He skillfully slipped the jade bottle into his sleeve and strode away.

“As compensation, I’ll allow your brother to protect you closely from now on, so you siblings can see each other every day!”

Hey, what kind of compensation is that? Who wants to see my brother every day? All he does is eat my pork knuckles and bring me no benefit at all.

Crown Prince, come back here!

Later, I realized the Crown Prince was actually quite farsighted.

Since my brother started protecting me closely, he has blocked poison for me three times, prevented me from drowning five times, and stopped me from falling down the stairs more times than I can count. He has to keep his eyes wide open day and night, afraid that any carelessness might harm me.

My brother complains every day that protecting me is even more exhausting than guarding the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince has a whole team of guards taking shifts, but I have only him, running himself ragged.

But since he’s eaten so many of my pork knuckles, he really can’t complain.

He also uses the excuse that staying up late ruins his looks, so every day he demands a bowl of my shark fin, sea cucumber, and fish maw soup.

The cook gifted by the Crown Princess is so exhausted that she grumbles,

“When I served the whole mansion before, it wasn’t as tiring as serving just you two!”

I was curious who would want to get rid of me, a girl born a beggar.

My brother quietly told me it was the Crown Princess’s people.

When I heard this, I gasped. The Crown Princess is really stingy. I only asked for a little reward, but she wanted to kill me!

After we finished eating all the sea cucumber and fish maw gifted by the Crown Princess, we stared at each other.

“Maybe you should go hide in the broken temple again,” my brother said reluctantly.

“If this keeps up, I’ll be the first to go see our parents.”

Seeing his dark circles that no tonic could fix, I gave in. Life is more important!

That night, my brother happily showed me all the dog holes in the Crown Prince’s residence and let me choose one that was short and close to home to crawl through. Then, he stayed in my room pretending to protect me.

Perhaps because he was relieved to be free of me as a burden, he actually fell asleep on my bed. It’s said his snoring shook the window frames.

In the middle of the night, the Secret Guard’s vigilance finally woke him. Half-awake, he felt something heavy lying on top of him.

That shadow was still groping around his chest, muttering,

“So flat? Could it be the Crown Prince likes this type?”

Only when the person drew a weapon did my brother realize what was happening.

He roared and sprang up.

“Damn it, I’ve never been touched by a man in my life!”

At dawn, the woman who caught the “adulterer” and her servants barged loudly into my courtyard.

They said the Crown Princess’s cousin had come to visit the residence last night, got drunk, and mistakenly entered the wrong courtyard. Some vague figures were seen following him into the back courtyard.

Several people who had long been scheming said, “Sorry for the offense,” as they confidently kicked open my door, only to be struck on the forehead by something falling from above.

When they looked up, they saw a figure hanging unsteadily from the beam-a person with the lower half of his body bloodied. They were so frightened their voices changed.

“Someone! Dead person!”

Actually, the esteemed cousin was not dead, only disarmed by my brother.

He had long wanted to become a eunuch and had researched several methods of self-castration. Last night, he used all those methods on that beast who was groping him on his bed in the middle of the night.

When the Crown Princess found out, she was both shocked and furious, her legs going weak.

She only wanted this drunken and lustful cousin to ruin my reputation, not to make him unable to have heirs. The uncle’s family has had only one generation for three generations-how will they explain this now?

“Bring that ungrateful wretch here!”

My brother knew he had caused trouble and didn’t want the Crown Prince to know he had let me out of the residence without permission. Fortunately, the male disguise clothes he wore last time were still in my room. He hurriedly put them on and didn’t forget to stuff two leftover steamed buns from last night’s dinner into his chest.

Last night, the lustful cousin had commented that my brother was too peaceful.

When brought before the Crown Princess, he was forced to kneel, not daring to raise his head or speak.

The Crown Princess was even more enraged and ordered him to be beaten twenty times.

My brother was beaten every day during training in the Secret Guard camp and had long developed an invincible body. He began to use his training to protect himself, thinking that if he could just endure a few strikes, the Crown Princess would vent her anger and he could get away with it.

The big board struck his buttocks with a whooshing sound. My brother held his breath and was still glad it wasn’t me; otherwise, after a few strikes, my little life would be over.

At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded behind him.

“Stop! Who gave you the courage to hit me?”

“It’s the Crown Prince!” The servants and maids nearby panicked.

The Crown Princess’s face turned pale.

“Your Highness, I wasn’t…”

The people wielding the boards immediately stopped, but the moment my brother heard the Crown Prince’s voice, he lost his composure. After all, the Crown Prince was his master who provided his food and clothing, and he instinctively feared him.

He couldn’t hold his breath any longer; his chest collapsed, and two pale, round things fell out from his open collar.

These two things seemed to have a mind of their own, one rolling to the Crown Princess’s feet, the other straight to the Crown Prince’s.

Everyone present was stunned.

The anxious and angry expression on the Crown Prince’s face had not yet faded when the corners of his mouth twitched, looking very conflicted.

He bent down, picked up the steamed bun, and gritted his teeth.

“Good, very good!”

The Crown Princess picked up the other steamed bun in disbelief and examined it for a long time. Her cousin became a eunuch all because of a woman like this?

The two looked up and exchanged glances, sparks flying between their eyes.

The culprit, my brother, buried his head deeply. The fact that he and I could swap identities was a secret of the Secret Guard camp and must never be revealed.

The Crown Princess spoke with difficulty.

“Your Highness, my cousin…”

But the Crown Prince had already regained his composure and said coldly,

“Enough. Take him away and treat his wounds. As for the rest, we’ll deal with it later.”