys can beat me anyway.” Letting go, Song Shuqing looked completely unconcerned. “Zi Yan, my good Zi Yan? When do you think someone will invent a time machine so I can stay in this moment forever and never have to go back to work?”
“…”
Though she didn’t quite understand the person’s nonsense, Zi Yan reached out to tidy Song Shuqing’s robes. She lowered her gaze to hide an inappropriate sense of longing, swallowed, and said in a low voice, “…If you want to hear music, I’ll be in my room after sunset.”
Missing the woman’s subtle bite of her lip and the hard-to-detect anticipation in her tone, Song Shuqing sighed and refused.
“Afraid that’s a no-go.” Cracking her neck, she looked as if she were preparing to face a heroic sacrifice. “I have to behave myself and stay at the teahouse for the next few days. Ah Yun has a pretty good temper, but he’s terrifying when he gets truly angry.”
Clutching the brim of her hood, Song Shuqing’s bright eyes shone from beneath the shadows. She raised a corner of her mouth in a slight smile. “Besides, I’m saddled with a butt-full of debt, right now. I have to go back and earn some money.”
With a carefree wave of her hand, as if her earlier clinginess had been an act, she pushed open the door and left swiftly.
After a while, the madam, smoking a pipe, poked her head into the room. Seeing how clean and tidy it was, she blew a smoke ring and said, “Eh? This fellow is quite restrained, huh? Was he really just here to listen to music?”
“Could it be he wants to become your soulmate, your worthy man?”
Most women who had tumbled through the world of dust4 understood the coldness and empty promises of men, so the madam’s tone was light and joking, as if she found her own words amusing.
But Zi Yan just gazed out the window at the black shadow gradually receding down the street. Her expression flickered, and she sighed in a low voice, “If I were fortunate enough in this life to meet a worthy person…”
“It could only be her.”
Walking down the street, Hong’er never thought he would have such a miserable day.
He bought a steamed bun only to find it had gone sour, got chased by a stray dog while walking down the street, and could even be walking on a flat road and suddenly fall into a dog eating shit.5
He was very confused, feeling as though his eight characters didn’t match6 with this place.
Damn it. He thought his sister was a handmaiden for a high official’s family and hoped she could introduce him to an opportunity in the land of Shu, but who knew she didn’t even have a proper job…
How humiliating would it be if word got back to our hometown…
Where could I possibly put my face!
The travel money I brought from home is almost gone… This is so annoying…
The sun had already set. Kicking a pebble in front of him in frustration, the scrawny man prepared to head back to the inn where he was staying.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the woman in black robes right in front of him. Unable to dodge in time, he was knocked to the ground.
“Ah, ow, ow, ow…”
Sprawled on the ground, Hong’er came to his senses and frowned at the woman whose face was covered. “What’s wrong with you! Don’t you have eyes…”
“I was about to ask who it was.” Song Shuqing took the initiative to pull down her hood, a scornful smile on her face. “Turns out it’s Zi Yan’s spineless little brother.”
“Who… who are you calling spineless!” Hong’er was furious, but the memory of being so utterly dominated by her before made him control himself, not daring to yell. “What… what do you want?”
“What do I want?” Song Shuqing tilted her head and chuckled, her expression nonchalant. “Probably something like… kicking you into the sky to feed the birds, or tying you up naked for public display at the Chunfeng Pavilion. After all, I’m not a very conscientious person.”
“You… you vicious woman,” Hong’er said wretchedly, scrambling backward on his hands and feet.
“Bingo! You really are a Xiucai7, you got it right. I’m really not a good person. Now that we’ve reached a consensus on this matter, everything that follows will be much easier.”
Song Shuqing squatted down to look the pale-faced man in the eye, her tone regretful. “Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to, you are Zi Yan’s brother. If I really played you to death, I’m worried my dear Zi Yan would go on strike.”
“But I can’t just turn a blind eye to you, either. It would trouble me greatly if you made Zi Yan sad again.” Frowning, she subconsciously touched her collar, then held up two fingers in a gesture of negotiation.
“I have two proposals for you…”
“First, you get the hell out of here on your own and don’t show your face again until Zi Yan is willing to go home of her own accord.” Lowering her index finger, leaving only the middle one standing, Song Shuqing smiled sweetly as she made the internationally recognized gesture of the twenty-first century. “Second, you refuse to leave on your own, so I beat the crap out of you, take your official papers8, and make it so you can never set foot in this region again.”
A cold light glinted in the woman’s eyes. She stood up and looked down in disgust at the man on the ground, her tone carrying an obvious threat as she drew the dagger from her waist and gave it a practiced flick.
“Don’t doubt me. I can really do it…”
The frail scholar, who had never seen such a ferocious person, was so frightened by the sharp weapon that he trembled. Though it wasn’t quite to the point of farts rolling and piss flowing, he still fled in utter panic.
Watching his hasty retreat, Song Shuqing rubbed her stiff face and muttered to herself in confusion, “Was he really that scared? My dagger skills are actually terrible.”
Sheathing her weapon, she sauntered back to the teahouse.
She casually picked up a brush and a sheet of paper, wrote a few lines, and stuffed the letter into a bamboo tube before heading to the dovecote.
“Go on.” She tossed a fat, well-fed pigeon into the night sky. Watching it beat its wings and fly far off in the direction of Jiangnan, Song Shuqing finally rubbed her hands together and went inside.
Seeing Cao Yun’s face, so cold it looked like a layer of frost could be scraped from it, the woman offered a fawning smile. “Hehe, Ah Yun, don’t look at me like that.”
She started pounding the shoulders and kneading the legs of the man who had been watching the shop alone. “I was wrong. Thank you for your hard work these past two days. I promise I’ll be on duty tomorrow and work diligently.”
“…We need to hire someone.” Completely ignoring Song Shuqing’s sycophantic behavior, Cao Yun said flatly, “The teahouse business is a bit too much for just two people to handle.”
“I know, I know.” Song Shuqing put more force into her massage, her face full of confidence. “In five months, we’re going to have an amazing new employee!”
Although the number of times she could visit Zi Yan was greatly reduced, Song Shuqing would still appear at the Chunfeng Pavilion on time every full moon, cloaked and hooded.
Disguised as a mysterious knight-errant willing to throw a thousand gold pieces for two nights just to listen to Zi Yan’s music, the other girls in the Chunfeng Pavilion couldn’t help but gossip whenever it was Song Shuqing’s day to visit…
“Ah, I’m so jealous of Zi Yan-jiejie.” A young woman, painting her lips red in front of a mirror, sighed. “He doesn’t cause any trouble, just sits there quietly watching me play the zither and drinking tea. When will I ever meet a man like that?”
“Do you guys think Zi Yan-jiejie’s client is handsome?” another girl asked, her face propped in her hands. “He always keeps his face covered and never lets anyone get a clear look. Do you think it’s because he’s too beautiful and has to hide his face?”
“Have you been reading too many romance novels? How could a man like that possibly exist?” A woman leaning against the doorframe spoke with a hint of sourness, her expression dismissive. “Even if he is handsome, to be able to maintain such self-control in front of Zi Yan means he’s either a desireless monk or a useless eunuch. What’s there to envy?”
“Hey, you don’t get it. I’d envy that either way.”
“That’s right. A man who knows how to appreciate our music instead of just lusting after our bodies is truly rare.”
“You all…”
At that moment, the subject of their discussion, Song Shuqing, had no idea she had become the talk of the first-floor girls, nor that several women had launched into a fierce debate over whether 『he』 was 『desireless』 or 『useless』. She had more important things to deal with.
“Hey, my dear Zi Yan, please.”
“…No.”
“I’m begging you. I’m really suffering here.”
“No, you can’t. You’ll have to endure it.”
“Please, just once. Just this once! I promise.”
“Don’t make things difficult for me. Hurry up and eat.”
“Let me hear the new piece you composed! Or just let me look at the sheet music to get my fix.”
“I said no, and I mean it…”
Inside the room, Song Shuqing stared eagerly at the sheet music in the woman’s hands, shaking Zi Yan’s free arm back and forth like a stubborn, pestering child. “Let me hear it, please. Just quietly, play a tiny bit.”
“Not even a tiny bit.” The woman’s refusal was still firm, but the tips of her ears, hidden beneath her hair, were turning red. “It’s not time yet…”
Thinking of the music she had unconsciously composed in a moment of passion, Zi Yan fought back the shyness in her heart, clutching the music sheets tightly to prevent them from being snatched away.
“Tch, stingy.”
With a look of deep regret, Song Shuqing plopped down and took a sip of tea, her face full of dissatisfaction. “Stingy Zi Yan.” Then, as if compromising, she grumpily spoke words of concern. “Stingy dear Zi Yan, what do you want to eat for dinner tonight?”
“…Anything is fine.” Zi Yan looked helplessly at the impossibly childish shadow guard before her.
“Oh, god, ‘anything is fine’ is my least favorite answer in the world.” Rolling her eyes, Song Shuqing put an arm around the woman’s shoulders. “This is your last month at the Chunfeng Pavilion. Isn’t there anything you’re craving?”
Before Zi Yan could answer, she answered her own question. “Then again, we’ve tried everything these past few months…” She tilted her head in thought, then suddenly brightened as if she’d had a great idea. “Hey! I’m so stupid. We don’t have to stay in this room, do we? We can go out, right?”
“That… should be the case. I never thought about it…” Every full moon was an ordeal for her, and the beautiful top courtesan never had the spare energy to consider the question. She answered with uncertainty.
“Let’s go to Niujiao Street9 by the city wall. I passed by there last time. The shops stay open pretty late, and there are some stalls selling little trinkets. Let’s go for a stroll and see what we feel like eating, okay?” Song Shuqing suggested, tapping the table as she tilted her head to gauge the woman’s reaction.
“Anything is fine with me, but… I’ve never been out on the streets after dark.”
For a woman, walking alone in the night was always dangerous. Lecherous faces could appear from anywhere, ready to devour the weak lamb-like figures in the shadows.
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m here.” Song Shuqing gently patted the top courtesan’s head, a tenderness in her eyes she herself didn’t notice. “Although this world where the strong bully the weak is full of disgusting tumors, it just so happens my fists are especially big.”
“When Qinqin is away, there’s no one within a ten-li radius who can give me trouble, except for Ah Yun.” She leaned her head closer to Zi Yan’s ear. “…And Ah Yun goes to bed early like an old man, so I’m basically unrivaled right now.”
With a roguish smile, Song Shuqing threw on her black robe and stood by the window, extending a hand to the woman who was frozen in place. “Let’s go.”
“But, let’s get one thing straight first…”
As if remembering something incredibly serious, Song Shuqing’s expression suddenly turned grave.
“I have no money. So, you’re treating.”
LP: Re-translated on October 29, 2025
Footnotes
- Hanzi: 良人 Pinyin: liángrén Explanation: A classical term for a good spouse, husband, or virtuous partner.
- Hanzi: 花钱就是大爷 Pinyin: huā qián jiùshì dàye Explanation: A common saying meaning that customers with money should be treated with the utmost respect, like a lord or master.
- Hanzi: 五子棋 Pinyin: wǔzǐqí Explanation: The board game Gomoku, also known as Five-in-a-Row.
- Hanzi: 风尘 Pinyin: fēngchén Explanation: Lit. “wind and dust.” A poetic euphemism for the life of a courtesan or prostitute.
- Hanzi: 狗吃屎 Pinyin: gǒu chī shǐ Explanation: Lit. “dog eats shit.” A common and vulgar expression for falling flat on one’s face.
- Hanzi: 八字不合 Pinyin: bāzì bùhé Explanation: A term from Chinese fortune-telling based on the “Eight Characters” (the year, month, day, and hour of one’s birth). When two people’s characters “don’t match,” it means they are astrologically incompatible or fated to have conflict. It can also be used more broadly to mean a person is incompatible with a place or situation.
- Hanzi: 秀才 Pinyin: xiùcai Explanation: A title for someone who passed the county-level imperial examinations in ancient China; a scholar.
- Hanzi: 文谍 Pinyin: wéndié Explanation: An official document, such as a travel permit or identification papers.
- Hanzi: 牛角街 Pinyin: Niújiǎo Jiē Explanation: Lit. “Ox Horn Street.”
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