Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

Su Mansion - Youlan Courtyard

Su Qianrou and Su Xiaoxiao were playing Huarong Road together, and the mother and daughter were having a great time.

Suddenly, Su Xiaoxiao asked, "Mother, where is Father? Father hasn't come for so long. Does he not want Xiaoxiao anymore?"

"How could that be? Your father loves you the most. It's just that he is the regent and is usually quite busy. He had a lot of official business to attend to while playing with you. He will come to play with you once he has finished his business."

"Really".

"When has your mother ever lied to you?"

Su Xiaoxiao thought about it and realized that there probably wasn't any, so she felt relieved and continued playing.

Su Qianrou, however, seemed lost in thought.

At this moment, Juxia walked in and said, "Madam, Master wants you to go to the study."

"What is it you want to say?"

"No, but several adults have arrived and are currently in the master's study."

Su Qianrou roughly guessed what it was about, so she said to Su Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, Mommy has to leave for a while. Why don't you go and play with your little brothers Hao'er and Shuo'er?"

"it is good".

"Little one is so good," Su Qianrou gently rubbed her little head, then got up and went out.

Ink Bamboo Courtyard

Su Qianrou entered the study and went straight to Su Jing'an. "Father, you wanted to see me?"

"It wasn't me, it was the officials who were looking for you," Su Jing'an said, looking at Song Mingxian and the others.

Su Qianrou also looked at them and asked, "I wonder what business you gentlemen have with me?"

Song Mingxian stood up and said, "Princess Pingluo, how have you been?"

"It's been a long time. I hope Lord Song is doing well."

“Very good, but…”

"Lord Song, please speak frankly."

"His Majesty abdicated in favor of the Regent. Princess Pinglu should have heard of this."

I've heard a little about it.

“A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. More than half a month has passed since His Majesty abdicated, but the Prince has been reluctant to ascend the throne. Now he is unwilling to see us. We have no other choice but to come and ask Princess Ping Le for help. We hope that the Princess can persuade the Prince to ascend the throne as soon as possible.”

Li Fangyi: "Now, the only one who can persuade the prince is you, Princess. I hope you can help persuade him."

The other officials all stood up and bowed, saying, "We hope that the princess can help persuade the prince."

"What are you doing, gentlemen? It's not that I don't want to help, but as you all know, I divorced the prince five years ago. Even if I wanted to persuade him, I wouldn't have the right. Besides, if you can't persuade him, what can I do?"

Zhang Qian: "If even you can't do it, then there really is no way."

Xu Hengyi: "Yes, for the past five years, the Prince has been searching for you relentlessly, which shows how much he cares about you. I think he will not refuse to see you. I urge the Princess to give it a try."

Song Mingxian: "The prince's ascension to the throne is a great blessing for the country and its people. The princess is a kind-hearted person with a heart that loves the people. She must also hope that the people can live a better life. Therefore, I would like to ask the princess to give it a try."

"Since you gentlemen have all said so, it would seem too heartless of me to refuse. I agree."

"Thank you, Princess."

On the nine-story pagoda, Mu Jinchen stood in the corridor, looking at the rows of houses and thousands of rooms under the setting sun, lost in thought.

Su Qianrou struggled to climb up, leaning against the wall, panting and weakly calling out, "Mu Jinchen."

Mu Jinchen wondered if he was hallucinating. He turned around and was both surprised and delighted to see that it was really her. He immediately walked towards her and said, "Why are you here?"

Su Qianrou walked over and sat down.

Mu Jinchen poured her a cup of tea.

Su Qianrou took it and drank it all in one gulp.

"Do you want more?" Mu Jinchen asked.

Su Qianrou shook her head.

Seeing that she was covered in sweat, Mu Jinchen said with concern, "Next time, you can have someone tell me, or call me from downstairs and I'll come down to get you."

"How dare you say that? Couldn't you have found a lower spot? Do you know how tiring it is to climb up here?"

Mu Jinchen said indulgently, "It's my fault," and then asked, "But why did you come?"

"What do you think? Lord Song and the others couldn't find you, so they came to me, and Xiao Xiao asked me if you didn't want her anymore."

"Sorry, I just want to be alone."

"I'm sorry for bothering you, I'll leave."

Mu Jinchen quickly pressed her down, "No, I'm very happy that you came."

Su Qianrou sat down without hesitation. She hadn't really planned to leave, otherwise, climbing those nine flights of stairs would have been pointless. "Tell me, what's bothering you?"

Mu Jinchen did not answer and walked into the corridor.

Su Qianrou followed and asked, "Are you hesitant because you're worried that Xiaoxuan might change his mind later?"

"No, if he hadn't said it, I probably would never have known what he was thinking in my life... Back then, my elder brother passed the throne to me, but I felt that it belonged to Xiao Xuan, so I returned the throne to him. However, I never asked him if he wanted it."

"It's not too late to know now."

Mu Jinchen remained silent.

"You don't want to be the emperor?" Su Qianrou asked.

"Do you want me to do it?" Mu Jinchen looked at her, anticipating her answer.

"I respect your choice."

"If I become emperor, will we... ever have any chance again?"

"Don't tell me that's why you're hesitating."

"Yes, I know you yearn for freedom and dislike constraints, so you must not want to enter the palace."

Su Qianrou never expected that the reason he was hesitant was her.

“If it were any other woman, I could keep her with the position of Empress, but you are different. Power is the most insignificant thing to you.”

"Then why don't you go find other women? Why bother with this?"

“I don’t like them, why would I want to see them?” Then, he took her hand and said ingratiatingly, “Rou’er, how about we make a deal?”

Su Qianrou knew at a glance that it was definitely not a good thing. "Tell me first."

"Marry me, be my empress. Rest assured, I will never take any concubines in my life, only you."

"If I remember correctly, someone once said that he would never take a concubine in his life, but what happened?"

Knowing he was in the wrong, Mu Jinchen softened his voice and said in a slightly coquettish tone, "I was wrong, I won't do it again, please forgive me just this once, I promise, there will never be a next time." Seeing that she was still unmoved, he had no choice but to use his trump card and called out in his deep and magnetic voice, "Rou'er."

Su Qianrou was a sucker for voices and had never seen him like this before, so her heart melted. "Speak properly."

Mu Jinchen couldn't help but smile. "So, Rou'er, have you forgiven me? Would you like to be my empress?"

What if I don't agree?

“It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t agree. I’ll go back and ask Xiaoxiao if she’s willing to be the empress. If she is, then I will pass the throne to her. If she is not, then I will have to give it to Xinchen.”

"Let's not even talk about whether Xiaoxiao is willing or not. You should first ask the ministers if they agree. As for the Crown Prince Ying, with his restless nature, do you think he can sit in the Imperial Study all day reviewing memorials?"

"Then there is only one way."

"What".

"Let's have a son as soon as possible. When he turns fifteen, I will pass the throne to him, and then I will travel the world with you."

"Is this what you really wanted?" Su Qianrou withdrew her hand.

Mu Jinchen did not deny it, and asked, "What does Rou'er think?"

"I shouldn't have come to find you."

Mu Jinchen held her hand again and said, "Even if Rou'er doesn't come, I will still go to find Rou'er. No matter what, I will never let go of Rou'er's hand again."

This time, Su Qianrou did not pull her hand away, letting him hold it.