The life swap begins with Consort Hua becoming Lady Qin.

On the day it was Lianxin's turn to be on night duty again, Hongli came to Changchun Palace rather reluctantly.

Dinner was served at Changchun Palace. Ruofu had a good appetite, and even though Hongli maintained a lukewarm expression from the moment he entered, she ate and drank as usual. By the end of the meal, Hongli seemed to be the one who had come specifically to dine with her.

After the meal was cleared away, the palace servants brought tea to rinse the mouth. Zhaoying led several young palace maids to tidy up the table, while Suxin took a feather duster and dusted the display cabinet and flower stand by the window again. Finally, she casually put the duster on the display cabinet near the door in the outer room.

He then turned around and followed the others as they retreated.

Lianxin stood not far away, her gaze lightly sweeping over the feather duster before she quickly lowered her eyes.

Inside the room, Ruofu had already reclined on the soft couch by the window, holding a storybook in his hands, reading it with great interest.

Hongli sat on the other side drinking tea.

Seeing that the tattered storybook had been turned over ten pages or so, Ruofu didn't even look up at him.

Hongli finally couldn't help but cough lightly.

Ruo Fu turned a page.

Hongli coughed again.

Ruofler spoke, his gaze still fixed on the sketchbook.

...Wang Qin couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he came over and patted his back to help him catch his breath.

But Hongli, enraged and embarrassed, pushed him away!

Suppressing the inexplicable feeling of oppression, Hongli stared intently at Ruofu, refusing to look away.

A little while later, Ruof first let out a long yawn.

Then he closed the book, tossed it aside, got up and went to sleep, and soon after, his soft, even breathing could be heard.

Hongli: ? ? ?

After staring at Wang Qin for a long while, Hongli suddenly sprang to his feet and kicked Wang Qin away, yelling, "You dog of a servant, what are you looking at? Get dressed and make the bed for me!"

His voice was kept low.

Wang Qin endured the pain in his buttocks and repeatedly agreed, quickly serving this ancestor before hurriedly slipping away to the outer room.

...Ruo Fu's breathing inside the tent gradually subsided, indicating that he was sleeping soundly.

Hongli stared wide-eyed at the roof beam for a long time, and finally, with a cold face, he suddenly turned over, turned his back to Ruofu, and pulled the quilt up.

sleep!

What's so great about it!

Surely I don't actually want a weird, broken dream!

Outside, hearing that it had finally become completely quiet inside, Wang Qin secretly breathed a sigh of relief and slowly straightened his bent back.

When he looked up again, most of the obsequious and submissive demeanor he had shown in front of his master was gone.

He looked at Lianxin, and a smile slowly spread across his face.

Lianxin's heart tightened, and she immediately took a step to the side.

Wang Qin, however, seemed oblivious to her avoidance and approached her with a smile: "Why didn't you accept the things I sent you the other day? That sachet ball was specially made for you by me, and I personally chose the design. So many people in the palace want it but don't have it."

Lianxin pursed her lips: "I cannot accept gifts without having done anything in return. The gifts are too valuable for this servant to accept. Please do not send them to me again, Eunuch Wang."

"You're just too stubborn."

Wang Qin was not angry at all; on the contrary, he laughed even more smugly: "If you follow me, what are you afraid of not receiving rewards without merit? Just be obedient, and you'll have plenty of good days ahead. Although I am... not physically complete, how many men in the world today are more respectable than me? Those officials outside still have to respectfully call me Eunuch Wang. I serve His Majesty every day; what doesn't he know about the affairs of the court? Even a little bit of what I manage to get is enough for someone else to live on for years."

Lianxin's face grew increasingly pale.

"Eunuch Wang, please have some self-respect."

Wang Qin chuckled.

His perpetually bowed back before Hongli was now ramrod straight, revealing an unspeakable air of frivolous arrogance: "What self-respect? Marriage is a natural thing. You're a young lady; sooner or later you'll need someone to rely on. It's your good fortune that we like you. If you come with us, who will dare to bully you? Clothes, jewelry, gold, silver, and personal belongings—whatever you want, we'll give you. From now on, who in this palace will dare to wrong you?"

He took another step forward and reached out to pull Lianxin: "My dear, would your brother ever mistreat you? Our family—"

The hand was already right in front of him.

Lianxin steeled her resolve.

He thrust his left hand forward with a sudden burst of speed!

Caught off guard, Wang Qin felt something round and hard suddenly shoved into his mouth, instantly sealing it completely.

"Huh?!"

His eyes widened suddenly.

Lianxin grabbed the feather duster from the side of the multi-treasure pavilion and, with all her might, slapped the arm that was being stretched out towards her!

"Ugh!!!"

Wang Qin's face instantly contorted.

A sharp pain shot from his arm straight to his head. He couldn't even scream. He staggered back two steps, clutching his arm, and his knees buckled, causing him to fall to the ground.

The outside was eerily quiet for a moment.

Lianxin still gripped the feather duster tightly with both hands, desperately suppressing her fear. She stared coldly at Wang Qin and said softly, "I told you, you should have some self-respect!"

Wang Qin felt dizzy from the pain, and it took him a long time to regain some strength before he could open his mouth and spit out what was in his mouth.

It was a perfectly intact egg, with the shell still on.

Wang Qin looked down at the eggs, then at his own arm, which was limp and hanging down, and which was in excruciating pain with the slightest movement. Finally, he slowly raised his head.

This time, the sticky lust in his eyes when he looked at Lianxin was gone.

All that's left is ruthlessness.

Lianxin felt a chill run down her spine from that gaze and instinctively took a half-step back.

But the next moment, she stopped, gritted her teeth, and mustered her courage to glare back!

-

The next day, when Hongli woke up, he found that it was Li Yu who came in to serve him. After asking him, he learned that Wang Qin, that old bastard, had gotten up to go to the outhouse in the middle of the night and had accidentally tripped and broken his arm. His expression was somewhat indescribable.

But Wang Qin was indeed getting old. As an unfavored prince, he didn't have the right to have a trusted eunuch by his side since childhood. Wang Qin only came to his side in the latter half of the reign, and he was probably around thirty years old at that time, which makes sense.

Perhaps recalling some past frustrations, Hongli felt somewhat downcast and was even less inclined to waste any more energy on a mere eunuch. He simply waved his hand and said, "Never mind, let him recover well. You will fill in for me in the Imperial Court these days, so as not to neglect your duties."

"Yes, sir."

After Hongli finished washing up, changed into his court robes, and walked to the door, he couldn't help but look back one last time.

The curtains were hanging down, and there was no sound from inside.

Hongli finally lost all his temper and only said to Zhaoying who was sent out, "...Take good care of her."

Zhao Ying bowed respectfully and said, "Yes."

Then he left.

-

It was more than half an hour later when the Imperial Hospital had adjusted Wang Qin's bones and bandaged his wounds.

Back at his residence, Wang Qin slammed the door shut, and the composure he had managed to maintain in public vanished instantly.

On the table was the sachet ball that Lianxin had returned.

He stared at it for a moment, then suddenly grabbed it and slammed it hard onto the ground!

The exquisite gold and jade sachet hit the brick floor and rolled a long way.

Wang Qin's chest heaved violently, and a sinister glint gradually appeared in his eyes.

"it is good."

He stared at the sachet ball on the ground, his voice almost squeezed out through clenched teeth: "Let's see just how tough you are!"