Invited to the poetry garden favored by the nobles in the capital.

Princess Nine's favorite pastime was to shine brightly in front of everyone, enjoying the admiration and envy from below, which was one of her ways to captivate men.

Unfortunately, her brother in the previous life didn't fall for it, which made her feel frustrated and angry.

This time, I also went along, but my target was someone else.

"My lord, I knew you would come." Princess Nine couldn't hide her smug smile behind her veil when she saw her brother.

She approached and held her brother's hand. He endured the disgust without avoiding it, instead showing a warm smile.

"Princess's invitation, how could I, Song, disappoint a beauty's kindness? Song has offended before, I hope the princess won't mind."

Her brother's response clearly pleased the princess greatly. She giggled and led us to sit in the pavilion. It was then that she noticed me following behind her brother.

I noticed a hint of disgust in her eyes and lowered my head.

Her gaze fell on my face, hiding a subtle resentment that others wouldn't easily notice.

Her brother looked good, so how could I be any less?

Similar outstanding looks, appearing on a man and on me as a woman, naturally were different.

"Is this my lord's sister? She's so cute, but how many characters does the little girl know? I'll have Seventh Sister take you to play in the backyard."

I awkwardly said "okay" and my gaze fell on Seventh Princess Chen Nian Nian, the twin sister of Chen Qing Qing.

Although both were princesses, their treatment in the palace was vastly different.

It all stemmed from when they were five years old, during the customary blessing ceremony by the royal tutor for the princes and princesses, where it was prophesied that among the twin girls, a lucky star was reborn, but correspondingly, a calamity star descended.

At that time, when Chen Qing Qing arrived and gained favor, almost everyone subconsciously believed she was the lucky star mentioned by the royal tutor, while the unremarkable Chen Nian Nian was naturally seen as the calamity star.

Even Chen Qing Qing herself believed so.

As if to fulfill the prophecy, less than a year later, an unprecedented fire broke out in the harem, claiming many lives. Originally, Chen Qing Qing should have perished in that fire.

But no one knew she climbed out of the fire using Chen Nian Nian and their mother's body.

Seeing this, the emperor was heartbroken and showered Chen Qing Qing with rewards, moving her to a new palace.

Although Chen Nian Nian was protected by her mother and survived, her appearance was completely ruined, turning her into an ugly monster despised by everyone in the palace. The emperor even believed she was the calamity star among the twin girls.

Due to this incident, Seventh Princess Chen Nian Nian lived in the palace worse than an animal.

Knowing this, Chen Qing Qing kindly brought Chen Nian Nian to her own palace, but made her serve and wash her feet, living worse than the lowest-ranking palace maid.