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

Xie Qinglan's lips moved slightly.

He didn't understand what that idiot Xiao Jingyuan was spouting nonsense about.

He wanted to say, "I don't hate you anymore," but Xiao Jingyuan didn't give him a chance to speak.

"Don't speak."

He pressed down on him, covering his lips with his palm. The hand was still bleeding, the metallic smell of blood mixed with ambergris, entering Xie Qinglan's nostrils, sweet and burning.

"I don't want to hear it."

Xiao Jingyuan dared not listen to him speak.

He feared that if he opened his mouth, it would be a heart-wrenching remark.

Xie Qinglan's pupils suddenly contracted.

He tried to raise his hand to block, but as soon as his fingers moved, Xiao Jingyuan pressed them down firmly.

"Don't move." Xiao Jingyuan's voice brushed against his earlobe, hoarse like sandpaper grinding against rough stone, "Don't move... if you move, I'll lose control even more."

Xie Qinglan's heart sank.

He saw Xiao Jingyuan's eyes—burning not with tenderness, but with madness—the eyes of a person driven to the brink of despair, with nothing left but a fire that had burned through reason.

"Xiao Jingyuan—don't do this—we—"

Before she could finish speaking, her words were cut off. The metallic scent swirled between their lips, swallowing Xie Qinglan's struggles completely, leaving only a muffled groan as if she had been crushed.

"Be gentle..." His voice was squeezed out from between his teeth, trembling so badly that even he himself couldn't hear the plea hidden in it, "Xiao Jingyuan, be gentle..."

Xiao Jingyuan did not listen.

He had tried to be gentle in his past life. But even after being gentle, the person still hated him. Since gentleness couldn't win any mercy, he might as well leave it at that.

He didn't stop; instead, he hardened his heart.

Xie Qinglan bit his lip, swallowing all the sounds. But Xiao Jingyuan's fingers gripped his chin, forcing him to loosen his teeth.

"Don't bite." His voice was so low and hoarse that it was almost inaudible.

He dared not stop.

I'm afraid that if I stop, my heart will soften; and if my heart softens, this mask that I've worked so hard to maintain will shatter completely.

He felt the person in his arms trembling all over, felt the fingertips gripping his clothes tightly, and heard the words that were crushed between his lips before being uttered—

"pain……"

Xiao Jingyuan paused for a moment. Just a moment.

Then he lowered his head, his lips close to Xie Qinglan's earlobe, and lowered his voice to a low, hoarse tone, as if he were chewing his words and squeezing them out one by one from between his teeth.

"Take it."

Before he finished speaking, his hand moved up half an inch almost imperceptibly, placing it between Xie Qinglan's waist and the cold, hard bed.

The candlelight flickered inside the hall, and the dark curtains had fallen at some point, completely obscuring everything on the dragon bed. Only the eternal lamp in the corner still burned dimly, illuminating the intertwined shadows on the curtains—making it impossible to distinguish which was the emperor and which was the person he had tried so hard to keep.

That night felt endless.

Xie Qinglan didn't know when he lost consciousness. He only remembered that the person was holding him tightly, with such force that it felt like they wanted to crush him and embed him into their bones.

His consciousness floated and sank in the darkness, occasionally hearing someone calling his name in his ear—"Qinglan...Qinglan..."—the voice was so soft it was almost unbelievable, like someone coaxing a child.

But the force that followed was by no means light.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already daylight.

Every part of his body ached. He opened his eyes and found himself still on the dragon bed. Xiao Jingyuan was lying beside him, one arm around his waist. He tried to move, and the other man immediately woke up.

"Awake?" Xiao Jingyuan's voice was a little hoarse, but there was no trace of weariness in his eyes, only something deep that Xiao Jingyuan couldn't understand.

Xie Qinglan's mind was still in a daze. She opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Xiao Jingyuan had already pressed down on her.

"you--"

"Don't speak."

Another round.

Xie Qinglan gritted her teeth, her eyes reddening again and again, but she stubbornly refused to let a single tear fall.

He simply stared with his eyes open at the dark curtain above his head, watching the five-clawed golden dragon embroidered on it twist and deform as it swayed, like a trapped beast caught in a net.

He didn't know when he had fainted.

When I woke up again, a faint aroma of rice lingered between my lips and teeth.

Someone is feeding him porridge.

The warm, soft rice porridge was spooned into his mouth, one spoonful at a time.

He swallowed it in a daze, unable to taste anything, only feeling that the porridge was cooked so soft that it could be swallowed without chewing—just like the first bowl of porridge that person fed him in his previous life.

The porridge was finished, and the warmth on his lips faded. He thought he could finally pass out peacefully, but then that hand reached out again, wrapped around his waist, and turned him over.

"Xiao Jingyuan..." His voice was already hoarse beyond recognition, "Have you had enough...?"

"no."

The person behind me pressed closer, their voice falling on my ear with an almost obsessive, unreasonable scoundrel-like quality.

Xie Qinglan gripped the brocade quilt beneath her tightly, her knuckles turning white.

This is even worse than in my previous life. What kind of logic is this?

He didn't know why he had become like this in this life.

He thought of the jade dildo mixed in with the jewels, the gleaming Cold Moon Sword, and the grievances and confusion that had accumulated over a month since his rebirth. His nose suddenly stung, and tears welled up in his eyes again.

But he held back, swallowing the bitter taste.

He would not cry in front of Xiao Jingyuan. Not in his past life, and not in this one.

But one day and one night, two days and two nights, three days and three nights—he had long since lost track of how much time had passed.

Time shattered into dust in his perception.

Every time I open my eyes, that person is there; every time I faint, warm rice porridge is poured into my mouth.

His body no longer belonged to him, nor did his consciousness. His whole being lay crumpled and torn like a piece of silk on the bright yellow dragon bed.

In his past life, Xiao Jingyuan also forced him, but he would always unconsciously soften his movements. He would panic if Xiao Jingyuan frowned, and he would stop and coax him if Xiao Jingyuan bit his lip. But in this life, he wouldn't even give him a chance to say a word.

Xie Qinglan lost count of how many times she had woken up. The light in the hall was dim, making it impossible to tell whether it was dawn or dusk. The ever-burning lamp was still burning, but the oil was almost gone, and the flame flickered slightly.

Xiao Jingyuan sat on the edge of the bed, holding his hand.

The wound on his palm was only wrapped haphazardly with a few strips of cloth, which were already soaked with blood, and the dried bloodstains had congealed into a dark brown scab.

His hair was disheveled, his dragon robe hung rumpled on his body, his eyes were bloodshot, and his face was indescribably haggard. He lowered his head, looking at Xie Qinglan's hand, lost in thought.

Xie Qinglan opened her eyes and looked at him. She stared at him for a long time.

Then he spoke, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible—

"Xiao Jingyuan".

Xiao Jingyuan suddenly raised his head and met those cold, clear eyes. There was no hatred or anger in them, only a thin layer of tears.

"Why do you treat me like this?" Xie Qinglan's voice trembled.

His whole body ached as if his skeleton had been disassembled and reassembled, his voice was so hoarse that it was difficult to speak, and he couldn't even muster the strength to lift his arm.

He didn't know how things had gotten to this point.

In his past life, Xiao Jingyuan forced himself on him, and he hated him. In this life, he finally managed to let go of his hatred and wanted to get close to him, but Xiao Jingyuan avoided him like the plague. Now, he treats him so brutally. What exactly did he do wrong?

Tears finally fell. Silently, they streamed down her pale cheeks, dripping onto the pillow and leaving a small, dark stain.

Xie Qinglan is crying.

His shoulders trembled, and small, suppressed sobs escaped his throat, like a small beast driven to the brink of despair, even its final roar was broken.

"Why are you doing this to me..." His voice shattered into a thousand pieces, never to be pieced back together. "What did I do wrong..."

He raised his hand to wipe away his tears, but his fingers gave way halfway up and fell limply onto the brocade quilt.

"Xiao Jingyuan...you're a bastard..." His voice trailed off, growing softer and more fragmented. "How could you do this to me..."

Xiao Jingyuan was completely stunned.

He stared blankly at Xie Qinglan, at that face that was always as cold as frost, now streaked with tears. At those eyes that were always aloof and distant, now brimming with tears. At that person who was always so proud that she would never bow her head, now curled up in bed like a child, sobbing uncontrollably.

He had never seen Xie Qinglan like this before. He had never seen Xie Qinglan cry. But at this moment, he was crying so sadly, so desperately, so heartbroken.

His heart softened instantly.

All the anger, all the madness, all the self-destructive ruthlessness, vanished completely at this moment, leaving only a heart full of heartache and panic.

He reached out and slowly, carefully pulled the person who was crying and trembling into his arms.

Xie Qinglan struggled for a moment, but couldn't break free, so she stopped struggling.

He buried his face in Xiao Jingyuan's chest, tears soaking through the rumpled dragon robe, suppressed, intermittent sobs escaping his throat.

Xiao Jingyuan put one arm around his waist and gently patted his back with the other, clumsily, one pat at a time.

"Don't cry." His voice was hoarse and filled with a helpless panic. "I...I won't touch you anymore, please don't cry."

Xie Qinglan ignored him and cried even harder.

Xiao Jingyuan tightened his arms, rested his chin on Xie Qinglan's head, and closed his eyes. His own tears fell, landing in Xie Qinglan's hair and mingling with the other man's tears.

The hall was quiet, with only the suppressed sobs and occasional choked sobs of two people intertwined, like a lament played out of tune.

The flame of the eternal lamp flickered, finally burning out the last drop of oil and going out.