Chapter 402: Pregnant? A Sudden Calamity

’Who in their right mind would want to leave home and travel all the way to a place as far as Longzhou?’

Si Hai rubbed his hands together, hiding the thick calluses on his palms.

Huang Er thought he was nervous and chuckled. "If the journey goes smoothly, this trip will still take us seven or eight days. It’s a bit tough, but once we get to Longzhou, you’ll all be capable servants in a noble’s mansion. In a place like Longzhou, you’ll be a cut above the rest."

Si Hai’s posture was stiff, but his mind remained sharp. He picked up on the key point in the man’s words.

"Brother Huang, who is this Noble Lady you mentioned?"

Huang Er tsked. He was about to mock the foolish kid for being so clueless that he’d followed them here in a daze.

A sound came from near a tree not far away.

Huang Er glanced over, and his attention was immediately captured.

It was the back of a figure in a gray robe, one hand resting on a tree trunk. The young woman had an excellent figure; her slender, bent waist looked more supple than the nearby willow branches.

Si Hai quickly moved to block his view, looking up at him to say, "Brother Huang, that’s... that’s my wife."

"What are you stuttering for? I didn’t mean anything by it."

Craning his neck, Huang Er tried to look past him. "This caravan is full of all sorts of people," he said. "Your little wife is quite a looker. You’d better keep a close eye on her."

"Don’t say your Brother Huang didn’t warn you. We once had a cart puller’s wife get spirited away by the procurement accountant."

Si Hai frowned. "That won’t happen."

From over there came the sound of Ji Qingwu dry-heaving.

Huang Er grinned slyly. "Pregnant?"

Si Hai was speechless.

"No wonder you’re so confident," Huang Er said. "You’re one lucky kid."

Ji Qingwu didn’t actually vomit anything, but after the bout of dry heaving, her stomach felt much better.

The solid ground beneath her feet felt good. She felt alive again.

The whistle to depart sounded. Ji Qingwu wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief and turned back toward the carriage.

Just as Huang Er was about to leave, he saw her face and shook his head in disappointment.

Her face was as flat as a pancake fresh off a griddle. With a face like that, it didn’t matter how good her figure was—it was all for naught.

Huang Er patted Si Hai on the shoulder. "Alright. You and your wife work hard for me, and I’ll make sure you two live the good life."

By the time Ji Qingwu drew near, Huang Er was already gone.

She asked, "Who was that man? What did he want?"

Si Hai immediately hung his head, not daring to look at her.

Ji Qingwu asked, puzzled, "Did he bully you?"

"No," Si Hai said. "He’s one of the caravan’s supervisors. We were just making small talk."

’What could they have possibly talked about to make this spirited young man act like this?’

Lan Ling’s face appeared from the carriage, her eyes fixed on Ji Qingwu’s stomach.

She asked bluntly, "Fifth Sister-in-law, are you pregnant?"

Si Hai’s head shot up, his eyes landing nervously on her stomach.

’If Miss Ji is really pregnant, then it must be the Master’s child. The road to the Northern Border is so long, and the journey is perilous... If anything were to happen...’ The thought made Si Hai’s eyes glaze over. He had already picked out his own burial spot.

Ji Qingwu glanced down at her stomach, then looked back up at them.

She couldn’t help but laugh. "It’s just motion sickness. I’m a physician. Don’t you think I’d know if I were?"

The two of them simultaneously let out a long sigh of relief.

After resting for an hour, the caravan continued onward.

The two of them watched Ji Qingwu carefully. When she didn’t get sick again and ate normally over the next two days, they finally relaxed.

「On the fifth day.」

They were getting closer and closer to Longzhou. Another day and a half of travel and they would be there.

But the trio ran into a new problem: the food Ji Qingwu had packed was down to the last few crumbs.

Faced with this survival issue, Lan Ling took the initiative. "I’ll go to the carriages up ahead and borrow something to eat."

"I should go," Si Hai said.

Although he still wasn’t used to dealing with people, as a man, it was most appropriate for him to be the one to go.

But Ji Qingwu pulled Si Hai back.

"Let Lan Ling go instead."

’Si Hai’s expression looked like he was about to commit a robbery. He didn’t look like he was going to borrow food—he looked like he was going to take a life.’

’She was afraid Si Hai would scare the others, making them suspicious of their identities. It wasn’t worth the risk.’

Lan Ling was clearly more experienced than either of them. Putting on a friendly smile, she headed toward the front of the caravan.

Ji Qingwu also got down from the carriage to walk around and stretch her stiff legs.

Before Lan Ling returned, a commotion broke out up ahead, and the horses began to paw the ground restlessly.

The front of the caravan began to fall back, but the line of carriages was so long that it quickly became a bottleneck.

She and Si Hai exchanged a look, and they both climbed back onto the carriage.

Lan Ling, no longer bothering to hide her identity, used her Qinggong to fly back. She landed beside the carriage and reported on the situation.

"Bad news. There are bandits ahead."

There were about a hundred bandits in the raiding party. They were outnumbered by the people in the caravan, which had even hired more than a dozen guards from an escort agency.

However, the bandits were armed with blades and swords, and the two sides were locked in a stalemate at the front of the line.

Ji Qingwu made an immediate decision. "Lan Ling, get up here. We’re retreating from the rear."

Fortunately, their carriage was at the rear, making it easier to pull back.

Si Hai had an excellent memory for routes. "There’s a patch of woods back the way we came that’s perfect for hiding," he said. "We can take cover there."

The clamor from ahead grew louder, punctuated by bursts of weeping and wailing. Everything had descended into chaos.

It seemed the bandits had already taken control of the caravan.

’I didn’t expect these bandits to be so effective,’ Ji Qingwu thought. ’I thought the caravan could hold them off a bit longer, giving us time to slip away.’

The people in the carriages at the back abandoned their carts and fled for their lives.

Ji Qingwu said, "We’re getting out too."

The three of them dismounted quickly, with Si Hai and Lan Ling flanking her, one in front and one behind, to protect her.

A man’s shout came from behind them.

"Is there anyone who can deliver a baby? My wife’s in labor!"

It was a burly, dark-skinned man, his face drenched in sweat as he yelled.

But in the chaos, no one paid him any mind; they were all too busy trying to save their own skins.

"Can any kind soul help? It’s twins! The babies are already crowning! This is several lives at stake!"

The man’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he grabbed an old woman who was fleeing with a bundle on her back.

"Aunt Yu! I finally found you! Come quick, Chunhua is giving birth!"

The old woman shoved his hand away. "We’re trying to escape with our lives! Who has time for that now!"

"You! How can you say something so inhuman!"

Tears of desperation filled the honest farmer’s eyes. "You were the one who promised to help my wife give birth! That’s the only reason Chunhua and I agreed to come with you."

"You came to make money, not because of me."

Desperate to escape, the old woman had surprising strength, and she pushed the sturdy man to the ground.

"My life is a life too! If we don’t run now, we’ll all die together."

With that, she scrambled hurriedly up the hill to the left.

Si Hai watched the swaying, withered yellow grass and said calmly, "There’s an ambush on the left. We’ll go right."