By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Chapter 191 Pei Rujing discovers Wen Zongji is using contraception

September 10

Today was Wen Zongji's birthday, but it was not a day off, so Wen Zongji went to work as usual.

Pei Rujing simply told him to go home after his shift and not to attend any social events.

Since Wen Zongji delegated the quota for the Beijing Gazette in the surrounding counties to the Ministry of Revenue, the already sought-after Beijing Gazette Office became even more popular.

In the past two weeks, Wen Zongji has attended many social gatherings, mostly among officials in the capital. He used to be uninvited, but now he attends them every single time.

After all, officials who are capable, do not hoard their wealth, and have a broad perspective are truly rare.

Wen Zongji was interested in building connections and did not refuse such opportunities.

Today is Wen Zongji's birthday, and no one would be so tactless as to ask him to attend social events at this time. Pei Rujing was just casually reminding him.

After lunch, Pei Rujing leaned against the soft couch reading a storybook when she suddenly clapped her hands: "I was so busy preparing birthday gifts that I forgot to write a blessing for my husband."

She got off the soft couch and said urgently, "Quickly, prepare pen and ink for me."

Granny Feng comforted her, "Princess, don't worry. It's still early before your husband finishes his shift. Why don't you go to the study to write?"

Pei Rujing glanced at the sky outside and breathed a sigh of relief: "That's right, it's a good time to think about how to write it."

In the study

Wen Zongji's study was simply decorated. The inner room separated by a screen still contained only a small bed, but Wen Zongji had only slept in it when he had just gotten married.

There were several books, as well as writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones on the desk.

Wen Zongji always processed the official documents from the Beijing Gazette Office that night and brought them back to the office the next day; he never left them at his residence.

Pei Rujing picked up a book at random and flipped through it, but lost interest after just one glance.

Because these books are all chess manuals, and Pei Rujing hates Go the most.

She pouted and said, "So you're really learning Go."

Wen Zongji had told her long ago that she should study Go properly.

Little did she know that Wen Zongji was actually studying.

"Princess, have some tea."

Qinghe placed the freshly brewed tea next to Pei Rujing.

Pei Rujing casually flipped through the chess manual: "I didn't even know my husband was looking at chess manuals. Do you think he's hiding anything else from me?"

Qinghe: "...This shouldn't be considered hiding anything, right? The county princess can see it as soon as she comes to the study."

Pei Rujing thought to herself, "It seems I haven't been caring enough about him."

She rarely visited Wen Zongji's study, mainly because she didn't need to. Whatever books she wanted, her maids would find them for her.

Dongxiu, who was standing to the side, said, "Princess, the ink is ready."

Pei Rujing nodded and laid a piece of paper flat on the table, holding it down with a paperweight.

Then I began to think about what to write.

After thinking for a moment, he had a draft in mind, so he dipped his brush in ink and began to write.

The maids waited by, and the study was completely silent.

It was a beautiful day. Sunlight streamed through the window and fell on the ground. Pei Rujing was positioned where light and shadow met, making her look mysterious and dazzling.

I only intended to write some blessings, but before I knew it, I had written a whole page.

Pei Rujing was quite satisfied. She folded the paper, looked it over, and then placed it under the chess manual, deliberately leaving a corner sticking out so that Wen Zongji would find it soon if he sat in the study.

Pei Rujing clapped her hands in satisfaction: "It will definitely be more surprising for my husband to discover it himself."

Putting down her brush, Pei Rujing said, "Go and get the storybook; I'll read it here."

"Yes."

She had already read more than half of the book in her hand and was about to finish it.

Pei Rujing drank tea and read the storybook, and after some time, she turned to the last page.

Pei Rujing reluctantly put away the storybook: "Ruijintang's storybooks are great in every way, except they are written too slowly. Every time I finish reading one volume, I have to wait a long time for the next volume to come out. No matter how impatient I am, it's no use."

Dongxiu laughed and said, "The county princess can arrest the author of the storybook, lock him up and make him write the storybook, and not let him out until he finishes it."

"That's a good idea, why don't you do it?"

Dongxiu choked.

The other maids lowered their heads, pursing their lips and secretly smiling.

Pei Rujing got up and went to the bookshelf, wanting to see if Wen Zongji had any good books.

She stood in front of the bookshelf, took down a biography of a famous person, and couldn't continue reading after only reading one page.

In her view, celebrity biographies are nothing more than others praising others or themselves praising themselves.

There's too much embellishment in this; Pei Rujing isn't interested in other people's stories.

He then casually picked up a classic novel.

I still can't stand watching it.

Pei Rujing had to admit that she was a very vulgar person. She only liked to read vulgar novels. She felt dizzy reading serious and rigorous classics like these.

My fingers traced the books on the bookshelf, and I wondered if Wen Zongji had read all of them.

If that's the case, then he's really amazing.

A moment later, Pei Rujing's hand paused.

Treatise on Herbs

"My husband also practices medicine?"

Pei Rujing took down the "Treatise on Herbs" with a puzzled look, and casually flipped through it, only to find that the first few pages were very new and showed no signs of having been opened.

She smiled.

"It seems this book is just for show."

She shook her head.

People usually use rare books to make a show of things, but no one uses medical skills to do so.

Pei Rujing secretly laughed at Wen Zongji for doing something foolish.

Just as He Zhu was about to put the medical book back, her gaze faltered as she noticed something tucked inside.

She quickly flipped through the medical book and found a piece of white paper tucked inside.

It was covered with writing.

Pei Rujing frowned: "What is this?"

It's not text!

It looks like scribbles.

So mysterious!

Pei Rujing put the paper back into the book.

But then it stopped abruptly.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

Several methods of contraception

Pei Rujing could no longer focus on any other words; only two words remained in her mind's eye—contraception.

At that moment, she looked again at the scribbles on the white paper.

Even though she still didn't understand what it was, her intuition told her that it must be related to contraception.

Perhaps it was Wen Zongji who summarized an effective method of contraception.

They've been sleeping together for months, but she hasn't gotten pregnant yet.

Pei Rujing felt a chill in her heart and subconsciously took a step back, the medical book slipping from her hand.

boom--

The medical book fell to the ground with a sound.

Qinghe and the others quickly stepped forward: "Princess, County Princess—"

Pei Rujing raised her hand to stop them.

She stared at the medical books spread out on the ground and the white paper scattered to the side. Her eyes darkened, and her nails dug deep into her palms, drawing blood, but she felt nothing.

Pei Rujing slowly squatted down, picked up the medical book, put the white paper back in the book, and then put the medical book back on the bookshelf.

Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Pei Rujing turned and walked out of the study, standing in the corridor, where the bright sunlight fell on her.

She felt no warmth at all.