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

Xie Qinglan was stunned.

Suicide? A final message?

He stared blankly at Xiao Jingyuan's red-rimmed eyes, a sudden burst of white light exploding in his mind.

He recalled how, before he died, Pei Yuning stood up, slowly pulled a piece of paper from her sleeve, and gently placed it on the table. It was his usual Nanyue plain paper, soft and resilient, with a subtle bamboo fragrance. At that time, the poison had penetrated to his bones, his vision was blurred, and he had no strength to read what was written on the paper.

It turned out to be a forged suicide note. Xiao Jingyuan had always believed that he had committed suicide.

Then he recalled everything from this life—Xiao Jingyuan's indifferent and detached gaze in the main hall, the vermilion ink mark in the post station that crossed out "Departure for Home", and the figure outside Tingxue Pavilion who, though unlocked, squatted on the roof every night.

As he tested the waters by pointing a sword at his own throat in the imperial study, Xiao Jingyuan grabbed the blade with his bare hands, his voice trembling as he said, "You're going to die again...you're going to die in front of me again..."

And then there was the time he accidentally cut his hand. That man rushed in, his eyes red as if they were about to bleed, and said, "I'll cut your wrist for you, don't ruin yourself."

...And then there was that guy who came to Tingxuexuan drunk, hugging his leg and saying sorry over and over again.

All the scattered fragments were pieced together in that instant.

All the escapism, restraint, fear, and self-destructive madness that he couldn't understand before now have an answer.

Without asking, he could guess what the suicide note said.

Before he died, he thought that Xiao Jingyuan would be saddened to see his body. But he never expected that Pei Yuning would be so vicious—not only did she poison him, but she also wanted Xiao Jingyuan to believe that he hated him so much that he would rather die than be imprisoned in Lanyue Pavilion.

He was so clingy, yet he managed to resist seeing him. He must have felt incredibly guilty, heartbroken, and filled with remorse.

Pei Yuning.

She not only took Xie Qinglan's life, but also ripped out Xiao Jingyuan's heart.

His resentful probing in this life, his deliberate aloofness and indifference, were like rubbing salt into Xiao Jingyuan's already bleeding wounds again and again.

Xie Qinglan's fingers were clenched so tightly they were cracking.

Seeing that he remained silent, Xiao Jingyuan's eyes reddened even more. He lowered his head, his voice broken and incoherent: "I always thought you hated me. You should hate me. I treated you like that in my past life, and in this life I locked you in Tingxue Pavilion, and treated you like that on the dragon bed... I thought you hated me again, I thought you would end up like you were in my past life..."

He choked back a sob, raising his hand to wipe away the tears on his face haphazardly, but the more he wiped, the more tears flowed. "But you kissed me yesterday. If you hate me, why did you kiss me? If you don't hate me, why did you die in your past life? I can't understand. I've thought about it all night. I'm really stupid, if you don't explain it clearly, I really won't understand—"

"Xiao Jingyuan".

Xie Qinglan stood up and walked to him. He squatted down, looked up at Xiao Jingyuan's tear-streaked face, and then reached out and gently wiped the tear stains from the man's cheek with his fingertips, the movement was incredibly gentle.

Xiao Jingyuan's crying stopped abruptly. He froze on the spot, staring wide-eyed at Xie Qinglan who was so close to him, forgetting even to breathe.

Xie Qinglan didn't look at him, but lowered her eyes and carefully wiped away the tears on his face, little by little.

Then he pulled Xiao Jingyuan's hand. The hand was clenched so tightly that the knuckles turned blue.

Xie Qinglan pried open his tightly clenched fingers one by one.

Xiao Jingyuan instinctively tried to pull back, but Xie Qinglan firmly grasped his wrist.

Several deep, bloody finger marks were visible on his palm, made by his fingernails. The edges of the wounds still bore the old scabs from last night, stained dark red by the newly seeping blood. Beside them were two longer, pale pink scars—these were left when he blocked the sword with his bare hands, extending from the base of his thumb to his wrist.

He took out a clean, plain handkerchief from his clothes, covered the still slightly bleeding palm, gently wrapped it around, and tied a neat knot.

"Stop pinching me." Xie Qinglan lowered her head, her voice soft, carrying a hint of barely perceptible heartache.

Xiao Jingyuan stared at him blankly, frozen in place as if he had been frozen in place by a spell.

Xie Qinglan stood up, gently tugged at Xiao Jingyuan's sleeve, pulled him to the bedside, and pressed his shoulders to make him sit down: "Wait here for me for a while."

"Where are you going?" Xiao Jingyuan suddenly grabbed his wrist, the force so strong that Xie Qinglan frowned slightly, then quickly released it as if burned. "Qinglan, I won't ask anymore... If you don't want to talk about it, then don't... Don't go..."

"I will return shortly." Xie Qinglan looked at him, paused, and reached into Xiao Jingyuan's sleeve to take out the golden token that could command the Imperial Guards. "Your Majesty, please do not follow me."

Xiao Jingyuan instinctively reached for his wrist again, his hand, wrapped in a handkerchief, trembling slightly. Xie Qinglan gently patted the back of his hand twice in a soothing manner, then raised his other hand and gently stroked the top of Xiao Jingyuan's head. The movement was very light, like comforting a frightened wolfhound.

"Be good, listen to me."

Xiao Jingyuan slowly loosened his grip.

Xie Qinglan turned and walked out of the hall. Her moon-white robes were billowed by the morning breeze as she crossed the threshold, like a cold sword drawn from its sheath.

He gently closed the palace door. Then, all the gentleness on his face vanished the moment he turned away, leaving only boundless rage and murderous intent.

His figure blurred into a fleeting shadow, his moon-white robes sweeping across the palace path, the wind he stirred up sending crabapple petals flying everywhere.

The guards along the way only saw a flash of white light, and didn't even have time to make out the outline of the person. By the time they reacted, the light had already disappeared at the end of the palace road.

The gates of Chang Le Palace were tightly shut. Xie Qinglan did not stop. With a flick of his finger, the golden token caused the imperial guards at the gate to kneel down in unison.

With a light tap of his toes, he channeled all his inner strength into a kick at the palace door. The heavy nanmu wood door, along with its frame, flew out with a crash, slamming heavily onto the gold-brick floor, causing the candlelight inside the palace to flicker wildly and shattering porcelain fragments to fly everywhere.

The palace maids and eunuchs inside the hall were terrified, screaming and kneeling on the ground. Xie Qinglan didn't even glance at them, walked straight to the bed, yanked back the brocade quilt, and pulled Pei Yuning, who was still asleep, out of bed.

Pei Yuning was startled awake by this sudden turn of events. She fell heavily onto the gold bricks, her knees hitting the cold brick surface, causing her to scream in pain.

She looked up and saw Xie Qinglan standing in front of her—wearing a moon-white brocade robe and a jade hairpin in her hair, just as she had dressed when she last came to Chang Le Palace.

But that usually calm face was now filled with a fury she had never seen before. It wasn't indifference, it wasn't disgust, it wasn't a condescending judgment—it was a genuine, surging rage filled with a murderous intent capable of destroying the world.

The last time Xie Qinglan came to feed her poison, he still maintained his usual indifferent demeanor, but now he exuded a chilling murderous aura, and his eyes, which were usually as clear and cold as a deep pool, were burning with fierce flames.

"Xie Qinglan—you're insane—" Pei Yuning's voice became shrill and distorted as she struggled to get up from the ground.

Before she could regain her footing, a slap landed heavily on her face. Xie Qinglan didn't use any internal force in this slap, but she used all her strength, sending Pei Yuning flying. She crashed into the wall with a dull thud. Her head hit the cold brick wall, blood instantly seeped from the corner of her mouth, and half of her face swelled up visibly.

Before she could catch her breath, Xie Qinglan was already in front of her, grabbing her collar and lifting her up from the ground. Before Pei Yuning could even speak, another slap landed. Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth slap—

Pei Yuning's screams went from sharp to hoarse, and from hoarse to indistinct sobs. Her face was so swollen that it was unrecognizable, blood was seeping from her mouth and nose, her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were covered with broken porcelain and bloodstains.

Finally, she couldn't even whimper anymore. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, her body limp and collapsed to the ground.

Xie Qinglan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, released his grip, and Pei Yuning's body fell heavily to the ground. He took a step back, straightened his slightly disheveled sleeves, and disgustedly wiped away the few drops of blood that had stained his clothes.

He took out a plain handkerchief from his sleeve, wiped the remaining blood off his fingers bit by bit, and casually tossed it to Pei Yuning's side.

"Although you haven't done it yet in this life, I'm still so angry that I can only take it out on you."