The Crown Prince's Study Companion

[Female Disguise]

Chang Ning, known as "Wei Capital's Little Changfeng," is the central figure among the capital's young nobles and has countless friends.

One day, while on duty at the Eastern Palace, Chang Ning found an outrageous storybook. It was full of shameless tales about her and her classmates, and it turned her face green as she read.

Even more outrageous, when she tossed the book away, it landed squarely in the Crown Prince's arms.

"Y-Your Highness, don't read it!" Chang Ning was close to tears, terrified that her good name was ruined.

The Crown Prince read it from cover to cover, his expression dark. "Why am I not in it?"

Chang Ning: Huh?

"Vulgar language, a waste of time. You're not allowed to read this again."

Chang Ning was kissed until she could barely breathe. Her eyes were damp, her lips crimson. This time, she didn't merely feel like crying. She actually cried.

"Pathetic." The Crown Prince frowned and wiped away her tears with a finger. "You're not even as good as the person in the book."

"Why does everyone like you?"

-

Li Ji thought Chang Ning would stay by his side forever.

Before he departed, Chang Ning waited outside the gate just to see him one last time.

She tied a good-luck charm around his wrist herself, her eyes full of reluctance. "Your Highness, you must come back safely! Chang Ning will wait for you!"

For Chang Ning's sake, Li Ji fought his way back, even though it meant risking death again and again.

But he never imagined that her promise to wait for him had been empty words.

Chang Ning had died the year he left, falling into the river. Her body was never found.

Every year on the Qixi Festival, the emperor stands beside the surging Han River, tosses into the river the red thread young lovers exchange, and sets a lotus lantern afloat for the dead.

On a covered bridge in Jiangnan, the emperor, traveling incognito, sets another lotus lantern afloat. In the fading lamplight, he catches sight of someone he once knew.

This old acquaintance looks remarkably like his Chang Ning.

But how could his Chang Ning have become a young woman, and be sharing such tender affection with the scholar beside her?

"Chang Ning." Li Ji's gaze is deep as he fixes it on the smiling young woman. "I found you."

_

#Coercive romance elements appear in the middle and later parts

Theme: Love life and cherish life