What does it mean to become a tyrant for her sake?
Wen Hemian's smile faded, and her face became expressionless: "No, I'd be too embarrassed."
After more than ten years of hard work, we've been back to square one.
She didn't want to experience it.
Seeing her seriousness, Xie Lang smiled gently and immediately stopped asking the question.
However, thinking about the increasingly outrageous rumors circulating in the capital, and being unable to clarify things for the time being due to Wen Hemian's thoughts, Xie Lang felt a wave of frustration. He gritted his teeth inwardly, wondering when he could make amends.
Although the emperor, now with a touch of madness, was not as easy to get along with as before, Wen Hemian still quickly figured out his temperament. Seeing this expression, she knew he must have ill intentions, and subconsciously frowned.
"Are you holding a grudge again? Why don't you just say it out loud? It's creepy to watch."
Xie Lang gave an innocent smile: "How could that be? In Han Shuang's heart, am I such a petty person?"
Don't you realize how petty you are?
Wen Hemian chuckled and calmly withdrew his gaze.
She glanced out the window and noticed that the crabapple blossoms were blooming exceptionally early this year. The pure white flowers stood trembling on the branches, and the wind occasionally blew, causing one or two petals to fall, bringing a sense of tranquility to her heart.
She quickly remembered something she had forgotten.
"Your Majesty, if you don't let me leave the palace, I won't be able to prepare a birthday gift for you this year."
Wen Hemian knew that he was upset that no one attended his twentieth birthday celebration and had originally planned to make up for it. Now that he refused to let him leave, she was in a difficult position.
The Prince's Mansion is, after all, his own family property. He eats and uses Xie Lang's things in the palace, so sending a random gift would seem insincere.
Xie Lang paused in his writing, then smiled indifferently: "It's alright, I don't mind if it's just a flower or a tree that you prepare."
Xie Lang could tell which was more important, the birthday gift or the person.
The three years of separation are still vivid in his mind. He is still afraid and unwilling to let people disappear from his sight, simply because he is afraid of repeating that nightmarish scene.
Only by holding on tightly can we feel at ease.
Wen Hemian fell silent for a moment: "If that's how you put it, then I'm not going to prepare?"
Preparing some flowers and plants as a birthday gift seems rather perfunctory.
"How can you calculate it like that?"
Xie Lang, who had seemed completely indifferent just a moment ago, couldn't help but put down his pen and look at him seriously: "Are you willing to do that?"
Wen Hemian clenched her fingers, actually quite reluctant to part with it.
She simply rephrased it: "How about this, you name a condition, and I'll agree to anything I can do."
Wen Hemian had made a mistake with her promises before, so she had thought this through before saying it, clearly limiting the conditions to what she could do—whether she could actually do it or not was up to her.
Xie Lang naturally realized the trap involved, but he didn't say anything about it, focusing instead on what he wanted.
After a long pause, he smiled mysteriously and said, "Han Shuang is confident she can accomplish this."
Wen Hemian tilted her head: "You tell me."
She was a little curious about what it was all about.
The emperor, however, said earnestly, "Call me by my courtesy name; I've never heard you do it before."
Xie Lang had previously begged her to give him a courtesy name and hoped that she would preside over his coming-of-age ceremony. The former came true, but the latter did not. He had never even heard her call him by his courtesy name.
Countless times in the dead of night, I have longed for the figure in my dreams to turn around, call my name, or simply pat my head, carefully and humbly.
What used to be a hope has now almost become a knot in my heart.
“Words…” Wen Hemian had considered several possibilities, but he never expected that he would say this in the end.
Wen Hemian clearly remembered the words he had painstakingly come up with after months of contemplation and consulting numerous books.
She also knew that Xie Lang ultimately used the name she had given him. When they chatted privately, Lai Xi mentioned this and even tried to secretly find out her attitude, which was truly both funny and exasperating.
But without a doubt, Wen Hemian was happy.
"Is that not allowed?"
Seeing her silence, Xie Lang's bright eyes visibly dimmed. He forced a smile and said in a low voice, "Then let's change it to something else..."
"I didn't say it wasn't allowed."
Wen Heming quickly spoke up to stop his wandering thoughts, her eyes gentle and calm, her voice slow: "I just thought of something."
Since returning, Wen Hemian has been very clear that Xie Lang is eager to change their relationship. The characters he often teaches her are probably because he wants to bridge that gap.
The result was ideal; he successfully got Wen Heming used to the title, almost achieving the result he wanted.
Rather than saying he longed for that title, he actually longed for a position where he could have a dialogue with Wen Heming on equal terms, rather than being treated as a student or a child who never grew up.
If this had happened when they first reunited, Wen Hemian might have had some reservations, but now...
"Don't overthink it." Wen Hemian smiled, her eyes sparkling with a beauty that seemed almost unbelievable. "...Huaichuan."
She underestimated the influence of this title on Xie Lang. As soon as she finished speaking, the emperor, who had just come to his senses, pulled her into a tight embrace.
The force was so great that it felt like it was embedding a person into their bones.
"I...you...I wasn't hallucinating, was I?"
A warm, disorganized voice sprayed against her ear, witnessing Xie Lang's helplessness and panic. This grown man was like a clingy puppy, rubbing against her shoulder again and again, his voice a little unsteady: "Am I dreaming?"
"Say it again?"
He tried to coax Wen Hemian, his voice low and soft, sounding more like a coquettish plea than a command.
"Call me again, Han Shuang? I want to hear it again."
Wen Hemian: "..."
The initial feeling of being touched vanished instantly. Then, thinking that Xie Lang's anxiety was partly due to her, Wen Hemian pondered for a moment, then raised her hand and patted his back.
"Xie Huaichuan, are you trying to strangle me?"
She used to eat the same food as her, so how come she grew so big and strong? Wen Hemian felt a little annoyed by this physiological difference.
"No, no."
Xie Lang loosened his grip slightly again in a bit of panic, but only loosened it slightly, not completely let go.
His body temperature was also higher than Wen Hemian's, like a blazing fire. You could easily feel the temperature transmitted through contact. Wen Hemian noticed a hand restlessly touching her waist, frowned slightly, and grabbed it without hesitation.
"hiss."
Xie Lang gasped and withdrew his hand.
He took advantage of his strength and became increasingly aggressive, but Wen Hemian was no weakling either; she could still inflict pain with her skillful technique.
"Serves you right."
As Wen Hemian spoke, she glanced at Xie Lang out of the corner of her eye to make sure he was unharmed, and snorted coldly: "I told you to learn martial arts, not to use them like this."
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