Chapter 43 Without Fireflies, He Turned Around and Kissed Her

Cui Yiluo endured Meng Lie's actions, but responded even more proactively, adding fuel to the already raging fire.

Jiang Yunjin placed his palm on the back of her neck, pulling her down to Yadegenshen.

Cui Yiluo's closed eyes twitched slightly, and then she leaned closer to him and spoke more earnestly.

He used his other hand to gently press down on Xia's large hand, his arm as strong as iron to pull the petite woman into his embrace.

He kept urging her, completely enveloping her, and then added to her.

Cui Yiluo finally seemed unable to hold back, and with a soft sound, she loosened her arms on both sides of his neck and let them hang down, trying to escape his care.

But she had clearly witnessed it before. Although Jiang Yunjin usually appeared calm and composed, and seemed unaffected by anything, after several conversations with her, he revealed a possessive and vengeful desire that was unsettling. He was punishing her for constantly dragging him into the abyss, as if it were a release of pent-up emotions after breaking his vows.

Cui Yiluo couldn't push him away; instead, she kept leaning back as the man, while gently pressing her against him, chased after her.

Finally, the stiffness of the rosewood table pressed against her back caused her back to ache.

Still being tormented, Cui Yiluo Shenzi was already losing control of her emotions, trying her best to keep her mind clear as she recalled where she had placed the letter.

His left hand, weakened, slammed hard against the table.

Crackle, crackle.

In an instant, the piled-up official documents and letters fell to the ground like raindrops, their sound swallowed up by the woven carpet covering the ground, leaving only muffled noises.

It's done.

Cui Yiluo secretly relaxed, but She Jian suddenly became even more fierce, with a hint of anger mixed in.

Anxious, she pretended to be startled and cried out a few times, pushing against the man's chest with both hands.

The continuous shoving seemed to finally bring the man back to his senses. He finally gave her one last push on her muscular body and withdrew.

His large hand remained hidden in its original position, seemingly about to break through the obstruction, causing Cui Yiluo to groan and tremble. She tried to suppress her inner turmoil, but her voice could not conceal the rage she had just endured.

Her eyes were brimming with tears, a gentle glint of water reflecting her inner turmoil as she softly said, "Husband... I didn't mean to."

Jiang Yunjin's eyes darkened as he pressed down on Qingyu, his voice hoarse: "It's alright, I'll take care of it."

Cui Yiluo smiled, her pearly white teeth gleaming. "But it was because I wanted to spend more time with my husband that things got like this. It's not my husband's fault, so how can I let him clean up after me?"

Jiang Yunjin remained silent, only staring at her.

His gaze was fixed on her, and as she looked into his dark eyes, Cui Yiluo's heart skipped a beat.

Could he have noticed?

The next moment, Jiang Yunjin gave a soft "hmm".

Cui Yiluo felt relieved and hurriedly went to Shen Shangxia.

But his large hand was still pressing against her buttocks, and she didn't know if he had forgotten to let go, leaving her unable to move.

Cui Yiluo stirred slightly, her long eyelashes fluttering as she looked at him with a helpless expression, "Husband..."

Jiang Yunjin's eyes darkened, and he quickly withdrew his hand, releasing the restraint. He lowered his eyes and said with some guilt, "I'm sorry."

Seeing his easily exasperated appearance, Cui Yiluo suddenly felt like laughing. Normally, she would never let him off so easily, but business was more important right now.

She came from behind him, Shen Shangxia, and squatted down with her back to him to pick up the scattered official documents and letters, her hands subtly searching through them.

Silence fell behind her. Cui Yiluo noticed that Jiang Yunjin had stood up but hadn't moved. Was he looking at her? She bit her lip nervously and quickly scanned his face.

She shielded him with her body, and other official documents on the table blocked his view of the floor, so he shouldn't be able to see her movements. Cui Yiluo thought to herself, calming herself down.

She picked up an official document and noticed a corner of a letter peeking out from underneath.

The familiar handwriting brought a sudden sense of relief to Cui Yiluo, and her tightly furrowed brows relaxed.

Holding several official documents in her hand as a cover, she secretly glanced behind her and saw that the man's black leather boots were turned towards the door, and he did not turn around to look at her.

Cui Yiluo quickly stuffed the letter written by Yao into her sleeve.

After she finished stuffing it in, the man behind her still didn't move. She slowly exhaled, stacked the official documents and letters, and put them back on the table. She saw Jiang Yunjin sitting upright facing the door, his eyes downcast, his expression not good. Obviously, the two of them had a big fight in the study just now, and now that the love jade had faded, he was inevitably unhappy and was trying to calm himself down.

With the matter settled, Cui Yiluo didn't want to stay with him any longer and quickly said, "Husband, I'll be going now..."

The next instant, her chin was suddenly gripped. His eyes were extremely dark, brewing a heavy storm. He turned and kissed her fiercely.

Before Cui Yiluo could react, she was caught off guard and paused for a moment, wondering why she had provoked him. Was it because he hadn't received the book's explanation earlier?

But she had no time to think, because the current wrath had already been ignited, and was even more intense than before.

The two were already very familiar with each other. Jiang Yunjin skillfully conquered territory, while she, with a soft and gentle voice, was supported by him. She only had a sliver of reason left, tightly clutching the letter in her sleeve, afraid that it would fall out.

After an unknown amount of time, Cui Yiluo finally released her breath, and the two breaths in the room were extremely steady.

"My husband..."

But he didn't look at her; the warmth of the cotton he had just felt suddenly cooled.

His handsome face was ashen, his voice hoarse, and he turned completely cold, suddenly devoid of any emotion: "Let's go, it's time for dinner."

His reaction was somewhat puzzling. Cui Yilu frowned secretly, seeing that he didn't seem to have discovered her hidden letter. Otherwise, given his upright and selfless nature, how could he tolerate her?

It's likely that he was simply ashamed and annoyed because she had tempted him to break his vows and indulge in lust in what he considered the most virtuous and respectable study.

During the meal, the two remained silent as usual, adhering to the rule of not speaking while eating, and even the clinking of bowls and chopsticks was kept extremely quiet.

As soon as Jiang Yunjin left, Cui Yiluo immediately burned the letter.

The blazing flames licked at the envelope. Cui Yiluo didn't open it to look inside; she could guess what it contained without even looking.

The faint firelight cast flickering light on Cui Yiluo's face.

A cowardly and incompetent biological father who hides behind his wife and tacitly approves of her schemes; a seemingly kind but actually scheming stepmother who covets wealth and status; and an incompetent yet domineering younger brother.

Cui Yiluo stared as the flames engulfed the envelope and burned it into black ash, her eyes stinging from the heat of the fire.

Such a background naturally makes her untrustworthy. If Jiang Yunjin knew about her family's background, he would inevitably regret it and would be even less willing to hand over the Jiang family business to her.

How dare that family call themselves her family? From Ningzhou to Shengjing, she had actually been traveling for more than ten years, and that family still wanted to leech off her and try to gain power. They shouldn't even think about it.

As the flames gradually faded and the heat subsided, the autumn water in Cui Yiluo's eyes turned into ice.

Cui Yiluo summoned Lilan and instructed her to dress up as her the next day and pretend to go to Baoyue Pavilion to choose jewelry. She then changed into ordinary people's clothes and took another carriage to Luoyun Lane.

In this way, unless Jiang Yunjin had already become suspicious and was secretly watching, no one would notice anything amiss.

After tomorrow, she will be able to get rid of that family completely. As for Zhao Jian, she had already put aside her plans to take action against him, but he personally delivered himself to her door. It was an easy thing for her to do, so she had no reason not to.

Cui Yiluo made up her mind and waited for tomorrow to arrive.

As darkness fell, the sounds gradually faded, plunging into silence. In the stillness, Cui Yiluo lay in the brocade curtains of her bedroom with her eyes closed, yet she felt no sleepiness. The man beside her breathed heavily, clearly also awake, but both remained silent in tacit agreement.

After a month or two of marriage, Cui Yiluo, being perceptive, was able to gauge his emotions to some extent. Although he appeared indifferent, Cui Yiluo knew he was still displeased, naturally because of the mischief he had caused in the study during the day.

In the silence, hurried footsteps suddenly broke the silence.

Each blow struck straight to the heart. Cui Yiluo suddenly opened her eyes.

The next moment, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Young master, young master." Wen Feng's anxious voice rang out, sounding like an ominous premonition in the darkness.

Cui Yiluo sat up, her eyes heavy. Jiang Yunjin, who was sleeping on the outside, also got up. He remained calm and turned to look at her, giving her a reassuring look. Cui Yiluo's heart sank even further.

He quickly put on an outer robe and opened the door.

Without the door blocking the way, the sound of the wind suddenly became much louder, and each word clearly drifted into Cui Yiluo's ears.

"Young Master, there's a fire in Luoyun Alley!"

-

Not long after, in the darkness, a carriage drove out from the side gate of the Jiang family's residence and sped eastward under the moonlight.

Inside the carriage, Cui Yiluo clenched her fists, her hands hidden in her sleeves, staring at the landscape patterns on the thick carpet inside the carriage, and suddenly felt a little powerless.

It was clearly only until tomorrow. Everything would have been for naught.

"Why didn't you tell me your family members were here?"

Jiang Yunjin's voice, chilling, echoed in the carriage late at night. The candlelight flickered as the carriage moved, casting flickering light on his fair face, revealing a deep and cold demeanor.

Cui Yiluo suppressed her emotions: "Father and Mother are new to Shengjing and are bound to be unaccustomed to it. My husband has also been busy with official duties lately. I just wanted to talk to my husband about this when he has some free time."

She spoke in a calm and gentle tone, her soft voice echoing in the carriage. She seemed to be a truly considerate and virtuous wife who cared about her husband's busy official duties, making it hard for anyone not to believe it.

"So that's how it is."

Jiang Yunjin gave a brief reply.

The carriage fell silent again. After another incense stick's time, the carriage stopped at the entrance of Luoyun Alley.

Cui Yilu got out of the car. Jiang Yunjin had gotten out of the car earlier to check the situation. When he saw her get out, he, as usual, put his hand on her arm to support her.

Cui Yiluo looked at the man's cold expression, her eyes darkening slightly.

Standing at the entrance of the alley, all the houses in the alley were blackened by fire, and all that could be seen were broken walls and ruins. At a glance, it looked like a dark cave that was swallowing up life.

Luoyun Lane is located in a bustling area of ​​Shengjing City. A sudden fire broke out, and all the houses in the lane were destroyed to varying degrees, and many people were injured.

The fire immediately alerted the city guards, and even the Yunyi Guard was dispatched. The fire came out of nowhere. After the Yunyi Guard and the city guards settled the residents in their homes, they stayed in the alley to investigate the cause of the fire.

Cui Yiluo scanned the group of Yunyi Guards dressed in black robes with cloud patterns, and, not seeing Yuan Ling, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Yunjin's involvement was troublesome enough; if Yuan Ling were to join in…

"What's wrong?"

A deep voice sounded from the man beside her, and Cui Yiluo quickly looked away, not expecting Jiang Yunjin to be so quick-witted.

She shook her head. "No."

Jiang Yunjin's cool and aloof features appeared even more obscure in the darkness. With a sullen face, he said in a low voice, "Alright."

"Yi Luo!"

A deep, middle-aged male voice rang out. It wasn't very noticeable in the still somewhat chaotic Luoyun Alley, but it was enough for the people in front of the carriage to hear it clearly.

In the darkness, a city guard was supporting a frail middle-aged man who appeared to be severely injured. He needed two guards to help him walk, and his hands and body were wrapped in bandages. A woman was walking alongside a rather stout boy, and behind them was a sullen-looking young man. They were all dressed in black and covered in dirt, but there were no visible injuries.

As the group drew closer, Cui Yiluo's expression darkened.

Several city guards escorted the man to Jiang Yunjin. "Lord, I shall take my leave now."

Jiang Yunjin nodded slightly.

After the city guards left, the servants who had come with the Jiang family understood and immediately stepped forward to take over and support the middle-aged couple. The couple exchanged a glance.

The next moment, Madam Yao cried out, her dark face contorted in pain: "My dear son-in-law, our family has only just arrived in the capital, and Yi Luo took us here without saying when we could see you. It's only been three days, and suddenly a fire broke out! My dear son-in-law, you must find out the truth! Look how badly Yi Luo's father is injured!"

After a tearful outburst, Yao not only entrusted the matter of the fire to Jiang Yunjin, but also revealed that Cui Yiluo had been holding them captive.

Seeing that Yao was about to cry again, a ruthless glint flashed in Cui Yiluo's eyes.

A clear male voice suddenly rang out beside her, interrupting Yao Shi's speech.

"I will investigate this matter. It's getting late, we can discuss it tomorrow."

Cui Yiluo felt a sense of relief.

Madam Yao was also embarrassed, but she quickly put on a gentle and ingratiating smile: "Then thank you very much, my dear son-in-law."

"By the way, Yiluo, your cousin came along this time too. You haven't met him yet, have you?"

The murky-looking young man behind Yao stepped forward at the opportune moment, saying, "Cousin."

Cui Yiluo's eyes darkened completely, and she subconsciously glanced at Jiang Yunjin.

Under the desolate moonlight, the alley entrance was almost dark, with only the distant city guards and Yunyi guards carrying torches to investigate, casting a few points of light.

The man's face, hidden in the darkness, appeared somewhat sinister.

Author's Note: Who am I calling my cousin? [doge emoji]

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