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

Xie Qinglan was pressed onto the horse's back. The jolting caused his old injury to throb with pain, making his back tense slightly and his fingertips clench the horse's mane.

Xiao Jingyuan noticed immediately. He tightened his arms, holding the man even closer in his embrace, his chin resting on the cool top of his head, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear it, trembling with an almost pleading tone:

"Why do you insist on leaving? What am I not good enough for? Tell me, and I will change. What do you want? I will give you. What do you want to do? I will allow you. There is only one condition—you cannot leave me."

Xie Qinglan's struggle paused for a moment, then she gritted her teeth and said, "Let me go."

Xiao Jingyuan ignored him. Instead of taking Xie Qinglan back to Lanyue Pavilion, he took him back to his own palace.

The bedroom door slammed shut, and the candlelight flickered violently. The bright yellow curtains billowed in the wind, and the soft cushions on the floor were kicked into disarray. Xie Qinglan was pressed into the thick brocade quilt, and just as she was about to sit up, a heavy figure covered her.

"Xiao Jingyuan—you're insane!" Xie Qinglan raised her hand to push him away, but he grabbed both her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand, the force so strong that her wrist bones ached.

"I've gone mad." Xiao Jingyuan looked down at him, his pale eyes as dark as the sea before a storm, churning with too many things—anger, jealousy, possessiveness, and a twisted madness after being hurt to the extreme. "I've been mad for a long time. I've been mad since the first day I saw you."

He lowered his head and buried it in Xie Qinglan's neck, his teeth gently grinding against the already bruised and mottled skin, leaving fresh marks.

Xie Qinglan grunted and tried to pull her leg up, but he used his knee to hold her down, making her unable to move.

"You're protecting her." Xiao Jingyuan raised his head, a trace of blood on his lips, his voice hoarse and barely audible. "You risked your life for her. What's so good about her? I am the ruler of a nation—in what way am I inferior to her? What she can give you, I can give you as well. What she cannot give, I can also give you."

His fingertips slipped inside his clothes, the black cloak slipped off his shoulders, and the collar of his moon-white undergarment was torn open.

The sound of tearing fabric was particularly jarring in the empty bedchamber. Xie Qinglan felt a chill run down her spine as the old, lingering marks were now fully exposed to Xiao Jingyuan's gaze.

Xiao Jingyuan's eyes darkened as he looked at the marks.

He leaned down and kissed his way down Xie Qinglan's jawline, his movements quick and forceful, not like tenderness, but more like stamping—using his lips and teeth to leave his own unique mark on that jade-like skin. Each time he touched an old mark, he would stop, gently rub it with his teeth, and then suck out an even deeper imprint.

"You belong to me. From head to toe, every single hair on your head belongs to me." His voice was muffled, his lips pressed against Xie Qinglan's neck, his breath hot and scalding. "Don't pay attention to anyone else."

Xie Qinglan turned her head away from him, biting her lips until they turned white, and remained silent.

But Xiao Jingyuan wouldn't allow him to remain silent. He grabbed Xie Qinglan's chin, forcing him to turn his face and look at him.

"Look at me." His thumb caressed Xie Qinglan's lips, the pressure a little too strong, making her already chapped lips turn slightly red. "She's just a princess sent for a political marriage, she can't give you anything. Follow me, and I can give you anything."

Xie Qinglan finally spoke, her voice cold and hoarse, each word like a blade: "Besides coercion, what else can you do?"

Xiao Jingyuan's expression faltered for a moment. Then he smiled—a smile completely different from his usual self, not the majesty of an emperor, nor the triumph of a conqueror, but a twisted self-mockery born from the deepest wounds.

"force?"

"Very well. Then today I will show you what true coercion is."

He abruptly flipped the man over and pressed him onto the brocade quilt, his arms encircling his waist like iron hoops, trapping him tightly in his embrace. His fingernails almost dug into his flesh, the force so heavy it felt as if he wanted to knead the man into his very bones.

There was not a trace of pity, not a trace of tenderness.

Xie Qinglan bit her lip hard, swallowing all the sounds into her throat, only letting out a broken groan.

"Does it hurt?" Xiao Jingyuan whispered in his ear, his voice deep and hoarse, filled with suppressed pain. "But I hurt more than you. Every time you push me away, every time you look at me with that cold gaze, this part of me—"

He grabbed Xie Qinglan's hand and pressed it against his chest, where his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was about to explode. "It hurts a hundred times more than you are right now."

Receiving no response, he silently tightened his arms, repeatedly leaving deeper marks on Xie Qinglan's neck and collarbone, refusing to give him even a chance to breathe.

Xie Qinglan was held tightly around the waist by him, trapped between his burning embrace and the cold brocade mattress, unable to escape or hide.

He bit his pillow, swallowing all the sounds, but his body's instincts couldn't lie—he was trembling uncontrollably, from his fingertips to his back.

Xiao Jingyuan held his shoulder and lifted him up from the pillow, making him lean against the quilt in a half-lying position. One hand was firmly placed on his waist, while the other hand gently turned his chin, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze.

Xie Qinglan's eyes were red, and her lips were bitten until they bled, but there were no tears in her eyes, only stubbornness and unyieldingness.

"Say it—" Xiao Jingyuan's voice pressed against Xie Qinglan's ear, low and obsessive, with an irresistible force, "Say you will not leave me."

Xie Qinglan closed her eyes, refusing to look at him or speak.

The last glimmer of clarity in Xiao Jingyuan's eyes was completely extinguished. From the dragon bed to the low couch by the window, and then to the floor covered with a thick carpet, the two were entangled in each other, leaving marks of varying depths on every surface.

The light outside the window shifted, from the blazing white of midday to the dim yellow of dusk, before plunging into the endless night. He couldn't remember how many candles had burned out, only that each time he paused briefly, looking at the thin figure curled up in a ball, the almost desperate possessiveness in his heart burned even more fiercely.

He wanted him. He wanted everything about him. His body, his heart, his every smile and frown, his cold words. He wanted him by his side, for a lifetime.

But this person refused. This person would rather run back to Nanyue with another woman than stay by his side.

Why? What's wrong with him? He is the supreme ruler, the emperor who holds the power over the world, yet in front of Xie Qinglan, he can't even get a proper smile.

One last time, he gently pressed the person down onto the soft carpet and leaned close.

Xie Qinglan had long since lost the strength to struggle, and could only lean weakly against his chest, letting him hold her close.

His consciousness had long since sunk into the depths of chaos, leaving only a sliver of clarity. He bit his lip tightly, refusing to utter a sound.

Xiao Jingyuan leaned down and buried his face in the back of Xie Qinglan's neck. He loosened his arms from tightly holding Xie Qinglan and instead hugged her carefully, his fingertips gently brushing against the red marks on the side of Xie Qinglan's neck, his movements as light as if he were touching a fragile treasure.

"I don't want to treat you like this." His voice was muffled, with a slight hoarseness. "But I have no choice. Teach me. What do you want? Just tell me. As long as you tell me, I'll give you anything."

Xie Qinglan didn't speak. He kept his eyes closed, a fine mist clinging to his eyelashes, but he never let that mist turn into a tear.

As dawn broke, Xiao Jingyuan finally loosened his grip on her and stepped back.

Xie Qinglan lay on the thick blanket, his body covered with red marks of varying shades, even his fingertips were pale with exhaustion. He had long since exhausted all his strength, his consciousness completely sinking into boundless darkness, and he was completely unaware when Xiao Jingyuan picked him up and placed him back on the bed, gently wiping the sweat from his body with a warm brocade towel.