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

Xie Qinglan opened her eyes, her thoughts withdrawing from her memories of her past life.

Those are all old stories from a past life; Xiao Jingyuan, with his shameless nature, has probably already forgotten them.

Besides, he was the one who forcibly imprisoned me first. I only said something harsh. How could he hold a grudge until today and deliberately give me the cold shoulder?

Dusk fell outside the window, casting long, slender shadows on the old plum branches in the courtyard.

He glanced down at the jade pendant at his waist, and a faint smile touched his lips for a moment.

He is known for his vindictiveness; if anyone dares to bully or humiliate him, he will not tolerate it, even if it means mutual destruction.

But that person was Xiao Jingyuan.

In his youth in Nanyue, he had heard many tales of Xiao Jingyuan. It was said that he was a brilliant strategist, possessed immense strength, and was unparalleled in martial arts. At the age of fifteen, he took up his sword to pacify the border and decisively defeated the Western Rong. At eighteen, he killed his father and brother to ascend the throne and expanded the territory of Beishuo by more than two times in ten years. People cursed him as a tyrannical ruler who killed his father and a demon descended to earth. Yet, across thousands of miles of rivers and mountains, he alone discerned a certain courage to stop war with killing.

His agreement to escort Pei Yuning to the marriage alliance wasn't entirely out of consideration for his sibling-like relationship with her. A deeper, more secret thought lingered in his heart: he wanted to see for himself what this legendary war god, who was said to stop war with killing, was really like.

After their parting at the post station, Xie Qinglan never took the initiative to seek out Xiao Jingyuan again.

It's not that he doesn't want to see them. It's his inherent pride that prevents him from bowing down first.

At the age of sixteen, he single-handedly helped the young emperor ascend the throne, and for ten years he controlled the Southern Yue court, with all the civil and military officials bowing down to him and powerful families fawning over him. Throughout his life, Xie Qinglan was always the one fawned upon by others.

He was used to maintaining a cold and aloof demeanor, and even if his heart was in turmoil, he would not show the slightest sign of weakness on his face.

This was how it was in her past life. Even though she had been forcibly imprisoned in the Moon-Gazing Pavilion, her heart had already been drawn in inch by inch, yet she remained cold and refused to utter a single word.

He was waiting for Xiao Jingyuan to coax him, just like he had done a thousand times in his previous life.

But Tingxuexuan seemed to be a forgotten corner of the imperial city, and no matter how long the sun rose and the moon set, the figure in black never appeared.

He once took advantage of a fine afternoon to stroll to the crabapple tree in the Imperial Garden and stood there for a while, pretending to admire the scenery, his gaze sweeping over every palace path. In the end, he didn't see anyone.

Four days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the fifth day, when the court session ended, he finally couldn't hold back any longer and slowly strolled to the end of the long street outside the Xuanzheng Hall.

Looking across the crowd of courtiers, one could see that person standing on the palace steps, with an air of grandeur and noble bearing.

After watching for a while, seeing the person turn and leave, Xie Qinglan lowered her gaze and turned back.

He had already made an unprecedented move by simply setting aside his pride and lowering himself to this point. Since the other person was completely oblivious, did he expect him to take the initiative to approach him? What would he say when they met? Tell him that he missed him and ask why he didn't come to comfort him? He couldn't utter a single soft word like that.

In the evening, after having dinner, Xie Qinglan sat by the window flipping through a copy of "A Record of the Customs and Traditions of Northern Shuo" that he had brought from the post station. Halfway through, he heard two young eunuchs sweeping outside the courtyard wall talking in hushed tones.

"Did His Majesty stay at Chang Le Palace again tonight?"

"Indeed, Consort Ning is currently enjoying the Emperor's favor. I heard that His Majesty goes there every day after court these past few days and stays for most of the night."

"No wonder, Consort Ning is so beautiful and is a princess from Nanyue, it is only right that His Majesty dotes on her."

The voice faded into the distance.

Xie Qinglan's fingertips hovered over the page, and after a moment she turned the page as if nothing had happened, her expression unchanged.

But inside, a storm was raging.

The person who had been squatting on the roof of the post station a few days ago and stuffing the jade pendant into his hand turned around and spent every night in someone else's palace.

What does it mean? Is she deliberately trying to annoy him?

He closed the book, stood up, and paced around the hall. A dull ache settled in his lower abdomen; he assumed it was from being too full of food at dinner, and casually poured himself a cup of hot tea, taking a sip. The hot tea only intensified the discomfort.

He frowned and secretly checked his internal energy—the flow of qi was fairly smooth, without any obstruction. He simply assumed it was due to the dry climate of the northern region and his incompatibility with the local environment.

On the morning of the sixth day, Xie Qinglan felt dizzy and lightheaded. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment and then tried to circulate her qi again. Her qi paused slightly when it reached her dantian, but it returned to normal after only three breaths.

He frowned, assuming it was due to his restlessness and poor appetite these past few days, and didn't take it to heart.

After breakfast, the sluggish feeling became even more pronounced. He sat cross-legged by the window for half an hour to regulate his breathing, and when he felt his meridians were slightly clearer, he got up, straightened his robes, and went outside.

Tomorrow will be the seventh day, and he can't sit still any longer.

Today is the day of the grand court assembly; he wants to see Xiao Jingyuan.

From Tingxue Pavilion to Xuanzheng Hall, one must pass through three palace walls. Xie Qinglan walked slowly, his steps still dignified and composed, but halfway there, he suddenly stopped and raised his hand to hold onto the vermilion palace wall.

The discomfort in his abdomen returned, even worse than yesterday, as if someone had placed a block of ice in his lower abdomen, cold and heavy.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress his inner energy, but as soon as it gathered in his dantian, it was as if it had been pulled apart by a huge force and disappeared in an instant.

His face turned pale instantly.

How could this be? His mind raced, and he suddenly remembered Pei Yuning's words, instantly understanding.

He was poisoned.

It is "silk winding".

The slow-acting, rare poison, secretly kept by the royal family of Nanyue, lies dormant in the blood and qi, blending seamlessly with the body's vital energy, making it difficult to detect with ordinary pulse diagnosis. Only when a specific medicinal guide is used will it gradually take effect over several days, eventually leading to the complete loss of internal energy and the failure of the five internal organs, resulting in death. That medicinal guide is extremely rare in the Northern Shuo region; it is none other than the unique Moonscale Fragrance of Nanyue.

Pei Nanchi added "entangled silk" to the farewell wine.

He had already learned from Pei Yuning that the farewell wine contained a slow-acting poison, but since there had been no effect for three years in his previous life, he didn't take it seriously in this life, treating it as just an ordinary medicine to disperse internal energy.

Looking back now, the reason the poison hadn't taken effect in his previous life was simply because Xiao Jingyuan had kept a tight watch on him, preventing Pei Yuning from getting close and thus making it impossible for him to administer the medicine.

He slowly slid down the palace wall and sat down. Looking up, the gilded eaves of Xuanzheng Hall were already at the end of his field of vision, and the copper bells on the eaves rang in the wind, their sounds echoing far and wide.

He opened his mouth as if to call out, but the sound he made was so soft that even he couldn't hear it clearly.

The light and shadow before my eyes gradually dimmed, the gilded eaves merging into a warm glow before finally sinking into boundless darkness.

As the court bells had just ceased tolling, Xiao Jingyuan had barely stepped out of the Xuanzheng Hall and was heading towards the Imperial Study when a young eunuch scrambled towards him, knelt down with a thud, and his voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! Prime Minister Xie has collapsed on the palace road leading to the Imperial Study—"

Xiao Jingyuan's mind went blank, as if struck by a heavy hammer.

He took off running towards the palace road, and as he turned the corner, he saw a person curled up against the wall.

His moon-white brocade robe was stained with wall dust. His head was tilted to one side, his face was as white as paper, and a dark bloodstain on the corner of his lips was shocking and glaring.

The image suddenly overlapped with the afterimage of his past life, like an ice pick piercing his heart, causing him excruciating pain that twisted his internal organs into a knot.

The scene suddenly overlapped with his past life, like a needle chilled to ice, piercing his heart.

"Qinglan!"

He rushed over, bent down, and scooped the person up in his arms. His arms were trembling so badly that he almost dropped the person several times.

The person in my arms was too light, with a deathly pale face, bluish lips, and breaths so faint they were almost imperceptible.

His throat tightened and ached, his voice hoarse and broken: "Summon the imperial physician! Everyone from the Imperial Hospital must go to Tingxue Pavilion! Quickly!"

The Imperial Medical Academy mobilized its entire staff. Seven or eight imperial physicians surrounded the couch in Tingxuexuan, some taking pulses, others examining the patient's eyelids, all working up a sweat.

Xiao Jingyuan stood by the collapse, his fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails dug into his palms and drew blood, but he was completely unaware of it.

The chief physician knelt and kowtowed tremblingly: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's illness... is poisoning."

Poisoning again! Veins throbbed on Xiao Jingyuan's forehead.

"What kind of poison?"

The chief physician pressed his forehead against a brick, his voice trembling: "Your subject is of limited knowledge and can only diagnose it as a rare, chronic, and wondrous poison."