SGEIRS -Chapter 408 Changing Identities

Magistrate Zhang helped them fabricate new identities and also provided them with new travel permits.

Gu Jingxi was given the identity of a merchant’s son with the surname Xiao. Zhou Yun and Fang Ce posed as carriage drivers. Yu Chuan, because he was fair-skinned, good-looking, and had gentle features, disguised himself as a maid by dressing as a woman.

Meng Jinyao suddenly had a whim and decided to pretend to be Gu Jingxi’s younger sister.

Magistrate Zhang couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t take the identity of a merchant’s wife and instead insisted on being his sister, but he still complied with her request and fabricated an identity for her.

With their new identities in place, the five of them went back to tidy themselves up and adjust their clothing and appearance to match their roles.

Meng Jinyao originally had strikingly beautiful features. After styling her hair like an unmarried young lady and carefully adjusting her makeup, her appearance changed noticeably. She no longer looked as stunning as before, but instead became a gentle, well-mannered, and obedient-looking girl.

She looked at herself in the mirror and felt very satisfied. Then she immediately pulled her husband over to fix him up as well, deliberately covering up his good looks. The once handsome man who looked like Pan An now only appeared moderately attractive.

After everyone finished getting ready, the carriages were prepared, and they set off.

When Meng Jinyao saw Yu Chuan dressed as a maid—looking delicate and refined, almost indistinguishable from a real young woman at first glance except for being slightly taller—she was stunned. After hesitating, she called out, “Yu Chuan?”

Yu Chuan replied respectfully, “Miss, this servant is called Xiao Yu—Yu as in ‘abundance every year.’”

When he spoke, Meng Jinyao’s eyes widened in shock. His voice was clear and pleasant, completely like a young woman’s. She had already thought his disguise looked convincing, but she hadn’t expected his voice to be even more so. No wonder he insisted on being a maid.

She exclaimed in surprise, “Hu—uh, Third Brother, Xiao Yu’s voice…”

Gu Jingxi replied, “He specially learned ventriloquism and voice imitation. Don’t worry about him—he’ll do fine. He once pretended to be a married couple with Zhou Yun and never gave himself away.”

Meng Jinyao: “???”

She immediately looked at Zhou Yun, then at the delicate-looking Yu Chuan. She truly couldn’t imagine that the two of them had once played husband and wife. One man pretending to be a woman was one thing, but two men doing it—that was quite a sacrifice.

Yu Chuan felt uncomfortable under her gaze and hurriedly said, “Miss, please don’t look at me like that. This servant has no interest in him.”

Zhou Yun also subconsciously took two steps back, distancing himself from Yu Chuan, afraid of being misunderstood.

Meng Jinyao nodded. “I understand. There’s nothing between you two. Let’s set off now. We shouldn’t linger any longer. This way, we can reach the next town before dark.”

The five of them left the city in two carriages and sped along the official road, raising clouds of dust behind them. By nightfall, they arrived at the next small town. Since it was inconvenient to travel at night, they found an inn and stayed there.

On the surface, they looked like three men and two women: two siblings, one maid, and two male servants. They booked four guest rooms.

At bedtime, Gu Jingxi jumped in through the window from the neighboring room, startling Meng Jinyao. When she saw it was him, she relaxed and smiled.

“Third Brother, why aren’t you sleeping in the middle of the night? What are you doing here with your little sister?”

Gu Jingxi smiled meaningfully. “Isn’t little sister afraid of the dark? Third Brother will sleep with you.”

As he spoke, he pulled the lightly dressed girl into his arms, lowered his head, and kissed her, blocking her words. Before she realized it, they were already on the bed.

The inn had poor soundproofing. Even though the room on the left housed their companions and the one on the right was empty, Meng Jinyao still restrained herself and didn’t dare make any noise.

But Gu Jingxi seemed to be enjoying himself even more and became increasingly excessive. She finally couldn’t help begging softly, “Hu… husband, be gentler.”

Hearing this, Gu Jingxi was still dissatisfied. He coaxed her softly, “Little sister, why are you calling me husband? When you’re with Third Brother, are you still thinking about brother-in-law? Be good—call me Third Brother.”

Meng Jinyao instantly became much more alert. She widened her eyes in disbelief, never expecting him to play such a game in bed.

Gu Jingxi continued, “Didn’t you call me Third Brother quite smoothly today?”

They were completely naked, doing what only husband and wife would do. Hearing such words in this situation made Meng Jinyao unbearably shy. She glared at him bashfully.

“Gu Jingxi, who’s your sister? Don’t talk nonsense. Aren’t you ashamed?”

After hearing that, Gu Jingxi obediently shut up. He didn’t need to speak—he could express everything through his actions.

Meng Jinyao felt like a fish on a chopping board, helplessly at his mercy. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t escape even for a moment.

In the end, she could only sob softly, “Third Brother…”

But that one “Third Brother” brought an even fiercer storm. The fish left the chopping board only to fall into a raging whirlpool. By the time the storm passed, she was utterly exhausted and soon fell into a deep sleep.

—

The next morning, the first rays of sunlight poured down, dispelling the remaining darkness of night.

They had been too intense the night before, so Meng Jinyao was still sleepy. But not wanting to make everyone wait, she forced herself up. After washing, she carefully fixed her makeup, then went to tidy up Gu Jingxi as well.

Only after finishing did they go downstairs for breakfast.

From a distance, the inn waiter saw Gu Jingxi come out of Meng Jinyao’s room and walk downstairs with her, chatting and laughing. He was immediately shocked. When he noticed her eyes full of springtime affection and the mark on her neck, he was struck as if by lightning and stood there in a daze. Having visited brothels before, he could easily guess what the “siblings” had done.

The innkeeper saw him standing still and scolded him impatiently, “A-Cai, are you trying to slack off again? You’re lazy and incompetent. Your wages were docked last month, and if they’re docked again this month, forget about saving for a bride price. Even if you got married, you’d ruin some poor girl. What woman would want to marry you? If it weren’t for your pitiful old mother being unable to move, I wouldn’t even have hired you.”

A-Cai, scolded out of nowhere, hurriedly shook his head and whispered, “Boss, I’m not slacking off. I just discovered something shocking and didn’t know how to react.”

The innkeeper frowned. “Then tell me. What shocking secret did you find? Don’t tell me the neighbor’s cat had kittens again.”

A-Cai replied, “No. I saw that young master just now coming out of his sister’s room, and she looked like that. Those siblings must have done something improper.”

The innkeeper was stunned as well and deeply shocked. But seeing that the siblings were dressed like children of a wealthy family, he said, “Just pretend you didn’t see anything. Don’t bring trouble on yourself. Since they’re siblings and dared to do something against propriety, they must also be afraid of it being exposed. Many wealthy families look glamorous on the surface but are filthy inside. It’s just that sibling affairs like this are relatively rare.”

A-Cai nodded repeatedly. “I understand.”