Chapter 79 Longing for You She seems to like him even more now…

The night sky was low, and the moonlight cast dappled shadows of the forsythia trees onto the bluestone slabs, making the courtyard extremely quiet.

After a long pause, Jiang Yunjin gently curled his lips, his dark eyes reflecting a calmness that also seemed to be driven to the extreme by madness and obsession: "I'm betting whether you'll let me drink it."

In the end, his Aro couldn't bear to let him drink it, could he?

At this point, Cui Yiluo realized that his gentle and refined gentlemanly demeanor was merely a facade. Not only was he unruly, but he was also extremely adept at manipulating people's hearts. His simple act of drinking medicine had tricked her into revealing his true intentions.

Her hands, clenched tightly in her sleeves, trembled involuntarily.

"If I really let you drink it, will you go and find someone else to give you the antidote?"

The antidote to the Bewitching Intoxicant requires sexual intercourse, and the antidote isn't simply relief, but rather the pleasure derived from sexual intercourse. She pretended to be menstruating, and in his eyes, if he wanted the antidote, he could only find someone else, otherwise he would die.

The thought of this possibility sent a shiver down Cui Yiluo's spine, as if her heart were being pierced by sharp thorns, causing a dense, throbbing pain that made it almost impossible for her to breathe.

His tone was extremely calm, as if he were talking about something trivial: "A'Luo, even if I die, I will not give the antidote to anyone else."

Moreover, he clearly remembered everything about her, and her menstrual period was not in these few days.

Cui Yiluo pinched her palm, the pain calming her down.

"So, you know that I put a bewitching drug in the wine I handed you at the small banquet at the Duke of Zheng's mansion, right?"

His sense of smell was incredibly sharp; he could even distinguish what kind of dried flowers were in the sachet. His reaction to the wine just now clearly indicated that he had already detected the scent of the Bewitching Elixir. If he could detect it this time, how could he not have last time? Even if he couldn't, he must have known that something had been added to the wine.

But he drank it without batting an eye.

Chu Ke had put the medicine in the drink; she pretended not to know and handed it to him, and he pretended not to know and drank it. But in the end, they both knew perfectly well that the drink was poisoned.

Jiang Yunjin no longer concealed anything as before, "Yes."

Even though she already knew the answer, Cui Yiluo's mind went blank for a moment.

"Why?"

Jiang Yunjin looked up at her, a hint of self-mockery flashing in his eyes, and said, word by word, "You need an excuse, and I need an excuse too, don't I?"

Cui Yiluo felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her ear, and she asked incredulously, "What did you say?"

Jiang Yunjin stood up, his gentle and refined gentlemanly demeanor completely gone, replaced by obsession and ruthlessness. He walked up to Cui Yiluo, who had never seen him like this before. She instinctively took a step back, but he immediately pulled her back by her slender wrist.

He made her stand in his shadow, forcing her to look at him: "Because I want to marry you. When you approached me, when I knew you were from the cave, I wanted to marry you. But I can't, you're already engaged, marrying you would violate social norms and I shouldn't do it. But I love you, that cup of wine was a chance for me to marry you. So even if you drugged me, I never blamed you at all. A'Luo, I only feel that you chose me."

At that time, he watched helplessly as she was to marry someone else, even an old and lecherous man like Cheng Feng. Countless times he wanted to kill Cheng Feng and take her place. But at that time, he was still bound by rules.

Cui Yiluo's breath hitched, and she suddenly felt almost unable to breathe, her chest heaving.

"You knew all along that the person in the cave was me?"

She had asked him before when he recognized her, and he answered after their marriage. So it was so early, so very early that he recognized her, so very early that he had developed feelings for her…

Jiang Yunjin smiled self-deprecatingly: "I knew you hadn't been in Shengjing long."

"Why did you lie to me..."

Jiang Yunjin pulled her hand, ignoring her resistance, and intertwined their fingers, like vines tightly binding and locking her in, never to let her go.

"I don't want you to know that I am actually this despicable. I don't want you to see my bad side."

So he kept his feelings a secret, concealing the fact that he knew all along that the wine was drugged but deliberately drank it, had a one-night stand with her, and then married her.

Just as Cui Yiluo was about to ask why he was admitting it so directly now, he seemed to see through all her thoughts and said, "Now that you know, I'm even less likely to give you the chance to leave me. Aluo, I'm glad you chose me back then."

Once the aloof facade is torn away, the facade of magnanimity is a facade; true power lies in meticulous scheming.

The obsession and madness in his words were like an invisible net, trapping them both, and neither of them could escape it. She was destined to be with him for life.

Cui Yiluo tried her best to keep her tone calm: "Chu Ke's horse went mad and caused Cheng Feng to fall off. Did you do this?"

He nodded slightly: "Yes."

Cui Yiluo felt a chill run down her spine: "Did you also cause Zhao Jian's fall off the cliff?"

"yes."

Chu Ke dared to covet her, Cheng Feng humiliated her, and Zhao Jian was even more hateful. It wasn't that he couldn't take their lives, but a clean and tidy death was worse than letting them suffer a fate worse than death.

Cui Yiluo knew that what Cheng Yi had said at Huaming Pavilion today was true. It turned out that when Jiang Yunjin said she would invite Doctor Xu to the Cheng family to treat Cheng Yi, she was not referring to Cheng Yi, but to Cheng Feng. Cheng Feng had been scalded in that area by the tea she had drugged, and could no longer have sex. This was naturally more painful than death for the lustful Cheng Feng, so when Jiang Yunjin made this request, Cheng Feng agreed.

He was too calculating; first, he gave Cheng Feng hope, and then he personally destroyed that hope completely.

Cui Yiluo never imagined that he was this kind of person.

He was still staring at her, not letting her reaction slip by. She took a step back, but he pulled her back with their intertwined fingers, dragging her straight into his arms and holding her tightly with his other arm.

He gave a mocking laugh. "A-Luo is afraid of me."

His eyes were dark and filled with a strong determination, but when he saw her step back, a hint of hurt flashed in his eyes.

Cui Yiluo didn't speak, so he stubbornly waited for her reply, still holding her in his arms with one arm.

After a while, Cui Yiluo exhaled and her tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

She shook her head, her voice heavy and hesitant: "No, I'm not afraid of you, it's just that you've kept too many things from me."

She just couldn't accept it for the time being. After all, she herself was not a kind person, or to be more precise, she was ruthless and unscrupulous, so how could she possibly fear or despise him?

A glimmer of light appeared in Jiang Yunjin's dark eyes, as if a few inches of moonlight had been reflected in them. His voice was somewhat hoarse: "So, you didn't want to leave me?"

Cui Yilu shook her head.

Jiang Yunjin felt a slight sense of relief upon receiving her affirmative answer, but the next moment he heard her speak.

"But you liked me back then, yet you constantly scolded me for breaking the rules and kept everyone at arm's length. Even when I risked everything to ask you for help, you rejected me without hesitation. Jiang Yunjin, don't you think you're being a bit too contradictory?"

When the past was brought up, Cui Yiluo's voice turned cold.

"Yes, I hadn't let go of the rules back then."

On one hand, he was punishing himself by strictly adhering to the rules because of his parents' death, as if it were a form of atonement. On the other hand, he was wavering, wanting to follow the desires deep in his heart. He was in such a state of contradiction and struggle at that time.

“But Aro, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have abandoned the rules. After my parents died, I was more like a walking corpse than the diligent and ambitious people talked about. I felt that following the rules was what I had to do, until I met you again.”

After his parents' death, the real him seemed to be locked away by layers of shackles, like a stagnant pool. To him, Cui Yiluo was more like a bright yellow forsythia planted beside the stagnant water, beautiful and resilient, full of vitality. No need to throw pebbles into the water, she could attract him and create ripples.

She said she ruined all his rules, but wasn't it he who led her to ruin them?

Cui Yiluo took a deep breath. "But you've kept this from me for so long, and you treated me like that before. I can't forgive you. Unless you promise me one thing."

"What?"

“These days, I also want to experience what it's like to follow the rules. You said it yourself: no more than once a night, no daytime debauchery, no intimate acts except in bed, no embracing at night, no talking while eating or sleeping, and no tea or snacks in the study. Besides, I won't go to the study anymore; I want to concentrate on my work. As for that matter, it shouldn't be too frequent; three times a month is enough. This month I've exceeded that, so I'll use next month's allowance to make up for it, and so on.”

Jiang Yunjin was clearly not expected that she would make such a request. He was stunned for a moment, and then his expression grew increasingly serious.

Cui Yiluo asked calmly, "Jiang Yunjin, will you agree or not?"

Putting aside everything else, let's just talk about that matter. This month alone, it's already happened dozens of times. If we follow this pattern, he won't be able to touch her for a whole year.

Jiang Yunjin's face was ashen, and his dark eyes inexplicably revealed a hint of resentment to Cui Yiluo. He remained silent for a few moments before finally relenting and saying, "Hmm."

As long as I can be with her, that's enough.

Cui Yiluo responded, then her gaze shifted to his arm around her waist and their hands intertwined, and she commanded, "Let go."

Jiang Yunjin's gaze instantly darkened, his jaw tightened, but he still listened to her and let go of her hand. The two separated, and Cui Yiluo deliberately took a step back, and sure enough, she saw a flash of resentment on his face, but he forcefully suppressed it.

“Besides, I have something else to ask you,” Cui Yiluo asked. “Tell me honestly, why do you get so anxious every time it comes to Yuan Ling?”

Jiang Yunjin pursed his lips, turned his head slightly away, clearly not wanting to answer, and his face darkened considerably when Yuan Ling was mentioned.

Having come this far tonight, Cui Yiluo had no intention of letting him get away with it: "Tell me."

Her gaze was direct and intense. Jiang Yunjin pursed his lips and said, "Before the small banquet at the Duke of Zheng's mansion, you had a lot of contact with him. At the Duke of Zheng's mansion, he even brushed the flower petals from your hair."

Cui Yiluo was stunned; he had actually seen all of this. "But if you had seen it, you would have known I avoided it."

Jiang Yunjin slightly curled the corners of his lips, with a hint of bitterness: "I know, but at that time I had just rejected you, and I knew you were looking for someone else. I was worried that you would really not want me."

Cui Yiluo never expected that he was thinking that way back then. No wonder when she ran into him at the Duke of Zheng's residence after so many days, his eyes were covered in dark circles; at the time, she thought it was due to overwork. Now, thinking back, that was definitely not the case.

“I was indeed considering other people at the time, but what could I do? You wouldn’t help me. But I never considered Yuan Ling.”

Jiang Yunjin's lips first pressed down, then curled up slightly, looking extremely contradictory.

He said, “I was glad you handed me the drugged wine. But when I rushed there that day, Yuan Ling was there. A Luo, I couldn’t help but wonder if you would have gone with him if I had been late.”

Cui Yiluo unconsciously fiddled with the jade pendant he wore at his waist. Hearing this, she looked up at him and said, "So now you know, you won't."

A glint appeared in Jiang Yunjin's eyes, and his previously low breath became slightly more rapid. He almost instinctively wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he forcibly restrained himself.

Cui Yiluo watched his slightly moving fingertips, pressing down the corners of her lips that were turned up.

Suddenly, a strange memory of their intimate moments flashed through her mind. She looked directly at him again and pressed, "When you were doing that before... you kept forcing me to call you that. When I called you 'husband,' you weren't satisfied and insisted that I call you by your name. Was it because..."

Jiang Yunjin knew she was perceptive and wasn't surprised that she realized what he meant, given how strange his reaction had been at the time.

He didn't want to admit it, but it was clear he couldn't hide it from her any longer.

“Yes,” he said with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, “Initially, you didn’t approach me because you had feelings for me. I always wondered, if someone else had the same power and status as me, would you choose someone else? Or, if you did choose someone else, even if that person wasn’t Yuan Ling, what would happen? Would you also call them husband and do the same intimate things with them as I do?”

Whenever he thought like this, his chest would ache as if it were about to explode. And when it came to Yuan Ling, he would lose his usual composure and repeatedly confirm with her that it was he who was intimate with her, and that it could only be him.

A hint of interest flashed in Cui Yiluo's eyes as she raised an eyebrow and said, "Jiang Yunjin, how come I never noticed how childish you are before? If I hadn't offered you wine, would you really have wanted to see me marry Cheng Feng?"

After all, he had already rejected her outright back then.

Jiang Yunjin seemed to have considered this possibility long ago, and quickly shook his head.

His tone was resolute: "No. I may remain conflicted for a long time, but if the day comes that you are to marry him, I will find a way to kill him."

We need to find a way to make it a natural thing for her to marry him.

When Jiang Yunjin spoke the last sentence, his dark eyes involuntarily revealed a ruthlessness she had never seen before. The gentleman who had always been upright and virtuous suddenly turned into a ruthless person, revealing the sharp aura of a superior who held the power of life and death. The contrast was so great that it would probably make people feel fear.

But when Cui Yiluo discovered that he revealed his true colors, she seemed to like him even more.

-

Cui Yiluo said she wanted to "follow the rules," and Jiang Yunjin actually followed her example. Every night when he returned to the room, only the glass lamp hanging by the bed was lit. He would go to the bathroom without saying a word and then lie down beside her.

She deliberately moved aside, a few inches away from him, just like he had done to her when they had first gotten married.

She could clearly feel that Jiang Yunjin's aura had become heavier, but he still kept his promise and didn't touch her. He stubbornly turned to face her and lay down to sleep, maintaining his last bit of stubbornness.

Sometimes she would even deliberately tease him, kiss him, touch him, and make him breathless and aroused. Then, when he couldn't help but try to pin her down, she would push him away and make him behave.

After several times, Jiang Yunjin knew that she was just trying to tease him, but every time she got close, he couldn't help but take the opportunity to be intimate with her for a while longer.

When Cui Yiluo said she wouldn't go to the study, she really didn't go there at all. Jiang Yunjin even suggested several times, both openly and secretly, that he move his official business to the room, but she refused each time, saying that the desk in the room was too small. After all, this was what he had said himself when he invited her to the study to look at the account books.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yunjin pursed his lips and never mentioned it again.

That day, Cui Yiluo was sitting under the flower trellis reading a book. It was already early spring, and several delicate flower buds had sprouted on the branches climbing the trellis, waiting to bloom when spring was in full bloom.

Just then, Lilan suddenly rushed in from outside the courtyard.

She said in a panic, "Miss, Master and Madam Yao..."

Cui Yiluo's heart skipped a beat for a moment. "What's wrong?"

"They are dead."

Author's Note: My cousin has completely gone mad. The young couple is open about their relationship; they're not pretending anymore. [Sunglasses]

The main story will conclude tomorrow or the day after. Thank you all for your support during this time! [Sprinkling flowers]

If you have any side stories you'd like to see, you can order them now; the chef who can make them will do it. [doge emoji]