The Little Princess's Secret Guard - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Requesting Punishment

As night deepened, light snow began to fall on West Mountain. The crackling sounds of the fire slowly diminished. Shen Panyan cried herself to sleep.

The mountain wind was bitterly cold, blowing straight into the cave, causing the flames to flicker uncontrollably.

In her sleep, Shen Panyan suddenly felt intensely cold, a chilling sensation that went straight to her bones, making her involuntarily curl up her body, trying to make herself warmer.

But before long, she felt intensely hot. In a daze, her body uncontrollably slumped toward the ground. Fortunately, someone caught her in time, preventing her from falling.

Shen Panyan felt as if she were in a blazing furnace, burning fiercely, her throat dry.

“Hot…” Her delicate brows were tightly furrowed, her cheeks burning. A muffled, inarticulate whimper escaped her throat. Lin Xiao reached out and touched her forehead. A coolness transmitted to her, and she instinctively rubbed against his hand.

“It hurts so much…” she cried out softly in pain.

It really hurt. The wound felt like it was being scorched. The searing, burning pain came in continuous waves, and even in her sleep, she was shedding tears.

“It hurts so much…”

Suddenly, a coolness spread across her forehead. A gentle wave of energy slowly circulated through her limbs, slightly easing the pain. With her body feeling less distressed, she fell into a deep sleep.

Lin Xiao remained awake all night.

The next day, as soon as the sky began to lighten, he picked up the Princess and rushed down the mountain toward the Imperial Retreat.

Inside the Imperial Retreat, chaos reigned.

The Princess was missing. Her head maid, Qiushuang, was also missing. Furthermore, her black-clad guard was also nowhere to be found. The simultaneous disappearance of these three made it impossible not to suspect that something terrible had happened.

However, even though the servants searched every corner of the Imperial Retreat, they couldn’t find any trace of Shen Panyan.

Some searched outside the Retreat and unexpectedly encountered corpses lying twisted on the forest floor, all killed with a single blow. The sight instantly turned their faces pale. Their torches dropped, and they screamed loudly, drawing everyone to the scene.

Everyone frantically searched through the corpses, terrified of seeing the Princess among them. Fortunately, fortunately, after checking all the bodies, they found no trace of the Princess, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

What should they do now?

The Princess must be in trouble!

Everyone exchanged nervous glances, but no one dared to report the matter to the capital. If the Emperor found out, they would surely be punished.

However, no one dared to step forward and take charge of what to do next. Everyone was afraid of making a mistake and taking responsibility.

Finally, the Head Steward of the Retreat offered a suggestion, instructing everyone to continue searching.

The Princess still had a guard with her. That guard’s origin was mysterious, but he was reportedly sent by the Emperor. Even if something happened to the Princess, the fault would lie with the guard for failing to protect her. What did it have to do with them?

Hearing the Head Steward’s words, everyone calmed down and were no longer panicked.

As the sun gradually rose, they had searched for a long time and were becoming increasingly exhausted. Some felt like giving up.

“Steward, what should we do now?”

The Head Steward was also highly irritated at the moment. He waved his hand. “What else can we do? Keep searching. If she’s not here, search over there. This place is only so big. The Princess can’t have grown wings and flown away. As long as we search, we’ll find her eventually.”

“Yes.”

It was at this very moment that Lin Xiao, holding the Princess, burst out of the forest and headed straight for the West Courtyard.

Someone spotted him and was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. “The Princess is back!!”

Lin Xiao grabbed a nearby palace servant, his voice urgent. “Quickly call the Imperial Physician!!”

Imperial Physician Lin had been tossing and turning in bed all night because of the Princess’s disappearance. He had just fallen asleep when someone pounded hard on his door. “Imperial Physician Lin!! Imperial Physician Lin!!”

Imperial Physician Lin hastily put on his clothes, got out of bed, and opened the door, looking exhausted. “What happened?”

The person grabbed him and pulled him toward the West Courtyard. “Hurry to the West Courtyard! The Princess has been found! She’s injured!!”

Hearing this, Imperial Physician Lin’s sleepiness vanished. He urgently turned back. “Wait, I haven’t grabbed my medicine box!!”

In a frenzy, Imperial Physician Lin finally arrived at the West Courtyard with his medicine box.

Ordinarily, the Princess’s saber wound should be treated by a female doctor, but they were at the Imperial Retreat, where there were no female doctors. In an emergency, Imperial Physician Lin could only look miserable, carefully examining her wound, which was then treated by a maid.

The wound had been simply treated by Lin Xiao and had not worsened, which was a good thing. However, the Princess was already frail. After this ordeal, her pulse was extremely weak and chaotic. She had a persistent high fever, was unconscious, and was in critical condition. Imperial Physician Lin sighed non-stop, gripping his hair in frustration.

Imperial Physician Lin cautiously revised the prescription, adding and subtracting ingredients with the utmost care, before finally writing down the medicinal formula, which he instructed a maid to take for brewing.

The maid left with the prescription. Lin Xiao stood outside the room. Seeing the maid emerge, he asked urgently, “How is the Princess now?”

Everyone in the West Courtyard had seen this black-clad, masked guard. Seeing him ask, the maid was naturally short-tempered. “The Princess is lucky to be alive, but she’s not well at all. She’s unconscious now, her pulse is weak, and it’s uncertain if she’ll even wake up. As the Princess’s personal guard, what were you doing that allowed the Princess to suffer such a severe injury?”

Lin Xiao lowered his gaze, silent, refraining from refuting the person’s words for the first time.

The maid had no intention of talking more with him. She quickly left with the prescription. But not long after, she rushed back, looking panicked. “Imperial Physician Lin, the storeroom is out of these two herbs, Xuan Shen and Tian Kui Zi. Can we substitute them?”

“Out?” Imperial Physician Lin frowned tightly. “This prescription cannot be changed; adding or subtracting even one herb will not work. If the storeroom is out, quickly send someone to the capital! I will use another prescription to temporarily stabilize the Princess’s condition.”

“But…” The maid was anxious, looking at him helplessly. “In the past, these matters were handled by Sister Qiushuang. Now that Sister Qiushuang is gone, I am just a simple servant. I don’t even know where the money is kept, so how can I command others to travel to the capital to buy medicine?”

In fact, the task of caring for the Princess had been forced upon her by other unwilling maids.

Now that the Princess was in trouble, everyone was looking out for themselves, prioritizing safety. The journey to the capital and back would be urgent. Travel was difficult in the heavy snow. If the person returned late and something happened to the Princess, the one who bought the medicine would be held accountable.

How could she find someone willing to take on such an thankless task?

Imperial Physician Lin also felt helpless.

He was just an Imperial Physician and had no authority to order the other maids and eunuchs.

As for the people of the Imperial Retreat, there was even less hope. To them, once the Princess was found, the rest was none of their business.

No one would willingly bring trouble upon themselves.

If absolutely necessary, he could only change the prescription, but that would only prolong her life. Whether the Princess would wake up was an unknown variable.

Suddenly, Imperial Physician Lin remembered the Princess still had a guard. He should go.

The maid looked embarrassed. “That guard named Lin Xiao has always had a bad temper. He wouldn’t even listen to Sister Qiushuang. He ignores everyone except the Princess. I’m afraid I can’t command him.”

Imperial Physician Lin hesitated. “Just try. If he refuses, we’ll change the prescription.”

Since he had already said so, the maid took the prescription and left. She remembered her poor attitude toward Lin Xiao earlier, so she spoke much more politely this time.

“Guard Lin Xiao.”

“What is it? How is the Princess?”

Hearing him ask about the Princess, the maid felt slightly relieved. This should work. She quickly explained the situation to him. Lin Xiao nodded, showed no objection, took the prescription, and headed toward the Retreat’s stable.

The journey would take six hours.

Shen Panyan’s condition rapidly deteriorated. She already suffered from a heart palpitation condition, and having recently recovered from a severe illness, her body was not fully healed. Without the specific medicine to suppress the illness, she was now on the brink of death.

“Has the Princess’s guard returned yet?”

Imperial Physician Lin was highly stressed, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He did not dare leave Shen Panyan’s side for a moment, only able to repeatedly rush the maid. The maid anxiously hurried to the main gate of the Imperial Retreat. After waiting for a long time and not seeing Lin Xiao, she could only return to report, “Not yet.”

The Princess’s breathing was growing weaker, and the high fever was subtly receding—a deadly sign!

Imperial Physician Lin’s brows were tightly furrowed. He couldn’t wait any longer.

He made a decisive choice to administer a powerful medicine. Regardless of anything else, he had to sustain the Princess’s life. As for the state of her body after the strong medicine and how long she would live, that was hard to say.

Imperial Physician Lin pulled out a delicate small bottle from his medicine box. This powerful medicine was an ancestral formula, not to be used lightly. Given the extreme danger, he had no other option.

He hoped the Princess wouldn’t blame him when she woke up… If he had known this, he wouldn’t have come to the Imperial Retreat. He should have traded this assignment with a colleague, even if it meant owing a huge favor. Now, the Princess was in danger… Imperial Physician Lin was filled with regret. But the arrow was on the string and had to be released. Just as he was about to feed her the pill, the door suddenly opened. The maid walked in with hurried steps, her face alight with uncontrollable joy. “Imperial Physician Lin, the medicine is here!! The Princess’s medicine is here!!”

The medicine is here?!

Imperial Physician Lin’s hand shook, and the pill slipped and fell to the floor. But he couldn’t worry about that now and quickly said, “Hurry!! Brew the medicine and bring it in!”

The maid: “It’s already brewing!”

If she’s here, who’s brewing it? Imperial Physician Lin looked at her confusedly.

The maid quickly explained, “It wasn’t brewed by this servant; it was brewed by the Princess’s guard.”

That guard was strange. After arriving, he went straight to the small kitchen, added water, and started brewing the medicine. This was good, saving her the trouble of finding someone else.

Everyone in the West Courtyard avoided the Princess. No one would volunteer to brew the medicine for her. Whoever spoke up would offend others. Since she could avoid offending people, the maid was naturally happy.

Not long after, Lin Xiao entered, carrying the freshly brewed medicine.

The maid helped Shen Panyan up and carefully fed her the medicine, spoon by spoon. Imperial Physician Lin watched for a long time as her high fever gradually subsided, finally letting out a huge sigh of relief.

This is great!

The Princess has finally survived this ordeal!!

Lin Xiao watched the Princess’s condition slowly improve, then turned and left the room, going out into the courtyard.

It was his fault.

He failed to protect the Princess. He injured the Princess, and even caused her to nearly lose her life.

Such a grave mistake, if committed in the Shadow Guard Camp, would result in his death or a severe flogging.

In the midst of the heavy snow, Lin Xiao knelt down on both knees, requesting punishment.

He would wait in this courtyard until the Princess woke up and decided his fate.