Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

imperial study room

Afterwards, Su Qianrou came to the Imperial Study with a heavy heart, looking rather unhappy.

Seeing her like this, Mu Jinchen put down his pen, walked up to her, and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did the Empress Dowager say something to you?"

Su Qianrou looked at him and said with heartache, "The eldest princess is so pitiful."

"Sit down and talk," Mu Jinchen said, helping her to sit down.

Su Qianrou was in low spirits and therefore did not notice that she was sitting on the dragon throne.

Mu Jinchen sat down beside her and asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Do you know that the eldest princess has known for a long time that the Empress Dowager and Prince Min are having an affair?"

Mu Jinchen was genuinely unaware of this, hence his great surprise.

"Tell me, how has the eldest princess, at such a young age, managed to keep such a big secret all these years?"

Mu Jinchen said calmly, "The first thing you need to learn when you're born into the royal family is to have a strong heart."

“But she is still so young. And the Empress Dowager, since she gave birth, she should take responsibility. How can she ignore her and neglect her just because the eldest princess is not a prince?”

Mu Jinchen remained silent.

Su Qianrou was still not satisfied and said, "I really don't understand how she can be so ruthless. Does she only care about power and profit? ...No, she also cares about Prince Min." Then she continued angrily, "Do you know that you actually asked me if she could guard the imperial tomb? Does she think I'm stupid? I don't know what she's up to."

"Okay, stop being angry. It's not worth getting yourself upset."

“If she had two children, it would be one thing to be biased, but that’s her only child, how could she…” As she spoke, she saw Yingfeng shake his head at her, signaling her to stop talking. His expression was somewhat complicated. Su Qianrou didn’t understand, but she didn’t continue.

Mu Jinchen said, "Then you should treat the eldest princess better in the future, so that she knows that there are still people in this world who care about her and are concerned about her. In this way, she can also get some comfort."

"That's exactly what I was thinking."

Mu Jinchen stroked the back of her head and said gently, "The eldest princess is very lucky to have met you."

Su Qianrou was stunned by his intimate gesture, staring blankly at him, her heart pounding faster.

Mu Jinchen then realized what was happening, released her without making a sound, and then pretended to be nonchalant, saying, "His Majesty's class is about to end, let's go and bring him back for dinner."

At this moment, Su Qianrou was still a little dazed and replied blankly, "Okay."

Then, Mu Jinchen got up and went outside.

Su Qianrou followed closely behind.

Regent's House

In the back courtyard of Yanxi Palace, Su Qianrou and Mu Jinchen were having a meal.

Seeing that Mu Jinchen looked preoccupied and absent-minded, Su Qianrou said, "If you have something to do, go ahead and do it. You don't need to come back to have dinner with me."

"It's okay, eat up."

Su Qianrou didn't say anything more.

At this moment, Yingfeng hurriedly walked over, handed Mu Jinchen a letter, and said, "Your Highness, an urgent report from the secret guards."

Mu Jinchen took it, opened it, and after reading it, immediately ordered, "Summon Lord Su, Lord Zhang, and General Yang to see me immediately."

"Yes".

"I have other matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving now. You can continue eating," he said, and before Su Qianrou could respond, he strode away, indicating that something serious had happened.

Su Qianrou watched his departing figure and said, "Have Li An come to see me."

"Yes," Chunzhu immediately went to call Li An.

A moment later, Li An came over and respectfully greeted, "Your Highness."

"Besides the matter of Prince Min, are there any other matters in the court recently?"

"Your Highness, I have heard that Huainan suffered severe flooding some time ago. Farmland was submerged, houses were destroyed, and people were displaced and homeless, resulting in a large number of disaster victims. However, His Highness has already sent Vice Minister Song to provide disaster relief, so the disaster victims should be able to be properly resettled."

"Go find my uncle and tell him to buy up a large quantity of medicinal herbs. Also, hire a few doctors and send them to the disaster area as soon as possible to assist Minister Song in disaster relief. Go quickly."

"Yes," Li An replied, and immediately went to the Lin family without delay.

Su Qianrou lost her appetite and got up to go inside.

That evening, Su Qianrou sat on the couch looking at the account books.

After some time, Chunzhu reminded her, "Your Highness, it's getting late, it's time to retire for the night."

"What time is it?"

It's almost midnight.

Su Qianrou then put down her pen and asked, "Is Your Highness asleep?"

"Not yet," she said, then, as if remembering something, she added, "By the way, Your Highness, I heard from Yingfeng that His Highness seems to have a stomach ailment."

Su Qianrou recalled that Mu Jinchen hadn't eaten much during dinner and left, probably because he was hungry, so she said, "Have the kitchen cook a bowl of noodles and send it to Fuyun Palace."

"Yes".

Then, Su Qianrou got up and went into the inner room.

Fuyun Palace

Yingfeng stood guard at the study door, so sleepy he couldn't help but yawn.

At this moment, Yu Lian walked up to him.

Yingfeng opened her eyes and saw him, and was startled. "Manager Yu, who are you trying to scare to death in the middle of the night?"

"You haven't done anything wrong, so what are you afraid of? Or have you done something behind the prince's back?"

"What could I possibly do behind the prince's back?" Yingfeng asked guiltily, then changed the subject, asking, "Why are you here so late?"

"Here to bring food to the prince."

"Your Highness, you know perfectly well how could he possibly eat that?"

"That depends on the person. This was ordered by the Princess to be made by the kitchen."

"The princess asked the kitchen to make it," Yingfeng said with delight.

"Ok".

"Then give it to me, I'll take it inside," she said, taking the tray from Yu Lian's hands. Then she added, "It's getting late, you should go back and rest." With that, she turned and went into the study.

Yu Lian looked at his impulsive nature, smiled helplessly, and then left.

In the study, Yingfeng walked to Mu Jinchen's side and said, "Your Highness, please have something to eat."

"I am not hungry."

“You didn’t eat much for dinner, how could you not be hungry?”

Mu Jinchen did not respond, focusing on handling official business.

Yingfeng had no choice but to say, "Your Highness, this was specially ordered by the Princess Consort to be made for you. If you don't eat it, wouldn't you be letting down the Princess Consort's good intentions?"

Mu Jinchen then looked up at him, "The Princess Consort had the kitchen make it."

"Well, I guess the princess saw that you ate little for dinner and were busy so late, so she was worried that you would be hungry and asked the kitchen to make it for you."

"Leave it there, I'll eat it later."

"Let's eat now, otherwise the noodles will get soggy."

Mu Jinchen glared at him, but did not refuse again.

Yingfeng instantly understood his meaning, then placed the noodles in front of him and said happily, "Your Highness, please."

Mu Jinchen casually picked up his chopsticks and began to eat slowly and deliberately.

Yingfeng looked at him, grinning from ear to ear, thinking to herself, "Sure enough, the princess is the most effective."