CH 60

Have You Seen Ah Qin? (The Crown Prince’s Assistance?)

At night, Murong Yan sat quietly before her bed, her servant girl combing her hair. Her eyes caught sight of her almost faded fingertips.

“Did you help me dye my nails with rouge while I was comatose?” she asked absentmindedly. But the girl behind her froze in motion.

“Y-yes… We did assist the princess with her nails,” the young servant girl responded with a trembling voice, stealing a glance at her sister who stood beside her.

“It was thoughtful of you,” Murong Yan replied, not paying much attention to the girl’s nervousness. After she finished with her hair, she dismissed everyone in the room.

She still wasn’t used to being touched by strangers. She removed her outer robe and the leather belt from her right knee. How long had it been since she last experienced phantom pain?

It seemed like a long time ago, before she was alone. Though the phantom pain had disappeared from her leg, it appeared to have transferred to her heart… Otherwise, how could she explain the emptiness in her chest that couldn’t be dispelled and the suffocating pressure that could strike at any moment?

Gazing at her maimed leg, Murong Yan gently touched the scar with her fingers. It was ugly and disgusting.

If it were her past self, just looking at it would have made her feel angry and uncomfortable. Even when putting on or taking off her prosthetic limbs, she would always do it hastily.

But now, she could face the place that she once despised directly. Even when touching it gently, she didn’t feel disgusted. Why was that?

She asked herself, but the answer was so obvious that it made her laugh.

It was all because of Ah Qin.

Ah Qin always gently rubbed her skin that had been rubbed red and swollen by the belt. Her slightly rough hands were always warm, and her clear eyes looked at her without a hint of disgust.

Murong Yan remembered the passion they had in the carriage and couldn’t help but close her eyes.

At that time, she was so cunning, using Ah Qin’s obedience to her every command to make her love her so much and easily bring her to the peak.

Every inch of her skin touched by Ah Qin felt like it was burning with a big flame, hot and passionate. Every nerve in her body trembled with excitement and begged for more, bringing her unparalleled pleasure.

Was it because of the happiness she stole at that time that made the heavens angry and took Ah Qin away from her?

Was it because happiness had a predetermined amount, and if we withdrew it prematurely, we would have to pay an endless amount of pain in the future?

The snow outside grew heavier and heavier, but the warmth from the dragon stove and the silver charcoal in the fire made the room cozy. Tiger, who had just finished eating a chicken, was curled up under the bed, snoring comfortably. However, Murong Yan’s heart was not as warm as the room.

Her thoughts were in turmoil.

Self-blame, doubt, sadness, anger, all mixed together, causing the woman to toss and turn.

It wasn’t until the sun rose that she finally succumbed to sleep, unable to hold on any longer.

On the day Murong Yan entered the Ministry of Justice with the Emperor’s edict in hand, she wore a snow-white fox fur coat, but the robe inside was a festive bright red.

She held a paper umbrella with a colorful peony painted on it, and she and her beast braved the snow to head to the dungeon with the newly appointed Minister of Justice, Mu Gun.

“Your Majesty has instructed me that the disposal of the Crown Prince will be entirely up to Princess Chongwen, and all members of the Ministry of Justice will follow the orders of the Princess,” Mu Gun said respectfully, bowing his head.

“How is the Crown Prince doing in the cell?” Murong Yan asked as she tightened her grip on the paper umbrella and looked at the entrance to the dungeon.

“…The Crown Prince has not spoken a word since he was brought to the Ministry of Justice,” Mu Gun paused slightly before continuing. “The order I received was to treat the Crown Prince like any other common prisoner, not to give him special treatment, and to keep his wounds from worsening until the Princess arrives.”

“Wounds?” Murong Yan looked puzzled. “Was he injured when he was arrested?”

“I’m not sure about that. The Crown Prince was captured by the Shadow Guard not long ago,” Mu Gun said, gesturing for his men to open the iron door. He shuddered at the thought of some bloody scene. “Perhaps the Shadow Guard tortured him too much, causing him to be injured. Princess, please be careful and don’t be scared.”

Ignoring Mu Gun’s concern, Murong Yan closed the paper umbrella and used the umbrella bone as a cane as she slowly walked into the semi-underground cell.

Several prisoners saw that the visitor was actually a woman and couldn’t help but press against the railing, reaching out their hands and spouting vulgar language.

Without waiting for Mu Gun and the other guards to speak up and stop her, the tiger following the woman suddenly jumped forward, opening its snow basin-sized mouth and intimidating the dirty men who were lying on the railing.

The tiger’s roar echoed menacingly in the narrow and dark dungeon, causing the once arrogant prisoners to cower and retreat in fear, unwilling to make a sound.

Murong Yan gently rubbed the soft head of the wild beast, rewarding it for its loyalty. With a subtle nod to Mu Gun, she urged him to lead the way, the rhythmic tapping of her wooden staff on the ground resonating loudly in the otherwise silent underground.

Even Mu Gun, the Minister of Justice, was unnerved by the tiger’s fierce presence. His face paled as he discreetly wiped the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief, before leading the team deeper into the dungeon.

As they approached the front cell where the deposed Crown Prince was held, Mu Gun spoke nervously, “Princess, the iron prison where the Crown Prince is held is just ahead. Do you need someone to accompany you inside?”

“No need,” Murong Yan reassured him, patting the soft fur of the tiger beside her. “Let it follow me.”

“Very well,” Mu Gun replied, casting an awe-struck glance at the majestic wild beast that accompanied Murong Yan. “I’ll leave a few guards outside the cell. If you need anything, just give them orders.”

With a ‘creak’, the rusty iron door to the cell was opened by one of the guards, who then hung the oil lamp on the wall, casting a yellow light that illuminated the previously dark cell.

『Clang』

『Clang』

Tiger followed Murong Yan, who was holding a bamboo umbrella, with agility as they entered. He lifted his head and sniffed at the damp and cold air of the dungeon.

In the corner, a man wriggled under a dirty blanket that was accompanied by the clanking of shackles.

His long hair was disheveled and oily, and his coarse prisoner’s clothing couldn’t even cover his shoulders, let alone resist the cold winter.

Murong Xiao had his eyes tightly closed, as if the visitor had nothing to do with him.

His once straight nose seemed to have been broken, crooked and asymmetrical on both sides, and blue and purple.

His right trouser leg was empty, oozing with blood, and all his fingernails had been pulled out, revealing the red flesh underneath.

There seemed to be several holes on the back of his hands, typical of torture during interrogation.

Looking at this miserable man, Murong Yan felt indifferent, even mocking herself inwardly.

The person who had destroyed her entire life was now shriveled up there, pitiful and weak. Wasn’t this appearance even more ridiculous than the person who had once defeated her?

Taking out the imperial edict, Murong Yan said flatly, “By order of His Majesty, the Chongwen County Princess Murong Yan is here to convict the deposed Crown Prince.”

As she spoke, Murong Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, filled with disbelief, and then crawled forward. He reached out his hand to grab the woman he had longed for, but was restrained by chains. Suddenly, a large tiger appeared in his line of sight, baring its teeth and growling lowly, with sharp claws ready to pounce on him.

“Tiger, don’t eat him,” Murong Yan said calmly. “He’s filthy.”

Murong Xiao looked at the woman he had longed for and couldn’t help but laugh madly, “Sister, sister! You’re alive, and you’ve come to find me. That’s great, that’s great! Are you going to spend the rest of your life with me?”

Ignoring the man’s nonsense, Murong Yan asked quietly, “Before this palace makes a final decision on your punishment, you can tell me how you want to be executed.”

“I will consider it at my discretion,” she continued.

“Sister, sister, I knew you would come back. I knew you loved me,” Murong Xiao rambled like a lunatic, paying no attention to what the woman said.

“Only I can be with you, only I!”

Murong Yan furrowed her eyebrows tightly, her temples throbbing with pain. She just wanted to call someone to drag the man out and execute him to put a stop to his foul language and delusions.

With a sinister expression, “That despicable woman is still so arrogant. Clearly, my sister chose me in the end.” Murong Xiao suddenly laughed hysterically, “And that bitch, whether in life or death, she will always be alone. But me, I have my sister.”

The man lying on the ground in front of Murong Yan was truly disgusting, but she found herself strangely intrigued by his words. Suppressing her displeasure, she asked, “Who? Who will be alone?”

“Of course it’s that damn shadow guard who dared to covet my sister.”

Murong Xiao gritted his teeth, the pain from his severed leg still lingering, but then he suddenly put on a pretense of virtue, “However, she was willing to sacrifice herself to save my sister’s life. I admit that she truly cherished my sister… like a stupid and pitiful dog.”

“Shadow guard? Are you talking about Ah Qin?” Murong Yan’s words came out broken, as if she was grasping onto a lifeline that could break at any moment, a straw full of thorns.

She trembled as she grabbed Murong Xiao’s collar.

“Have you, have you seen Ah Qin?”