The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 59

Irrelevant to whether one is of common birth or not

The first snow falls. In the courtyard of Changning Palace, the flowers of the plum trees begin to bloom.

The cold wind carries the pleasant scent of plum blossoms, signaling the end of a chaotic year, making one can’t help but sigh at the passing of time.

In the courtyard, a slender figure draped in a white fox fur coat looks up at the clusters of pink flowers on the branches. A year-old big tiger stands by her side, affectionately rubbing against the woman’s hand, yet its gaze remains alert, guarding the surroundings.

After nearly half a month of recovery, Murong Yan’s muscles are no longer stiff, allowing her to walk for a short time without assistance. Unfortunately, the weight she lost has not returned, leaving her still as fragile and breakable as a willow branch.

She gently scratches the furry big head beside her, looking at the snow gradually piling up on the ground, and can’t help feeling a surge of sadness.

Winter always brings out the best and the worst of my memories.

Riding horses alone with Ah Qin through the snow, the romance inside a carriage amidst the falling snow, and hugging each other in the snowy field, whispering by each other’s ears.

Yet, losing Ah Qin also happened on a snowy day.

Her hood fell off, but Murong Yan didn’t care, just looking down at a few petals blown off to the ground, the vivid pink mixed with the snow being trampled into the mud, dirty and gradually rotting.

“Yue’er, Yue’er.”

Her thoughts were interrupted, and turning around, the woman saw her dearly beloved elder brother rushing over after leaving the court.

“Yue’er, are you feeling better?”

After entering the capital, Murong Chan, as the ever-victorious general, took over the position for the older Prince Yu, stabilizing his footing in the court with several young and passionate generals. Despite his busy schedule, Murong Chan still made it a routine to visit his sister every day, bringing with him the same concern.

While asking, he examined Murong Yan closely, his eyes filled with anxiousness, fearing to hear any unpleasant response.

Removing a petal from her shoulder, Murong Yan replied with downcast eyes and a serene tone, “I am fine, Brother. Do not worry.”

Despite hearing these words, Murong Chan still furrowed his brows, circling around his sister as if to visually confirm that the lady was indeed unharmed.

After a pause, he spoke up, “Yu’er, in another month, the New Year will be upon us. Do you… want to return to the Prince’s residence, or would you rather stay in Changning Palace?”

Looking at her brother, who was visibly anxious, Murong Yan lifted her head as if suddenly recalling something, “Speaking of the Prince’s residence, I indeed should make a trip back.” Her gaze darkened.

“Really? You’re coming back?”

Not expecting his sister to respond in such a manner, Murong Chan replied excitedly, “Then I’ll have someone tidy up your courtyard when I return. When you come back in a few days, everything will be ready…”

“We could actually leave now, there’s no need to wait a few more days,” he barely finished speaking when Murong Yan raised her hand to interrupt, “There’s no need to tidy up the yard either, I move very quickly.”

Murong Chan was somewhat puzzled by his sister’s words but still obligingly supported the still frail Murong Yan, boarding the carriage to head to the residence of Prince Yu.

Despite her physical discomfort, Murong Yan didn’t ask the coachman to stop at a side entrance closer to her or her brother’s courtyard; instead, she alighted at the main entrance of Prince Yu’s residence, leading Hu’er slowly towards the main hall.

Inside, Murong Wen and his mother, Concubine Liu, along with her son Murong Fu, were leisurely chatting over tea. Murong Yan didn’t send someone ahead to announce her; she just walked in abruptly, directly going to the empty seat of honor to sit down silently, with Hu’er obediently laying down at the woman’s feet.

As the only legitimate daughter of the Prince and the Chongwen Princess personally titled by the late Emperor, Murong Yan indeed held higher nobility than anyone present in terms of rites.

Moreover, the newly ascended Emperor Murong Wan had once personally ordered everyone to treat Murong Yan as his own elder sister, to respect and honor her.

“Sister…”

Seeing his own half-sister’s expressionless, with a fierce wild beast lying beside her, Murong Wen swallowed his saliva, feeling nervous inside, “Why didn’t you say anything about coming back home?”

Murong Yan slightly tilted her head, her tone light, “Does This Palace need to get permission from Brother Ah Wen to return to my own house?”

“No, no, no, how could that be.” Murong Wen’s forehead was sweating as he hurriedly waved his hands, “It’s just a bit surprising, that’s all.”

Murong Yan slightly lifted the corners of her mouth, her eyes filled with nothing but sarcasm, “Now that This Palace has recovered and returned to the estate, why does Brother Ah Wen seem not so happy to see me?”

Without waiting for the stuttering man to answer, she continued, “His Majesty the Emperor, upon seeing my recovery, was so pleased that he entrusted me with full authority to deal with the punishment of the deposed crown prince.”

Hearing this, Murong Wen frowned and asked with hesitation, “In that case… what does sister plan to do with… the deposed crown prince…?”

“How should This Palace handle it…?”

Tapping her fingers lightly on the mahogany table, Murong Yan pretended to ponder while observing the man’s reaction in front of her. “The deposed crown prince plotted rebellion and usurpation. Such a heinous crime naturally calls for the death penalty.”

“No, no, no, that cannot be. How can His Highness the Crown Prince be executed?” Murong Wen’s eyes widened in horror. “Little sister, you must think this over carefully.”

Pouring water into a teapot to heat it up, Murong Yan smirked coldly, her face gloomy, “The deposed Crown Prince committed such atrocious acts, nearly costing me my life, and yet, Brother Ah Wen, you still choose to plead for him?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.

“The Crown Prince is of the Empress’s lineage, born legitimate, and even if his methods were too radical, the throne rightfully belongs to him.” The man stood up anxiously, hoping to get a response from his indifferent half-sister, but Murong Yan did not even lift her eyes, only staring at her fingers.

After a long while, she looked up, as if she had thought of something amusing and chuckled, “So this is the reason Brother Ah Wen is helping the deposed Crown Prince, huh?”

The woman’s face was unmistakably filled with a mocking expression. “Just because he’s legitimate, he can do whatever he wants? Ridiculous. You yourself are also a mere concubine-born, Brother Ah Wen’s naivety truly broadens my horizons.”

“This… I…”

“How did the deposed Crown Prince convince you that day, making you willingly reveal my whereabouts and withdraw the guards from Cangyue Tower?”

Murong Yan spoke with apparent indifference, yet her gaze was fixed intently on the man, who was now visibly uneasy. “Did the deposed Crown Prince tell you he wanted to talk to your sister? Or did he directly tell you he wanted to kill me?”

Murong Wen wanted to argue, but suddenly, the tiger lying on the ground lifted its head.

Hu’er, who has always despised Murong Wen and his son, stared at him intently, like a predator eyeing delicious prey, revealing his gleaming, sharp teeth.

The timid man felt chills down his spine, his legs trembling, and he couldn’t help but blurt out, “I…I, I really didn’t think he would want to kill you at the time…”

“What!”

Leaning against the doorframe, Murong Chan heard his own half-brother indirectly admitting to his actions, his eyes widening in disbelief, “It was you! How dare you…”

During the days Murong Yan was unconscious, he spent every day and night pondering, repeatedly checking but never figuring out who had successfully allowed the deposed Crown Prince to get close to his sister.

Today, to everyone’s surprise, the main culprit turned out not to be a spy in the army or a remnant of the rebels, but this half-brother of theirs who loafs about all day long, babbling about degenerate literature.

Murong Chan, boiling with anger and abandoning his usual gentleness, stepped forward and grabbed Murong Wen, who was trembling all over, by the collar, “Have you lost your mind… How dare you? What gives you the right? Who gave you the audacity… How could you treat Yue’er like this?”

“Brother, don’t be so agitated.”

Watching coldly, Murong Yan slowly poured herself some tea while mockingly said, “Brother Ah Wen always refuses to show any inferiority in front of us, but who would have thought? In this royal residence, he is the one who cares the most about the difference between legitimate and illegitimate birth.”

He has always acted the part of the elder brother, unwilling to admit his status as a bastard.

After growing up, the younger brother, who was awarded the title of the Ever Victorious General for his bravery and skill in battle, suppressed him not just slightly. Thus, to protect his fragile ego, he began to identify himself as a scholar, calling those warriors who died in battle for the country ‘barbaric and foolish warriors’.

Yet now, stupidly loyal to the deposed Crown Prince because he was born of the Empress, he thinks himself on the righteous path, dreaming of dragon-like achievements but lacking the decisiveness, stuck in between.

Not even the sour Confucian old scholars are as unbearable as him. Thinking about it is truly laughable.

After taking a sip, Murong Yan found it unbearably bitter, frowning as she carelessly spilled it on the ground.

Glancing indifferently at Concubine Liu and Murong Fu, who had been as quiet as a mouse and pale-faced all along, Murong Yan slowly stood up. Passing by her half-brother, she spoke, “Brother Ah Wen, my contempt for you stems solely from your incompetence and foolishness, and has nothing to do with being legitimate or not.”

Without so much as a glance or a flicker of her eyes towards the man whose collar was being grabbed, his face turning pale, she left with the large tiger by her side, not looking back once.

Behind her, the sound of fists hitting flesh and Murong Wen’s agonized wails could be heard, but the woman was unmoved, calling for her horseman to return to Changning Palace.

Slumping her previously straight back and tiredly pinching the bridge of her nose, Murong Yan leaned against the carriage door, feeling disgusted.

She knew very well that her brother would not tolerate this any longer. For a half-brother who almost indirectly caused her death by crossing the line, the little remaining affection and the so-called brotherly respect were all but worn away.

Her overprotective brother would surely not let Murong Wen off easily.

If he couldn’t be beaten up at home, it didn’t look like his older brother and those hot-tempered colleagues had never done things like covering someone with a sack in an alley.

Moreover, given Murong Wen’s foolish actions this time, it was feasible to expel him from the royal residence, remove his name from the ancestral records, or even execute him as an accomplice to the deposed crown prince.

Even if Prince Yu favored him, he couldn’t say anything if the crime of plotting rebellion was involved.

But even so, Murong Yan didn’t feel the joy of catching the traitor in the residence. Her expression remained unchanged, and her heart still felt empty.

Seemingly sensing the woman’s loss, Hu’er, who was curled up in the carriage, stretched out his front legs and comfortingly licked Murong Yan’s palm.

The bristly tongue scraped against her soft skin, causing some pain, but Murong Yan didn’t care and just gently patted its head.

“Where do you think your master could be?” she asked, looking at the beast before her that couldn’t speak human language but was loyal.

“I really, really miss her.”

LP: Re-translated on March 27, 2024