CH 35

Reward for Ah Qin

As the cold wind blew, fine snow fluttered around Ming Qin, who stood alone by the well, wiping her nose.

The water in the wooden bucket was mixed with broken ice, but despite the extreme cold, she remained composed.

She wondered if she had sustained an injury, causing her nose to bleed from all the running around.

Lost in thought, Ming Qin pondered absent-mindedly.

Although she didn’t feel pain from a pen, the continuous bleeding was beginning to irritate her.

Ming Qin lowered her head and immersed her face in the wooden bucket, hoping the cold water would suppress the warmth in her nasal cavity.

After a while, she found that the bleeding had indeed stopped. Ming Qin then changed the water in the bucket and used it to clean the bloodstained lining and outer robe. Despite her fingers cracking from soaking in the ice water, she felt no pain.

After hanging the clean clothes in the warm stable, Ming Qin finally returned to her room.

The room was in disarray, and despite wanting to clean up the bloodstains on the floor, Ming Qin noticed Murong Yan curled up on the bed, hugging herself and shivering slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Ming Qin quickly went over to embrace Murong Yan, sensing her distress.

“Ah Qin!” Murong Yan reached out to touch Ming Qin’s cheek, looking anxious as she examined her, “There was so much blood just now. Does it hurt, Ah Qin?”

“It doesn’t hurt. I’m fine,” Ming Qin said reassuringly, placing her hand against Murong Yan’s cold hand. “Your hands are freezing. Shall I help you heat up some water?”

Murong Yan didn’t respond, but trembled as she repeatedly checked if Ming Qin was unharmed.

As Ming Qin attempted to turn and head towards the stove, Murong Yan panicked and hugged her waist tightly.

“Don’t go!” Murong Yan shouted, sobbing and shaking. “Where are you going?”

Ming Qin bent down and spoke soothingly, “I’m not going anywhere. I just want to heat up some water for you.”

“No!” The woman still clung onto Ming Qin, seemingly terrified, and refused to let go. “I don’t want water, and you can’t leave.”

Observing Murong Yan’s distress, Ming Qin realized that she must have been frightened by the bloody scene earlier. Ming Qin gently coaxed her, “Okay, okay, I won’t leave.”

Ming Qin assisted the woman to lie down and prepared to sleep on the bed board herself. She comforted Murong Yan with a gentle hand until she eventually fell asleep.

However, Murong Yan slept fitfully that night.

Murong Yan held onto the person next to her tightly, too afraid to let go. She would wake up suddenly, sweating, less than half an hour later, and reach out to confirm Ming Qin’s breath.

Only after she had confirmed that Ming Qin was still breathing, would Murong Yan lie down again. She repeated this process ten times or more throughout the short night.

Ming Qin, who was easily awakened by any movement nearby, wasn’t annoyed. Instead, she comforted Murong Yan by running her hand along her spine each time she woke up in a panic, until she fell asleep again in her arms.

Before dawn, when Ming Qin was about to quietly get up from bed, she was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by Murong Yan, who had woken up again.

Holding onto the person in front of her tightly, Murong Yan’s fingertips trembled as she cried out in fear, “Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to get up and wash up and prepare the horses. You can sleep a little longer,” Ming Qin explained calmly.

“No, you can’t go!”

Murong Yan struggled to sit up and said anxiously, “You can’t leave me!”

Ming Qin felt a bit uneasy in her heart as she comforted the unsteady woman beside her, “I’m not leaving. I’ll be back soon.”

But Murong Yan insisted, her voice trembling, “No, I’ll go wash up with you. I don’t want to sleep.” She held onto Ming Qin with one hand and hastily put on her prosthetic leg at the head of the bed, her usually neat hair now messy and disheveled.

Seeing the hastily fastened belt and the woman’s anxious expression, Ming Qin knelt down reluctantly, gently securing her right leg, and then carrying her to wash up in her arms.

At this moment, Ming Qin became increasingly concerned about Murong Yan’s unusual behavior.

Murong Yan would become panicked and cling tightly to Ming Qin whenever she wanted to leave her sight.

Even when she persuaded Murong Yan to let her use the bathroom, she would almost constantly check to see if Ming Qin was still there, separated only by a thin door.

Murong Yan insisted on having Ming Qin accompany her or hold her hand during every activity, whether it was washing her face, brushing her teeth, or even going to the bathroom, something she had previously not wanted any help with.

Although Ming Qin had no complaints about this, she still felt that this was not a long-term solution, especially when she looked at Murong Yan’s reddened eyes and haggard expression.

Especially during the light snowfall, Murong Yan insisted on staying outside with the shadow guard to drive the horses, and Ming Qin’s worries reached their peak.

“This won’t do.” Ming Qin frowned and looked at the woman in her arms who was starting to cough uncontrollably, feeling troubled. “It’s too cold outside. You’ll get sick.”

“Cough…cough, I’m not going in…you’re not allowed to leave.” Murong Yan’s throat was itchy, and she grabbed Ming Qin’s collar tightly. Despite her weakness, her face remained determined. “Cough…you can’t leave…don’t leave my side.”

“I won’t leave. I won’t leave you. I’m just riding outside,” she repeatedly reassured the woman, but Murong Yan kept shaking her head, which made Ming Qin very distressed.

As she looked at the map beside her, Ming Qin realized that their journey was still far from over, and she couldn’t understand why Murong Yan suddenly became like this. She frowned and muttered to herself, “But how can we keep going like this? Your body can’t take it.”

As she held the reins in her hand, a sudden idea came to her.

Ming Qin stopped the horse, reached out to hold Murong Yan, and jumped off onto the snow. She opened the carriage door and carefully laid her on the soft cushion covered with fox fur. “Wait for me here for a moment,” she said before heading off.

“Ah Qin! Ah Qin! Where are you going?” Murong Yan panicked at the sudden disappearance of warmth beside her and anxiously tried to pull Ming Qin back.

Ming Qin’s gentle yet firm grip kept Murong Yan from getting up, and she whispered softly in her ear, “Just wait for me here for half an hour, at most. I will be back soon.” She then closed the carriage door and galloped away.

Murong Yan clung tightly to the door handle, her panic and anxiety growing with each passing moment. She desperately called out for Ming Qin, “Ah Qin, come back!” But the door remained shut, and her calls fell on deaf ears.

“Ah Qin!” Murong Yan’s delicate hands pounded on the door, her mind consumed by fear and anxiety. Her incoherent words revealed her intense longing for Ming Qin’s return, “I command you to come back, Ming Qin, come back! I… cough, cough, cough.”

A cough that seemed to penetrate her lungs and heart shook Murong Yan’s body, causing her to bend over in pain. The ache in her chest felt like it was piercing her lungs, leaving her feeling weak and helpless. She curled up in her seat, trembling uncontrollably and gasping for air.

“Ah Qin…”

Murong Yan felt as though she was enveloped in darkness, with a painful emptiness spreading throughout her body. It was as if ants were gnawing at her heart, making her feel uncomfortable.

Where had Ah Qin gone?

Did Ah Qin not want to be with her anymore?

What if Ah Qin was dead?

Countless questions rolled through Murong Yan’s mind, and the almost explosive feeling of panic made it difficult for her to take each breath, as if she would faint the next second.

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, she faintly heard the sound of a lock chain.

The carriage door opened, and Ming Qin, whose shoulders were covered with snow, bent over and came close to the weak woman on the seat, helping her up.

“Ah Qin?” Murong Yan regained her senses, suppressing her trembling and gritting her teeth. “Where did you go?”

Ming Qin smiled, but her face betrayed a hint of distress. “I went to a small village nearby,” she explained, her voice gentle.

In her hand, she held a chain about eight feet long with a leather rope looped at the end, which she placed in Murong Yan’s hand. “I was looking for hemp rope, but unfortunately, this was the best I could find,” she said.

The young shadow guard then fastened the iron ring at the end of the chain to her own neck. “If you’re in the carriage and want to confirm whether I’m here or not, just tug on the chain. Don’t come outside and catch a cold,” she instructed.

She handed the key to the bewildered woman in front of her and continued, “This chain is probably what a newborn calf just used. Don’t worry! I left a bag of silver in front of that household’s door. I didn’t steal it.”

As Murong Yan continued to remain silent, Ming Qin felt her anxiety increase. “Please don’t be angry with me,” she pleaded, her tone filled with sadness. “It’s scary when you ignore me.”

Murong Yan’s throat felt tight, making it difficult for her to speak. She stared at the woman in front of her who was still bound, trying to gather her thoughts. Finally, in a hoarse and trembling voice, she asked, “Ah Qin… why are you so good to me?”

Ming Qin scratched her forehead, the sound of the metal chain around her neck echoing in the silence. “Do I need a reason to be good to someone?”

She was confused.

Shaking her head, Murong Yan pulled the iron chain in her hand and held Ming Qin’s head, as if she didn’t know what else she could give, just repeatedly kissing her silently.

“What’s wrong?” With her eyes closed, feeling the lips brushing over her eyelids, the woman’s long silence made Ming Qin worry and ask.

“… It’s a reward, for Ah Qin.”

Mixed with her flowing tears, it was both sweet and salty.