Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

"This is outrageous! This is truly outrageous!" The Empress Dowager was so angry that she smashed another cup.

"Mother, please calm down. Your brother has finally fallen for someone, so it's understandable that he's a little nervous. You're a magnanimous person, so please don't take it to heart."

"I think he's gotten too big for his britches, that's why he doesn't take me seriously."

"Mother, you always think only of the Duke of Su's mansion. When will you think of my brother first? You keep saying you want to make it up to him, but what is the result? You are pushing him further and further away."

The Empress Dowager remained silent, lost in thought.

After leaving the Longevity Palace, Mu Jinchen and Su Qianrou walked along the road.

Su Qianrou looked at the hand he was holding and, seeing that he had no intention of letting go, called out, "Your Highness."

Mu Jinchen seemed to have forgotten about it and casually replied, "Mm."

"hand".

Mu Jinchen then remembered and immediately let go, saying, "I'm sorry, I offended you."

"I should be the one apologizing, for making the Prince quarrel with the Empress Dowager like this because of me."

"Even without you, my mother and I would not get along well, so you don't need to blame yourself."

Su Qianrou did not inquire about the reason.

Mu Jinchen added, "I have said that I will be your support, so you do not need to tolerate it, even if that person is the Empress Dowager."

"At first, I thought it was better to avoid trouble, but later the Empress Dowager went too far and I couldn't stand it anymore. If the prince hadn't come, I would have definitely argued with the Empress Dowager. At that time, I'm afraid the Empress Dowager would have been very angry with me."

"It doesn't matter. Even if you cause a major disaster, I will cover for you."

Su Qianrou looked at him, a strange feeling rising in her heart, but she didn't think much of it and joked, "Your Highness really is a man of his word."

Then, the two continued walking forward.

After a while, Mu Jinchen said again, "I had the Imperial Observatory calculate that June 18th is an auspicious day. What do you think about setting the wedding date on that day?"

"I don't mind, but I think my mother will be exhausted."

"Tell Madam Su not to worry, the Ministry of Rites will handle it."

"She was worried about my dowry, afraid that if it was too small, I would be looked down upon. So she prepared it with all her might, almost emptying her family's savings."

"Then I'll have to prepare a bigger courtyard for you, otherwise there won't be enough room."

"I didn't mean that. Of course, if Your Highness wants to give it to me, I won't refuse."

Mu Jinchen chuckled and said, "Actually, there's no need for a large courtyard. After the marriage, the entire Regent's Palace will be yours. You can put it wherever you want."

"I thought Your Highness wouldn't say such flattering things, but I didn't expect you to say them so readily, which surprised me."

"What nonsense!" Then he realized, "I'm not lying to you, I'm telling you the truth."

Su Qianrou didn't believe it, but she didn't say anything more.

Zhenguogongfu

Upon learning that Su Qianrou was going to marry Mu Jinchen, Liu Chengyun felt as if a thousand arrows were piercing his heart, causing him unbearable pain. Therefore, he could only numb himself with alcohol.

At this moment, he was sitting on the ground, drinking in large gulps, with several empty cans around him, indicating that he had already drunk quite a bit.

When Liu Xinyue came in and saw him like this, she felt heartbroken. So she went over and took the wine from his hand, saying, "Brother, don't drink anymore."

"Give it to me...give it to me."

"Brother, cheer up."

"Cheer up, how can you cheer up? She's getting married, she's getting married, you know that?"

"Sister Rou was forced into this situation. If she didn't marry the Regent, she would have to marry someone from the Western Regions. There was nothing she could do about it."

"That's why I'm even more resentful. If she truly loved him, I could still wish her well, but she... didn't love him, yet she had no choice but to marry him."

"Brother, things are unpredictable. No one expected it to turn out like this."

"You know, if I had confessed my feelings earlier, wouldn't things have been different...?"

Liu Xinyue didn't know how to comfort him, so she could only stay by his side silently.

Pinshixuan

After leaving the palace, Su Qianrou arrived at Pinshixuan. Since it was not yet mealtime, there were not many people, only a few scattered tables with people sitting.

Then, he went up to the third floor, intending to take a look at the accounts, but he encountered Lin Yulin coming out of a private room with a worried look on his face. He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Why do you look like that?"

Lin Yulin then noticed her and exclaimed in surprise, "Cousin, what brings you here?"

"I had some free time today, so I came to check on things. How's business at the restaurant lately? Is it alright?"

"It's good and bad. Every day, customers come in droves, keeping us extremely busy and exhausted."

"If you're really too busy, hire more people. Don't exhaust yourself."

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking, brother."

"Where's the wine? Why isn't the wine here yet?" came a woman's shout from inside the private room.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yulin was extremely worried and didn't know what to do.

"Who is inside that has caused you such distress?"

"I wonder which family's young lady she is. As soon as she arrived, she said she wanted to drink, and she wanted the strongest liquor. She's already drunk a whole jar of it, and she still wants to drink more. Isn't she afraid of getting into trouble?"

"You gave her the strongest liquor."

"How could that be? Even men can't drink much of that wine, let alone a young woman like her. I gave her the mildest wine."

"That's good."

"By the way, my cousin should know that woman. She invited her when the restaurant opened."

"I invited her."

"Ok".

Su Qianrou roughly knew who it was, so she said, "I'll go in and take a look. You go ahead and do your work."

“Okay, then the wine…”

"No need to take it."

"Okay," Lin Yulin said happily as he went downstairs.

Su Qianrou pushed open the door to the private room and went inside. She wasn't surprised to see Li Nanyi inside.

The maid was very surprised to see her, but then she realized what was happening and hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings, Princess Ping Le."

"What's wrong with your young lady?"

"Your Highness, Miss and Master had a quarrel, so she is not in a good mood. Please forgive her."

After learning the reason, Su Qianrou walked to Li Nanyi's side.

At this moment, Li Nan was drunk and incoherent. He picked up the bottle to pour himself some wine, but found there was none. So he shouted, "Where's the wine? Why isn't the wine here yet? The wine!"

Su Qianrou took the bottle away, saying, "Don't drink anymore."

Li Nanyi looked at her and asked, "Why are you here?"

"You still know who I am?"

Li Nan pointed at her and said slowly, "Even if you turn to ashes, I'll still recognize you."

"Oh, then tell me, who am I?"

“Ping Le, Su Qianrou”.

Su Qianrou was surprised that she actually recognized her. She thought to herself, "It seems she really hates you to the bone." "Alright, I'll have someone take you back."

"I'm not going back."

"If you don't go back, do you expect to stay here?"

"Anyway, I'm not going back."

Su Qianrou looked at her helplessly.