Jiaojiao Is Set on Marrying Someone Else, and Her Ruthless Power-Mad Minister Sees Red

[Clear-Eyed Commoner Girl x Self-Restrained, Proper Older Man]

When Ming Zhao was young, the person she loved most was Shen Zhijing.

She stayed by his side as he studied through the cold nights and climbed the ranks, even believing that one day she would receive his marriage proposal.

But then...

The person Shen Zhijing wanted to marry was her legitimate elder sister.

He said, "Your status is low. Being allowed into the Shen household as a concubine is already a privilege."

He also said, "Anyone who dares marry you is making an enemy of me."

And so, for three whole years,

he was passionately devoted to her elder sister while coldly watching Ming Zhao remain trapped in the inner quarters.

As if certain she would eventually come crawling back.

Until the eldest brother of the Shen family, who had long been stationed at the border, returned to the capital.

He was powerful and influential, stern and taciturn, the last person anyone in the Shen family would dare cross.

Yet on a snowy night, he cornered her beneath a covered walkway and asked in a low voice:

"He doesn't want you."

"So how about coming with me?"

Later,

Shen Zhijing finally went mad.