“Drunk, yet he dared to trespass into my inner quarters and tried to take liberties with my maid? Who gave him such courage? Since he has already received his due punishment today, let’s not pursue it further. Carry him back to your uncle’s house and tell them that if this happens again, I will not be so lenient!”

He walked over to my brother without any expression. Just as everyone thought he might show some tenderness and carry him like a princess, the Crown Prince didn’t even lift an eyelid.

“Can you get up and walk on your own?”

My brother immediately nodded, scrambled up, and followed right behind the Crown Prince.

Everyone present was surprised once again.

This Miss Qingcao really is indestructible-no matter what happens, she just won’t break.

As expected, no one around the Crown Prince is ordinary.

The person who had wielded the board looked at the heavy plank in his hand, then at the murderous look on the Crown Princess’s face, and fell to his knees with a thud.

“Crown Princess, I really didn’t go easy on her!”

The Crown Princess gnashed her teeth. This wretched girl-scheming didn’t work, beating her didn’t work, is there really no one in this world who can put her in her place?

The next day, the Crown Princess went straight to the Empress to complain, crying that the Crown Prince favored a lowly maid and didn’t respect her.

The Empress was already annoyed with this petty and incompetent Crown Princess, but she also couldn’t tolerate the Crown Prince favoring a servant of such low status. Especially after hearing that the Crown Prince kept this maid by his side every day and even allowed her to turn the Crown Princess’s cousin into a eunuch. If that’s not a seductive fox spirit, what is?

She immediately decided to issue an imperial order for me to enter the palace, under the pretense of teaching me proper manners by keeping me at her side.

At this moment, Princess Qingyao, the Crown Prince’s younger sister, suddenly spoke up.

“Mother, after hearing what my sister-in-law said, I’m actually quite interested in this maid. Why not let me take her and train her myself?”

The Crown Princess was delighted to hear this.

Princess Qingyao was spoiled and willful, the apple of the Empress’s eye, indulged to the point of lawlessness. She was always coming up with strange and mischievous tricks to torment the palace maids and eunuchs, so much so that the servants in the palace would avoid her whenever they saw her.

If I were handed over to her, I’d either die or come out with my skin peeled off.

The Empress pondered for a moment.
“Handing her over to you is not out of the question, but after all, she is someone your brother favors. You must know your limits.”

“Look at what Mother said, as if I’m some unforgivable villain! What could I possibly do to a maid? I just want to talk to her to relieve my boredom.”

Princess Qingyao coquettishly leaned into the Empress’s arms, her innocent expression hiding a trace of ill intent.

The Crown Princess felt an inexplicable chill in her heart. That damn girl Qingcao, you better pray for your own good.

The Crown Prince received the imperial edict and, for the first time, showed a headache expression. By then, I had already been recalled by the Secret Guard camp.

As punishment for leaving duty without permission, my brother and I were forbidden from eating meat for a month.

Originally listless, I became excited upon hearing the news that I was going to enter the palace.

“Does entering the palace mean I can eat imperial meals?”

The Crown Prince glanced at me and sighed.

“Fine, with a talent like you who always carries steamed buns, they probably can’t do much to you!”

And so, I entered the palace and became a palace maid serving Princess Qingyao.

On the first day, she said she wanted to take a walk in the Imperial Beast Garden and asked me to accompany her.

The Imperial Beast Garden housed rare and exotic birds and beasts brought as tribute from all over the land-things I had never seen in my life.

Princess Qingyao was teasing a colorful parrot when she suddenly said to me,
“I heard you were a beggar before going to the Crown Prince’s brother? You had to compete with wild dogs for food every day?”

I nodded honestly.

She curled her lips into a disdainful smile.
“There are many animals in the palace, but I’ve never seen a wild dog. Why don’t you try barking like a dog for us?”

The eunuchs and maids attending nearby knew the princess was about to humiliate someone again, so they all silently watched with anticipation.

Unexpectedly, I replied seriously,
“Barking like a dog won’t get you food. Barking only attracts more dogs. I have a trick that even dogs would run away from. Your Highness, do you want to hear it?”

Princess Qingyao’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.
“Alright, show me.”

I suddenly crouched down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and smeared it on my face. I rolled on the ground, made my hair messy, and started gnawing on a bone I had picked up earlier. My performance was so realistic that even the parrot flew away in fright.

The palace servants were stunned, and Princess Qingyao burst into laughter, clapping her hands in delight.

From that day on, Princess Qingyao took a great interest in me. She often summoned me to her side, sometimes just to chat and sometimes to play pranks on others. Life in the palace was unpredictable, but at least I had found a way to survive.