CH 63

My Peony Flower

In Changning Palace, a huge tiger was lying on the corridor, yawning and looking at the snow outside.

Inside the room, several jade bottles were inserted with blooming plum blossoms, but even so, the fragrance of the flowers could not mask the strong smell of Chinese medicine in the room.

Ming Qin, lying on the bed, had just been forced to drink a soup to calm her nerves and was now sleeping soundly.

Looking at the unconscious figure lying in her bed, Murong Yan sat by the bedside, lovingly stroking her cheek with her fingertips, which covered her usually clear and pure eyes.

Her fingers slid over several pale scars on Ming Qin’s face, which, even after healing, still showed a distinct color difference from her original skin tone, breaking her once delicate and clean appearance.

Seeing Ming Qin’s profile in her field of vision, the soft earlobes that used to be there were gone, leaving only a black hole in her right ear. However, Murong Yan was not afraid. Instead, she gently stroked the wound with a mix of pain and tenderness, her fingertips circling around it.

Ming Qin’s lips were tightly pursed, pale without a trace of blood, except for a slight tear in the corners of her mouth from daily forced feeding, showing a striking red color.

Murong Yan pulled back her hair from her forehead and leaned over to gently leave her own lipstick mark on her lips, then slowly rubbed it.

The person who had been in a coma for a long time emitted a bitter medicine smell and a sickly aura from her mouth, but the woman did not mind. She evenly applied lip balm with her warm lips, carefully avoiding hurting her beloved person.

Little by little, the originally light touch turned into gentle kisses, creating suggestive sounds in the room with no one else present.

With one hand resting on Ming Qin’s shoulder, Murong Yan’s upper body lay on the bed with her clothes still on, her waist and abdomen aching from being bound by Ming Qin’s iron chains. However, she didn’t seem to mind and clung to her tightly.

Although the story of “Sleeping Beauty” she heard from Song Shu Qing was strange, Murong Yan had to believe her when she was so convinced.

No.

She had to believe her.

Ah Qin, you are the most precious person to me.

There’s no doubt about it.

So I can wake you up, right?

Murong Yan’s hand wrapped around the waist of the person in her arms, her face against her neck as if to ease the suffocation in her heart, taking deep breaths.

When you wake up, we will escape from here.

Escape from this place that haunts me in my nightmares day and night.

This time, we will go together, wherever it is, we will be together.

Her fingers touched Ming Qin’s collarbone and caressed it back and forth.

She leaned her body closer, as if wanting to merge with Ming Qin.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard in the corridor. After two knocks on the door, Song Shu Qing walked in.

At the sound, Murong Yan sat up and protected Ming Qin in her arms, her white hair scattered, her eyes coldly staring in the direction of the visitor.

As soon as she saw that it was Song Shu Qing, Murong Yan’s tense body relaxed.

“It’s you.” Murong Yan glanced at Song Shu Qing and then ignored her. She also didn’t pay attention to the woman’s gaze, lowered her head and lovingly kissed Ming Qin’s forehead. “No wonder Tiger let you in.”

She never liked to be disturbed, especially when Ming Qin was rarely able to sleep peacefully, and Murong Yan could touch her.

“…Princess.”

“You shouldn’t let Tiger stand guard. Just now, Doctor Wang was telling me that he’s scared every time he comes to treat her.” Song Shu Qing opened the medicine box in her hand and took out gauze and ointment. “Besides, you’re half a patient yourself. Let others help you take care of Qin Qin…”

“I don’t need it.”

Murong Yan coldly refused, getting up to take the things from Song Shu Qing’s hand and bending down to carefully apply them to Ming Qin’s swollen limbs. “There’s no need for others to pretend. Besides, I don’t want anyone else to touch Ah Qin.”

Her hands didn’t stop, but Murong Yan simply raised her eyes silently, giving Song Shu Qing a warning look, as if saying that allowing her to approach was already a great favor.

Seeing the obvious bruises under the eyes of the noble Princess, who had been bending over day and night to take care of her beloved, Song Shu Qing sighed helplessly and muttered, “You two are really a perfect match.”

Fortunately, Ming Qin’s condition had indeed improved. The number of times she groaned in pain gradually decreased, and with the help of the calming decoction, she simply lay there calmly without struggling.

Next, they could only rely on Ming Qin’s fate.

“As for the deposed Crown Prince.”

When it came to business, Song Shu Qing respectfully cupped her hands, “I have already handled it according to your instructions…”

Murong Yan looked at the person beneath her with a tender expression in her eyes, not paying much attention to the report from the side, and simply asked, “How long did he hold on?”

“He couldn’t last for half an hour in the barn with the raging bull. Later, we had to hang him with medicine…” Song Shu Qing recalled the bloody scars that were as dense as fish scales, pinching her fingers, “He didn’t even survive a thousand cuts, and he died after reaching three hundred.”

“Only three hundred? Has the rest been taken care of?” Murong Yan’s palm pressed against Ming Qin’s face, her expression calm, as if she was just asking about the weather.

“It has been taken care of. The body has been cremated to ashes,” Song Shu Qing explained, scratching her head afterwards. “But tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, so we’ll wait until the day after tomorrow to send someone to scatter the ashes in the mountains outside the capital.”

As a former laborer who had once led a difficult life, she really didn’t want her subordinates to work overtime during the Lunar New Year.

“So, it’s already New Year’s Eve…”

Murong Yan lowered her gaze and spoke softly, then turned to Song Shu Qing and said, “Thank you. You’ve done well. You may leave now.”

Facing such an obvious intention to drive her away, Song Shu Qing touched her nose, picked up the medicine box, and before opening the door, she suddenly said, “If you’re going home for the festival tomorrow, you can let me come over. I’m free in the palace anyway.”

Murong Yan did not answer, just let Song Shu Qing leave.

She looked at the person in front of her, buried her head in Ming Qin’s chest, and tightly grasped her clothes, murmuring softly.

“Besides being by Ah Qin’s side, where else can I call home?”

Ming Qin was falling.

Or maybe she wasn’t.

But the light in front of her faded away, getting smaller and further away.

In the midst of the silence, suddenly, memories long forgotten flooded her mind, so distant that she didn’t know if they were real or not.

『Where’s the money? Is there no money left in the house?』

『You used the last bit of money to buy alcohol yesterday.』

『Don’t we still have some things in the house? Can’t we sell them for money?』

『But… all my bracelets have been pawned already…』

『Why are you so useless? Now we not only have no money to buy alcohol, but we can’t even afford firewood for the winter! We won’t be able to make it through these tough times.』

『You can’t drink anymore. Maybe you should go help with a shipment, and we still have three kids to take care of…』

『Fine, sell the daughter then.』

『What?! But she’s so young, no one would even take her at the brothels.』

『Do you want me to abandon our son instead?』

『I… I don’t know what to do.』

『Just throw her somewhere then!』

It’s so dark.

It’s so cold.

Ming Qin didn’t know if it was because of the piercing cold of winter or because of these unpleasant memories that made her feel a tearing pain all over her body.

It’s like falling into the lake, with something that doesn’t belong to her rushing into her lungs, causing a sour sensation in her nose and making her cough uncontrollably. But every time she coughed, more water rushed in, making her feel like her chest was about to explode.

She wanted to cry for help, but found that opening her mouth only made the air in her lungs disappear like bubbles from a fish, exchanging it for more coldness and pain.

The long-lost intense pain reminded Ming Qin of the time when her shattered self was still able to feel the pain.

How did she endure it back then?

Did she grit her teeth and bear it?

But now she’s in so much pain that she can’t bear it anymore. What should she do?

Give up.

She could only continue sinking, had to continue sinking.

Something wrapped around her foot and pulled her down, dragging Ming Qin slowly into the abyss.

She didn’t care and closed her eyes.

After all, everything within her vision was already pitch black, wasn’t it?

『Ah Qin.』

『Ah Qin.』

『Live on.』

『For me, live on.』

A woman’s voice sounded, and Ming Qin, who was covered in a layer of mist, didn’t know who it was. She only felt as if this familiar voice had penetrated into her heart a long, long time ago.

With each call, she felt like she was being hugged and kissed. In the darkness where she was alone, the warmth of those little touches was so precious.

Twelve years old.

Red.

Candy.

The images in her mind gradually became clearer.

As if back to that year, nestled in the arms of the woman in red, she was like a redemption from heaven in the moonlight, bringing brilliant light and driving away her endless pain, like a rat in the gutter.

Perhaps when she was looking up at the woman with a sparkling gaze, smiling and feeding her a sweet rice candy, her young self had already fallen and entrusted her whole heart.

Her shattered consciousness pieced together memories, frame by frame, gradually becoming clear, mixed with calls from above. Ming Qin struggled to open her eyes, looking up to see the only light spot.

It was Yan Yan.

The only person who was ever in her heart, the only reason for her to survive, was always Yan Yan.

Her peony flower.

…Is she crying?

A sour, restrained, and heart-wrenching sob.

『Ah Qin, I miss you so much.』

Don’t cry.

『Ah Qin, don’t leave me.』

My peony, my light, don’t cry.

『Don’t die.』

Ming Qin tried to comfort her with words, but as soon as she opened her mouth, it was swallowed by water, and the words that emerged from the depths of her heart could not be conveyed.

Yan Yan, don’t cry.

Although submerged deeply, Ming Qin still knew that the woman was shedding tears and wailing, a feeling that broke her heart, is far more intolerable than the pain in her body.

She wanted to wipe away her tears, to hold her gently and soothe her, to kiss away the tears trickling down her cheeks.

But as she reached out her hand, Ming Qin realized how helpless she was, constantly sinking deeper and deeper.

The distance grew farther and farther, but the calls in her ears became clearer and clearer, each one making her heart tremble.

It’s impossible.

She couldn’t bear it, couldn’t bear to leave Yan Yan crying alone.

Struggling in the water, Ming Qin felt her soul being pulled, as if being split in half, but she still tried to regain control of her body.

Ming Qin’s mind was filled with only one person, driving her to break free from the restraints, resist, and give it her all.

Yan Yan.

Don’t cry.

Finally, perhaps it was because of her unyielding will, or perhaps it was because the calling voice was too poignant, the thing that had wrapped around her ankle slightly loosened.

Seizing the opportunity, Ming Qin immediately resisted stubbornly, and in that moment of freedom, she pushed her arms up.

She worked hard to move closer to the light spot, feeling her body slowly floating upwards.

Looking up,

Wait for me, Yan Yan.

Don’t cry anymore.