The Princess’ Shadow Guard Cannot Be Too Clever

.”

Murong Yan poured hot water into the teapot beside her, her expression stern as she spoke.
“The deposed Crown Prince committed a monstrous crime that almost cost me my life, and yet Brother Ah Wen still chooses to plead for him?”

The room seemed to grow colder.

“The Crown Prince is the Emperor’s son and the rightful heir.
Even if his means were extreme, the throne rightfully belongs to him.” The man nervously stood up, hoping for a response from his indifferent younger sister.
However, Murong Yan didn’t even look up, only staring at her own fingers.

After a long pause, she chuckled, as if she had thought of something amusing.
“So this is why Brother Ah Wen helped the deposed Crown Prince, huh?”

A playful expression crossed her face.
“Just because he’s the legitimate heir, he can do anything he wants? How ridiculous.
He’s just a bastard himself.
My dear brother Ah Wen’s old-fashioned thinking has truly impressed me.”

“Well… I…”

“How did the deposed Crown Prince persuade you to willingly reveal my whereabouts and withdraw the guards from the Hidden Moon Tower that day?”

Murong Yan’s tone was casual, but her gaze bore into the man.
“Did the deposed Crown Prince tell you that he wanted to talk to your sister? Or did he tell you directly that he wanted to kill me?”

Murong Wen wanted to protest, but the tiger lying on the ground suddenly lifted its head.

The tiger, which had always harbored animosity towards the Murong father and son, glared at Murong Wen with bared teeth, as if it had found its prey.

The timid man’s hair stood on end, his legs trembling, as he involuntarily blurted out, “I… I had no idea that he wanted to kill you at that time…”

“What!”

Murong Can, who was leaning against the door frame, heard his half-brother’s confession and stared at him in disbelief.
“So it was you! How dare you…”

During the days when Murong Yan was unconscious, he had been thinking day and night, repeatedly investigating, but still didn’t know who had successfully allowed the deposed Crown Prince to approach his sister.

After hearing the news today, the culprit turned out to be not a spy in the military nor remnants of rebels, but his younger brother who spent his days talking about decadent literature and idling around at home.

Furious and devoid of his usual gentleness, Murong Can grabbed Murong Wen by the collar, shaking him violently.
“Have you gone mad? How dare you? On what grounds? Who gave you the courage… How dare you treat Yue’er like this?”

“Brother, please calm down.”

Murong Yan watched with a cold expression as she slowly poured herself a cup of tea, sneering at Murong Wen’s actions.
“Brother Ah Wen has always refused to acknowledge his inferiority in front of us, but who would have thought that he cares the most about the difference between being a legitimate and illegitimate child.”

He had always lived under her brother’s shadow, unwilling to accept his status as an illegitimate child.

As they grew up, her brother, who was named the General of the Ever-Victorious Army for his bravery in battles, surpassed him by more than a head.
To protect his fragile self-esteem, he began claiming to be a literary person and referred to those patriotic generals who died in battle as barbaric and crude.

Murong Wen’s loyalty to the deposed Crown Prince, who was born to the Empress, was nothing short of foolishness.
He believed that he was on the right path and could achieve great things, but lacked the courage to take decisive action and was stuck in a dilemma.

He was even more unpleasant than the sour Confucian scholars, which was truly laughable.

As Murong Yan took a sip of tea, she found it difficult to swallow and wrinkled her brows before casually spilling it on the ground.
She glanced at Aunt Liu and Murong Fu, who were pale and quiet throughout the exchange, then stood up and walked past her half-brother.

“Brother Ah Wen, this palace looks down on you not just because you are a bastard, but because you are incompetent and ignorant,” she said coldly, without even bothering to look at him as he turned blue from being grabbed by the collar.

Without a backwards glance, she left with the huge tiger by her side.

Sounds of fists hitting flesh and Murong Wen’s painful cries echoed in the background, but the woman remained unfazed, calling for the coachman to take her back to Changning Palace.

Slouching back in her seat, Murong Yan tiredly pinched the bridge of her nose and leaned against the carriage door panel.

She knew her brother wouldn’t tolerate Murong Wen’s actions any longer.
The little affection and brotherly love he once had for the half-brother who had crossed the line and nearly caused her death had completely dissipated.

Her protective brother wouldn’t let Murong Wen off easily.

If he couldn’t beat him up at home, he and his hot-tempered colleagues would take to the alleys to deal with him, as they had done countless times before.

Moreover, based on Murong Wen’s foolish behavior this time, he could be expelled from the Royal Family, his name stricken from the ancestral records, and even executed as a co-conspirator in the attempted usurpation of the throne by the deposed Crown Prince.

Even if Prince Yu favored Murong Wen, he wouldn’t be able to save him once the crime of treason was implicated.

However, despite this, Murong Yan felt no joy in catching the traitor within her own family.
Her expression remained unchanged, and her heart felt hollow.

As if sensing the woman’s disappointment, the tiger inside the carriage leaned forward and licked Murong Yan’s palm, offering comfort.

The rough tongue, covered in thorns, scraped against her soft skin, causing some pain, but Murong Yan didn’t mind.
She simply gently petted the tiger’s head.

“Tell me, where do you think your master is?” The woman asked, looking into the loyal beast’s eyes.

“I really, really miss her.”