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

After spending the night at Tingxuexuan, Xiao Jingyuan never returned to Yangxin Hall.

In his past life, Xie Qinglan was cold to him, yet he still managed to pester her relentlessly. Now that he's tasted the sweetness of it, he's even more unwilling to leave her side.

Aside from morning court sessions and necessary military duties, he spent all his time clinging to Xie Qinglan, insisting on sleeping in her arms at night, saying that the blankets in Tingxuexuan were warmer than those in Yangxindian.

Within a few days, he couldn't even stay in the Imperial Study anymore.

On this day, Gao An led two eunuchs carrying a memorial that was half a person tall. As he stepped into the courtyard, panting, Xie Qinglan was sitting under the crabapple tree brewing tea.

A bowl of emerald green tea floated in the celadon teacup, and wisps of steam curled around the ends of his loose hair.

He glanced up at the mountain of folded paper, then his gaze fell on Xiao Jingyuan, who was following behind him, and his fingers, which were holding a teacup, paused slightly.

"Why did Your Majesty bring all these memorials here?"

"Tingxue Pavilion is quiet, so I can concentrate on my reviews." Xiao Jingyuan sat down opposite the stone table without changing his expression, took the vermilion pen from Gao An, and opened the first book.

He wrote two lines of comments, put down his pen, and glanced at Xie Qinglan. He wrote two more lines, put down his pen again, and glanced at Xie Qinglan once more.

Xie Qinglan couldn't read under his gaze, so she closed the book and said, "Why is Your Majesty looking at me instead of properly reviewing the memorials?"

Xiao Jingyuan had been waiting for these words. He handed the vermilion brush to Xie Qinglan, rubbing his wrist and feigning discomfort: "Qinglan, my hand is sore."

"Your Majesty used to personally lead troops into battle and defeat seven generals without ever complaining, but now you treat a few imperial edicts as precious documents." Xie Qinglan turned a page of the book without even lifting her eyelids.

"That's different." Xiao Jingyuan moved half a foot closer to him, his tone self-righteous. "The old fogies in the Ministry of Revenue write like ants crawling; it hurts my eyes. You read a few books to me."

Xie Qinglan looked up and met his bright, sparkling eyes, like a big dog wagging its tail for food.

After a brief standoff, Xie Qinglan finally looked away, took the vermilion brush, and picked up the folding book.

His voice was clear and unhurried. When he encountered the Ministry of Revenue's convoluted account books, he automatically eliminated the unnecessary details and got straight to the point in just a few sentences, several times faster than Xiao Jingyuan could flip through them himself.

Xiao Jingyuan sat beside him, resting his chin on his hand, listening to the voice flowing in his ears. He would occasionally respond with a "yes" or "no," his fingertips unconsciously tapping the stone table, and he couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from his mouth.

"Your Majesty is taking it too easy to review these memorials." Xie Qinglan flipped to the last document, the Ministry of War's border defense reports, glanced at it, wrote a line at the end, and handed it back to Xiao Jingyuan.

Xiao Jingyuan took it and saw that the handwriting on the vermilion note was exactly the same as his own, but it was not the "I know" that he usually wrote, but "This matter is being planned, you can rest assured."

He closed the folded booklet, placed it on the stack that had been approved, and smiled broadly: "From now on, I'll approve all the folded books for you."

Xie Qinglan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said calmly, "Your Majesty, why don't you offer me the dragon throne as well?"

"Is that okay?" Xiao Jingyuan's eyes lit up instantly.

Xie Qinglan put down her teacup, stood up and walked into the hall, leaving him with only a cold and indifferent back view.

Xiao Jingyuan smiled and picked up his vermilion pen to continue annotating the remaining folds, his brushstrokes becoming lighter and quicker.

Even those official memorials criticizing him for "neglecting his duties and indulging in sensual pleasures" were only answered with a simple "I understand" and left unresolved, without the usual punishment of summoning the officials to kneel in punishment.

Within three to five days, the entire court of officials realized that something was amiss.

As the court session ended, the Vice Minister of War tugged at the sleeve of the Vice Minister of Revenue and asked in a low voice, "Don't you think His Majesty's temper has been unusually good lately?"

"It's more than good. This morning, I submitted a memorial that miscalculated the amount of grain. His Majesty only circled the mistake and asked me to recalculate it. In the past, he would have punished me with three months' salary and scolded me in court so badly that I couldn't lift my head."

The Vice Minister of Revenue patted his chest, still shaken. "What do you think happened?"

"Could it be that His Majesty is in a good mood because the Flower Festival is approaching?"

"The Flower Festival comes every year, but have you ever seen His Majesty like this?"

"Could it be because Consort Ning was deposed, making the harem quieter?"

The Vice Minister of War looked around and leaned close to his ear, "I heard that His Majesty goes to Tingxue Pavilion every day because he's being kept in check by that Prime Minister Xie from Nanyue."

The two exchanged a glance and silently kept quiet.

The news spread quickly. At first, some people didn't believe it, until Xiao Jingyuan became too lazy to even return to the Imperial Study to meet with his ministers, and instead sent people to wait in the side hall of Tingxue Pavilion. Later, he simply stopped using the side hall altogether and just placed two chairs under the crabapple tree, where any matters could be discussed on the spot.

At first, the civil and military officials felt that it was against etiquette, but after going there a few times, they found that holding meetings in Tingxuexuan was a hundred times more comfortable than in the Imperial Study.

In the past, in the imperial study, if a memorial was written incorrectly, it would be scolded; if it was written perfunctorily, it would be thrown; and if it was written too long, it would be considered verbose.

With Prime Minister Xie sitting beside him, His Majesty was like a wolf whose fur had been stroked, and even his imperial edicts became much gentler.

The usual phrases like "Outrageous!", "How dare you!", and "Rewrite!" have gradually changed to "This matter is still worth considering!", "Let's discuss it later!", and "You've put in a lot of effort, my dear minister."

The Minister of Rites, Zhao Qian, once submitted a plan for the spring sacrifice, which was praised with the words, "My dear minister, your thoughts are thorough, and I am very pleased." He held the document and read it over and over again three times to make sure that his old eyes were not failing him. After returning home, he quietly set up a longevity tablet for Xie Qinglan.

That afternoon, as usual, Xiao Jingyuan was leaning over the stone table listening to Xie Qinglan read the memorials. After finishing the last memorial about the Ministry of Revenue's spring plowing funds, Xie Qinglan was about to close the scroll when her wrist was pressed down.

"Qinglan." Xiao Jingyuan clenched his sleeve, his voice soft. "On the fifteenth of February, the Flower Festival, the Ministry of Rites is hosting a banquet in the Imperial Garden. All the imperial relatives and officials will be there. Will you accompany me?"

Xie Qinglan looked up. He had seen the Flower Festival recorded in the "Northern Shuo Customs Records". In his previous life, he was in a cold war with Xiao Jingyuan at this time. That person did not invite him, but secretly placed a crabapple blossom by his pillow in the middle of the night.

At this moment, Xiao Jingyuan's eyes shone like stars, filled with anticipation and trepidation, like a big dog waiting for its master to nod.

Xie Qinglan nodded: "Okay."

Xiao Jingyuan smiled instantly and beckoned to Gao An. Gao An trotted over carrying a brocade box, opened it, and inside was a vermilion brocade robe. The color was as pure as a burning sunset, with dark begonia patterns embroidered on the collar and cuffs, and a circle of fine silver thread around the neckline.

"I had it made hastily; it's made of Shu brocade. Try it on."

Xie Qinglan stared at the crimson robe and remained silent for a moment. In his previous life, when he first met Xiao Jingyuan, he was wearing the crimson court robe of the Prime Minister of Nanyue, which was then torn to shreds by this man that very night.

He didn't say anything, took the clothes, turned around, and went into the hall.

A moment later, the palace door was pushed open, and all the crabapple blossoms in the courtyard seemed to have lost their color.

Xie Qinglan stood at the doorway, dressed in crimson. His dark hair was unbound and fell over his shoulders, making his skin appear even whiter than snow. Crimson was an extremely vibrant color, but it was perfectly tempered by his cool and aloof demeanor. His refined appearance revealed a striking beauty, and even the stray strand of hair falling by his temple seemed to have been carefully drawn.

Xiao Jingyuan slammed the teacup in his hand onto the stone table with a clang, not even noticing the tea splashing all over his hands.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and only one thought remained in his mind—it wasn't that he had lost his composure when he first met this person in the Golden Palace in his previous life, but rather that this person was too alluring.

"How is it?" Xie Qinglan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Xiao Jingyuan snapped back to reality, almost instinctively turning around and reaching out to pluck the most beautifully blooming crabapple blossom from the top of his head. The petals were pinkish-white, the buds half-open, still warm from the afternoon sun. He carefully pinched off the thorns from the stem, his fingertips trembling slightly.

He stepped forward, gently placed the crabapple blossom in Xie Qinglan's hair, stepped back half a step to examine it, and smiled with his eyes crinkling: "Beautiful."

Xie Qinglan raised her hand and touched the flower petals by her temple. Her fingertips touched the soft texture, but she did not remove them.

Xiao Jingyuan's gaze slowly moved from the crabapple blossoms at his temples to his pale lips, his Adam's apple bobbing silently.

He took half a step forward, his warm breath brushing against Xie Qinglan's cheek:

"Qinglan, may I kiss you?"

"No." Xie Qinglan lowered her eyelashes, avoiding his burning gaze.

"Just one kiss." Xiao Jingyuan's voice softened a bit more, and his fingertips gently hooked around his crimson sleeve and swayed it.

Xie Qinglan finally looked up, meeting his strikingly bright eyes, and sighed helplessly:

"Once you start kissing me, you can't stop."

Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Jingyuan lowered his head and covered his lips with his.

The crabapple blossoms fell softly throughout the courtyard, gently enveloping the two figures in a shower of pink and white petals.