Chapter 2: 2

Too Strange for a Shadow Guard

On the ninth day of the month, the streets of the capital were a little more busy than usual.

Just after midday, the streets are bustling with people as small as ants.

Despite the cold, the windows of the Hidden Moon Tower are wide open. Murong Yan, wearing a single bun, lies motionless on the couch, her eyes slightly sore from staring out of the window for so long, as she blinks, she feels her eyelids burning a little.

She spilled the cold tea through the window, the white porcelain cups hitting the coffee table with a crisp sound, slightly ear-splitting in the silence of the tall building.

She yawned in boredom and closed her eyes when she felt a cool breeze on her cheek.

When Murong Yan opened her eyes and calmed her mind, she saw who the visitor was and spoke without alarm, “I do not remember when the Hidden Moon Tower was open for guests, allowing people to come and go as they pleased.”

The tone of her voice was indifferent, but it was impossible to tell whether she was surprised or angry, “What do you think? Miss Fugitive.”

The woman who had been dressed in nocturnal clothes a few days ago was now wearing a grey long dress with waist-length silk, her hair was a bit messy in front of her forehead, and her lean and tall figure would have been described as those of an ordinary scholar had she only glanced from the back.

The youthful shadow guard stood in front of the window and first bowed respectfully, “Your Highness, my name is Ming Qin.”

She then scratched her head as though she had no idea where to start, and her helpless figure looked a little naive in Murong Yan’s eyes, ” Today is the Chongyang Festival, so I would like to…” The volume of her voice trailed off, sounding slightly vague.

“So you climbed up to the Hidden Moon Tower?” Murong Yan exhaled lightly and raised an eyebrow, feeling only a little absurd.

“I…” Ming Qin squeaked, the countless moments of brushing with death during her missions had never caused her to panic as much as this moment.

Carefully pulling out a packet of zong leaves tied with twine from her bosom and quickly unwrapping the delicate weave, Ming Qin explained with trepidation and unease, “These are chestnut cakes from the East Market, they’re delicious, they’ve only just come out of the oven.”

She handed the zong leaves packet in her hand to Murong Yan, “This is a thank you gift for the other day.”

Looking at the two neatly arranged cakes, the small chestnut cakes were carved with simple flower patterns and had a shiny oily surface. The rich aroma of chestnuts made them even more delicious, and the sides were decorated with a chrysanthemum flower, which was still somewhat charming.

Meeting Ming Qin’s fidgety expression, Murong Yan lowered her eyes and wordlessly gestured to the shadow guard to place the zong leaf packets on the coffee table, before turning her head to add some charcoal to the boiling water.

When the water was ready, Murong Yan opened the hidden compartment under the coffee table, revealing that there were jars and jars of white porcelain containing tea leaves inside, casually picking them out and then smothering the tea.

After the water has been tinted and she has made her own tea, Murong Yan picked up a chestnut cake and slowly put it into her mouth, taking a bite and tasting it.

The combination of the soft outer crust and the dense and tasty chestnut slices was perfect, sweet but not greasy, with a vague aroma of bamboo leaves. Paired with the freshly brewed Oolong, it was a bit of a surprise even for a woman who was accustomed to the palace chef’s cooking.

In a rare moment, some warmth appeared on her face as she scrutinised the chestnut cake in her hands.

When she had finished eating and turned her head, she saw Ming Qin standing by, twiddling her fingers and cautiously observing her reaction.

After a pause, “It’s not bad.” Murong Yan gave a response.

Seeing the woman in front of her looking good, Ming Qin was relieved and couldn’t help but raise the corners of her mouth, “Li Da Niang’s cakes are the best in the capital, it’s not unusual to wait ages for them if you don’t line up early.”

Looking at the shadow guard’s proud look, the always calm Murong Yan could not help but smile, “The best in the capital is a bit exaggerated.”

Ming Qin disagreed and puffed out her chest like she wanted to prove something, “I have eaten all the delicacies in the capital, I have also eaten every single one of Li Da Niang’s cakes, if you don’t like chestnuts, I will bring green bean cakes next time, that is their signature.”

She sounded a little eager.

“This Palace thought that the shadow guards in the court were working on a daily basis.”

Looking at Ming Qin’s anxious face, Murong Yan slowly picked up the second piece of chestnut cake and spoke leisurely, “I didn’t anticipate that you would be this leisurely and still have time to eat cakes all over the capital.”

The image of the Emperor’s hawks and dogs lining up in the streets, looking for all sorts of cake shops and talking about them, made Murong Yan sip her tea and swallow the smile at the corner of her mouth.

“I…”

Not sure whether to explain to the County Princess that the shadow guards were not negligent in their duties, or to graciously admit that she did run around the capital to search for food whenever she had a day off, Ming Qin scratched her head in a dignified manner.

In an attempt to divert attention, she threw the bamboo leaves sitting on the coffee table into the fireplace to destroy them, and silently knelt down to rummage through the ashes with an iron bar.

Ming Qin’s sadness made the other person look a little mean, wiping her fingers carefully with a handkerchief, Murong Yan blinked, and then spoke indifferently, “As a thank you gift, it’s good.”

Lifting her head, Ming Qin’s face broke into a childish smile, “Really? That’s great! Then I’ll bring some others next time.”

Murong Yan looked at Ming Qin’s bright smile and felt a sense of wonder in her heart.

She had been in contact with many shadow guards in the palace before, and with her remarkable eyesight, she could see that even among the shadow guard unit, all of whom were highly skilled, the martial arts skills of Ming Qin, who had climbed up to the Hidden Moon Tower, were superior, but she appeared to be only twenty years old, which was a bit too young.

Even though it was obvious that the work of the shadow guards involved dirty work, Ming Qin was as straightforward as a child, allowing her to see through her thoughts at a glance.

A strange person indeed.

Murong Yan was immersed in her complex thoughts, nodding unconsciously in response to the words of the person in front of her, and did not return to her senses until Ming Qin left.

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So the next day after lunch, when she saw the young shadow guard reappear in front of her window with a wrapped green bean cake in her hand and a big smile on her face, Murong Yan was genuinely surprised.

It was indeed improper for Ming Qin to use her lightness to travel on the roof of the building. If the first time was a last resort, the second time was indeed against etiquette.

If she were a man, she would be no different from a common pervert who spies on people, not to mention the fact that the other party was the County Princess, the most honourable woman living outside the Imperial Palace.

Ming Qin remembers.

That night, she had taken a coded message and travelled back to the capital, but before she could enter the Imperial Palace, she was chased by the Prince’s men who had received information.

The exhaustion of the journey, combined with the injuries she had sustained during her mission, had left her barely able to fend for herself, and she did not want to cause a disturbance in the capital that would affect innocent people.

When she thought of Prince Yu, who had always been loyal to the Emperor and far removed from strife, the best decision she could make was to seek the shelter of Murong Yan, who was the closest to her and was the County Princess.

With internal injuries, she had risked her life not to fall to her death on the way up.

However, she was surprised by the unperturbed reaction of the County Princess, and her appearance and demeanour were completely different from when she first saw her.

She remembered how ten years ago, when she was a little girl, she had been trained at the Night Lantern Court, where, in addition to her daily training, there were regular whippings to sharpen her will and days of starvation and torture.

But even though all her peers around her were screaming in agony, she gritted her teeth and persevered.

All this pain and training is good for her, the only way to survive is to get stronger.

It was this belief that held her together and kept her from breaking down during the gruelling training.

It was only at the age of twelve, when she was about to graduate, that she was fed poison on a daily basis by her master’s mother in order to develop resistance to toxicity. Her body felt as if millions of scorpions and vipers were writhing inside her, and her muscles and bones, which she thought had long been numb to the pain, suffered the gut wrenching sensation all day long.

On that day, her nerves were as tense as an over-tuned zither string that snapped, a discordant buzzing in her head that felt like a loud screaming, the pain overwhelmed her and she reached her limit, shattering her handcuffs with all her might and escaping from the Court of Night Lantern for the only time in the night.

Her thin and crippled body collapsed against the edge of the Imperial Palace with no strength left, like a ditch rat ready to die, and just as her consciousness was about to be stripped away, a bright red sleeve lingered on her wrist in the moonlight, before she felt herself being lifted into the air and carried onto a horse.

Along with the horse’s hooves, she vaguely heard a male voice from the side, ‘Princess, let this servant do it, so as to not dirty your clothes.’

The woman did not answer, but the man suggested, ‘I’m afraid this is someone from the Night Lantern Court, shall I send someone to inform them to come and fetch her?’

After a moment’s silence, the woman sighed, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow, it’s just a poor child.’

The little girl did not know how long she had been in that warm embrace, only that the piercing sound in her mind had been wiped clean.

When she had the strength to open her eyes to see clearly, she saw a blurry image of a heavenly fairy who had fallen to earth, and the woman in front of her was as bright as a bright red peony in bloom.

Sensing movement in her arms, she lowered her head down, eyes glistening, with a smile on her lips, she pulled a candy from somewhere with her empty hand and put it in the child’s mouth.

Lying meekly in the woman’s arms, Ming Qin obediently opened her mouth, feeling the sweet rice candy slowly melting in her mouth.

It was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten in her whole life.

Before she fell unconscious again, that was only one thought in the girl’s mind.

Waking up from the memory, Ming Qin started thinking about it.

Originally, she thought that the brightly dressed beauty of that year would still be in full bloom, but now it is as if the pearl has been overshadowed by the dust and the peonies are left with withered petals scattered all over the place, leaving only dead branches.

If it were not for the stirring in her heart, she would not have crouched at the top of the tree and witnessed the sadness and sorrow in her face during the Chongyang Festival. Nor would she have been able to climb up the building with her breath, feeling awkward and stumbling over the chestnut cake she had just bought, panicking and making excuses for her uncontrollable abruptness.

Ming Qin’s body sank, appearing silently at the entrance to the marketplace, naturally merging with the flow of pedestrians.

“Li Da Niang.” Ming Qin shouted through the crowd towards the shop.

“Miss Ming!”

A kindly-looking woman hurriedly wiped her hands and walked through the rest of the queue towards Ming Qin, carrying the hemp rope.

Handing over the coins, Min Qin took what was in her hand, before solemnly arching her hand in thanks.

“You’re welcome! Miss Ming is a benefactor who helped me fight off the hooligans.” Li Da Niang laughed and said, “Miss Ming, you can just come back more often. I saved this green bean cake especially for you, if I hadn’t wrapped it up secretly I’m afraid people would have fought if they saw it.”

“It’s not strange for people to fight over Li Da Niang’s food.” Ming Qin said sincerely.

“You’re the only one with a sweet mouth.” Waving her hand, Li Da Niang turned around cheerfully, “Alright! I’m going back to the shop.”

Ming Qin nodded and sprinted away, protecting the lotus leaf bag in her hand.

It would be nice if that person also found it delicious.

If she beat her up, she promised never to fight back.

Hmm, this is a promise.

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