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

Xiao Jingyuan froze completely. He remained half-pressed on his back, his arms tightly wrapped around his waist, his mind blank. His lips moved a few times before he managed to stammer, "You...you're awake?"

"I..." He swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. He instinctively tried to move back, but his body wouldn't obey him and remained rooted to the spot. "I'm going to sleep."

Xie Qinglan didn't move or turn around; her voice remained calm and cold.

"...Does sleeping require this?"

Xiao Jingyuan could feel his ears burning. He coughed, trying to make his voice sound righteous: "I didn't mean to. It...it itself..."

He couldn't make up any more stories, so he decided to give up and tighten his arms around Xie Qinglan, pulling her even closer to him.

"Get down." Xie Qinglan's voice wasn't loud, but it was as cold as ice.

Xiao Jingyuan remained unmoved.

"Get down," Xie Qinglan said again, her tone even colder than before.

"No." Xiao Jingyuan's voice was muffled, with an almost coquettish stubbornness.

Xie Qinglan raised his hand to pry Xiao Jingyuan's arm off, but the arm holding him wouldn't budge. He struggled, but couldn't break free; instead, the grip tightened.

"You—" His voice was tinged with exasperation.

He pushed his elbows back and struggled forward, trying to break free from Xiao Jingyuan's embrace. But Xiao Jingyuan's arms were too tight, like two iron hoops welded to his waist, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't budge an inch.

Their bodies rubbed against each other through the thin fabric of their clothes, but instead of making Xiao Jingyuan let go, it only fueled the fire within him.

"Don't move."

Xiao Jingyuan gasped as he was rubbed against him, tightening his grip on him and holding his waist with his other hand to prevent him from moving.

Then he lowered his head, pressed his lips to Xie Qinglan's nape, and kissed him all the way down from the hairline to the collar, his lips sticky and wet, until he gently sucked on Xie Qinglan's earlobe.

Xie Qinglan's struggle suddenly froze.

"No." His voice was still cold, but the last syllable involuntarily rose slightly. "Xiao Jingyuan."

Xiao Jingyuan was completely deaf to reason. He was utterly captivated by the person in his arms—the scent of his body, the feel of his skin, the slight warmth of his earlobe against his lips, and the involuntary tension in his body despite his cold expression. All of this acted like the strongest aphrodisiac, shattering the last vestiges of Xiao Jingyuan's reason.

"Qinglan, you smell so good." He buried his face in Xie Qinglan's shoulder, took a deep breath, and said in a hoarse and indistinct voice with an almost obsessive intoxication, "Qinglan, please take care of me."

Xie Qinglan fell silent. He buried his head in the brocade pillow, his back to Xiao Jingyuan, leaving only a section of his fair and taut neck exposed to him.

Xiao Jingyuan pressed his lips to her neck, kissing the delicate skin, sucking on it gently, while his hand slowly slid down her waist.

His voice was extremely low, hoarse with an almost pleading tone: "I've endured this for more than half a year. Every night I squat on the roof just listening to your breathing, and I miss you terribly."

He grabbed Xie Qinglan's hand and pressed it against his lower abdomen without saying a word. The temperature there was astonishingly hot; he could feel the burning heat and hardness even through the fabric.

"Look, here with me—it gets like this whenever it touches you, I can't control it either."

Xie Qinglan forcefully pulled his hand back, shoving his elbow sharply backward. His voice remained cold, but carried a hint of barely perceptible annoyance: "What does this have to do with me?"

Xiao Jingyuan grunted but didn't let go; instead, he tightened his grip even more.

He buried his face in Xie Qinglan's shoulder, his lips pressed against his shoulder blade, and murmured sweetly, "Of course it's related to you."

"You are mine. You are my only one. If I don't turn to you, who else can I turn to?"

As he spoke, he unconsciously leaned closer to Xie Qinglan.

Xie Qinglan's body tensed slightly for a moment. His voice remained deep and cold, but beneath that coldness, a barely suppressed turmoil was brewing: "You're being insolent—"

Xiao Jingyuan was slightly sobered up by his rebuke, but he became even more excited.

He had already untied Xie Qinglan's sash with one hand, pushing his nightgown down to reveal one shoulder and a large expanse of smooth back. Moonlight fell upon it, like a layer of fragile silver frost, and even the curve of his spine was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Good Qinglan, please allow me to be presumptuous just this once, okay? Just this once." His voice was low and husky, his lips pressed against Xie Qinglan's nape, his hot breath hitting that fair skin, stirring a slight shiver. He didn't wait for Xie Qinglan's reply—he knew that person wouldn't answer.

"I'll be gentle, I won't hurt you." His hand had already slipped under the hem of his nightgown, his fingertips touching his smooth back, and slowly stroking upwards along the beautiful spine.

"roll."

"I'm not leaving."

"For the past six months..." His voice muffled against Xie Qinglan's nape, carrying a hint of grievance and a long-suppressed desire, "I'm almost going crazy."

He gently bit a small piece of flesh on the back of Xie Qinglan's neck with his teeth, rubbed it for a moment, then released it, licking the faint tooth mark with the tip of his tongue. "You ate her noodles today, and I'm very angry. You have to make it up to me."

His hand slid from his waist to his lower abdomen, his palm slowly moving down the thin layer of skin. He paused for a moment when his fingertips touched his underwear, as if waiting for a rejection.

Xie Qinglan remained silent. He buried his face even deeper, his exposed neck taut into a stiff line, his fingertips clenching the quilt into deep wrinkles, but he still didn't utter the word "no."

Xiao Jingyuan took a deep breath and, with trembling fingers, pulled down his underwear.

When his fingers pressed on that softest spot, Xie Qinglan's body trembled violently.

Xiao Jingyuan sensed it. In the darkness, he curved the corners of his mouth into a smile, leaned close to Xie Qinglan's ear, and said in a hoarse and hot voice, "Qinglan, you're so hot."

Xie Qinglan gritted her teeth and squeezed out two words: "...Shut up."

Xiao Jingyuan didn't shut up. His movements were extremely light and slow, as if he were handling a rare treasure. He traced the outline of the person in his arms with his fingertips while rubbing his lips against Xie Qinglan's earlobe, coaxing her indistinctly, "Tell me if it hurts."

"...Bastard." Xie Qinglan's muffled voice came from under the pillow.

Xiao Jingyuan chuckled, a low, hoarse laugh carrying an almost obsessive satisfaction.

He finally embraced Xie Qinglan completely.

In that instant, everything in heaven and earth vanished. Only their burning body heat and frantic heartbeats remained, weaving a web in the silent night.

Xiao Jingyuan closed his eyes, panting heavily, beads of sweat dripping from his chin and landing on Xie Qinglan's collarbone, spreading out a small wet patch.

He dared not move, afraid that he would lose control if he did. After a long while, he began to move cautiously, as if testing Xie Qinglan's bottom line.

But the tender, lingering affection was too alluring. He gritted his teeth and held on for a moment, but his movements gradually became out of control.

The gauze curtains swayed gently in the night breeze, and the moonlight shattered into pieces of silver foil, falling on the intertwined figures of the two. The brocade quilt billowed like waves, concealing all the ambiguity and tenderness beneath.

Xie Qinglan kept her back to him, burying her face deeply in the brocade pillow, not even letting out a soft sob.

But his body was soft—Xiao Jingyuan could feel it; the body he held in his arms wasn't truly resisting. His waist was soft, his shoulders were soft, even his breath was soft.

He was kicked out of bed just before dawn.

The kick was harder than usual—probably because Xiao Jingyuan had not only clung to him for most of the night, but had also kept pestering him while he was half asleep, waking him up and coaxing him to continue, only stopping in the latter half of the night.

Xie Qinglan sat on the bed, her inner robe torn and disheveled. Her face regained its usual aloofness, with only a trace of red remaining at the corner of her eyes.

"Get out."

Xiao Jingyuan got up from the ground, rubbing his waist where he had been kicked. He looked up and saw the messy red marks on Xie Qinglan's neck, and couldn't help but smirk.

He picked up his outer robe, which had fallen to the ground, and put it on. As he walked to the door, he glanced back at Xie Qinglan. The man was quickly pulling up the blanket to cover the marks on his neck, as if he were hiding something he couldn't tell anyone.

Xiao Jingyuan chuckled softly. The faint scent of agarwood lingered around his nose. Just as he was about to turn around and steal another kiss, he suddenly heard the crisp clanging of iron horses on the eaves.