Chapter 2

A person's destiny must consider both self-struggle and the historical process, but in the final analysis, it cannot be separated from self-struggle; for instance, Xu Yuanqing relied on hard work to transform from a mountain bandit into the son of the Great Zhou State's Weiyuan Marquis and a Small Flag officer of the Jing'an Guard's Tongzhou Hundred-Household Office.

The riddled carriage continued forward, only the guards following on both sides had increased, changing from the original five to nine, while five corpses had also been added to the horses' backs, and the male master inside the carriage had also been replaced.

Xie Qingwu had already been tied up with rope.

It was not for fear that she would hurt someone, but for fear that she would commit suicide.

It was just that the binding was very shameful; as a master of rope art, Pei Shaoqing used the binding method he was most proficient in from his previous life.

Turtle Shell Binding!

The rough hemp rope tightened the originally slightly loose clothes on Xie Qingwu's body, making her towering breasts even more prominent, which made her, who had already calmed down and regained her reason, blush with shame and feel extremely humiliated inside; she took a deep breath, looked at the villain before her, and said in as calm a tone as possible: "I ask that you, husband, untie me."

"Hmm?" Pei Shaoqing, who was pondering how to threaten the other party into obediently submitting to assist him in completing the identity replacement, raised an eyebrow, his gaze filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

Xie Qingwu met his gaze calmly, endured the strange sensation of the hemp rope rubbing against her nipples, revealed a bright smile, and said softly: "Although you look almost identical to my husband, you are ultimately not him; you know nothing about him. To perfectly replace his identity, you cannot do without my help. You don't need to rack your brains to persuade or intimidate me; as long as you agree to one condition, I am willing to cooperate to cover your identity and help you truly achieve this substitution."

"Why?" Pei Shaoqing's originally relaxed body couldn't help but sit up straight, and he looked her over with great interest, saying: "Don't say it's to save your life; I can tell you aren't the type who would be willing to submit to others just to survive. Could it be that you want to feign cooperation, paralyze me, and then wait for an opportunity to take revenge for your trash of a husband?"

"You already called him trash; that cowardly and incompetent fellow doesn't deserve to be my husband, nor does he deserve for me to avenge him! I am not afraid of death, but I will never die for such a coward!" Xie Qingwu's emotions were hard to hide when mentioning her dead husband, clearly harboring deep resentment, and she said with red eyes: "I never wanted to marry that trash as a wife from the start, but it was a family marriage, and as a member of the family, I had no room to refuse. I had already accepted my fate and wanted to try my best to be a good wife and daughter-in-law."

"But I didn't expect that after marriage, that bastard would still eat, drink, whore, and gamble outside, acting recklessly without any regard for my feelings as a wife. Just now, he was even capable of pushing me out to face the mountain bandits, and actually offered me to you to save his own skin! I have never seen such a cowardly, incompetent, and shameless person! You killing him can be considered saving me from a sea of misery, so not only will I not hate you for it, but I am actually somewhat grateful to you."

Xie Qingwu truly had suppressed too much dissatisfaction toward her dead husband, and after venting it all in one breath, she paused and continued: "So you don't need to worry that my active cooperation is meant to confuse or paralyze you. To me, and to my Xie family, it doesn't matter who is Young Master Pei, as long as I am the wife of Pei!"

"Therefore, I am helping you, and I am also helping myself. From this moment on, our fates are connected; we prosper together and suffer together."

There is no sorrow greater than a dead heart; she had not a shred of sympathy for that cowardly husband who deserved to die, and from now on, she only wanted to live well for herself and for her family.

Huh, this woman is quite interesting!

"A tiger daughter matched with a dog of a son; fortunately, heaven has eyes and sent me to correct this marriage." Pei Shaoqing laughed, stopped playing with the Jing'an Guard waist token, and said earnestly: "Then now, my lady, you can tell me what your condition is."

Xie Qingwu held her head high, the lines of her fair neck were incomparably beautiful, and the two plump mounds constricted by the rope were even more clearly outlined: "You cannot touch my body."

Agreeing to cooperate with Pei Shaoqing to play the role of his wife was, first, to be able to survive; second, to get rid of her past life while keeping the status quo unchanged; and third, to continue maintaining the relationship between the Xie family and the Pei family.

Although compared to her trash of a husband, this villain before her was ruthless and had both courage and strategy, undoubtedly more reliable, and would have a better future given the same background, she was not a lewd woman and could not just accept this thief as her husband and make the fake act real.

The two of them were just in a relationship of mutual exploitation.

"Hahahaha, my lady truly overestimates her own charm and underestimates my pursuits." Pei Shaoqing laughed upon hearing this, pointed at himself, and said: "As the dignified son of a Marquis, I have a noble background and a limitless future; would I lack women? My lady is beautiful, but not enough to make me give up high office, generous salary, and countless beauties just for a tryst with you."

This woman had great utility value and was the key to whether he could successfully impersonate him; before squeezing out her remaining value, he would coax her and erode her step by step.

"Hmph! Then you are happy too soon." Xie Qingwu looked at his face and poured a bucket of cold water directly on him: "High office and generous salary? Limitless future? First, manage to survive in Tongzhou until the day you can return to the Capital."

Pei Shaoqing raised an eyebrow, only then realizing what was wrong; that's right, how could the dignified son of a Marquis be sent to Tongzhou to be a Small Flag of the Jing'an Guard?

Taking in his expression, Xie Qingwu said with schadenfreude: "To tell you the truth, my husband caused a great disaster in the Capital. My father-in-law banishing him to Tongzhou was indeed to protect him by keeping him away from the vortex, but it was also because he had lost heart in him, with the intention of letting him fend for himself."

"What great disaster?" Pei Shaoqing blurted out.

Xie Qingwu seemed somewhat reluctant to speak, and after fidgeting for a while, she said: "After drinking, he competed for favor with someone and, in full view of everyone, accidentally beat the nephew of Wan Guifei to death."

So it was no wonder she was willing to cooperate with Pei Shaoqing to change husbands; it was truly that following that bastard would not only lead to no good end for her, but it was very likely that one day even her family would be implicated by him.

Pei Shaoqing's expression stiffened; who in the world didn't know that Wan Guifei was the Emperor's most favored concubine? Being able to walk away unscathed after killing her nephew was already a stroke of luck, and wanting to return to the Capital and rely on his family for promotion would likely be very difficult.

And he also had to guard against Wan Guifei's revenge.

Damn, he hadn't even enjoyed any blessings after replacing Pei Shaoqing's identity, yet he had already taken on a huge burden.

However, compared to being able to get rid of his mountain bandit identity and "list on the market" using a shell, this tiny bit of trouble was nothing.

"Then there is no need to return to the Capital; as a husband, I am already content with the status of a Jing'an Guard Small Flag." The dark clouds on Pei Shaoqing's face dissipated, and he put on a bright smile again.

This was the Jing'an Guard!

This world was called Jiuzhou, and the territory he was currently in belonged to the Zhou State; the Jing'an Guard was the personal army of the Great Zhou Emperor, somewhat like the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty in his previous life.

But they had greater power and higher status, and were similarly divided into the Southern Bureau and the Northern Bureau, directly taking orders from the Great Zhou Emperor.

Pei Shaoqing belonged to the Northern Bureau.

The Northern Bureau was responsible for spying on military intelligence and arresting important criminals; while the Southern Bureau had only two duties: one was to serve as the imperial guard of honor, and the other was to supervise the Northern Bureau.

To join the Jing'an Guard, one had to be a Martial Artist who had already entered the path, and secondly, one had to have a clean background, have someone to guarantee them, and pass an examination. He had transformed from a mountain bandit into a Jing'an Guard Small Flag, which was already a huge profit.

Although this world had the Martial Dao, even if one cultivated to the extreme, they could only be impervious to swords and spears and briefly travel through the air; they could not achieve longevity or become immortals and ancestors.

Therefore, no matter how strong an individual was, they still could not contend with the imperial court's thousands of troops, not to mention that the imperial court did not lack experts.

Heroes could not use martial arts to violate the law and had to abide by the rules and regulations set by the imperial court; even Martial Dao experts who could project their internal energy did not dare to look down on officials who had official status but no power to truss a chicken, so being an official was very important!

As a Small Flag officer of the Jing'an Guard, he had ten fierce warriors under his command; although he wouldn't dare say he could slay demons and protect the country, it was enough to engage in corruption and get rich.

Life in the future would have more to look forward to than being a mountain bandit.

Xie Qingwu was choked for a moment; Pei Shaoqing was content to waste his life in Tongzhou, but she was not willing, so she hurriedly added: "Can the blood relationship between father and son be severed just like that? I estimate that after my father-in-law's anger subsides, if you write a letter and say some soft words, there will still be a chance to return to the Capital."

"We'll see." Pei Shaoqing prevaricated casually; anyway, he wasn't in a hurry to return to the Capital now. If he returned in a few years, his various abnormalities, such as his personality and behavior not matching "Pei Shaoqing's," would have an explanation.

After all, even with Xie Qingwu's help, it was impossible for him to be one hundred percent identical to Pei Shaoqing. Besides, how long had Xie Qingwu been married to him? It was likely that there were many details about Pei Shaoqing that even she wasn't necessarily clear about.

Xie Qingwu didn't know what to say for a moment, so she could only glance at him and huff: "Then as you wish."

"There is still some time before we enter the city; my lady, tell me again what kind of person I am and what my style of conduct is." Pei Shaoqing said with a smile.

Xie Qingwu listened to him calling her "my lady" and referring to himself as "husband" at every turn; although she felt a bit ashamed and annoyed in her heart, she could only endure the discomfort and patiently explain.

"He was unskilled in martial arts, romantic and overbearing..."

Of course, she also knew well that the villain before her was ruthless, and she could not tell him everything, otherwise, once she lost her utility value, it would likely be the time for her to be silenced.

And at the same time, outside the gates of Tongzhou City, a group of people were waiting for Pei Shaoqing like "husband-gazing stones."

New book release; monthly tickets and follow-readings are very important and are the key to whether the recommendation PK can be passed. During the new book period, there will be two updates every day, both chapters released together before twelve noon. Please keep up with the daily follow-readings and vote for more monthly tickets. After the PK is successfully passed and the book is on the shelves, I will continue to update ten thousand words a day!

This book has a very large worldview, but the overall power level is low. A wanderer protagonist, pure refreshing story, multiple heroines. Seeking monthly tickets! Seeking follow-readings!

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(End of this chapter)