「Another day passed.」
Xu Lei's carriage continued along the forest road.
Inside the carriage.
"Master, have some fruit."
Handing Xu Lei a piece of fruit, Zhang Xiaomai asked, "By the way, Master, what if I get pregnant?"
"If you get pregnant, you'll have the baby, of course."
Xu Lei said, "Don't worry. I can provide for you and the child."
"But then I won't be able to serve you anymore, Master."
Zhang Xiaomai asked, "What should I do then?"
"Don't worry."
Xu Lei said, "Once you're pregnant, I'll just find another maid to serve me. If you can't give me children and only have your looks, then my affection won't last, no matter how skilled you become in other arts. What I want are children. If you can't have them, I'll turn my favor to other women who can. But rest assured, if you do give me a child, I'll treat you even better. After all, you'll have become the mother of my child."
Since he'd arrived in this wicked, feudal world and happened to become a rich man, Xu Lei no longer bothered with any pretense.
"Then I want to have your child, Master."
Zhang Xiaomai froze for a moment, then her hand gently caressed Xu Lei's skin as she said in a sultry voice, "I must ask you to work hard again, Master."
"Of course."
Xu Lei nodded and pulled Zhang Xiaomai into his arms again. "Hard work is the one thing I'm not afraid of," he said. "As they say, there's glory in labor!"
"Amitabha Buddha... what a sin, what a sin." Sitting in the driver's seat, the hat-wearing Hui Ming couldn't help but chant the Buddha's name as he listened to the sounds coming from inside the carriage.
「Two hours later.」
Xu Lei had finished his "labors." With Zhang Xiaomai's assistance, he had washed up and dressed, and was now lounging comfortably inside the carriage with his eyes lightly closed.
"WHOA."
Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt.
The sudden stop sent Xu Lei rolling, and he nearly tumbled to the floor. Fortunately, Zhang Xiaomai used her soft body to block him.
"What's going on?" Xu Lei frowned.
Zhang Xiaomai immediately lifted the carriage curtain. "Master, someone's blocking the road."
By then, Xu Lei could see them too. Sure enough, two strangers stood in front of the carriage.
They were the ones who had blocked the road, forcing Hui Ming to abruptly pull the reins.
The two strangers consisted of a burly, square-faced middle-aged woman and an exceptionally handsome young man with skin as fair as jade.
The woman carried a saber and was clearly a practitioner of Martial Arts Training. Beyond that, there was little else to note about her.
The young man, however, gave Xu Lei a start. His features and the shape of his face were absolutely exquisite, and with his fair, delicate skin, he was honestly more beautiful than many women.
'A woman in disguise'—those four words immediately surfaced in Xu Lei's mind.
However, when he noticed the prominent Adam's apple on the handsome youth's fair, slender neck, he immediately dismissed the absurd notion.
'Right, how could I run into a woman disguised as a man so easily? You think this is some kind of TV drama?' Xu Lei grumbled to himself.
"Excuse me, sirs! Our carriage has broken down!"
The burly, middle-aged female guard cupped her fist. "I was wondering if you could give us a ride?"
At her words, Xu Lei, Hui Ming, and Zhang Xiaomai all looked past the pair. Sure enough, a short distance behind them, they saw another carriage with a broken wheel.
Hui Ming frowned slightly but said nothing, merely looking to Xu Lei.
Zhang Xiaomai's delicate brow also furrowed, but she too remained silent, turning her gaze to Xu Lei.
Xu Lei naturally understood what they were thinking.
After all, for armed strangers to appear on an unfamiliar mountain road and ask for a ride... Under normal circumstances, one should refuse. There was no way to know if they were bandits in disguise. Back on Earth, Xu Lei had read about countless similar cases where criminals would pose as pitiful people in need of help, only to murder the kind souls who helped them once their trust was gained.
"We can pay."
Seeing that Xu Lei's group wasn't speaking, the handsome youth quickly added, "Five taels of silver. Is that enough?"
As he spoke, he pulled out the silver.
"If that's not enough, how about ten taels? Is that enough?" he added.
"Master." Seeing this, the middle-aged female guard's expression changed slightly.
She wore a slightly panicked look, as if to say, 'Master, how can you be so naive? To flash your wealth in the middle of a forest like this?'
He couldn't tell if her reaction was genuine or an act.
It could all be part of a criminal ploy.
With a performance like that, few people would fail to be taken in.
Some might fall for it out of simple kindness and choose to help.
Others might be tempted by the flash of wealth and let them on board out of greed.
Either way, the pair would achieve their goal.
「An hour later.」
Hui Ming was still sitting in the driver's seat, continuing his duty as the coachman.
Xu Lei and Zhang Xiaomai remained inside the carriage.
However, there were now two more people inside with them—the handsome youth and the burly middle-aged female guard from before.
The two of them sat on either side of the carriage door.
Xu Lei sat further inside, his arm around Zhang Xiaomai.
He had spent dozens of taels of silver on this carriage, so there was still plenty of room even with four people inside.
That's right. Even though the two of them seemed like they could be criminals, Xu Lei had still accepted their request for a ride.
He had also accepted the ten taels of silver offered by the handsome youth.
Ordinarily, Xu Lei would never have agreed to such a thing.