The Princess’ Shadow Guard Cannot Be Too Clever

, and she looked at the person in front of her with a nervous expression.
She called out softly, “Ah Qin…”

Ming Qin helped Murong Yan to sit up and asked with concern, “Do you feel better now?”

Murong Yan’s voice was weak and hoarse, with a tight throat, as she responded with a simple “Hm… Don’t worry, Ah Qin.”

The hunter’s wife handed a bowl of steaming porridge to Ming Qin, who carefully cooled it down before feeding it to Murong Yan with a spoon.
“Please have some, it will help you feel better,” Ming Qin encouraged her gently.

Murong Yan obediently opened her mouth, and the warm porridge, with a slight sweetness from the soft rice, filled her empty stomach, providing much-needed warmth to her body.

When Murong Yan could no longer eat, she gestured to Ming Qin with a wave of her hand.

Ming Qin put down her bowl and took out a few pills.
She chewed them up and then held Murong Yan’s face in her hands, tilting her head down to cover her mouth.

Murong Yan swallowed the bitter and broken medicine, despite her usual preference for sweetness.
She obediently swallowed everything that Ming Qin put into her mouth.

After a while, Ming Qin stood up and gently wiped away the water stains on Murong Yan’s lips with her thumb.

As the hunter returned empty-handed from checking his traps and opened the door, he appeared frustrated.

Ming Qin, holding Murong Yan’s wrist, turned slightly to shield her from the man’s sight, afraid that his appearance might startle the recently awakened patient.

Murong Yan tightly clasped Ming Qin’s fingertips for comfort and spoke with some difficulty to the husband and wife, “I am truly grateful for your hospitality.”

The hunter couple were initially stunned by the clear-headed woman’s extraordinary appearance, which was even more stunning than when she was asleep, but then quickly regained their senses.
The man’s face reddened, and he nervously waved his hand, saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay.
Your companion has already paid us.”

The little tiger played with the scraps on the ground, jumping around the room while the stone house remained warm.

Murong Yan fell asleep once again.

The pregnant hunter’s wife, who now believed that Ming Qin was not a bad person, leaned against the doorframe and asked the shadow guard sitting by the bed, “Did your master treat you well before?”

Ming Qin paused from tending to Murong Yan, looking puzzled by the woman’s question.
“Master?” she repeated, tucking a loose strand of hair behind the patient’s ear.

The pregnant hunter’s wife pointed to the lock around Ming Qin’s neck and said, “If your master didn’t treat you well, why would you, as a slave, take care of her so meticulously?”

Ming Qin didn’t refute the woman’s assumption but instead remained silent for a moment.
Finally, she said, “My master has shown me kindness.”

The woman nodded in understanding and said, “Gratitude should be returned with kindness.
Even though I am uneducated, I understand that much.
But between you and your master, it doesn’t seem like a typical master-slave relationship.”

Ming Qin tilted her head in confusion and asked, “Not a typical master-slave relationship?”

But Murong Yan was the person she had vowed to protect for the rest of her life.

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like a typical master and slave relationship,” the hunter’s wife said softly.
“I always feel like it’s something deeper.”

The two of them gazed at each other, their connection feeling more like that of lovers than master and slave.
The hunter’s wife didn’t finish the strange thought that had suddenly entered her mind.

That night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Ming Qin sat by Murong Yan’s side, looking at the long hair that covered her view.
It was illuminated by the dim oil lamp.

Ming Qin gathered a handful of hair on her forehead, poised to cut it off with a dagger, when Murong Yan, who had just woken up, patted her leg.

She turned to look at Murong Yan, but her hand holding the hair remained steady, making her appear foolish in the eyes of the awakened woman.

Murong Yan waved her hand, signaling for Ming Qin to lift her up.

The shadow guard complied, and Murong Yan took the dagger from her hand, held Ming Qin’s face with her hands, and began to meticulously trim the long, unruly strands of hair.

Ming Qin supported the person on her body, ensuring that she wouldn’t slip, and obediently allowed Murong Yan to work on her face.

The woman’s focused expression was illuminated by the oil lamp, making her eyes sparkle.
As she lowered her head, she felt the person’s breath hitting her face.
Even through the cloth that separated them, the warmth between them was evident.
Suddenly, Ming Qin’s mouth felt a bit dry.

After a while, Murong Yan leaned back slowly, smiled, and asked, “Would you be angry with me if I made your hair look ugly?”

Ming Qin shook her head and couldn’t speak.
Instead, she mouthed to the woman in front of her, “Of course not.”

Murong Yan quietly chuckled and reached out to tidy up the shadow guard’s shortened hair.
Then she took a handful of her own hair from the back of her neck and cut it off, mixing it with the shadow guard’s hair.

She held the combined hair in front of Ming Qin.

“Can you tell which hair belongs to me and which ones belong to Ah Qin?” Murong Yan raised her eyebrows, amusement in her tone.

In the dim light, the jet-black hair of Ming Qin and the soft, grayish-white hair of Murong Yan seemed to blend together.
Even the sharp-eyed shadow guard couldn’t tell them apart.

Looking at Ming Qin, who was shaking her head blankly in front of her, Murong Yan chuckled softly.

She then put down the strands of hair in her hand, wrapped her arms around Ming Qin’s shoulders and neck, and ran her fingers through the black hair in front of her.

Then, she leaned in and gently kissed her lips, tracing them bit by bit before inviting her to open her mouth.

Ming Qin understood and obediently followed suit, but her hands on the woman’s body involuntarily tensed up.

As time passed, Murong Yan’s fingers unconsciously clenched and pulled on the roots of the shadow guard’s hair.
She couldn’t resist pressing down on Ming Qin’s head and tightening her legs as their bodies trembled involuntarily.

The sleeping pregnant woman beside them remained undisturbed, unaware of the silent yet burning passion between the two.

“If only we had a piece of red cloth to cover us,” Murong Yan weakly gasped and murmured to herself as their lips finally parted.

“Just.”

“This is already enough,” she said, taking hold of Ming Qin’s hand and intertwining their fingertips tightly.