If a man wants to succeed, there's no substitute for hard work and struggle. Take Xu Yuanqing, for example. Through sheer effort, he went from being a mountain bandit to becoming the son of the Great Zhou Kingdom's Marquis Weiyuan, and even a Small Flag Officer in the Jing'an Guard's Tongzhou Hundred Households.
The battered carriage continued on its way, but the number of guards flanking it had grown from five to nine. Five corpses were now slung over the horses' backs, and the master inside the carriage had been replaced.
Xie Qingwu had been tied up.
It wasn't to prevent her from hurting others, but to prevent her from killing herself.
But the binding was a humiliating one. As a master of rope-tying, Pei Shaoqing had used the method he was most skilled at from his past life.
Turtle Shell Binding!
The coarse hemp rope pulled Xie Qingwu's originally loose-fitting clothes taut, making her full bust even more prominent. Having calmed down and regained her composure, her face now burned red with humiliation. She took a deep breath, looked at the brigand before her, and spoke in the calmest tone she could manage, "Please, Husband, untie me."
"Hmm?" Pei Shaoqing, who had been wondering how to threaten her into submission and get her to help him with his impersonation, raised an eyebrow. His gaze was filled with surprise and suspicion.
Xie Qingwu met his gaze calmly. Forcibly ignoring the strange sensation of the ropes chafing her nipples, she offered a brilliant smile and said softly, "Though you look almost identical to my husband, you are ultimately not him. You know nothing about him. If you want to perfectly impersonate him, you cannot do it without my help. You don't need to rack your brain trying to persuade or threaten me. As long as you agree to one condition, I am willing to help you cover your tracks and truly take his place."
"Why?" Pei Shaoqing, who had been lounging, sat up straight. He sized her up with keen interest. "Don't tell me you're doing this just to survive. I can tell you're not the type to debase yourself for a chance to live. Are you planning to feign cooperation, lull me into a false sense of security, and then seize an opportunity to avenge that good-for-nothing husband of yours?"
"You said it yourself—he was a good-for-nothing. A coward like that was never fit to be my husband, let alone for me to avenge him! I'm not afraid of death, but I would never throw my life away for a man like that!" Xie Qingwu could barely contain her agitation when speaking of her late husband, her resentment clearly running deep. With reddened eyes, she continued, "I never wanted to marry that worthless man in the first place, but it was an arranged marriage for our families. As a daughter of my house, I had no choice. I had already resigned myself to my fate, intending to be the best wife and daughter-in-law I could be.
"But after the wedding, that bastard continued his debauchery—wining, whoring, and gambling. He ran amok with no regard for my feelings as his wife. A moment ago, he even pushed me out to face the bandits, and then offered me to you just to save his own skin! I have never met such a cowardly, incompetent, and shameless man! By killing him, you've saved me from a life of misery. So not only do I not hate you, I'm actually a little grateful."
Xie Qingwu had clearly been suppressing a great deal of resentment toward her late husband. She let it all out in a single, cathartic breath before pausing to collect herself. "So, you don't have to worry that my offer to cooperate is some kind of trick. For me, and for the Xie Family, it doesn't matter who Young Master Pei is. What matters is that I remain Lady Pei!
"Therefore, in helping you, I am also helping myself. From this moment on, our fates are intertwined. We rise and fall together."
There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart. She felt not a shred of sympathy for her cowardly husband, whose death was no loss. From now on, she would live for herself and for her family.
'Heh, now this is an interesting woman!'
"A tigress paired with a pup. Thankfully, the heavens have eyes and sent me to correct this marriage." Pei Shaoqing laughed, stopped toying with the Jing'an Guard waist token, and said seriously, "Alright then, Wife. You can tell me your condition."
Xie Qingwu tilted her head back, the line of her fair neck exquisitely graceful. The ropes made her ample breasts stand out in even sharper relief. "You are not to touch me."
Her reasons for agreeing to play Pei Shaoqing's wife were threefold: first, to survive; second, to escape her former life while maintaining her status quo; and third, to preserve the alliance between the Xie Family and the Pei Family.
Compared to her useless husband, this brigand was ruthless, brave, and cunning—undoubtedly more dependable. Given the same background, he would have a much brighter future. Still, she was no wanton harlot; she couldn't simply accept a killer as her husband and turn this charade into reality.
They were simply using each other.
"Hahahaha! My dear lady, you overestimate your own charms and underestimate my ambitions." Pei Shaoqing laughed, jabbing a thumb at his own chest. "I am the son of a Marquis! My birth is noble, my future limitless. Do you think I'm lacking for women? You are beautiful, I'll grant you that, but you're not so beautiful that I would trade a future of high office, great wealth, and countless other beauties for a single night with you."
'This woman is far too useful. She's the key to this whole impersonation. For now, I'll play along until I've squeezed every last drop of value from her. I'll devour her bit by bit.'
"Hmph! You're celebrating a bit too soon." Seeing his smug expression, Xie Qingwu immediately threw cold water on his ambitions. "High office and great wealth? A limitless future? Let's see if you can even survive in Tongzhou long enough to return to the Capital City."
Pei Shaoqing's brow twitched as he finally realized something was amiss. 'That's right... why would the grand son of a Marquis be sent to Tongzhou to serve as a mere Small Flag Officer in the Jing'an Guard?'
Taking in his expression, Xie Qingwu said with unconcealed glee, "To tell you the truth, my dear husband caused a major disaster in the Capital City. His father sent him to Tongzhou partly to protect him and keep him out of the political maelstrom, but also because he had completely given up on him. The intention was to let him sink or swim on his own."
"What kind of disaster?" Pei Shaoqing blurted out.
Xie Qingwu seemed to find the words difficult to say. After a moment's hesitation, she admitted, "He got into a drunken brawl over a woman and, in full public view, accidentally beat Noble Consort Wan's nephew to death."
No wonder she was so willing to cooperate with Pei Shaoqing and effectively trade one husband for another. Sticking with that bastard meant not just a miserable end for herself, but the very real possibility that he would one day drag her entire family down with him.
Pei Shaoqing's expression froze. Everyone under heaven knew that Noble Consort Wan was the Emperor's most favored concubine. To have escaped with his life after killing her nephew was already a miracle. Returning to the Capital City or relying on his family for promotions would be next to impossible.
And he also had to guard against Noble Consort Wan's revenge.
'Fuck! I haven't even enjoyed any of the perks of being Pei Shaoqing, and I'm already saddled with this giant mess.'
'Still, compared to escaping my life as a bandit and pulling off this "backdoor listing," a little trouble like this is nothing.'
"Then we simply won't return to the Capital City. I'm quite content with my position as a Small Flag Officer in the Jing'an Guard." The gloom on Pei Shaoqing's face vanished, replaced once again by a brilliant smile.
'This is the Jing'an Guard!'
This world was known as Jiuzhou, and he was currently in the territory of the Zhou Kingdom. The Jing'an Guard was the Great Zhou's Emperor's Personal Guard, somewhat like the Jinyi Guard of the Ming Dynasty in his past life.
But their power was greater, their status higher, and they were also divided into a South Town and a North Town, taking orders directly from the Emperor of Great Zhou.
Pei Shaoqing belonged to the North Town.
The North Town was responsible for important tasks like gathering military intelligence and arresting major criminals, while the South Town had only two duties: serving as ceremonial guards and overseeing the North Town.
To join the Jing'an Guard, one had to be an initiated Martial Artist with a clean background, have a sponsor, and pass an examination. He, on the other hand, had gone from mountain bandit to Small Flag Officer in the Jing'an Guard in an instant. He had struck it rich.
Although this world had Martial Arts, even cultivating to the absolute peak only allowed one to become impervious to blades and spears and briefly fly. It couldn't grant immortality or godhood.
Therefore, even the strongest individual could not stand against the Court's massive armies, and it wasn't as if the Court lacked masters of its own.
Martial prowess was no excuse to break the law; even heroes had to abide by the Court's decrees. Not even a master of Martial Arts who could project their True Qi would dare to disrespect an official, even one with less strength than it takes to tie up a chicken. 'So being an official is crucial!'
As a Small Flag Officer in the Jing'an Guard, he had ten fierce soldiers under his command. 'I can't say I'll be slaying demons and defending the kingdom, but it's more than enough to take bribes, bend the law, and build a fortune.'
'Life from now on has a much brighter future than my old one as a bandit.'
Xie Qingwu was taken aback. Pei Shaoqing was content to languish in Tongzhou, but she was not. She quickly added, "How can the blood bond between a father and son be so easily broken? I wager that once your father's anger cools, a submissive letter from you might still grant you a chance to return to the capital."
"We'll see," Pei Shaoqing said dismissively. 'In any case, I'm in no hurry to return to the capital right now. If I go back in a few years, any discrepancies between my personality and the 'real' Pei Shaoqing's will have a natural explanation.'
'After all, even with Xie Qingwu's help, he could never be a perfect copy of the original. Besides, how long had she been married to him? There were probably countless minor details about the man that she wouldn't know.'
For a moment, Xie Qingwu didn't know what to say. She could only glance at him and huff, "Well, suit yourself then."
"We still have some time before we reach the city," Pei Shaoqing said with a sly smile. "Why don't you tell me more about... me? What kind of man I am, how I usually act."
Hearing him call her "Wife" and refer to himself as "your husband," Xie Qingwu felt a flicker of shame and annoyance, but she could only suppress her discomfort and begin to patiently explain.
"He knows no martial arts. He's debauched and arrogant..."
'Of course, she was keenly aware that the man before her was a vicious and ruthless killer. She couldn't tell him everything. The moment she was no longer useful to him would likely be the moment he silenced her for good.'
Meanwhile, outside the gates of Tongzhou City, a group of people was waiting for Pei Shaoqing, their gazes fixed on the road in anxious expectation.