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

Tingxuexuan (Listening to Snow Pavilion)

Xie Qinglan only learned of Shen Hanzhou's exile to the Western Frontier from Gao An the following morning.

He was having breakfast under the crabapple tree.

Gao An cautiously echoed, saying that His Majesty issued an edict last night, saying that General Shen was dragged out of bed before dawn to collect rations from the Ministry of Revenue.

Xie Qinglan paused slightly in the hand holding the porridge bowl.

Xiao Jingyuan summoned him all the way back from the northern border just to give him a sword and have him practice swordsmanship.

Before he could even catch his breath, he was kicked to the Western Frontier.

Still as domineering as ever.

He snorted to himself.

But he himself didn't even notice the curve of his lips.

"Gao An." He put down his bowl of porridge, his tone still in that indifferent, nonchalant manner, "Go and pass on a message to General Shen for me."

Gao An pricked up his ears.

"Tell him that General Shen has had a long and arduous journey to the western border. Once he returns from disaster relief, if he has some free time, he should come to Tingxuexuan to admire the flowers. I will invite him for tea."

Gao An was stunned for a moment, then his expression became extremely complicated. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but swallowed it back, only bowing his head to reply "Yes," before turning and running out.

The Imperial Study.

Xiao Jingyuan was reviewing official documents when Gao An rushed in and gave a detailed account of Xie Qinglan's invitation to Shen Hanzhou to admire the flowers.

The vermilion brush in Xiao Jingyuan's hand broke again.

He raised his head and looked at Gao An, his pale eyes swirling with anger.

"He invited Shen Hanzhou to admire the flowers? And to drink tea?"

Gao An shrank back, not daring to reply.

"By imperial decree, Shen Hanzhou need not wait until tomorrow; depart immediately."

"Your Majesty—" Gao An mustered his courage to remind him, "General Shen left before dawn. Your decree yesterday said 'early tomorrow morning,' but he left the city before dawn."

Xiao Jingyuan was silent for a moment, then threw the broken pen in his hand onto the table.

"He's lucky he ran fast."

Gao An breathed a sigh of relief and was about to leave when Xiao Jingyuan added, "Have someone send a message to Shen Hanzhou—he is not allowed to return to the capital as long as the snow in the western border continues. If he fails to provide adequate disaster relief, I will send him back to the northern border to eat sand for another five years."

Gao An readily agreed and withdrew.

Xiao Jingyuan sat alone behind his desk, opened a book and looked at it for a long time, but couldn't understand a single word.

His mind was filled with Xie Qinglan's tone when she told Shen Hanzhou to "come to Tingxuexuan to admire the flowers"—was it cold or warm?

He closed the folding book, stood up, paced around the hall a few times, then walked to the window and looked in the direction of Tingxue Pavilion.

I was very resentful.

He had planted a courtyard full of crabapple trees, but dared not go in to admire them. Shen Hanzhou called him "beauty" a few times, and he was invited in to enjoy the flowers and tea.

Tingxuexuan (Listening to Snow Pavilion)

Xie Qinglan sat under the crabapple tree, flipping through an old book. Gao An trotted in and told him that Xiao Jingyuan had ordered Shen Hanzhou to set off immediately and that he was not allowed to return to the capital until the snow stopped falling.

Xie Qinglan turned a page of the book, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

He closed the book, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. The tea was from the snow-capped mountains of Beishuo, slightly bitter at first, but with a lingering sweet aftertaste.

He suddenly felt that the tea was somewhat similar to that person—bitter and astringent at first sip, but with a subtle sweetness after swallowing.

That person is probably sitting in the imperial study right now, sulking over the cinnabar brush that he himself broke.

"Gao An."

"Your servant is here."

"Go and deliver another message." Xie Qinglan put down her teacup, her tone calm and collected. "Just say—I wish General Shen a safe journey, successful disaster relief, and a speedy return to the capital."

Gao An knelt down with a thud, his face contorted in a mournful cry: "Lord Xie, please spare this servant. And please, pass on this message: His Majesty intends to exile this servant to the Western Regions as well."

Xie Qinglan glanced at him, and the curve of her lips finally formed a complete, undisguised smile.

He lowered his head and continued flipping through the book, without saying another word.

Gao An knelt on the ground, clearly seeing that smile.

The smile on Xie Qinglan's face was fleeting, yet it melted away like ice and snow, a mixture of three parts mockery and seven parts tenderness.

Gao An pondered that smile over and over in his mind, then suddenly realized—this wasn't an invitation for General Shen to appreciate the flowers; it was clearly using General Shen as bait.

Lord Xie knew that General Shen would be punished for this. He was retaliating against General Shen's frivolous behavior yesterday. He even knew that every time he relayed a word for General Shen, one of His Majesty's cinnabar pens would break.

He knows everything. He did it on purpose.

Lord Xie is clearly teasing His Majesty.

Gao An knelt on the ground and suddenly felt that this prime minister from Nanyue was even more terrifying than their emperor.

He got up with a pained expression, dusted off his knees, and limped out—he still had to report, after all, he was a man of the Emperor's court.

As I walked out of the courtyard gate, I glanced back. The person under the crabapple tree had most of their profile obscured by the shadows of the flowers, with only the faint smile still visible at the corner of their lips.

Gao An sighed, thinking to himself that he really couldn't do this job anymore.

Xie Qinglan rose and walked to the crabapple tree, reaching out to catch a falling petal. The petal trembled slightly in his palm, like a startled butterfly. He lowered his eyes, looking at the petal, and suddenly uttered a soft sentence.

"Serves you right. Who told you not to come?"

Gao An knelt on the gold-brick floor of the imperial study, his head bowed low, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty... Lord Xie said... said he wished General Shen a safe journey, successful disaster relief, and an early return to the capital..."

Before he could finish speaking, the new vermilion pen that Xiao Jingyuan had just put in his hand snapped in two with a "crack".

This is the third one already.

The hall fell silent for a moment, so silent that Gao An could hear his own heartbeat. He secretly raised his eyes and saw that Xiao Jingyuan's face was expressionless, but the hand holding the broken pen was clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Return to the capital soon." Xiao Jingyuan uttered these four words over and over. "I had no idea he would care so much about Shen Hanzhou."

Gao An pressed his face to the ground, not daring to breathe. He wailed inwardly—Lord Xie, you really are… You know His Majesty's temperament perfectly well, yet you still insist on adding fuel to the fire.

Xiao Jingyuan threw away the broken pen, took a new one from the pen mountain, and opened a folding book, as if he had already put the matter aside.

He wrote two lines, paused for a moment, and then suddenly spoke without looking up: "Issue my decree. General Shen Hanzhou, after completing the disaster relief work in the western border, need not return to the capital. He shall remain in place and take charge of the military affairs in the western border. He shall not return to the capital without being summoned."

Gao An's mind went blank. The Western Frontier—it was an even harsher place than the Northern Frontier. At least the Northern Frontier had grasslands and warhorses, but the Western Frontier was nothing but desert and sandstorms, barely a blade of grass could grow there. His Majesty was exiling people to their deaths.

"Your Majesty... General Shen has been stationed in the northern border for many years, and the western border..."

"You want to go with him?" Xiao Jingyuan raised his eyes and looked at him coldly. Gao An's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.

"This servant wouldn't dare! This servant will go and deliver the imperial decree immediately!"

Gao An scrambled out of the room.

The Imperial Study fell silent once more. Xiao Jingyuan looked down at the folded document before him, the words line by line imprinted on his eyes, yet he couldn't decipher a single one. He put down his vermilion brush, leaned back in his dragon throne, and raised a hand to rub his temples.

On what grounds?

He gave away the sword he had forged himself when he was seventeen, moved the three best-blooming crabapple trees in the Imperial Garden to Tingxue Pavilion, and piled up all the best things in the world in front of him, yet he wanted to invite other men to admire the flowers and drink tea.

What makes Shen Hanzhou, that lecherous scoundrel, better than him? He only exchanged a few blows with him and called him "beauty" a few times, yet he's so eager to invite him for tea?

He wanted to rush to Tingxuexuan immediately, to pin Xie Qinglan against the crabapple tree and get to the bottom of things, and to drag that bastard Shen Hanzhou back from the Western Border and behead him.

But it's just a thought.

Xiao Jingyuan gave a wry smile. The smile had barely touched his lips when he suppressed it, and he reverted to his naturally dignified and imposing demeanor as an emperor.

In Tingxuexuan, the crabapple blossoms are in full bloom.

When Gao An reported the contents of the imperial edict to Xie Qinglan with a mournful face, the latter was holding the black-sheathed longsword and carefully wiping the blade with a silk cloth dipped in sword oil.

His hands were extremely steady, and his movements were unhurried, as if he were handling a very precious piece of porcelain.

After listening, Xie Qinglan paused slightly while wiping her sword, then continued wiping without even lifting her eyelids.

"...Stationed in the western border." He repeated softly, his voice devoid of any emotion.

Gao An cautiously observed his expression: "Lord Xie, General Shen... His Majesty is truly enraged this time, especially in the Western Regions..."

"I know." Xie Qinglan put down the silk cloth, placed the sword across her lap, and slowly ran her fingertips along the spine of the sword.

He lowered his eyes, and the corners of his lips curved into a very shallow, almost imperceptible smile.

This person hasn't changed at all.

She's still as jealous as ever.

He sheathed his sword, leaned against the stone table, and unconsciously stroked the gleaming black iron ring on the scabbard with his fingertips.

A crabapple petal was blown away by the wind, and one petal swirled and landed on the back of his hand. It was soft and pink, just like the one that had drifted in from outside the window of the Moon-Viewing Pavilion in his previous life.

He suddenly remembered his past life.

He hadn't deliberately tried to recall those things for a long time.

But at this moment, perhaps because the spring breeze was too gentle, or perhaps because the sword in my hand resembled that person so much, those images buried deep in the years suddenly surged up, as clear as if they had just happened yesterday.