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

Xie Qinglan slowly turned around and looked towards the corner of the courtyard.

His gaze fell on the figure struggling to get up from the grass, his eyes still showing no emotion, only his fingers gripping the sword hilt loosened slightly.

Xiao Jingyuan brushed the grass clippings off his clothes, looked up and met Xie Qinglan's gaze. His first thought was—it's over.

Not only was he caught peeping, but he also appeared so embarrassed in front of Xie Qinglan.

He stood there helplessly, his fingers twisting the hole in his dragon robe, trying to explain something, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"I...I didn't peek." After struggling for a long time, he finally managed to utter this sentence, his voice extremely weak, "I was just...passing by."

Seeing his embarrassed state, Xie Qinglan suppressed the urge to smile and did not expose his lie. She simply sheathed the "Gui Lan" sword and said calmly, "Your Majesty's lightness skill has declined considerably. Back in the Western Region, Your Majesty could leap down from a three-zhang-high city wall, but now you can't even steadily climb over this three-chi-low wall."

Xiao Jingyuan disregarded his embarrassment and anger, his eyes fixed on Xie Qinglan, his gaze involuntarily drifting towards the sword in Xie Qinglan's hand.

The longsword that had been gleaming coldly just moments before was now safely sheathed in its ebony sheath and casually held in the man's hand. The leather cord wrapped around the hilt rested precisely on the web of his hand—the sword he had hammered out one hammer blow at a time in the iron mine when he was seventeen seemed to have been tailor-made for Xie Qinglan.

"This sword..." he began, his voice still carrying a hint of lingering embarrassment, yet unable to suppress a cautious anticipation, "Do you like it?"

Xie Qinglan glanced down at the sword in her hand, her fingertips casually tracing the gleaming black iron scabbard. She looked up, her tone calm yet resolute: "Yes, it's a good sword."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Jingyuan's eyes lit up instantly, revealing a hint of barely concealed nervousness. He asked, "What does it mean that you named it Guilan?"

After asking the question, he even lowered his breathing, staring intently at Xie Qinglan's face, afraid of missing any expression.

Xie Qinglan lowered her eyes, her fingers slowly stroking the sword sheath, feeling the cool black iron ring in her palm. The love and hatred of two lifetimes, the unspoken forgiveness and stirrings of the heart, the tenderness hidden deep in her heart, all ultimately turned into a single, faint word.

"I really like this sword, it's mine now."

—The one who gave me the sword, now belongs to me.

The words swirled in his mind, but he ultimately didn't say them aloud. However, the barely perceptible blush on the tips of his ears betrayed his true feelings.

Xiao Jingyuan was suddenly stunned, as if he hadn't reacted yet.

He had imagined countless answers, from the poetic imagery of "a boat returning home under the moon" to the expectation of "peace and tranquility on the sea," but he never expected such a straightforward and domineering statement.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything for a long time. He felt as if something had hit his chest hard, making him feel sore and swollen, with a sweet feeling surging up and almost overflowing from his eyes.

His lips curled up uncontrollably, then he forced them down, only to have them curl up again and then be forced down again, before finally managing to stammer out, "I see... I see."

Xie Qinglan glanced at him but said nothing more. He turned and walked into the hall. After a few steps, seeing no footsteps following behind, he turned his head slightly.

The twilight fell on his profile, gilding it with a cold, golden edge, making his already handsome features appear even more otherworldly.

"Since you're here, come in and have a cup of tea before you leave. The spring chill hasn't completely dissipated yet, and you might catch a cold if you stand for too long."

Xiao Jingyuan abruptly raised his head, unable to believe his ears. "You...you let me in?"

Xie Qinglan did not turn around, but simply pushed open the palace door, which creaked softly.

"If Your Majesty does not wish to leave, please do so."

"Yes! I want to!" Xiao Jingyuan replied hastily and quickly followed.

He followed Xie Qinglan cautiously, watching the moon-white hem of her robe sweep across the fallen crabapple petals. His heart pounded like a deer, filled with both joy and trepidation, and he dared not even breathe too heavily.

The tea in the hall had been brewed. Xie Qinglan asked him to sit down at the table, then went to the tea stove, took out a new white porcelain teacup, rinsed it with boiling water, and placed it on the table.

Then, lifting the teapot, the emerald green tea was poured into the cup, and wisps of steam rose, blurring the shadows of the flowers outside the window.

Xiao Jingyuan took the teacup with both hands, his fingertips accidentally touching Xie Qinglan's fingertips.

Xie Qinglan's hand was cold; she immediately withdrew it the moment she touched him, lowered her eyes to look at the tea in the cup, her long eyelashes casting a faint shadow under her eyes, her expression devoid of any other emotion.

The hall was quiet. The only sounds were the rustling of the wind blowing through the crabapple blossoms outside the window and the soft hum of steam rising from the teacups.

Xiao Jingyuan held his teacup, racking his brains for something to say, only to find that all his eloquence had vanished in an instant. He could usually dismiss ministers without batting an eye in the imperial court and command the army with a booming voice on the battlefield, but now, facing Xie Qinglan who was quietly drinking tea, he didn't even know where to put his hands.

Xie Qinglan held her teacup, her gaze sweeping over the rim of the cup, taking in the restless state of the person opposite her.

He put down his teacup and suddenly spoke, "Your Majesty, General Shen has not committed a serious crime. Let's just scare him a little. Let him return after the disaster relief work is over."

He had deliberately had Gao An deliver those ambiguous messages, partly to tease the man—he knew Xiao Jingyuan was extremely jealous and would definitely react angrily if the message was relayed. He didn't want to actually cause Shen Hanzhou's exile to the western border, nor did he want Xiao Jingyuan to gain a reputation for mistreating meritorious officials over such a trivial matter.

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Jingyuan's hand holding the teacup tightened suddenly, his knuckles turning white.

He looked up at Xie Qinglan, his tone instantly turning somber, filled with intense jealousy and resentment: "You care about him that much?"

Xie Qinglan paused in her tea-serving motion, and looking at his suddenly cold expression, she was speechless for a moment.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the anger rising in his heart, and patiently explained, "I dislike General Shen, Your Majesty need not be too angry with him."

But Xiao Jingyuan interpreted these words differently—he was pleading for Shen Hanzhou.

"You're just going to protect him like this!" Xiao Jingyuan's voice rose a few decibels, his eyes slightly red, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"..."

Xie Qinglan fell silent.

The more he explained, the more enthusiastic the man became. In his past life, he had seen countless conspiracies and tricks and dealt with countless treacherous villains, but he just couldn't do anything about this stubborn tyrant.

Xiao Jingyuan interpreted this silence as tacit agreement.

His heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an icy hand, aching and sore. He stared intently at Xie Qinglan, as if trying to find some flaw in his face, but Xie Qinglan simply lowered his eyes, looking at the tea in his cup, his expression calm and undisturbed.

Seeing that he remained silent, Xiao Jingyuan's anger intensified. He gripped the teacup in his hand so tightly that it creaked, as if it would shatter in his grasp at any moment.

He gritted his teeth, his voice low and deep: "You've only met him once, yet you've come to beg me for his sake! In your past life, you were willing to risk your life for Pei Yuning, and now you're doing this for Shen Hanzhou..."

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, not daring to continue.

Seeing his unreasonable behavior, Xie Qinglan also lost her temper.

He slammed the teacup down on the table, spilling a few drops of tea onto the surface. He gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "Your Majesty, please return."

Xiao Jingyuan was stunned.

He hadn't expected Xie Qinglan to suddenly kick him out. Looking at Xie Qinglan's cold expression and the undisguised impatience in his eyes, he felt both pain and grievance in his heart.

He wanted to say, "I'm just jealous," and "I'm afraid you'll fall for someone else," but what came out of his mouth was a curt, "Fine."

He suddenly stood up, his movement so abrupt that he knocked over the stool behind him, making a loud crash.

Xiao Jingyuan didn't help her up, but instead gave Xie Qinglan a deep look. His eyes held grievance, anger, and a hint of barely perceptible hurt.

Then he turned around and strode out of the hall, his steps quick and heavy, as if he were venting something.

He slammed the palace door shut with a loud bang, causing the crabapple petals on the window frame to fall in a flurry.

Xie Qinglan sat there, staring at the tightly closed palace doors, then at the two cups of tea on the table that had gone cold, and finally couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "So stupid."