Meeting Ji Mingyue and Ji Minghao!

Jiang Ning walked along the path, weaving between ancient trees with spreading, luxuriant branches.

The road lay in shade, with only mottled flecks of golden sunlight falling through.

Yet his heart felt heavy.

Nothing was harder to bear than a beauty's devotion.

He had originally come to the Royal Capital with one more thing to do: speak plainly with Ji Mingyue.

He believed he and Ji Mingyue had met only once, and the gulf between their stations was immense.

She was the exalted seventeenth princess of the imperial family, while he had previously been a minor official. Their social standing, ways of life, and outlooks were all different.

He did not believe Ji Mingyue could truly have fallen for him.

As he saw it, it had merely been a young girl's fleeting stir of affection, quick to come and just as quick to fade.

They had met only once, nearly a year ago. Even their memories of each other's faces must have blurred. What feelings could remain?

So even after arriving in the Royal Capital, he had felt no urgency to deal with it.

After all, seeing Ji Mingyue would be troublesome for him.

He had no right to enter the imperial palace, let alone meet her.

With no way into the palace, he had simply set the matter aside and focused on improving himself.

But only after hearing those people talk just now had he learned the truth.

Before he had even arrived, Ji Mingyue had shouldered the matter alone, insisting on marrying him until every noble in the city knew of it.

That devotion, so resolute, was what gave him the greatest headache.

Originally, all he had needed was to meet Ji Mingyue and make things clear. Their old promise would then be at an end.

He already