After being reborn, the aloof prime minister was once again forced by a tyrant.

Pei Yuning leaned against the headboard, the wound on her forehead already bandaged. The white gauze contrasted with her pale face, giving her a rather pitiful appearance. Lan Zan brought in a bowl of calming soup and had just placed it on the table when the eunuch's announcement came from outside—

"His Majesty has arrived!"

Pei Yuning's eyes suddenly lit up.

She quickly raised her hand to tidy her hair, pulled the blanket up to her chest, and struck a pose that was both frail and alluring. The curtain was lifted, and a figure in dark clothing strode in.

"Your Majesty," she said, her voice so soft it was almost melting.

"How is your injury?" Xiao Jingyuan sat down on the embroidered stool by the bed, his tone indifferent, revealing no emotion.

Pei Yuning was secretly delighted, but her face showed a wronged expression, and her eyes reddened: "The imperial physician said it's a superficial injury, nothing serious. It's just that I still don't know what I did wrong. Why did Brother Qinglan... why did he hit me?"

As she spoke, her voice trembled with tears. She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Your Majesty, I kindly prepared bird's nest soup to visit him, hoping to nourish him. But as soon as I entered, before we could even exchange a few words, he… Your Majesty, I truly don't know what I did to offend him. Your Majesty, Qinglan wasn't like this before. He doted on me the most, treating me like his own sister since childhood. Could it be that he suffered some injustice in the palace that caused his personality to change so drastically…?"

As Xiao Jingyuan listened, he tapped his fingers lightly twice on his knee.

The words "Brother Qinglan" made his temples throb, but he didn't interrupt her. He waited until she finished speaking before asking, "Does he have any particular favorite things?"

Pei Yuning's sobbing stopped abruptly.

She looked up at Xiao Jingyuan, her eyes blurry with tears, and didn't react for a moment: "What?"

"Xie Qinglan." Xiao Jingyuan's tone remained indifferent, as if he were asking something perfectly ordinary. "What does he like? What are his hobbies? What does he like to eat? What does he like to use? Since you're the younger sister he's watched grow up, you should know some things."

Pei Yuning pinched the blanket with her fingernail.

She had just been crying about being beaten, and before Xiao Jingyuan could even finish a word of comfort, he turned around and asked what that person liked. She took a deep breath, suppressing the surging jealousy, and put on a gentle smile again.

"Brother Qinglan... he has never been fond of food. Whether it's delicacies or simple meals, they all taste the same to him." She paused, as if considering her words. "However, he has practiced martial arts since childhood and has quite a fondness for weapons, especially swords."

Xiao Jingyuan's eyebrows twitched slightly, but then he frowned again.

sword.

We can't give him the sword now, it's too dangerous, what if... He can't take that risk.

"Anything else?" he continued to ask.

Pei Yuning dug her nails deeper, but her expression became even more gentle: "Brother Qinglan also likes crabapple blossoms. There is a whole crabapple grove in the backyard of the Prime Minister's Mansion in Nanyue. Every spring when the flowers bloom, he sits in the courtyard to admire them."

Crabapple.

Xiao Jingyuan's chest tightened slightly.

He suddenly remembered something.

In his previous life, after Xie Qinglan died, he found a withered branch in a drawer while sorting through the belongings of Lan Yue Pavilion. The branch was covered with dried, brown petals that had crumbled into powder and were no longer recognizable as their original color.

He didn't recognize the flower and showed it to Gao An. Gao An looked at it for a long time, then hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, this looks like... a crabapple."

Outside Lan Yue Pavilion, there was a crabapple tree that bloomed profusely every spring. He remembered that one year when the flowers were in bloom, he broke off a branch and placed it by Xie Qinglan's pillow. When he went to check the next day, the branch was gone, and he assumed that the person had thrown it away.

Later, he assumed that the person had simply tossed it into the drawer and forgotten to throw it out.

Xiao Jingyuan's hands were trembling.

So it turns out he liked her.

"Your Majesty asks these questions because you want to..." Pei Yuning cautiously raised her eyes and asked tentatively.

Xiao Jingyuan did not answer. He stood up, paced around the hall with his hands behind his back, then suddenly stopped and turned to look at Pei Yuning.

The gaze wasn't cold, but it wasn't exactly gentle either; it was as if the person was looking at an object that needed careful examination.

"What did the imperial physician say about your injuries?"

Pei Yuning felt a sense of relief, thinking that he had finally remembered to care about her, and quickly feigned weakness: "The imperial physician said I need to rest for a few days, and my head is still a little dizzy—"

"Then take good care of yourself." Xiao Jingyuan interrupted her, "You don't need to go to Tingxuexuan anymore, so as not to make him angry again."

Pei Yuning was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, she heard him ask another question—

"What did you say to him at Tingxuexuan today?"

Pei Yuning's heart sank. She looked up and met Xiao Jingyuan's gaze. There was no anger or suspicion in those pale eyes, yet they sent chills down her spine.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty didn't say anything." She blinked, looking completely innocent. "Your Majesty just served him some bird's nest soup, and then..."

"that's all?"

"That's it." Pei Yuning's voice trembled with tears again. "I didn't even get to say a few words before he... Your Majesty, I really don't know where I offended Brother Qinglan. He used to love me the most. I'm a stranger in Beishuo, and Brother Qinglan is my only family. Now even he treats me like this. I really..."

She choked up and couldn't continue, so she covered her face with a handkerchief.

Xiao Jingyuan looked at her without saying a word.

He recalled that every time he came to Chang Le Palace in his past and present lives, Pei Yuning said the same things—"Brother Qinglan has always doted on me since I was little," "Brother Qinglan protects me the most," "Brother Qinglan is cold to everyone, but he is different to me."

He believed it.

He believed it for three whole years, so much so that every time he went to Lan Yue Pavilion and saw Xie Qinglan's icy face, he would think to himself—he only treats me like this. If it were Pei Yuning, it would definitely be different; he would definitely smile at her.

He was very jealous, so he didn't allow Pei Yuning to enter Lanyue Pavilion even once in three years.

But now, Xie Qinglan hit her.

Would someone who "loves her the most" slap her "for no reason" and knock her unconscious on the spot?

What kind of person is Xie Qinglan? She is aloof and proud, calm and self-possessed, a flower on a high mountain.

Even if he hates someone, he would never take it out on others.

In his past life, that person was imprisoned by him for three years, yet he never laid a hand on him. Why would such a calm, almost ruthless person lay such a heavy hand on a "sister he watched grow up"?

Xie Qinglan wouldn't hit someone for no reason.

There must be a reason why he hit Pei Yuning.

She must have said something.

Or rather—she must have done something.

Xiao Jingyuan lowered his eyes, concealing the turbulent undercurrents within them.

"I understand." His voice regained its usual businesslike indifference. "Take good care of your injuries. I'll come to see you again in a few days."

He turned and walked towards the doorway, but paused at the entrance. He turned his head and said in a low voice, "By the way, you just said—you didn't say anything, you only brought him soup?"

Pei Yuning's heart tightened, but her face remained calm: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao Jingyuan did not turn around.

He stepped across the threshold and out of the Chang Le Palace gates. Suddenly, he stopped and said something to the shadowy figure behind him—

"Night Seven".

"Your subordinate is here."

"Go to Nanyue." Xiao Jingyuan's voice was so low that only the two of them could hear it. "Investigate Pei Yuning. Every letter she wrote to Pei Nanchi, everything she did before entering the palace, all her past with Xie Qinglan while she was in Nanyue—find out everything."

"Yes."

"Also," Xiao Jingyuan paused, "find out what Xie Qinglan liked to do when she was in Nanyue."

Ye Qi was slightly taken aback, but without asking any further questions, he disappeared into the night.