Chapter 1: 1

Intruder on the Tower

There was noise, shouts of alarm and the panic of being shoved up the stairs.

“Princess!”

The servant girl reported anxiously through the door, “An official says a fugitive has escaped and wants to do a search up here.”

The tea needle struck the edge of the window slowly, making an ear-splitting sound.

“It’s someone from the capital…” fearing that the woman inside would get angry, the servant girl explained.

“Hmm.” A soft hum, somewhat sickly.

The chains were unfastened one by one, and the sound of clashing could not drown out the noise outside the door.

When the locks fell to the floor, the impatient officials rudely pushed open the door, and four or five men entered through the screen, giving a perfunctory greeting.

In addition to rows and rows of books and miscellaneous records, there were also paintings of landscapes hanging on the walls, boxes of jewellery and gold hairpins resting in front of the dressing mirror, and silk clothes scattered haphazardly about, even the most shallow official could see that they were all of extraordinary quality, which made them feel more alarmed the more they searched.

Hadn’t they heard that she was a crippled County Princess1 imprisoned in the capital, merely a hostage to keep Prince Yu in check? But now they saw with their own eyes that she was in possession of such gold, silver and wealth, completely different from the rumoured image of a County Princess abandoned by the royal family.

Now, not to mention the fugitive, not even a single chicken feather had been found under the extensive search. Thinking of their earlier rudeness, the men all felt a little ashamed.

The servant girl moved the screen out of the way, and the leading official bent down and arched his hand, raising his head in a humble manner, “Please don’t blame me, Your Highness. This fugitive is very cunning, this servant was only worried that he might have disturbed Your Highness by climbing up to this Hidden Moon Tower, so we thought of coming up to check.”

The woman lying on the cot with her back to the window, who had remained unresponsive to the noise created by this group of people, finally raised her eyes this time.

She was leaning against the tea table, fiddling with her tea set, and was covered in a thick fox fur from the waist down before the late autumn.

Her thin, sunken cheeks were not heavily covered in makeup, only her graceful lips were lightly smeared with a red, almost black, lipstick that made her complexion even paler.

Her ink-coloured hair is laced with a few strands of silver, held loosely by a gold hairpin, and is unadorned except for the deep red garnets hanging from her ears.

But with this, her eyes are still picturesque, as if she were a single plum in a snowstorm, making people want to reach out and savour her cold fragrance.

The group of men looked a little stunned.

“Is that so?” A sound came from the woman’s no longer tightly closed lips.

She looked to the group of men and her tone was somewhat indifferent, “Then what kind of crime has this fugitive committed that gives you the courage to bring a group of men to break into the County Princess’ boudoir in the middle of the night?”

“This…” the officials choked, squawking and glancing at each other.

As if she had expected the officers to be unable to give a definitive answer, she said in a soft voice, “You are all very enthusiastic, too.” Her voice was as soft and gentle as though it would be blown away by the wind.

“It’s merely that… this Palace2 truly does not know since when did the matter of apprehending fugitives come under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court?”

Without seeming to care about the silence of the others, she said with a sneer, “The Crown Prince is diligent in his administration, taking charge of all matters before he even sits on the Dragon Chair. What? Are you also… following his example?”

One of the youngest officials flushed a little and retorted in an agitated tone, “It has nothing to do with His Highness, we have only received information and are worried about the safety of the County Princess.”

As if to prove what he said, he looked towards the large window facing south and shouted, “The fugitive must have entered and left from here.” As he said this, he peeked halfway towards the window, but his arm slipped and he almost tumbled down the tower, causing the men around him to fumble and help him back up.

The officials’ faces turned the colour of pig’s liver as they heard the County Princess’ unconcealed puff of laughter.

No one had thought that the tiles of the tower were so slippery that even a sparrow could not keep its footing. The Hidden Moon Tower is the tallest building in the Capital apart from the Imperial Palace, so if they accidentally fell down, it would be difficult even for the gods to save them.

The official in charge was furious, but he could only leave empty-handed, leading his men away in silence.

The County Princess took a leisurely sip of tea and waited for the servant girl to finish cleaning up and leave the building, while the door was locked with thick chains again, one after another.

It was not until there was silence that she dropped her right hand, which was playing with her teacup, and lifted the fox fur draped over her lower body.

Beneath the fox fur, a huddled woman appeared, slowly rising to her feet, careful not to touch the County Princess, trying to swallow the blood that rose from her throat, and when she stood at the edge of the cot, she bowed to the County Princess and spoke sincerely, “Thank you for your help.”

“If I had not known that you were a hawk and a dog under the Emperor’s employ, this Palace would not have helped you.” The County Princess spoke indifferently, pouring a fresh cup of tea as she stroked the hem of her skirt, the silk containing the golden pistil tightly covering her lower body.

Hearing her words, Ming Qin, who was wearing her nocturnal clothes3, stared in surprise for a moment.

When she had suddenly appeared at the window with her suspicious appearance, she had expected the County Princess to be frightened into screaming or crying.

Who knew that the County Princess only looked at herself calmly, her hands still calmly making tea, and even silently pulled up her fox fur after hearing the noise to indicate that she should hide inside, never imagining that she could now accurately surmise where she had come from.

Ming Qin bowed her head and took the tea from the County Princess’ hand, not afraid to burn her hands, attempting to hide the surprise in her eyes, waiting only for the tea to cool and to drink it all as the officials walked away before leaving.

Foolish, thought the County Princess.

If she had the ability to go up to the Hidden Moon Tower without falling to her death, she couldn’t be an ordinary fugitive.

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The tiles had been polished by skilled craftsmen, and there was not even a single groove for them to land on. If ordinary thieves could come and go as they pleased, it would be a waste of the Prince’s efforts.

If she had really wanted to harm her, she would have done so as soon as she met her, not to mention hiding under her fox fur and obediently letting herself be held against her neck with a tea needle.

She was clean and had no smell on her body, dressed in nocturnal clothes in the capital, familiar with the royal etiquette and with such skills, so she could only be a shadow guard directly under His Majesty’s command.

If she hadn’t still had some affection for the Emperor, who was her uncle, and hadn’t happened to come into contact with the mad dog Crown Prince and had been kept in captivity, she wouldn’t have intervened on a whim.

The two of them, each thinking, sipped their tea in silence.

Ming Qin was a little uncomfortable as she looked out of the window, overlooking from the Hidden Moon Tower, the lights of the various houses swaying.

With good eyesight, the shadow guard could even see the plaque of the East Market Teahouse. The marketplace at night was not as noisy as it was during the day, with a few young men pushing a crate to close their stalls, oil lamps hanging in front of the cart swaying with each step.

She was mesmerised, leading the County Princess to look out too, but saw nothing of note.

“What are you looking at?” The woman on the cot spoke.

Ming Qin took her eyes off the window and replied without thinking, “I’m looking at the East Market, the cakes and biscuits sold by the vendors in front of Heavenly Blessing Hall are delicious.” Feeling a little out of place when she thought about it, she added, “This humble servant means that from here you can look out over the whole capital.”

“Yes,” the County Princess put down the cup of tea in her hand and said indifferently, “I’m afraid there is no better view of the entire capital than the view from here.”

Ming Qin was at a loss for words, and could only silently grip the empty teacup in her hand and purse her lips.

“This Palace is tired, go back to where you came from.” The woman plucked the gold hairpin from her hair, not even giving a spare look, her tone was full of the intent to send her away.

Ming Qin understood, put down the teacup and bowed deeply once again, without hesitation lifted her breath and jumped onto the nearest window ledge, leaping down in a single bound, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the ink-like night.

It turned out that she really would not fall to her death.

Murong Yan withdrew her downward gaze, removed her earrings and casually dropped them on the tea table.

With her arms propped up on the cot, she slowly sat up straighter, moving step by step to the dressing table not far away, looking into the mirror to remove her lipstick, her pupils reflecting her thin face and striking whitish hair.

So ugly.

Murong Yan thought.

Rubbing her cheeks, her mind is exasperated.

But after half a second, she couldn’t help but laugh again.

I’m afraid I’m the only one who’s gotten to this point and still cares so much about looking good.

Murong Yan has loved beauty since she was a child and has been fortunate enough to be born with a beautiful skin.

Everyone around her knew that.

If he had not known that she did not want to fall to her death, nor did she want to die like a hanged ghost with her tongue out, how would the Crown Prince have dared to keep her alone in a tower, only to send someone to guard the door and forbid her to be served by anyone?

The Crown Prince, that ungrateful dog, deserved to die.

Thinking of that man, Murong Yan’s right leg began to feel a vague pain.

She strained to reach the head of the bed and lifted the hem of her skirt to reveal her legs. Although the craftsman had carved it so carefully that it could no longer be easily distinguished, when she removed her shoes and socks to take a closer look, the prosthetic leg of Murong Yan’s right leg still had a cold sheen that was different from her skin tone.

Roughly, she pulled off the leather straps, revealing the amputation that ended at the knee, the wooden prosthetic limb swelling her skin as she wore it for a long time, she bit her lower lip, not wanting to look at the ugly stump at all, but the deepening pain was screaming at her, forcing her to look at it.

In fact, it would have been better if she had really been evil.

Since she had the ability to go up to the Hidden Moon Tower, she also had the ability to kill her without spilling blood, right?

To make herself free from pain, to have no more amputation, to die with dignity and beauty, to put an end to these five years of endless torture and nightmares.

Faintly, she collapsed on the bed, her body in a cold sweat. Before losing consciousness, Murong Yan’s mind reverberated with…

Anyone is fine.

If it will end all the pain, take me away, please.

I’ve had enough.

Kill me.

 

Xianzhu (县主), translated a “Princess of County” or “Princess of the Fourth Rank”, was granted to the daughter of a Prince of the Second Rank born to his Princess Consort, as well as the daughter of a shizi (the heir of a first rank prince). 本宫 (Ben Gong) usually used by the royal family members, Empress or high-rank consorts. Normally, high-rank consorts and royal family members would have their own palace. 本宫 carries the meaning of ‘in the name of (the owner of) this palace’. The 本 + object/people format is an alternative to the normal ‘I’ pronouns. 

 

nocturnal clothes

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