Regent, please maintain your aloof image.

Inside the carriage, Chunzhu said with some concern, "Miss, I'm afraid the eldest young lady might misunderstand what Prince Min said just now."

Su Qianrou naturally knew this, but what could she do? She had already made it so obvious, but Prince Min still showed no sign of giving up. On the contrary, he became even more aggressive, which made her very distressed and irritable. So she said, "If only we could go back to Yangzhou."

"That's probably unlikely, unless the young lady marries into Yangzhou."

"Is there no other way but to get married?"

"no".

"Sigh," Su Qianrou couldn't help but sigh.

Afterwards, he returned to the Marquis's residence, first instructing the servants to distribute the gifts he had brought back, and then went to the Siyi Courtyard.

"I heard you went to Prince Min's residence," Lin Rong asked.

"Ok".

"Why would the concubine suddenly seek you out? Is there something you need?"

"It's nothing, just chatting."

"Just chatting, when did you and her become so close? I had no idea."

"What do I have to do with her? We've barely even met. If it weren't for my father becoming the Minister of Revenue, she wouldn't have approached me."

Lin Rong thought about it and agreed, so she didn't ask any more questions.

Royal Palace

In the imperial study, Mu Jinchen and Mu Zexuan were reviewing memorials.

Mu Zexuan grew angrier the more he read. "What kind of nonsense is this? It's a long, rambling piece of writing, not a single word of which is important. It's all just sycophantic drivel."

"Most of the memorials submitted by officials from other places are like this."

"There's absolutely no need to read this kind of report."

"But if we don't look at it, how can we know that there might be important memorials mixed in?"

"We could set up a department to specifically screen and submit important reports, which would save a lot of time."

"Do you think our ancestors didn't think of this? But it was later abolished. Do you know why?"

Why?

"Because there is a major drawback," Mu Jinchen said, then stopped and let Mu Zexuan think about it himself.

Mu Zexuan indeed began to think seriously, and after a while, he realized, "It's easy to be deceived."

"That's right. If they don't want you to know, then you won't know. Over time, you'll become a closed-minded monarch. At that point, officials will protect each other and collude with each other, which will inevitably lead to political corruption and widespread suffering among the people."

"Then why not just issue an imperial edict, telling them to keep things brief and to address the essentials?"

“An emperor once issued such an edict, but later Emperor Cheng of Ming found it too tedious and changed it back.”

"May I issue such an edict?"

"Of course."

Mu Zexuan was overjoyed and excitedly said, "I will have someone draft an edict right away." Then, he looked at Xiao Li and instructed, "Xiao Li, go and have the Hanlin Academy draft an edict."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he said, and then walked out.

At the same time, Mu Xinchen swaggered in and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"What brings the Crown Prince here?"

"Your Majesty, I have come to see my fifth brother."

"What do you want with the Imperial Uncle?"

"Um... it's nothing serious."

"Since it's not a big deal, tell me about it so I can hear it too."

"this……".

"What, can't I listen?"

"Your Majesty is joking; of course it is possible."

"Then, Prince Ying, please speak frankly."

Mu Jinchen was busy processing memorials the whole time, appearing indifferent, because he knew that what Mu Xinchen was talking about was definitely not important, otherwise he wouldn't be acting this way, so he didn't care much.

Mu Xinchen glanced at him, and seeing that he did not react, he said, "Just now, I heard that Miss Su went to Prince Min's residence."

Upon hearing this, Mu Jinchen paused for a moment, but only for a second, so neither Mu Xinchen nor Mu Zexuan noticed.

Mu Zexuan asked in confusion, "Who is Miss Su San? What is her relationship with the Imperial Uncle at the Prince Min's residence?"

"Your Majesty, Miss Su is Su Qianrou, the daughter of Su Jing'an, the Minister of Revenue."

"You mean Sister Su?" Mu Zexuan couldn't help but get excited.

Mu Xinchen wondered, "Who is Sister Su? Could she be Miss Su the Third? How come I didn't know that His Majesty knew Miss Su the Third? They seem to be quite familiar with each other. Could it be that I've missed something?"

"What is Sister Su doing at Prince Min's residence?"

"I don't know."

"Could it be that she has taken a liking to Prince Min?" Mu Zexuan muttered to himself.

"It's not impossible. After all, they met at the restaurant just a few days ago, and today they went directly to Prince Min's residence. Perhaps they reached some kind of agreement. That's why I rushed to the palace to inform Fifth Brother."

"What did you say? They had met at the restaurant before."

"Yes, we stayed for quite a long time."

"No, Sister Su absolutely cannot marry that scheming Prince Min! Someone, please bring Su..."

"Your Majesty, nothing is certain yet, so please do not act rashly," Mu Jinchen said.

"Uncle, if we don't stop it now, it will be too late when Sister Su really marries Prince Min."

“Well, Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Prince Min currently has a princess consort and two concubines? Even if he wanted to marry one, Lord Su would not agree,” Mu Xinchen said.

Mu Zexuan suddenly realized, "Oh right, how could I have forgotten about this?" Then, thinking about it again, he felt something was wrong and said angrily, "No, he already has a princess, why is he still bothering Sister Su? Does he want Sister Su to be his concubine?"

"She's not a concubine, she's a secondary consort. I'm afraid Princess Min won't live much longer."

"How despicable! What does he take Sister Su for? Why should Sister Su be his concubine? Sister Su deserves better."

Mu Xinchen was very curious and finally couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask, how did you and Miss Su San meet?"

"you do not know".

"do not know".

"Your royal uncle didn't tell you."

"no".

Mu Zexuan had a sudden inspiration and asked, "Do you want to know?"

"Yes," Mu Xinchen nodded without hesitation.

"Come here," Mu Zexuan beckoned to him.

Mu Xinchen then walked over.

Then, Mu Zexuan pulled him to sit on the steps, put his arm around his shoulder, and said, "I can tell you, but you have to do me a favor."

"Your Majesty, please speak freely, I will gladly die for you."

"It's not that serious. You just need to keep an eye on Prince Min for me. If he meets with Sister Su, send someone to the palace to tell me."

"No problem."

"By the way, you are quite familiar with the young masters of the capital. Tell me, which young master in the capital is outstanding in character, appearance, and talent?"

"Your Majesty, what is this...?"

"Of course, it's to choose a husband for Sister Su. Sister Su is so good, we can't let anyone ruin her. I originally wanted my uncle to marry her, but he was unwilling." As she spoke, she glanced at Mu Jinchen with dissatisfaction, and then said, "If I weren't still young, I wouldn't have given Sister Su to him. But he's still not happy. Tell me, isn't he ungrateful?"

"Hey, you know what, Miss Su and Fifth Brother are actually quite a good match. They're both so good-looking. If they stood together, the sight would be absolutely stunning."

At this point, Mu Zexuan immediately became interested and said excitedly, "You haven't seen them play chess together. That's what you call a good watch."

"What? They even played chess together? How come I didn't know... Fifth Brother, a few days ago I told you about Miss Su, and you pretended not to know her, not to be familiar with her, and not to be interested. You were just lying to me."

"When did I ever say I didn't know him?"

"But you didn't say you knew him."

"You didn't ask."

"You..." Mu Xinchen was so angry that he couldn't speak. Then, he looked at Mu Zexuan and said, "Your Majesty, tell me how you two met."

"On that day, in the bamboo forest outside the city, I was assassinated, and then..." Mu Zexuan recounted their meeting, as well as their hot pot and barbecue dinner together.

After hearing this, Mu Xinchen was filled with regret. He had been there that day, but he left because it was too boring. If he had known, he would not have left.