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

"You're like a dog."

If these words had come from anyone else, Xiao Jingyuan would have thought they were an insult. But they came from Xie Qinglan's mouth—the last syllable was drawn out softly, with a slightly indistinct nasal tone, sounding less like an insult and more like a very intimate whisper.

Xiao Jingyuan smiled and pulled the person closer to him, his voice softening unconsciously:

"yes."

"Um."

Xie Qinglan nodded seriously.

He straightened up, his expression seemingly normal, even less indifferent and more focused than usual.

"It's a wolfhound."

He raised his hand, making an ear-like gesture with his five fingers above his head. The movement was slow and deliberate, his slender fingers slightly bent and held upright in his hair, with faint red fingerprints left by Xiao Jingyuan the night before still visible on his wrist in the moonlight.

He maintained that posture, tilting his head to look over, his eyes conveying a hint of inquiry: "The ears will stand up like this."

Xiao Jingyuan's breath hitched. He felt that this person had really broken the rules today...

Xie Qinglan put her hand to her mouth again, spreading her thumb and forefinger as if to bite. Her brows furrowed slightly, as if recalling something unpleasant.

He stared at his fingers for a moment before putting them down, a hint of grievance in his voice: "Biting hurts."

Xiao Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then realized—he was referring to his past life. When he was consumed by jealousy, he always liked to leave teeth marks on Xie Qinglan—on her shoulder blades, collarbone, and inner thighs. The other person never cried out in pain, only turning his head away, his lips pressed pale, letting him leave his marks.

He felt a lot of pain.

Xiao Jingyuan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he pulled Xie Qinglan even closer to him, resting his chin on the top of Xie's head, his voice muffled: "I won't bite you anymore."

"Okay, be good." Xie Qinglan actually stood on tiptoe, placed her palm on the top of his head, and gently rubbed it.

Xiao Jingyuan stood frozen in place, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses before he stared at his face carefully.

Xie Qinglan looked at him with clear and focused eyes, appearing as calm and composed as usual. However, his usually aloof eyes were now misty, with a faint red tinge at the corners and a slight pink tinge at the tip of his nose.

He then realized with a start that Xie Qinglan was drunk.

Pear Blossom White is a secret brew from Northern Shuo. It tastes as sweet as pear juice on the palate, but its aftereffects are so strong that they can knock out a general who can drink a pound of liquor. An ordinary person would be drunk after three cups, but Xie Qinglan just drank five or six cups at the banquet without even flinching. He actually thought that this person was invincible.

Unexpectedly, the five or six cups of burning fire suddenly erupted, burning away his cold exterior and revealing the soft interior beneath.

Before Xiao Jingyuan could recover from the shock, Xie Qinglan had already lowered her head, frowning as she stared at her brocade boots. She looked at them for a long while, her brows furrowing even more deeply.

"Xiao Jingyuan".

"Um?"

"My foot's not behaving itself," he said, his voice filled with confusion and obvious dissatisfaction. "Why does it keep veering to the side?"

As he spoke, he lifted his foot to take a step, but his ankle buckled, and he swayed to the left. Xiao Jingyuan quickly reached out and caught his waist, pulling him back into his arms. Xie Qinglan, unwilling to give up, tried to take another step, this time crashing straight into Xiao Jingyuan's chest.

He looked up at Xiao Jingyuan, his brows furrowed, as if waiting for a reasonable explanation.

Xiao Jingyuan tried to hold back, but couldn't help laughing. He tightened his arms around him, resting his chin on the top of his head, his voice full of undisguised amusement: "Qinglan, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk," Xie Qinglan immediately retorted, his tone firm. If one ignored his limp posture at that moment, he did indeed have a certain air of authority, like someone who had debated with a group of ministers in the imperial court.

Xiao Jingyuan chuckled softly, reaching out to straighten the crooked begonia hairpin at his temple, his fingertips brushing against his burning earlobe.

"Drunkards always say they're not drunk," he murmured, his thumb gently stroking Xie Qinglan's reddened eyes.

"I'm not drunk." Xie Qinglan brushed his hand away unhappily, her tone tinged with offended anger.

But that anger was also soft, like a cat's claws scratching at the heart—it didn't hurt, it just made people itch.

Xiao Jingyuan suddenly felt like teasing her. He leaned down, whispered in Xie Qinglan's ear, and said, "Qinglan, if you kiss me, your feet won't wander off."

Xie Qinglan turned her head, her misty eyes staring at him for a long while, as if she were seriously considering the feasibility of the suggestion.

Xiao Jingyuan was just teasing him; he didn't expect him to agree. After all, when Xie Qinglan was sober, he would turn his face away even if Xiao Jingyuan looked at him a couple of times.

Just as he was about to take back his words, Xie Qinglan suddenly raised her hand, grabbed his collar, and pulled him down forcefully.

Caught off guard, Xiao Jingyuan was pulled down. Their noses were touching, their breaths mingling, so close they could count each other's long eyelashes.

Xie Qinglan's eyes shone with an astonishing brightness, as if they were filled with starlight, or as if all her emotions had surfaced in those usually unfathomable eyes after she had become drunk.

"I accepted the crabapple blossom you gave me during the Flower Festival in my past life." He spoke very softly, as if he were secretly telling a secret he had kept for a long time.

Xiao Jingyuan's heartbeat suddenly stopped for a moment.

"I hid it. I put it at the very bottom of the drawer, lined with the best Chengxintang paper."

Xie Qinglan fiddled with the buttons on his clothes with her fingertips, her voice as soft as if floating in the wind, "The petals have dried and faded, but I can't bear to throw them away. You... never gave me crabapple blossoms again after that."

Xiao Jingyuan opened his mouth, but something seemed to be blocking his throat, and it took him a long time to manage to utter a sound:

"I thought you threw it away, that you didn't like it, and that I was afraid of upsetting you, so I didn't send it again."

Xie Qinglan released her grip, her fingertips sliding down his clothes and grabbing the fabric of his cuff.

"And that time," he seemed to have opened a floodgate, and those words that had been suppressed in his heart for two lifetimes poured out all at once, fueled by the alcohol, "It was snowing heavily, and you were squatting on the roof opposite Lanyue Pavilion... covered in snow, your hair and eyebrows were white, like a snowman, waving at me."

He gestured with his fingers, drawing an arc in the air, "I closed the window."

His voice trailed off. He tugged at Xiao Jingyuan's sleeve, turned his face away, seemingly unwilling, "But when I got behind the bookshelf, I came back... I wanted to see you one more time. But you were already gone."

He turned back, his eyes misty with tears, his lips trembling slightly, his voice trailing off softly, as if accusing, "How could you... just leave?"

"I don't know..." Xiao Jingyuan's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were sore. "That day I upset you again. I thought you didn't want to see me, and I was afraid of bothering you even more, so I didn't dare to stay any longer."

"I just don't want to see you."

Xie Qinglan buried her face in the crook of his neck, her warm breath brushing against his skin, her voice muffled: "But what I don't want even more is... for you to see me."

Xiao Jingyuan suddenly tightened his grip on him, biting his lip with his teeth, suppressing the heat in his eyes, only feeling a stinging pain in the tip of his nose.

"You're so annoying," Xie Qinglan continued, each word tinged with drunkenness, "domineering, unreasonable, possessive...you lock me up all the time. I hate you so much."

He paused, his breath brushing against Xiao Jingyuan's neck, "But I still like it."

Xiao Jingyuan's shoulders trembled violently.

I liked it a very, very early time.

"Before you know it."

"That year, when we first met in the Golden Palace, you sat on the dragon throne, dressed in a black robe with gold thread, your brows and eyes cold and stern, exuding an awe-inspiring presence... exactly as I had described in the books. I thought then—"

"This person is exactly as I suspected."

Xiao Jingyuan's tears finally fell, their scalding heat seeping into Xie Qinglan's crimson robes.

He recalled the old manuscript, and the words written in the boy's thin handwriting: "I will surely become a great ruler, I regret not being born a Northerner." He had thought it was a dream of the past, but unexpectedly, this person was nestled in his arms, expressing those feelings in such a soft and sweet voice.

It was admiration. It was admiration that had already taken root before he seized it by force and crushed his pride.

"Why are you crying?" Xie Qinglan asked, puzzled. She reached out and poked his wet cheek with her fingertip, then wiped it with her sleeve, her movements earnest, but the more she wiped, the wetter it became. He frowned, seemingly pondering how to solve this problem.

"I didn't cry." Xiao Jingyuan turned his face away, wiping away the tears with his thumb, but his voice was thick with nasal tone. "It was sand in my eyes."

Xie Qinglan said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions.

"Don't be so smug." He leaned closer, his lips almost touching Xiao Jingyuan's earlobe, and warned softly, "Although I like you, you're not allowed to bully me."