Ji Shaoyi came from a good family and was beautiful. Even her betrothed was the Lin family's young master, Lin Zheng, hailed alongside the current crown prince as one of the capital's two most brilliant young men.
They had grown up together and were deeply in love, a celebrated couple in the capital.
But one day, Ji Shaoyi caught Lin Zheng cheating with her own eyes.
She pretended to take it in stride and cast their relationship aside like trash. The more tenderly she had once looked at Lin Zheng, the colder she became toward him now.
In private, however, her heart was shattered. She went to her understanding cousin, Xiao Shenzhi, and cried in front of him again and again.
Once, she cried herself to sleep. When she awoke, she was on the warm couch in the Eastern Palace's bedchamber. Xiao Shenzhi sat at her bedside, showing no sign of reproach, and smiled as he asked whether she'd slept well.
Ji Shaoyi became even more grateful to, admiring of, and dependent on her cousin.
When Lin Zheng came to win her back, he repeatedly claimed that Xiao Shenzhi had drugged him, leaving him powerless to resist.
Ji Shaoyi gave him a thorough scolding. "Everyone knows my cousin is fair and impartial, and that he strictly observes propriety. How could he do such a thing? Besides, what motive would he have?"
But later, Ji Shaoyi never dreamed that one day she would be limp and drenched in sweat, seated on the lap of this man who seemed as untouchable as a flower on a mountaintop.
"A-Shao, open your eyes and look."
Ji Shaoyi squeezed her eyes shut, unwilling to see the filth on his fingertips.
"I was the one who drugged Lin Zheng."
Ji Shaoyi's eyes flew open.
"But the drug only made him sweat. It had no aphrodisiac effect."
"A-Shao, he chose to debase himself."
"And what about you?"
Ji Shaoyi panted heavily, refusing to make a sound no matter what.
Xiao Shenzhi chuckled softly. "I knew you loved me too."
Screenshot taken on 2026.06.27
Theme: Learn to judge people wisely
