Chapter 344: The Little Woman Ma Xiao Jiao

…

Ma Xiao Jiao’s remark, “If that day really comes, it won’t have been in vain for us to have crossed over,” left Zhao Yu unable to sleep.

Zhao Yu thought to himself:

“Does her ‘us’ include me?”

“In other words, does she know, like Qing Cheng, that I’m also a crosser?”

“If so, when did I slip up?”

“….”

Zhao Yu had concealed this secret for sixteen or seventeen years; apart from one slip caught by the razor-sharp Yuan Qing Cheng, he had never been exposed again.

The reason Zhao Yu had hidden it so long and so deeply was:

First, certainly because Zhao Yu rarely made mistakes that exposed his identity—so much so that the five women never noticed any flaw;

Second, Zhao Yu had spent too much time with the five women, growing too intimate with them, until they had completely lowered their guard around him, saying anything to him—even details from their past lives—and whenever something suspicious arose, they used “Dreaming into the Divine Machine” as a shield, allowing Zhao Yu to deflect blame onto them.

Most cleverly, the five women were five individuals, not one, each having ample private moments with Zhao Yu, making it impossible for them to consistently suspect him of being a crosser based on his postmodern words or actions—especially after Zhao Yu began imitating their use of postmodern elements, leaving them utterly confused about what he had learned from them, to the point they could no longer tell any difference between him and themselves.

Notably, this was intentional on their part. Deep down, the five women looked down on the natives of this era, regarding themselves as “superior beings” for having crossed over, and struggled to accept that they had been seduced by a native and bore him many children. To reconcile themselves with this reality, they deliberately “trained” Zhao Yu, attempting to turn him into a “superior being” like themselves.

The male rabbit’s feet twitch, the female rabbit’s eyes blur; when both run side by side along the ground, how can one tell which is male and which is female?

Thus, it was unlikely Ma Xiao Jiao had deduced Zhao Yu was also a crosser.

Had she learned it from Yuan Qing Cheng?

That was also unlikely.

Yuan Qing Cheng was tight-lipped, meticulous, and flawless in action; crucially, she refused to share this secret with Zhang Chun, Li Lin, Ma Xiao Jiao, or Ye Shi Yun, wanting to be the only woman who knew Zhao Yu’s true origin.

Therefore, Yuan Qing Cheng would not have told Ma Xiao Jiao that Zhao Yu was also a crosser.

This was evident from how Yuan Qing Cheng had guarded this secret for years.

Moreover, the woman closest to Yuan Qing Cheng was Li Lin, not Ma Xiao Jiao; even if she truly couldn’t hold it in and wanted to confide in someone, she would choose Li Lin, not Ma Xiao Jiao.

In short, neither Zhao Yu nor Yuan Qing Cheng would have revealed to Ma Xiao Jiao that Zhao Yu was also a crosser.

But apart from Zhao Yu and Yuan Qing Cheng, no third person knew Zhao Yu was a crosser—if Ma Xiao Jiao knew, it could only have come from them.

Zhao Yu thought back on his movements over the past few days.

“A few days ago, I went to Qing Cheng’s place to see her tri-seasonal rice… we casually talked about our past lives… I even told her about a funny incident when I delivered food in my previous life…”

At this thought, Zhao Yu called out to the door: “Someone.”

The on-duty Liu Mingda immediately opened the door and entered.

Liu Mingda quietly stepped to Zhao Yu’s side and, with perfect understanding, leaned his ear close to Zhao Yu’s mouth.

Zhao Yu whispered a few instructions to Liu Mingda.

Liu Mingda listened, asked nothing, and left.

Soon after, Liu Mingda returned and, in a voice only Zhao Yu could hear, whispered into his ear: “Empress Ma visited Empress Yuan…”

This time, Zhao Yu had no trace of hope left: “It must be that Xiao Jiao overheard me talking with Qing Cheng and guessed I’m also a crosser…”

After sending Liu Mingda away, Zhao Yu looked at the sleeping Ma Xiao Jiao and thought, “I never expected you’d be the second to know this secret.”

Ma Xiao Jiao had the lowest emotional intelligence among the five women, was careless, and her mind was entirely absorbed in scientific research—focused, undistracted. Zhao Yu had always believed that, unless he actively revealed his identity, Ma Xiao Jiao would be the last to suspect he was a crosser—perhaps never suspect it at all, waiting for Zhao Yu or someone else to tell her.

Yet, despite her low emotional intelligence, luck favored her—she happened to overhear him and Yuan Qing Cheng talking.

This was partly Zhao Yu’s own fault: he had always treated the five women too well, especially Ma Xiao Jiao, his dearly beloved treasure.

Moreover, the five women had weak boundaries among themselves.

This allowed Ma Xiao Jiao to effortlessly bypass all of Zhao Yu’s defenses and get close enough to overhear his casual conversation with Yuan Qing Cheng.

Knowing the truth, Zhao Yu finally relaxed.

Since Ma Xiao Jiao had known for some time and shown no unusual behavior—still passionately devoted to her research, still working as hard as ever when serving him, even with other women in bed—it proved she had mentally accepted the fact that he was also a crosser.

Crucially, Zhao Yu had fully possessed Ma Xiao Jiao over sixteen or seventeen years ago; she had already borne him six children, becoming the woman who bore him the most offspring.

Ma Xiao Jiao had also helped Zhao Yu ignite the Industrial Revolution, laying its very foundation. She had already proposed Ma’s Three Laws of Motion, Ma’s Law of Universal Gravitation, Ma’s Three Laws of Thermodynamics, Ma’s Four Laws of Electromagnetism, Ma’s Three Laws of Optics and Wave Theory, Ma’s Theory of Relativity, and more…

Without exaggeration, even without Ma Xiao Jiao’s continued presence, Song’s existing research alone could trigger a massive Industrial Revolution.

Only, without her leadership, the process might take years—or even decades—longer.

Thus, if Zhao Yu lost Ma Xiao Jiao, he would feel sorrow, even grief—but he could still accept it.

Crucially, from her demeanor, Ma Xiao Jiao seemed to still wish to pretend she didn’t know he was a crosser, continuing life as before, without accusing him of deception—she simply lacked the acting skill and emotional intelligence to conceal it, and had accidentally slipped up so quickly.

What harm could it do that Ma Xiao Jiao now knew Zhao Yu was also a crosser?

Well.

There actually was one problem.

That was: Zhao Yu feared that if Ma Xiao Jiao couldn’t keep his secret, neither could Zhang Chun, Li Lin, or Ye Shi Yun.

Zhao Yu would have to teach Ma Xiao Jiao a lesson.