Chapter 37 Returning Home Under the Moonlight She met him and easily swept her up in her arms...

Jiang Yunjin's face was grim, and he seemed to be gritting his teeth, his jawline taut and sharp.

Cui Yiluo hooked her hand around his jade belt and said with a smile, "Didn't my husband say that it was wrong for the servants in the manor to engage in lewd behavior in broad daylight? Why were you undressing just now?"

As she spoke, her soft hand reached out to Xia and grasped her growing hand.

Jiang Yunjin suddenly closed his eyes, his handsome face tense, his sword-like eyebrows furrowed.

Cui Yiluo laughed even more freely, her red lips parted slightly, and she said clearly, "Husband, go down."

Her words were returned verbatim. Jiang Yunjin's eyes were now incredibly dark as he stared intently at her, his breathing still erratic, bearing the marks of the earlier intensity.

She did it on purpose.

She deliberately teased him until he couldn't resist anymore, then pushed him away triumphantly, like a bucket of cold water being poured over him, so that he could clearly see how he had broken his vow.

I knew perfectly well that she was doing it on purpose, but I still lost control.

Jiang Yunjin closed his eyes, suppressed his desire, and stood up, supporting himself on the couch. His once neat official robes were now disheveled and wrinkled, especially in that area. There were also some marks on his upper body, which were clearly made by a woman's slender fingers.

Cui Yiluo chuckled as she looked at his gloomy expression. She had just said that his daytime debauchery had broken the rules when she turned around and pressed her down on the couch. He must be feeling both regretful and embarrassed at this moment.

But even deeper was the shame.

She loved seeing his reaction, and she sat up with great interest, supporting herself on the couch with her hands, her expression revealing undisguised arrogance.

They stared at each other for a few moments, like the victor admiring the loser's embarrassment. Jiang Yunjin's eyes were calm, like a deep pool. He was the first to look away, whether out of annoyance or avoidance, and went straight to the wardrobe to take out a set of clothes. He then went behind the screen to change.

Cui Yiluo watched, propping her chin up with her hand, thinking to herself that after being teased by her like this, he would either scold her or ignore her for a long time.

The man's expression was still not good, his face as cold as frost, but he walked directly towards Cui Yiluo and sat down on the other side of the couch, while solemnly straightening the crooked tea table.

He sat down directly on her other side, which surprised Cui Yiluo slightly.

Then she realized that he was still burning with desire and would definitely not leave the room, otherwise he would be announcing to everyone what they had just done in the room. How could he let everyone know about his daytime debauchery?

Cui Yiluo had won a great victory, effectively silencing him. She calmly poured herself a cup of tea, sipping it slowly, waiting for him to reprimand her.

The enchanting atmosphere of the moment dissipated, and the bedroom gradually quieted down. The twilight deepened, unlike the golden light that had filled the sky just moments before.

The two remained silent for a long time. Cui Yiluo guessed that he was going to ignore her, and calmly waited for his reaction to subside before he went out to serve the meal.

"It's not that I'm being unreasonable today. As a junior, with elders present, it would be inappropriate to contradict them in public."

He suddenly spoke, breaking the silence in the room.

Cui Yiluo sneered silently. Since he valued filial piety so much, he naturally wouldn't refuse Old Madam Jiang's order.

His voice was deep and calm as he slowly spoke: “I know you dislike complicated rules and regulations. As I just said, I never thought you were wrong. You have just taken over the accounts, so it is difficult for you to spare your attention for the servants in the house. The fault lies with me. But since this has happened, you and I must take responsibility.”

Cui Yiluo was slightly taken aback. He actually took the initiative to explain to her? They had argued so much just now, and she had played him so hard, yet he had the patience to say so much and even said that he never thought she was wrong.

After regaining her composure, she said sarcastically, "My husband is certainly a responsible man, but I'm afraid Yiluo can't be as disciplined as him. It's understandable that my husband doesn't trust me."

She could understand why he didn't trust her, which was why she had deliberately toyed with him earlier, trying to prove to him that his rules were wrong.

"It's not that I don't trust you."

His tone was serious, and his words were firm and resolute, which stunned Cui Yiluo. She subconsciously turned to look at him to try to discern whether what he said was true or false.

Although his expression was calm, his eyes were as serious as his tone. He stared into her eyes, looking somewhat uneasy. It seemed that he rarely explained things to anyone before. After all, given his status and decisive way of handling things, who did he need to explain to?

But he continued, “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have entrusted you with the affairs of the main branch. However, although you manage these affairs, I also have a responsibility to them. We are husband and wife, and we are one, so we should trust each other. If you are dissatisfied with what happened today, you can tell me directly.”

Cui Yiluo looked into his eyes, her words of rebuttal suddenly stuck in her throat. His words made it sound as if she didn't trust him.

Tell him directly.

When Old Madam Jiang took away her accounting room keys last time, he told her the same thing after he found out.

But would he truly understand her unruly behavior? He was accustomed to strict etiquette, and Cui Yiluo felt he wouldn't, yet the earnestness in his tone made her absurdly yearn for it. Perhaps she had truly been walking alone for too long, and had even begun to harbor expectations.

Cui Yiluo composed herself and replied calmly, "Yiluo understands."

The room fell silent.

The conversation seemed to have ended there. Cui Yiluo didn't want to stay alone with him in the room any longer. She glanced at his waist and abdomen, where the swelling seemed to have subsided. Since he didn't seem inclined to move, she decided to go out and serve the meal herself.

Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly asked, "Do you still have any complaints?"

He asked another question, and Cui Yiluo sneered inwardly. She had many complaints, did he really think he would solve them all for her?

So she answered, "No."

Jiang Yunjin lowered his eyes, his expression darkening, and he parted his thin lips slightly to say:

"Yi Luo".

His tone was somewhat helpless yet solemn, and his expression was extremely awkward, as if he had been forced to speak. But such an intimate form of address made Cui Yiluo freeze in place.

In front of his elders, he might call her Yiluo, but in private, he would only call her by her full name, Cui Shi, when he was angry. He would never use the intimate term "Yiluo".

He called her that because when she was pressing down on him earlier, she asked him if he wanted to continue calling her Cui Shi, and he sensed her displeasure from that.

He was so perceptive.

Cui Yiluo suddenly avoided looking at her. She had just said that she had no complaints about him, but he had actually noticed it long ago. Her question just now seemed to be giving her a chance to speak.

She usually lies so easily, but now she suddenly lost the ability to act.

Fortunately, he didn't say anything more. He simply straightened the hem of his robe and stood up, saying, "I'll go serve the meal."

Cui Yilu lowered her eyes and softly hummed in agreement.

The dinner was naturally eaten quietly. She and Jiang Yunjin each used serving chopsticks to pick up their own food, just like eating alone. But tonight, Cui Yiluo felt a little escapist. She felt that his presence sitting opposite her was extremely strong. She lowered her head and ate quietly, but she still felt somewhat tormented.

She shouldn't be affected, Cui Yiluo suppressed the strange feeling in her heart.

After the meal, she called Lilan over.

Lilan accepted the order and left. After a while, she returned with a shocked expression.

Cui Yilu frowned: "What's wrong? Did the old lady's people find out?"

Lilan closed the door and shook her head, saying, "Miss, guess who I ran into?"

It's good that it's not someone from Madam Jiang's faction. Cui Yiluo felt relieved, flipping through the book in her hand, and said calmly, "We can't possibly run into Jiang Yunjin, can we?"

"Indeed, young lady, I ran into Wen Feng."

Cui Yiluo paused, her fingertips tracing the pages of the book.

"I heard it was the eldest young master's order."

Cui Yiluo sneered, "Did he guess that I would send you to bribe human traffickers and send someone to stop you?"

They really do follow the rules.

Lilan shook her head, her tone surprised, "No, the eldest young master has the same idea as the young lady. He wants to have the slave trader sell the person to someone near Yunzhou, and he even gave orders not to let the old lady know."

Cui Yiluo looked up, and Lilan nodded very seriously.

Yunzhou is not far from Shengjing. Choosing this place will not alert the old lady, and it will also save the lives of those two people.

But she didn't expect that Jiang Yunjin would give the same order as her and even have someone keep it a secret from Old Madam Jiang.

Isn't he supposed to be the most filial son? How could he deceive his elders?

He had previously said that as a junior, it was inconvenient for him to contradict his elders in public, so he genuinely felt that Madam Jiang's actions were too cruel, just like her.

Did she actually misunderstand him?

Cui Yiluo stared down at the book, but the words were blurry, and she couldn't understand a word of it. Thinking back to the scene that had unfolded after they returned to their room, she had just felt a sense of satisfaction at having silenced him, but now it all seemed absurd.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that Lilan hesitated before speaking again: "Miss... the young master requests your presence in the study."

-

Under the stars and moon, the simple study was quiet, yet brightly lit, illuminating the blue stone brick in front of the room until it shone.

The door was wide open, and from a distance one could see a figure sitting upright at the table inside the room.

Cui Yiluo's gaze lingered on the forsythia tree in front of the door for a moment before she stepped inside.

Under the bright candlelight, Jiang Yunjin had been looking up at her since she reached the door of the study, and now he watched her walk step by step to the desk.

Cui Yilu smiled enigmatically: "Husband, what important matter has summoned me to such an important place as the study? Could it be that you still want to supervise me in copying the family rules?"

Cui Yiluo's gaze fell on the empty space on his desk, which had obviously just been cleared out. Not only were writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones neatly arranged, but a rosewood chair had also been placed there.

She didn't even need to hear his answer; she already knew why he had summoned her. Cui Yiluo's heart sank. Did he really not trust her at all? Ten recitations of the family rules—was it really worth her entrusting it to someone else?

The slight guilt that had just arisen from blaming him vanished completely.

She walked straight to the empty chair next to him, sat down, neatly spread out the Xuan paper, and went to get the family rules he had placed on the table.

Just as she was about to pick up the thick book of family rules that seemed to be able to crush a person, a large hand with protruding knuckles suddenly reached out and covered the back of her hand.

She witnessed the strength of his large hand every night. Now, it was pressing down on her hand, a thick book of family rules, rendering her hand immobile.

Cui Yiluo's eyes turned cold, and she gripped the booklet even tighter, starting to fight him.

He seemed to be competing with her, stubbornly refusing to let go. His large palm enveloped her hand, and he didn't even need to use much force to easily pin her hand down so she couldn't move.

Cui Yiluo looked at him with a cold smile: "What is my husband doing? Could it be that I guessed wrong just now? You didn't send me here to copy the family rules?"

He said he would pull his hand out even harder.

He applied more force, pinning her hand down, and said with a slight frown, "I did indeed send you here to copy the family rules."

Cui Yilu sneered, "As expected, what is my husband doing right now?"

He pursed his lips again and continued, "There's no desk in the bedroom, and the coffee table is too small. The desk in the study is spacious, so it will be easier for you to copy."

Cui Yiluo paused in her forceful grip, then released her strength, only to discover that there was also a blank sheet of Xuan paper in front of him, as if he had been waiting for her arrival.

Cui Yiluo pulled her hand away, and this time he didn't stop her. The warmth of his palm still lingered on the back of her hand. She said in a gloomy tone, "My husband is so considerate."

This made it seem as if she harbored deep prejudice against him, and that she had wronged him right from the start.

But Jiang Yunjin was different from what she expected. He showed no sign of blame and remained as calm as if nothing had happened. He slowly opened the family rules.

"I will copy it with you. When I go to court during the day, you can come directly to me."

He spoke calmly, but Cui Yiluo was slightly taken aback.

"My husband has so many official documents and important matters in his study. Aren't you afraid I'll lose them or leak them?"

Jiang Yunjin lowered his eyes and ground the ink. The thick black ink spread inch by inch on the warm and smooth Duan inkstone. He seemed oblivious to the slight sarcasm in her tone and said calmly, "I believe you."

Cui Yiluo suddenly lowered her eyes and said nothing more.

Jiang Yunjin didn't speak again. He was always extremely focused when he was serious. Even when copying, a task that Cui Yiluo considered particularly tedious, he could devote his whole heart to it.

Cui Yiluo glanced to the side and saw his long, slender eyelashes drooping, the bright candlelight outlining his high, straight nose, and his long, elegant fingers holding a pen with flowing strokes.

In an instant, the only sound in the study was the soft rustling of the wolf-hair brush tip rubbing against the Xuan paper. The two sat close together, each holding a book of family rules. Her left hand rested on the paperweight, occasionally brushing against his right sleeve as he wrote, causing a slight tingling sensation.

Cui Yiluo gripped the paperweight tighter, suddenly wondering why they insisted on sharing one. She figured he was usually frugal and wouldn't waste paper to make another one, given how strict the Jiang family rules were.

After copying it twice, Cui Yiluo found the Jiang family rules dry and boring. After copying them all night, her vision suddenly became blurry.

She glanced at Jiang Yunjin; he was still as focused as before, having copied for so long without ever bending his back even for a moment. He was only focused on what was in front of him, and it seemed he hadn't noticed her sitting next to him all night.

She raised her left hand to support her head, using her sleeve to conceal it, and closed her eyes with peace of mind. She was always a light sleeper, and if he noticed, she would react immediately.

Darkness descended before my eyes, and even the rustling sound around my ears gradually faded away.

She seemed to have fallen into a state of tranquility.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly, my body felt empty.

The wolf-hair brush slammed onto the table with a "thud," its thick ink staining the rosewood table.

In the flickering candlelight, Cui Yiluo looked up in surprise and bewilderment, her eyes meeting the sharp lines of the man's profile.

The next moment, she met Jiang Yunjin's dark eyes as he effortlessly swept her up in his arms.

Author's Note: [doge] Slightly elongated snout, 40% long

[Heart] Thank you to all the lovely people who watered the nutrient solution!