Chapter 2, Chapter 2, Lin Xiao
The sudden appearance of the handkerchief stunned Shen Panyan, who stopped crying. After a long while, she turned her head, looked at him with teary eyes, and her voice was still soft and sweet from crying.
"Dark Nine?"
"Um."
Shen Panyan was always sensitive to the emotions of others, but she couldn't sense any impatience or dislike from him. However, An Jiu was a man...
After thinking for a moment, she gently took the handkerchief from his hand, wiped away her tears, and turned to smile at him.
"Thank you, An Jiu."
"Your Highness is too kind."
Seeing that she had stopped crying, An Jiu wanted to leave. Just as he was about to say goodbye, Shen Panyan noticed him at a glance. In a panic, she reached out to grab his arm. "An Jiu, don't go!"
Her action came suddenly, causing An Jiu's body to instinctively retaliate. He grabbed her wrist with his backhand, intending to break it, but fortunately, he realized in time that this was a princess, his current master, not an enemy, so he quickly let go.
"Your subordinate knows his mistake and begs Your Highness for punishment." He quickly knelt down and apologized.
Shen Panyan felt a strong force gripping her, which hurt her greatly. Tears welled up in her already misty almond-shaped eyes again, but soon the force disappeared. Before she could react, she saw An Jiu kneeling down.
She panicked and said, "I know you didn't mean it, please get up."
Shen Panyan has never been very polite to the people around her, and besides, An Jiu had just handed her a handkerchief, so she was even less likely to blame him.
She tried to help him up, but aggravated her previous injury.
She hissed softly, her long eyelashes trembled, and large tears that were already welling up in her almond-shaped eyes fell to the ground.
An Jiu: "......"
Taking care of a princess is a very troublesome thing.
An Jiu pursed her lips, got up from the ground with a helpless expression, came to the princess's bedside, took out a small porcelain bottle from her bosom, and her voice was no longer as cold and hard as before, "Please extend your hand, Princess."
Shen Panyan looked at him, then at the small blue porcelain bottle in his hand.
"What's this?"
"vulnerary."
The bodyguards are frequently injured, so they always carry medicine with them.
Shen Panyan hesitated before reaching out her hand, biting her lip. "Then...you be gentler."
Upon hearing this, An Jiu paused, and every subsequent movement became extremely cautious, as if she were touching a fragile porcelain vase.
Tormented by nightmares and lacking appetite, Shen Panyan found her meals tasteless and became terribly thin. Her once rounded chin became pointed, and her soft black hair fell down her slender back onto her arms. Her outstretched wrists were frighteningly thin, with bones barely visible.
An Jiu's gaze fell on her wrist; his finger marks on her fair skin were red and bleeding, a rather shocking sight.
He accidentally injured the princess; this was the first time he had made a mistake since accepting the mission.
This mission shouldn't have been his responsibility... Dark Nine's resentment towards Shadow deepened even further.
He has never done anything like that before.
The secret guards always pursued speed, ruthlessness, and precision in their actions, but now they needed to be not only light but also gentle. This level of strength was very difficult to control, and if they were not careful, they would see the princess's fingertips tremble slightly.
Shen Panyan could tell from his clumsy movements, so she endured the pain and obediently let him apply the medicine.
An Jiu's brows were almost knotted together, and her movements became lighter and slower.
The cool ointment was applied to the wound, and in just a moment, the dull pain slowly disappeared.
After finally finishing applying the ointment, An Jiu's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed as she watched the princess withdraw her hand.
"This ointment is very effective; it should remove most of the swelling in three hours." After saying that, he added, "Princess, please do not touch me suddenly again, or you may easily injure yourself."
Shen Panyan already knew without him saying it.
"I understand." She lowered her head, her voice muffled.
"Does the princess have any other urgent matters to attend to?" An Jiu still remembered that she had called out to her anxiously just now.
"I..." Shen Panyan hesitated before speaking, raising her almond-shaped eyes to look at him, "Um, An Jiu, do you know why Father Emperor sent you here?"
"Know."
An Jiu spoke concisely, and in a short while, Shen Panyan understood the reason.
It turned out that news of her illness had reached her father, the emperor. A heart ailment requires a heart remedy, and knowing that she was afraid, he sent someone to watch over her.
However, the imperial guards cannot be easily mobilized, and given her soft nature, even if they are loyal to the emperor, over time, some people may become disloyal. Therefore, after much consideration, the secret guards are the most suitable.
The secret guards are directly under Emperor Gan Ning. From a young age, they are instilled with the idea of loyalty to their master and will never waver because their master is weak.
Of course, these words were not spoken by An Jiu, but rather guessed by Shen Panyan herself.
It turns out that my father wasn't so indifferent to me after all.
After learning the truth, Shen Panyan was somewhat happy, and the gloom hidden in her heart gradually dissipated.
When she was not in the palace, her personality became more cheerful, and she was no longer as repressed as before.
"Dark Nine, have you always been called Dark Nine?"
She then asked about other things. She knew that her father had secret guards, but she could only see their backs at most. Now that there was a living secret guard standing in front of her, she couldn't help but be curious.
"An Jiu, why do you all always wear masks? Is it at Father's request?"
"May I see what you look like?"
An Jiu: "......"
Seeing that he didn't speak, Shen Panyan thought she had asked something she shouldn't have.
"Is it not allowed to say?"
She looked at him, her eyelashes gradually drooping in disappointment.
An Jiu: "......."
He had a real headache.
"My name is An Jiu because I am the ninth in rank within the Dark Guard Camp. Wearing a mask is not His Majesty's requirement; all Dark Guards must cover their faces, and they cannot remove them even if they are about to die."
When it came to the last question, An Jiu paused for a moment, then said, "No."
"Why?" Shen Panyan immediately raised her head.
"Only his true master can see the face of a secret guard."
"Your Highness is only under orders to protect and care for her for a period of time."
Now that things had come to this point, Shen Panyan naturally understood An Jiu's meaning.
A sudden, inexplicable sense of loss welled up inside me.
An Jiu doesn't belong to her; he was merely following his father's orders.
She actually liked him quite a bit. He would hand her a handkerchief and apply medicine to her wounds, even if his movements were clumsy. But his carefulness was something she had never experienced from anyone else.
Even Qiu Shuang, his personal maid who had been with him for a long time, didn't care about his feelings.
Shen Panyan felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She bit her soft lips with her pearly teeth, and her eyes welled up with tears. Her wet eyes looked at him as if she was about to cry again.
An Jiu frowned, puzzled, completely unable to understand why the princess was crying again.
He thought back to what he had said.
No problems were found.
He was telling the truth. What did he do to upset the princess so much that she had to cry again?
Looking at the princess's pale, pointed face, tears welling up in her dark, round almond-shaped eyes, and her thin fingers twisting the bedding, An Jiu felt a deep headache and trouble.
What should he do now?
The thought that he would have to complete this mission for another four months made him want to go back to the Dark Guard camp and give Shadow a good beating.
Just as An Jiu hesitated about whether to steal another handkerchief for the princess to wipe her tears, Chen Panyan sniffed, forced back her tears, and said softly, "An Jiu, I don't think this name sounds good. Can I give you a new name?"
Even if An Jiu leaves in the future, he is still here now, so he is one of my people.
Shen Panyan doesn't want to let go of anyone who is good to her, even if it's only temporary.
It was as if only in this way could she hold onto every bit of warmth.
It was just a change of name, and An Jiu didn't care.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief, as long as the princess stopped crying in front of him.
"Please, Your Highness, bestow a name upon me!"
He knelt down, his attitude respectful yet distant.
"I see you have a powerful aura, like a thousand peaks soaring into the clouds. How about I call you Linxiao?" Shen Panyan looked at him softly, afraid that he would refuse.
Lin Xiao had no objection, "Thank you for bestowing a name upon me, Princess."
Seeing that he agreed, Shen Panyan smiled and looked at him earnestly with her almond-shaped eyes, "Lin Xiao, I'm a little hungry, could you get me some food?"
Qiu Shuang didn't care about her at all; she didn't want to call Qiu Shuang.
"yes."
Lin Xiao got up and left the room. Shen Panyan sat on the bed, watching his gradually disappearing figure. A long-lost sense of peace welled up in her heart, and those images that had caused her headaches and fears no longer flooded her mind.
...
The Royal Villa is very large and has always been a place for the royal family to ride horses and play, especially in spring when the spring hunt is in full swing.
Shen Panyan lived in a side palace of the West Garden. The West Garden had a small kitchen, which was not far away. However, the guards who had escorted the princess had long since returned to the capital. Therefore, there were only a few people in the huge West Garden now.
Qiu Shuang was a senior palace maid. In the past, when she was in the palace, she didn't like to sit with these junior palace maids. But now that she was in the royal villa, apart from these few palace maids, the rest were just some lowly maids who didn't catch her eye.
Several palace maids huddled around a charcoal brazier to keep warm, each with a plate of sweet cakes beside them. Given their status, they shouldn't have had these cakes, but everyone knew what kind of person their mistress was, so over time, no one paid her any attention anymore.
The group chatted and laughed, creating a lively atmosphere.
Suddenly, someone mentioned the princess, "Hey, Sister Qiushuang, after the princess woke up, didn't she ask you to serve her?"
Qiu Shuang gracefully took a bite of the sweet cake, rolled her eyes, and said, "With her personality, even if I leave, what can she do to me?"
"They were just some bandits, yet they scared her so much that she couldn't sleep day or night. It would be fine if they made a fuss for a few days, but to make a fuss every day and every night, who could stand it?"
Several palace maids looked at her with pity and sympathy, saying, "Sister Qiushuang, you've suffered so much."
"It's not really suffering." The masters are easy to control, which is why they, the servants, live a good life.
Qiu Shuang put down the sweet cake and said in a low voice, "The princess has come of age and will soon be choosing a husband. If we follow her into the princess's residence, we will probably have no hope in this lifetime."
The master is weak; when bullied by others, he can only hide and cry. Those who follow the master can only suffer along with him.
People in the palace are used to fawning over the powerful and belittling the weak, and they have suffered a lot of mistreatment. However, after coming to this royal villa, apart from Princess Mingyue, there are no other masters around, so life has become a little more comfortable.
Qiu Shuang had been by the Empress's side since she entered the palace, but was later betrothed to Shen Panyan by the Empress. The difference between her and Shen Panyan's fates is self-evident.
The young palace maids, who had followed the Empress in previous years, naturally agreed with Qiushuang's words.
None of them were happy with this job.
"Sister Qiushuang, did Her Majesty ask you to go back?" A young palace maid looked at her expectantly.
Qiu Shuang frowned, feeling irritated. "The Empress didn't say anything, she just told me to serve her for now."
When they first came to Princess Mingyue's side, none of them wanted to. It was because she saw that the Empress was troubled and wanted to prove herself that she volunteered to come to Princess Mingyue's side.
Looking back now, I deeply regret it.
The head maids around the Empress didn't move, but she stupidly jumped out and fell headfirst into this big pit. Now, she can never return to Kunning Palace.
However, the Empress did not make no promises.
Thinking of this, Qiu Shuang's brows relaxed a bit. "The Empress said that when Princess Mingyue gets married, she will prepare a dowry for me and choose from among the imperial guards. If there is a suitable one, she will marry me off to her."
When the topic of marriage came up, the young palace maids couldn't help but blush. They looked at Qiu Shuang with envy in their eyes, saying, "Sister Qiu Shuang, Her Majesty is so good to you."
The palace maids in this palace had only two paths: one was to grow old and die in the palace with their masters, and the other was to be released from the palace when their time came and marry into an ordinary family.
But life outside is never that easy. Everything costs money. In the palace, they were used to a comfortable life. Suddenly falling from a golden nest to a straw nest, who could bear it?
However, they would not want to marry along with the princess. Once they entered the princess's mansion, they would either serve the princess for life with no hope for the future, or be betrothed by the princess to a prince consort and become a concubine, barely managing to become a mistress.
But once you're assigned to a servant, your entire family will be destined to be slaves for generations to come.
If Qiu Shuang could marry a guard of the Imperial City with the Empress's permission, not only would her future be bright, but if she were lucky enough to gain favor with the higher-ups and rise through the ranks, she might even become a noblewoman of high rank. Who wouldn't want such a good thing?
Several young palace maids congratulated her with laughter and were flattered by everyone. Qiu Shuang couldn't help but smile as well, but she still scolded the young palace maids.
"Her Majesty only mentioned it briefly. Whether it will succeed or not, who can say for sure? Don't talk nonsense before things are settled, or I will definitely not let you off the hook."
"Don't worry, Sister Qiushuang, we're keeping our mouths shut." Several palace maids quickly covered their mouths to indicate that they wouldn't tell anyone.
Qiu Shuang had been out for quite some time, and not wanting to go to Chen Panyan's place, she pointed to a palace maid instead.
"Go and check on the princess. Make sure she's not dead."
If they die, none of their close servants will have a good life.
The young palace maid dared not disobey Qiu Shuang, so she got up and went out. Not long after, she hurriedly returned, her face filled with terror.
"Sister Qiushuang, Sister Qiushuang, something terrible has happened!!"
"Princess, a strange man wearing a mask has appeared in the princess's room!!!"
"What?!"
Qiu Shuang's pupils contracted sharply, and she quickly got up and rushed to Shen Panyan's room.
A note from the author:
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