Chapter 56 Why would she believe him when her eyes were so indifferent?
"Where did you find this medicine?"
Yang Jingling picked up the dark pill, sniffed it lightly, and frowned.
Cui Yiluo looked at the pills that Yang Jingling was holding between her fingers; she had found them in Jiang Yunjin's study.
She can now freely enter and leave Jiang Yunjin's study. She uses the excuse of leaving the hairpin in the study to enter. Such a trivial matter will not be reported to Jiang Yunjin by the guards. However, if she closes the door, the guards outside will definitely notice something is amiss.
She had no choice but to leave the door open and quietly rummage through the cabinet. Last time she took the Xuan paper, she brought out a wooden box hidden deep inside the cabinet, so she figured the pills must also be hidden there.
Sure enough, she found the exact same white porcelain bottle she had seen that morning in one of the compartments.
Jiang Yunjin was exceptionally perceptive; if even one pill was missing, he might notice. Cui Yiluo took out a pill wrapped in an embroidered handkerchief. She had specifically found a pill that was similar in color and size to Jiang Yunjin's pill, replaced the one in the white porcelain bottle, wrapped it in the handkerchief again, and then brought it to the Yang residence for Yang Jingling to examine carefully.
She asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Yang Jingling shook her head and said, "This medicine is very well prepared. The ingredients effectively suppress the toxicity. Although it slightly reduces the efficacy, long-term use will not cause much harm to the body."
"What are the effects of this medicine?"
Yang Jingling looked at her with a hint of pity. Cui Yiluo knew that she was intelligent and quick-witted, and had obviously guessed whose medicine it was. In fact, she had also vaguely guessed something from Yang Jingling's reaction.
Cui Yiluo curled her lips into a smile, her expression unreadable: "A contraceptive for men, is that it?"
The contraceptive pills taken by men are not the same as those taken by women, so they are easy to distinguish.
Yang Jingling nodded, then said, "But I can't be sure either; we still need to grind it further before making a careful judgment."
Yang Jingling was a physician trained by the Imperial Physician and possessed exceptional medical skills, so her diagnosis was unlikely to be wrong. However, for the sake of accuracy, she still divided the pill in half and ground it into powder.
Clearly, her judgment was correct.
Yang Jingling observed Cui Yiluo's expression and advised, "Perhaps Young Master Jiang has some unspeakable difficulties? After all, you are still young, why don't you talk to him?"
Cui Yiluo is indeed still young, but what about Jiang Yunjin? He is already twenty-two. Other young masters from prominent families who are the same age as him already have children who are about to enter school, and even those who are slower have already had offspring.
He was old-fashioned and cared so much about the glory and prosperity of the Jiang family. With only one son left in the main branch, how could he not want to have an heir?
I just don't want her to have any children.
She heard it clearly from behind the window and heard that he had been taking the medicine for more than two months.
Two months had passed since they got married, and he had been taking contraceptives from the start of their marriage.
From the very beginning, he didn't want her to have any children.
But he had been keeping it from her all along. Even last night, on the pleasure boat, she asked him how he would raise his children when he became a father. She thought it was normal not to conceive after more than two months, and she wasn't in a hurry, but she didn't expect that he was doing it on purpose.
Why did he implicitly agree to have a child with her last night? And why did he take contraceptive pills early the next morning after discussing having children?
In a daze, Cui Yiluo suddenly remembered something. Because she was still useful, wasn't she? Back then, he only protected her because he was following Xiao Jing's orders; otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted any contact with her at all. For Xiao Jing, for the future of the court, with the great cause at hand, how could deceiving her be considered a violation of the gentleman's code?
Suddenly everything became clear.
So, his intention was to divorce her once everything was over? After all, the Jiang family forbade concubines, and he couldn't possibly demote his wife to the status of a concubine.
In an instant, Cui Yiluo felt a deep sense of regret. Why had she believed him? Why had he asked her to believe him, and she had actually believed him? She knew perfectly well that she shouldn't trust anyone, much less have any expectations of anyone. In fact, everyone lives for themselves.
Cui Yiluo's thoughts were like a tangled ball of yarn. If he didn't want to have children with her, why did he make love to her every night? It was precisely because he made love to her every night that she thought he wanted children.
So, he also had some desires, which is why he was willing to take medication every day just to have sex with her at night.
She clearly wanted to break his rules and let him indulge in lust, but at this moment she felt it was extremely ironic.
"Yi Luo?"
Seeing Cui Yiluo with her eyes downcast, her beautiful face obscured in the shadows, Yang Jingling tentatively called out again, her voice filled with worry.
Cui Yilu raised her lips and gave a beautiful smile.
"It's alright, Jingling. Please keep today's events a secret for me and don't let my second cousin know."
Yang Jingling was still somewhat worried, but she didn't know how to intervene in matters between husband and wife, so she finally nodded and agreed: "I will, don't worry."
Cui Yiluo maintained her smile and tried to change the subject, but both of them were distracted and stopped talking after a few words.
After returning to Jixuezhai, Cui Yiluo took out the account book to look at it.
But he couldn't even read a few pages. Accounts that he could usually check with ease were now impossible to read.
But then she thought, in his and Xiao Jing's eyes, she was nothing more than a pawn in their quest for the throne. And back then, wasn't he also a pawn in her eyes, used to escape an arranged marriage? It was all mutual exploitation, so why harbor resentment towards each other?
She was confused for a moment, lost her senses, and forgot what she should be doing.
Cui Yiluo's heart sank lower and lower, but she could never reach the bottom.
Night fell, and the cool moonlight gradually spread.
Before Jiang Yunjin returned to his room, Cui Yiluo extinguished the candles at the appointed time, then lay down on the couch and closed her eyes.
She was up all night and didn't get to rest until dawn. She went to sleep for a short while before rushing back to the Jiang residence. She also went out and stayed at the Yang residence for a while. She should have been exhausted, so exhausted that she should have fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
But in the darkness, she could not fall asleep no matter what she did.
The door suddenly creaked open, the sound of Jiang Yunjin returning. Cui Yiluo knew this without turning around. It turned out that they had come to understand each other without even realizing it.
A hint of sarcasm flashed in Cui Yiluo's eyes.
As usual, the sound of water was soft in the bathroom.
Then, a faint warmth came from behind her, which was especially noticeable in the bedroom where the charcoal brazier was burning brightly. It was so noticeable that Cui Yilu could clearly feel him lying down and moving closer.
"Not asleep?"
His cool voice rang out in the darkness, tinged with hesitation.
Cui Yiluo kept her eyes closed and did not answer, maintaining her long and even breathing.
The person behind her asked once, but when she didn't answer, he didn't ask again, nor did he move his body, remaining very close to her on the bed.
There seemed to be a tacit understanding between them, a tacit understanding not to ask questions, a tacit understanding not to cross certain boundaries. He knew she wasn't asleep, but she didn't answer, and he wouldn't press her, assuming she had other reasons.
Cui Yilu suddenly felt extremely disgusted by this behavior of maintaining boundaries.
"What happened at the manor?"
After a long silence, just when Cui Yilu thought they would not speak again and the night would pass by in tacit understanding, the man's voice rang out once more.
Cui Yiluo felt as if a thorn had been stuck in her heart, and she felt extremely uncomfortable all over.
She bit her lip. "No."
Her body was suddenly turned over, and she abruptly met the man's dark and gloomy eyes.
Author's Note: Notice: Congratulations to player [Jiang Yunjin], your target [Cui Yiluo]'s affection level towards you has dropped to 0.
There's a reason for using contraceptives, which I'll explain later.
Given her upbringing, it's normal for A-Luo to distrust her cousin. It's impossible for her to completely trust him just because he helped her once or twice. She and her cousin hadn't fully opened up to each other, and there was always a distance between them. Then, what she perceived as deception happened, and considering the people and events she's encountered throughout her life, her trust level has undoubtedly decreased significantly. Furthermore, she's naturally avoidant in relationships and won't take the initiative to speak up. I hope everyone will give A-Luo a chance to grow; she is constantly evolving and changing.
Sorry, something unexpected happened today that took up my writing time. I will make up for the missing words tomorrow.
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