His eyes, bewitching and deep as a mountain spring, held a detached, terrifying gaze, yet the smile curving his lips was undeniably eerie.
Ye Luan's heart gave a jolt, but her expression remained composed.
Her guess was indeed correct.
He knew she had been secretly taking contraceptives.
"Oh, contraceptives."
Xiao Chi Zhan's face turned cold. Seeing her expression unperturbed, a knot of anger lodged itself in his chest, unable to rise or fall. He was waiting for her explanation.
But the radiant, beautiful face before him had turned cold and stern, her alluring fox-like eyes fixing on him with intense accusation and anger.
"The Prince forced me to drink that contraceptive soup. Do you know how much it damages the body?"
After a furious roar, Ye Luan seized the opportunity while he was stunned, snatched the medicine bottle, and swallowed a pill.
Damn it, if she didn't take it now, it would be useless.
"You—"
Xiao Chi Zhan snapped back to awareness, glaring at her in anger.
A faint pain emanated from his shoulder, his handsome, clean hands seeming to grip her tightly.
Ye Luan coldly pushed him away, turning the tables completely.
"Am I not doing as the Prince wishes, freeing you of any worries?"
"When did this Prince ever make you take such things?"
Truly sharp-tongued, she directly bit back, twisting the truth. In her words, everything became his fault?!
Ye Luan crossed her arms and sneered, "Didn't you personally hand it to me in the separate palace before?"
"Apart from that one time, this Prince has never ordered you to take it."
"If I don't take it, am I supposed to bear the Prince an illegitimate child?"
Xiao Chi Zhan was angered by her words.
"You are distorting the facts, trying to confuse me with past events."
Ye Luan's brow twitched. She licked her lips without speaking.
"This Prince already said he would marry you as his Princess Consort. Why are you still taking cold medicine? You clearly don't want to marry me."
Pah.
Marrying him or not is a separate issue from bearing children.
She refused to yield, her quick wit continuing, "Before marriage, getting pregnant out of wedlock, do you want the entire Daliang to laugh at me?"
Silver-tongued!
Xiao Chi Zhan's deep eyes flashed with ruthlessness.
His gaze sent a shiver down Ye Luan's spine. She couldn't bear the consequences of secretly taking it while concealing it from him; this blame had to be placed squarely on him.
"The Prince asked me to drink it in the beginning. Although you didn't say it later, I had to be sensible and take the medicine proactively, so as not to worry the Prince."
As she spoke, she put on a wronged expression. "I thought you tacitly agreed. Why are you getting angry at me now?"
Xiao Chi Zhan watched her act, feeling a throbbing in his forehead.
"Deceiving this Prince, attempting to hide it from this Prince, and now, upon discovery, you dare to play the victim. You are utterly audacious!"
He was clearly very angry.
Ye Luan coughed lightly, walked to his side, tugged his robe, and shook it. "Why are you so angry? If I really got pregnant, wouldn't it be a spectacle with a swollen belly at the wedding!"
She pouted, her delicate lips pink, her alluring fox-like eyes looking at him with a hint of grievance.
Xiao Chi Zhan's anger inexplicably subsided.
He uncomfortably tugged at his robe, realizing she had swayed his emotions again.
"Besides, I'm the one who's suffering, okay? Do you think I wanted to take it? It's all because you have no restraint."
His sharp gaze interrupted her. "I agreed to marry you, so why would I still need to take this? You clearly don't want to marry me, and you're trying to escape me, so you won't give birth to my child."
Good heavens, he guessed it so accurately.
Ye Luan would never admit it.
She retorted, "Can you stop being so overbearing and making arbitrary assumptions? We aren't married yet. If something were to happen, wouldn't I be a laughingstock?"
"Who would dare to laugh at this Prince's woman? If something were to happen, we would just get married earlier. You deliberately deceived this Prince and secretly took cold medicine because you don't want to marry me."
The thought of her constantly plotting to escape him filled Xiao Chi Zhan with a murderous aura. His eyes became terrifyingly dark and bloodthirsty.
The commotion inside was so great that the maids and wet nurses outside were terrified and dared not come in to serve.
Ye Luan's brow twitched as she watched his fury.
This was bad!
How could he be like a worm in her stomach, guessing so accurately?
She had finally managed to relax his vigilance; she couldn't mess this up.
If she were locked up, she would go mad!
After a moment's thought, she walked to his side, stood on tiptoe to embrace his neck, pressed her body tightly against him, and looked him in the eye. "You're really overthinking things. I take cold medicine because I don't want to have children right now."
The girl's radiant gaze was frighteningly sincere, her soft body rubbing against him. His originally enraged heart inexplicably eased a little.
Xiao Chi Zhan suppressed his killing intent, allowing her to embrace him, listening to her explanation.
"I only just came of age last year. I'm too young. If I were to suffer from postpartum hemorrhage, I would die."
He looked at her meaningfully, as if assessing the truth of her words.
After a pause, he said darkly, "It's really not because you don't want to marry this Prince?"
"Of course not. I will only marry the Prince in this lifetime."
She smiled at him, her alluring fox-like eyes filled with a spring-like radiance, bright and charming.
Xiao Chi Zhan knew her words were untrustworthy, yet he believed them nonetheless.
He reached out and held her tightly in his arms, saying in a low voice, "Then let's not have children anymore."
A breeze carrying the scent of flowers blew in through the window.
Ye Luan's heart gave a slight pause. She seized the opportunity and said, "Then you should be more restrained in the future. This thing shouldn't be taken too often."
This was something she made herself, far better than anything sold on the market, and it didn't harm the body much.
"Did you hear me?"
As she nudged him, Xiao Chi Zhan frowned. "What do you mean, not too often?"
"It's bad for my health."
He didn't understand this.
"Oh."
Ye Luan, afraid he would realize and go berserk again, and regardless of whether he had heard or not, took advantage of the situation to change the subject. "Can I go out to the market to buy some things?"
"Whatever you want, just order someone to buy it."
Ye Luan playfully kissed him and smiled brightly, "I want to pick things out myself, to see if there's anything we can use for our wedding."
Xiao Chi Zhan looked down at her and scoffed, "Stop pretending. You want to scout the routes, don't you?"
Her heart skipped a beat.
She glared at him in displeasure and pushed him away. "Think whatever you want."
"Come here."
"What for?"
He reached out, grabbed her, and pushed her onto the table, leaning down and kissing her fiercely.
The teapot and wine cups scattered across the floor with a clatter.
The wet nurses and maids waiting outside held their breath, terrified.
Had they started fighting?
Would they be implicated and dragged out to be killed by the Prince?
Inside the room, Ye Luan pushed him away breathlessly. "My back is going to break."
He ignored her, continuing to press her down and caress her, his bewitching red eyes inching down her body, his gentleness making her feel a chill.
"Later, I'll take you out."
She ignored his gaze, concealing her inner excitement, and asked calmly, "Where to?"
"You'll know when we get there."