Chapter 69 When the snow clears, I just want to have a bigger place in your heart...
"What?"
Jiang Yunjin really didn't cover hers again. His nose lightly touched hers, then he moved back a little so that he could take in her expression.
Cui Yiluo turned her eyes away and said in a muffled voice, "I don't want to talk about it."
"You still don't believe me." Jiang Yunjin's eyes darkened, and the chill in his voice seemed to be blown away by the wind: "Is he really that good? So much better than me?"
If it were in the past, she would never have imagined that one day Jiang Yunjin would be so obsessed with competing with others.
Cui Yiluo took a deep breath and looked up into his complex, bitter eyes. "Then tell me, if you really never treated me as a pawn, why did you use contraceptive pills?"
After these words were spoken, Jiang Yunjin paused, fell silent, and pursed his lips slightly.
Seeing his evasive look, Cui Yiluo's heart sank again. She grabbed his hand that was restraining her waist and tried to push it away. He remained motionless, so she stubbornly pushed harder.
His arms finally loosened a little, and Cui Yiluo just broke away a little, but the next moment, his arms tightened and she was hugged back by him.
Cui Yiluo struggled angrily, but her wrists were restrained by his other hand. Suddenly, he spoke.
"I just don't want them to threaten you with the child."
Cui Yiluo's struggling movements suddenly stopped, and she looked at him in disbelief: "What did you say?"
Jiang Yunjin loosened his grip on her wrist and rubbed it gently, with helplessness in his eyes, as if he didn't want to tell her about this.
He said slowly, "Xiao Zheng and the others have been waiting for an opportunity, but right now they can't find your weakness. If we have a child, it won't be difficult for them to use it to hold you hostage."
Cui Yiluo never thought that Jiang Yunjin used contraceptive pills for this reason.
Her voice was a little erratic, her brows were stunned, "Is that what you think?"
He straightened his expression and said solemnly, "I won't let anyone threaten you, not even our children."
Suddenly, she couldn't hear the sound of the wind chimes outside the window. She looked at him with complicated eyes: "Don't you care about your own offspring? You are not young anymore."
He was already twenty-two. Could it be that for her safety, he would even disregard the Jiang family's prosperity? He had always been diligent in his work, working day and night, wasn't it all to win glory for the Jiang family? How could he be so reckless for her? Wouldn't he even consider himself?
Jiang Yunjin's lips curled slightly, a little self-deprecating, but also a little helpless: "In your eyes, I am so old-fashioned."
Cui Yiluo looked directly at him and asked, "Isn't it?"
It is so old-fashioned that it is only allowed once a night, and even only in one style, which is very boring.
His eyes darkened with displeasure, and his fingers stroked her wrist. Suddenly, he didn't know where he touched, or perhaps the strength changed. Cui Yiluo only felt a tingling sensation in her wrist, which spread throughout her body.
She bit her lip in suppression.
But he vowed to go against her, and lowered his head to kiss her lips: "Don't worry about my health."
Cui Yiluo always felt that there was something else behind his words. Thinking of the absurdity of the past five days, her chest began to heave again, and she glared at him angrily.
But her vivid and angry look made the man breathe heavier.
With his long arms crossed over his knees, his eyes were spinning as he picked her up and carried her towards the bed. Cui Yiluo struggled subconsciously, thinking he was going crazy again.
"Let me go!"
But he did not press her on the couch. Instead, he sat on the couch and let her sit on his legs. Before Cui Yiluo could react, he held her in his arms again.
She subconsciously frowned in confusion. Hadn't he always hated her sitting on his legs? He always pinched her waist to prevent her from moving, wanting to push her off immediately. But why was it that these past few days, he had been actively letting her sit on him every day, as if he wanted to be close to her even when sitting?
He's really crazy, she thought.
"Then can you tell me now what you are looking for Yuan Ling for?"
His bony hands placed on the side of her face, forcing her to turn towards him, not giving her a moment to escape.
Jiang Yunjin's eyes were fixed on her face, his gaze was direct and intense. Cui Yiluo subconsciously wanted to avoid him when he looked at her, and she immediately exerted force with the hand on the side of her face, forcing her to look at him.
She had no choice but to say, "A list."
Jiang Yunjin frowned and immediately began to think about any clues related to the "list".
Cui Yiluo took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "The roster of the Southern Tour entourage in the third year of Yongming."
Jiang Yunjin suddenly raised his eyes, surprise flashing in his eyes, "Are you investigating what happened back then? Why don't you look for me..."
Cui Yiluo smiled sarcastically.
Sure enough, Jiang Yunjin didn't say anything else, pursed his lips and said, "Don't look for him anymore."
Cui Yiluo smiled, and her hands moved upwards to hook around his neck. Her sudden initiative made him stiffen suddenly.
She looked distressed: "What should I do? I made a deal with him."
The hand around his waist tightened instantly. His face darkened, his voice cold, and his tone hurried, "Deal? What conditions did you offer him?"
"Why, you want to chase me to Jiangnan?"
Jiang Yunjin stopped talking, but a sharp and cruel look flashed in his eyes, as if a storm was coming.
"He hasn't made up his mind yet, so I haven't promised him anything."
Cui Yiluo added slowly.
Jiang Yunjin's hand around her waist suddenly loosened a little, the storm in his eyes disappeared, and he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
He lowered his head and kissed her lips, then said, "If you want to know what happened back then, I can tell you."
Cui Yiluo raised her eyebrows slightly, and he pursed his lips, as if explaining: "Before, I was just afraid that you couldn't accept it."
Cui Yiluo chuckled and looked at him with interest: "So in your eyes, I am so fragile."
"I don't want you to feel bad."
Cui Yiluo was stunned. She was just teasing him, so why did he always explain things to her so seriously and rigidly? It was so boring. Her heart felt like it had been struck by a blow. She subconsciously turned her eyes away, avoiding his gaze, and said sullenly, "Then go ahead."
He hugged her tighter. His cautious look made Cui Yiluo a little amused. She had expected this, and since he had no expectations of her, how could she be sad about it?
He just said slowly, "He wants to give you the list because there is someone on it."
Cui Yiluo frowned, then suddenly understood: "Uncle?"
Jiang Yunjin nodded slightly.
Cui Yiluo's fingers unconsciously pinched into her palms. No wonder her aunt always felt a certain inexplicable guilt towards her, always caring about her even from far away in the capital.
The night she secretly pleaded with her aunt to break up her marriage with Cheng Feng, she felt so sad and guilty after her aunt refused. So that's how it was... her aunt was also involved in the incident. Shortly after Concubine Qiong entered the palace, her uncle was promoted to Minister of Revenue.
"So she met His Majesty through her uncle?"
Jiang Yunjin pried open her fingers one by one and said slowly, "I don't know the details. I only know that Concubine Qiong accidentally fell into the water and happened to come across the ship on the emperor's southern tour. The emperor fell in love with her at first sight and kept her on the ship to seek medical treatment. But when Concubine Qiong woke up, she had forgotten everything."
Jiang Yunjin fell silent at this point.
Cui Yiluo's mind went blank for a moment. "She doesn't remember?"
Jiang Yunjin looked at her, a trace of pity flashed in his eyes, and his expression showed some hesitation. He wanted to say something but stopped himself. But in the end, he said nothing and just nodded lightly.
Cui Yiluo lowered her eyes, and after a long while, she spoke softly, "That's fine."
She forgot her weak and incompetent husband, her humble family background, and the hard times she had lived. This was fine.
Jiang Yunjin took the opportunity to hold her cold hand, and he continued, "Because she had forgotten her past, and her husband held a low position, she rarely appeared in public. Everyone thought she was just an ordinary woman, so His Majesty kept her by his side. When he learned that she was his wife, Noble Concubine Qiong was already pregnant."
Cui Yiluo regained consciousness and said, "So the emperor fabricated the illusion that she drowned."
Cui Qi was mediocre in ability, so he naturally couldn't tell that the corpse with a blurred face was not his wife, so everyone thought her mother was dead. No one dared to believe that Concubine Qiong, the most favored concubine in the palace, was once the wife of an unknown and incompetent minor official.
Jiang Yunjin nodded softly.
There is no need to say more about what happened afterwards. Concubine Qiong was pregnant with Xiao Zheng as early as when she was on a southern tour, so the girl from the Chu family gave birth prematurely eight months after entering the palace.
She and Xiao Zheng are only one year apart in age.
Cui Yiluo suddenly felt something was wrong and asked, "But why does Xiao Zheng know all this?"
Concubine Qiong has forgotten the past. These things are only known to the emperor and the important ministers who followed him during the southern tour. They must have kept their mouths shut. How could Xiao Zheng know about it?
"Xiao Zheng is a meticulous person. He became even more cautious and suspicious after Concubine Qiong gave birth to the Seventh Prince. It's not surprising that he sensed something was wrong and sent people to investigate secretly."
Cui Yiluo nodded, and listened to Jiang Yunjin continue: "If your identity is exposed, the emperor will not make a mistake. In the eyes of the world, it is either Concubine Qiong who is deceiving the emperor, or the Chu family who is deceiving the emperor. That's why he is so anxious. But he dare not touch you at the moment. He has lost the support of the ministers in the court these days, and he is too busy to do anything else. But you still need to bring guards with you when you go out. You should tell me where you have been."
Cui Yiluo pulled her hand out of his grasp and said with a half-smile, "Hasn't my husband been sending people to follow me? Why do you want me to tell him?"
Jiang Yunjin's expression darkened. "During that time, you saw him so frequently."
"Now you know that I have nothing to do with him."
Cui Yiluo didn't understand why Jiang Yunjin felt there was something going on between her and Yuan Ling, even saying things like, "Abandon me and choose him." Aside from the time he bluntly rejected her, she'd always had him as her only target. But why would Jiang Yunjin think this? Could it be because Yuan Ling happened to be there when he arrived the night he was bewitched by the Immortal Bewitching Spirit?
Before Cui Yiluo could figure it out, he bit her lips again with a bit of anger.
Cui Yiluo pushed him away angrily, "What are you doing again!"
She didn't understand why he was angry again out of the blue. Not only was he unruly now, but his moods were also unpredictable.
Although she pushed him on the chest, Jiang Yunjin remained motionless as a mountain and still held her firmly on his lap.
He held her eyes tightly and asked aggressively, "Then why did you burn my letter? Why did you go to Qingzhou?"
Cui Yiluo was stunned. She hadn't expected that Jiang Yunjin still remembered these two things after talking for so long. But the next moment, Cui Yiluo remembered how she had burned the letter and how she had decided to go to Qingzhou. She bit her lip and turned away in anger, but she knew she wasn't angry at him, but at herself, for letting him lead her thoughts in her own way.
But as soon as she turned her face away, he moved closer. In her peripheral vision, she could still see his eyes fixed on her, as if he wanted to see through her. Such a penetrating gaze made Cui Yiluo very uneasy.
"You think I'm going to marry someone else, and you're not happy about it, are you?"
He is indeed sharp.
His words were like a sharp sword that pierced Cui Yiluo's heart. Cui Yiluo leaned back to distance herself from him. "What does this have to do with me?"
The next moment, he was on top of her, kissing her uncontrollably, as if he had anticipated that she would push his chest. He grasped her wrist very skillfully and pressed it against his heart, while continuing to kiss her deeply.
She placed her hands on his chest and felt the vibrations in his heart.
Cui Yiluo felt suffocated by his look of delight, as he had already defined her as being jealous. But the more she tried to hide, the tighter he clung to her. Finally, she lost her balance and fell on the couch. He did not let her go and pressed her under him, pushing her deeper and deeper into the quilt. No matter how Cui Yiluo bit him, he refused to let go.
Her whimper of resistance was swallowed up, and only a few vague sobs came out.
She gradually fell into the wave, and she responded instinctively to his teasing for a moment, and he came at her even more violently.
It was not until she felt a chill on her body that Cui Yiluo suddenly came to her senses and pushed him hard.
"I don't want it. Aren't these five days enough? Jiang Yunjin, what are your rules?"
He used to stick to the rule of once a night and not even touching her during the day, but now he had untied her skirt in broad daylight. Moreover, the absurdity of these five days was beyond Cui Yiluo's imagination. She felt like she was about to be torn apart by him, and her whole body was covered with marks left by him, especially on her chest.
She almost wondered if he had been taken away by someone.
Jiang Yunjin didn't continue, but looked at her with a deep look in his eyes: "Haven't you always wanted to see me like this?"
She loved to seduce and toy with him, to see him lose all his mind and to see him throw down his weapons.
Cui Yiluo was so stunned that she was speechless. In the end, she could only glare at him angrily and said, "No matter what, I don't want to spend the next half month."
Perhaps knowing how indulged she had been in the past five days, Jiang Yunjin didn't say anything else. He carefully helped her tie her nightgown neatly and then helped her up.
He suppressed the lust that was welling up in his eyes. Cui Yiluo lowered her eyes, curled her lips and smiled softly.
After calming down for a few breaths, he finally asked, "Will you all go back home together after dinner?"
Cui Yiluo remembered that a few days ago she had said goodbye to Madam Jiang and said she was going to Qingzhou to visit relatives, and Wang Yuheng had moved into Yuzhu Courtyard. She didn't know how Jiang Yunjin would deal with it. She hesitated for a moment, and her hand was suddenly pulled up and pressed on the man's heart.
His palms trembled, and his expression was extremely serious: "I know you won't trust me so easily, but if something like this happens in the future, you should at least give me a chance, right?"
Cui Yiluo's heart trembled, as if her hand was pressing on his heart and it was shaking as well.
Before she could answer, she heard his deep voice echoing in her ears.
He pursed his lips and said, "A Luo, I just want to have a bigger place in your heart."
His heart was shaking even more violently in his palm. Cui Yiluo was stunned and her palm was numb. She struggled hard to pull her hand out of his grasp.
"My husband doesn't follow any rules now."
She just felt that he was even more shameless than before. It was unbelievable that she could not withstand his attack.
A slight smile appeared in Jiang Yunjin's eyes. He did not force her to answer and went outside to order the meal to be served.
He seemed to be finally comforted, no longer venting his anger as wildly as he did in the past few days, and he no longer forced her to hold him during meals.
After she had her meal and returned to the Jiang Mansion, she saw Lilan and learned that after Jiang Yunjin took her away that day, he brought her back to the Jiang Mansion as soon as he heard the news.
"Miss, where have you been these days? What did the eldest master do to you?"
That day, Jiang Yunjin suddenly brought a group of people to stop the carriage. Lilan was also shocked, but she was stopped by Wen Feng and could only watch Jiang Yunjin take the people away.
Cui Yiluo shook her head and told Lilan not to worry, "I've been in Qingchi Lane these past few days."
Hearing her say this, Li Lan finally felt relieved and continued, "Young lady, when I returned to the Jiang Mansion that day, I heard that the eldest master had returned to the mansion before bringing people to stop the young lady. After hearing that Miss Wang had moved into Yuzhu Courtyard, he sent her directly back to the old lady's courtyard and asked for the account book back that the young lady had given him."
Cui Yiluo only knew that Jiang Yunjin had resolved the matter, but she didn't expect that as soon as he returned home, before he stopped her on the way to Wanglonggang, he would directly and decisively settle the matter without even showing any mercy.
Seeing Cui Yiluo's eyes flash with surprise, and then lowered her eyes in thought, Lilan also understood a little, "The young lady returned home. Did she reconcile with the eldest master?"
Although she knew that Jiang Yunjin had stopped the master and servant and they would definitely not be able to leave, she understood the situation now that her daughter had returned home calmly and did not seem to be forced to do so.
Cui Yiluo hummed softly, "I guess so."
It was just that she didn't know how to do what he asked later. Fortunately, he was not as crazy as he was a few days ago and didn't insist that she agree.
Li Lan breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "That's good. You've been unhappy these past few days. Now that the New Year is approaching and it's your birthday after the New Year, you better stop being unhappy."
It turned out that Lilan had also noticed it, and probably didn't want her to worry, so the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention it to each other.
Cui Yiluo smiled and said, "Don't worry."
In the following days, Cui Yiluo took over the Jiang family's accounting office and was even busier than when she first took over the first house. However, perhaps because of the indulgence in those days, Jiang Yunjin restrained himself a lot. Although the emperor granted him leave, he still had to finish the Yunzhou affairs and was often not at home.
But when he was in the study in the mansion, he wanted Cui Yiluo to move the account books to the study. Cui Yiluo refused directly. He didn't say anything and was well behaved at night. There was no trace of the madness he had shown in the past five days.
Except that I must hold her to sleep.
As if afraid that Madam Jiang would embarrass her, he went with her to pay respects during the day. With Jiang Yunjin around, Madam Jiang naturally wouldn't say anything to her. She simply said, "I'm back," and didn't say anything else. But Cui Yiluo was still a little surprised that Madam Jiang would so obediently allow her to take over the Jiang family.
It was not until Jiang Yunjin's several-day vacation ended and he returned to court to attend to official business that she realized something from Madam Jiang's words when she went to pay her respects alone.
"Since Shenzhi has chosen you and is willing to hand over the account office to you, even at the cost of violating filial piety, I am old and should have been enjoying my retirement. I am not as young and energetic as you, so there is nothing for me to object to."
Cui Yiluo looked at the crabapple pattern embroidered on her sleeves and pretended not to understand Madam Jiang's sarcastic tone.
She never responded, and Old Madam Jiang had no interest in continuing. She could only say, "But Cui, don't let your childhood friendship with Shenzhi make you forget your proper manners. The Jiang family has a lot of assets, so you should put in more effort."
Cui Yiluo, who was quietly sketching the crabapple pattern on her sleeves, suddenly paused.
Childhood friendship? When did she and Jiang Yunjin have a childhood friendship?
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Author's Note: Notice: Congratulations to player [Jiang Yunjin], your capture target [Cui Yiluo]'s favorability towards you has increased [red heart][yellow heart]
This sweetness is quite satisfactory [sunglasses]
Is it the end of the month? The nutrient solution will expire if I don’t add it now (crazy hint) [dog head]
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