My lord, hold me tight! (Quick Transmigration)

Song Nuan frowned and looked at Mu Qianyan, who was lying on the bed and not even glancing at her, and asked directly, "I wonder why Your Highness has suddenly become distant from me?"

Mu Qianyan was not surprised by her sudden toughness. He continued to look at the book in his hand and slowly said, "I have not distanced myself from you. I just don't want to put on an act with you in front of others anymore."

Song Nuan's brows furrowed further as she bluntly asked, "So, you're tired of me?"

"Yes... Your Highness, you may leave." Mu Qianyan directly dismissed her, looking up at Song Nuan with an unyielding and uncompromising gaze, devoid of any emotion.

Song Nuan looked at him for a while with tears in her eyes, then silently waved and left.

Mu Qianyan's gaze flickered as he looked at Song Nuan's retreating figure, then instantly changed, revealing a suppressed struggle and melancholy in his eyes. In the end, he dared not let her into his heart...

A sigh came from inside the room, the candle went out, the night wind blew open the window, and the faint moonlight seeped in. The book on the bed remained untouched on the first page, and the deep fingerprints in the corner of the book indicated the extreme turmoil in the heart of the person who had just held the book.

Song Nuan returned to her room and tossed and turned for a while. Mu Qianyan's attitude made her even more convinced of her guess. Mu Qianyan was always cautious in his actions. When faced with a difficult situation, his usual approach was to use a bait-and-switch tactic to lure the fish into a bigger one. He couldn't be more careful in his actions. As for her sudden change of heart, he naturally dared not let his heart run wild. If he had already developed some feelings for her, his first reaction would have been to get rid of this strange feeling. That's why he distanced himself from her. His instinctive rejection led him to take these actions.

Mu Qianyan is the kind of person who always lives with extreme caution. Not to mention that he was born into the royal family and has seen countless open and hidden attacks and undercurrents since childhood. He has to be very shrewd and cautious in his actions.

In short, Mu Qianyan was simply afraid of her, a woman who could influence his emotions.

Song Nuan's speculations had a pretty good grasp of Mu Qianyan's complex inner world.

But why did she feel that he was like a shy and awkward child, afraid to take what he liked, instead pushing it further and further away, and then becoming unhappy and regretting it when he finally lost it?

Song Nuan kept thinking about it, and then she had a strange dream. In the dream, Mu Qianyan turned into a naked little boy who ran towards her excitedly, but she could never catch up with him...

The next day, Song Nuan woke up laughing. In her dream, she easily picked up the sullen little Mu Qianyan and spanked him. Watching him cry, her mood strangely improved. Who told him to distance himself from her!

When Song Nuan opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a handsome face with a slightly twitching mouth. He looked at her with a strange expression, but when he saw that she was awake, he immediately returned to his usual expressionless state.

"Now that Your Highness is awake, please hurry up and get ready so that no one else is waiting for you," Mu Qianyan said as he walked with his hands behind his back.

Just as he was about to leave the room, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness should pay more attention to your sleeping posture in the future."

Song Nuan huddled in her warm blankets, her cheeks instantly turning bright red. Had everyone seen her silly grin?!

Traveling by day and resting by night, they finally returned to the capital after half a month.

When the people of the city learned of the Ninth Prince Mu Qianyan's deeds in the plague-stricken city, they all came out to welcome his return, making it even more lively than when he went out to fight.

Mu Qianyan sat high on a white horse, his black robes accentuating his unparalleled handsomeness. A veiled girl in white, standing in the VIP section on the second floor of the teahouse, stared intently at the man on horseback, her eyes flashing with determination. She silently said in Mu Qianyan's direction: "Cousin, Yiyi is back!"

"Miss, it's time to go. The lady in the palace is waiting for you!" The maid standing quietly to the side looked at her mistress's eyes filled with tender affection as she gazed at Mu Qianyan, and reminded her helplessly in a low voice.

The girl in white reluctantly withdrew her gaze from Mu Qianyan and left with her maid.

Mu Qianyan had already noticed the intense gazes on him. He was used to these stares, some open and some subtle, so he didn't think much of it.

His gaze unconsciously drifted towards the carriage at the back of the procession. The smile on his lips gradually faded, and the struggle in his heart was about to break free of its shackles. Mu Qianyan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he was clear-headed. He had once again become the gentle and refined Ninth Prince.

Mu Qianyan took Song Nuan back to the manor to rest for a night, and the next day they went to the palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager.

"Your subject pays respects to the Empress Dowager." Mu Qianyan rarely performed the kneeling ceremony before the Empress Dowager.

He naturally knew who had gone to plead for the imperial physician sent to him.

"Get up quickly, let your mother take a good look at you!" The Empress Dowager stepped down from her seat and personally helped Mu Qianyan up. Looking at her son, who had obviously lost a lot of weight, tears blurred her exquisite makeup.

"Mother, don't be sad. Your son has returned safely, hasn't he?" Mu Qianyan comforted her softly, and together with the nanny beside the Empress Dowager, helped her back to her seat.

"It's good that you're back!" The Empress Dowager gently patted Mu Qianyan's hand, comforting herself.

Song Nuan watched the deep bond between the mother and son. Although the Empress Dowager had been in the palace for many years and had blood on her hands, she was genuinely good to Mu Qianyan. Even though Mu Qianyan married her, who was of no benefit to the Wen family, she only nagged a few times and did not make things difficult for her.

After chatting with Mu Qianyan for a while, the Empress Dowager suddenly spoke up, her tone tinged with joy: "Little Jiu, guess who's back?"

Mu Qianyan was puzzled.

"Your third sister is back. Do you remember her? Wen Ruyi, Yiyi! Your third cousin," the Empress Dowager reminded her.

"My third cousin is back!" A hint of nostalgia flashed in Mu Qianyan's eyes, as if he had thought of something happy, and the smile on his lips became more genuine.

"Yes! The Third Miss misses you terribly. She just returned from recuperating and came to see this aunt of mine, saying she wanted to catch up with you!" The Empress Dowager continued, "How about this, let the Third Miss stay at the Prince's Mansion for a while, so that the two of you can have a good chat."

Seeing the nostalgic look in Mu Qianyan's eyes and the teasing smile on the Empress Dowager's face, Song Nuan felt a warning bell ring in her heart. It seemed that this third young lady was not simple!

The Empress Dowager glanced at Song Nuan, who stood silently to the side, and asked calmly, "What does the Princess Consort think?"

Upon Mu Qianyan's return, her informants reported that he and Song Nuan had kept their distance throughout the journey, no longer as inseparable as before. Although she didn't know the reason, considering Song Nuan's selfless care for Mu Qianyan, who was suffering from the plague, she wouldn't make things difficult for her. However, her son also needed someone who understood and cared for him by his side, and that was beyond dispute.

"It's all up to Your Highness to decide," Song Nuan replied.

“…Alright, Your Majesty, it has been a long time since I’ve seen my Third Cousin,” Mu Qianyan replied.

When Song Nuan and Mu Qianyan returned to the mansion, Mu Qianyan first took her to the Song Prime Minister's residence, saying that he was grateful that she had not seen her family for a long time and was considerate of her.

Song Nuan then took Caiyin back to the mansion she had been away from for so long. When her birth mother saw her return, she immediately burst into tears, her eyes filled with longing.

The mother and daughter hugged and talked, and gradually calmed down.

Song Nuan went back to see the Prime Minister's wife. She was as dignified and elegant as ever, knowledgeable and reasonable. But the one who changed the most for Song Nuan was her reborn sister, Song Xinran. When she saw the beautiful woman in her flowing purple dress, she couldn't believe that this little woman with a face full of happiness and gentle smile was the same cold woman.

Later, Song Nuan learned that General An's son was engaged to Song Xinran. The two fell in love over time. An Zhengyi's tough yet tender heart melted Song Xinran's coldness, healed her heartbreak from her past life, and changed Song Xinran, who was originally disheartened by love.

There are new stories between them.

Seeing that it was getting late, Song Nuan bid farewell to the Song family and boarded the carriage to return home. Before she even entered the hall, she heard a man's deep voice and a woman's coquettish laughter coming from inside.

Song Nuan walked in and saw Mu Qianyan, dressed in a simple dark blue robe, chatting and laughing with a pretty woman in white beside him, his eyes filled with undisguised smiles.

The woman was dressed in white, and judging from her figure, she was the girl from the teahouse that day. Her skin was like jade, her features were delicate, and her watery eyes were full of affection for the man. Her slightly pale face showed a kind of pitiful fragility.

"Your Highness." Song Nuan bowed to Mu Qianyan, interrupting the two who were having a pleasant conversation.

"The Princess Consort is back." Mu Qianyan put away her smile and said calmly, her attitude completely different from before.

The woman in white noticed this as well, and chuckled to herself while covering her mouth with her sleeve. Then, she gracefully bowed to Song Nuan and said, "Yiyi greets Princess Consort!"

With her back to Mu Qianyan, Wen Ruyi wore a glamorous smile, her eyes filled with a hint of provocation as she looked at Song Nuan, a stark contrast to her innocent and charming demeanor in front of Mu Qianyan.

Did they not even have time to declare war from the very beginning?

Song Nuan stared at her for a while. Yi Yi? She must be the Third Miss the Empress Dowager had mentioned. She nodded and said calmly to Mu Qianyan, "Since Your Highness has an old friend to visit, then I will not disturb you any longer."

After saying that, Song Nuan seemed angry and turned away.

Ignored, Wen Ruyi stood up and looked at Mu Qianyan with a pitiful and weak expression. She was about to take the opportunity to say a few words when she found that Mu Qianyan's gaze followed Song Nuan, deep and dangerous, making her afraid to look directly at him.

Mu Qianyan thought about Song Nuan's indifferent expression just now, and pondered it over and over again. She must have been jealous just now, but she was just calm on the surface. That must be it!

Thinking of this, Mu Qianyan suddenly felt a sense of clarity and her mood improved considerably.

"Cousin?" Wen Ruyi called softly, biting her lip.

"What's wrong?" Mu Qianyan turned his head to look in a good mood.

"Your Highness is very beautiful! She's not as timid and weak as people say." Wen Ruyi's heart pounded when she saw Mu Qianyan's smile, which was even brighter than before. To hide her blush, she spoke calmly.

"Hmm." Mu Qianyan miraculously did not refute, and responded in a low voice.

"..." Wen Ruyi was immediately annoyed. Looking at Mu Qianyan's eyes, which had clearly softened, she felt extremely jealous.

Just as she was about to say a few more words to salvage the situation, Mu Qianyan suddenly stood up and said, "It's getting late, and my cousin isn't feeling well, so she should rest early! Alu, take the Third Miss to her room."

After saying that, he strode away without waiting for Wen Ruyi's reaction.

"Miss Wen, please!" Alu said respectfully as he entered.