Upon hearing this, Seventh Brother immediately perked up and looked intently at the young woman sitting next to Old Ma. He saw her humiliated and pale-faced, huddled in the corner, not uttering a sound!

Old Ma, who was standing to the side, seemed to realize something and turned to look at his wife with a puzzled expression.

"Xiujuan, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Hearing his voice, the woman looked up at Old Ma beside her. Seeing a hint of concern and worry in his eyes, she suppressed her resentment, gave a weak smile, and comforted him.

"My lord, I'm alright..."

Old Ma nodded and continued chatting with the man opposite him, his tone revealing a hint of flattery and admiration, as if the middle-aged man in front of him, Brother Qi, was his mentor.

Seventh Brother chatted with him, but his eyes kept glancing at Old Ma's wife, looking her up and down. Old Ma, however, seemed oblivious and just smiled憨厚ly.

The young woman noticed Seventh Brother's gaze and instinctively shrank back, her expression one of suppressed sorrow.

Night falls…

At this time, Qin Qing and the others also stopped in the suburbs. Because they had missed a day's journey, they could only spend the night in the suburbs. After the carriage went through a bumpy road, it finally stopped.

“Madam, there seems to be a group of people ahead! Why don’t we stay closer? In this desolate wilderness, we can help each other if there is any danger.”

That's how it was in ancient times. If you were to sleep in the wilderness, you could easily encounter jackals, tigers, leopards, or even wild boars and venomous snakes. Even before, Qin Qing and the others never slept directly on the ground at night; instead, they would make do in the carriage.

Qin Qing nodded, but still didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble, so she gave him some instructions.

"It's okay to be a little closer, but not too close, or it will disturb other people."

The coachman nodded upon hearing this, drove the carriage to a stop in an open space not far away, and then turned around to gather firewood to start a fire...

Qin Qing and the others followed suit to help. After all, this place was different from before. There were no villages nearby, only forests. It was not surprising that there were wild animals. Making a fire to prevent them was a good idea.

As it gradually became brighter on Qin Qing's side, the people opposite also noticed their carriage...

Four men sat together eating their dry rations, while the young woman huddled in the shade under a tree…

Seeing this, Old Ma took a steamed bun and walked over. The woman heard the sound and looked up warily. When she saw her husband, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"My lord! I..."

Before she could finish speaking, Old Ma handed her a steamed bun and then sighed.

“Xiujuan, I know you’ve suffered because of me, but I have to go to the capital to work this time. The crops in the fields didn’t yield good results. Last year, my mother spent all her savings to buy you from human traffickers. We have to go to the city to earn money! Otherwise, our future will be uncertain…”

The young woman froze upon hearing this, then slowly lowered her eyes and spoke softly.

“I know, I’m not unwilling to go to the capital with you. I also want to earn more money to ease your burden!”

The drought has been severe these past two years. Since the beginning of last year, her mother sold her to a family in the city to be their wife. She was willing because she thought Old Ma looked honest and kind, so she married him. Now, more than a year has passed...

Hearing her say that, Old Ma immediately smiled and looked extremely pleased.

"I knew Xiujuan was a good woman and a good wife! I will never let you down!"

After saying that, he hugged the young woman, not noticing at all that her body had stiffened. After Old Ma left, the woman looked at his back and opened her mouth, her face filled with struggle and fear. Finally, the image of Old Ma's happiness flashed through her mind, and she swallowed the grievances in her heart.

As night deepened, Qin Qing and her group went to sleep early. Fortunately, the summer nights were neither too hot nor too cold, and they slept very soundly.

The woman not far away suddenly woke up with a start, her mouth tightly covered by a pair of thugs. She looked up in horror and saw a familiar yet disgusting face. Her previous experience flashed through her mind, and she was so frightened that she immediately resisted!

The man who walked over saw the woman's appearance and was immediately aroused by lust. Unexpectedly, the woman suddenly began to struggle wildly and bit his arm. The pain made him furious!

"Smack!"

The man slapped the woman across the face, finally forcing her to let go!

He was furious when he saw the bloody bite marks on his arm, but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Then he suddenly grabbed the woman's collar and said with a sinister look in his eyes!

"Don't forget, Old Ma still needs me to make a living in Beijing. Your future livelihood depends on my attitude. So what if you don't comply? Do you think Old Ma dares to say a word?!"

Upon hearing this, the woman's expression immediately turned sarcastic, and she looked at the man with a cold gaze.

Under the moonlight, the face of a mature man came into clear view. This man was none other than the merchant, Brother Seven, who had shared a carriage with them during the day!

"You are shameless! My husband has been deceived by you. If he knew the truth, he would never associate with you!"

Seventh Brother just smiled when he heard this, then looked on with disdain.

"Oh? Have you ever considered that your man actually knew what we were doing all along, but was just pretending not to know? Or... that he deliberately made you serve us?"

Upon hearing this, the woman's face turned deathly pale, and a look of panic flashed across her eyes. Perhaps at a loss, she gritted her teeth and glared fiercely at the man.

"You're despicable! Did you think that by saying these things and tearing apart our marital relationship, I would submit to you? Bah! I'd rather die than let you touch me again!"

Perhaps thinking of something unbearable, the anger in the woman's eyes intensified!

However, the man was quite disdainful, and seemed to be getting impatient with the woman's behavior. He reached out and grabbed the woman's arm, bringing her directly to a spot not far from the sleeping old man.

He then threw the woman onto the grass with a loud thud. The woman turned pale with fright, afraid that Old Ma would find her. She turned her head and saw that Old Ma was still fast asleep and showed no sign of waking up.

Before she could even catch her breath, the man beside her started making loud, boisterous noises.

"Hey, Old Ma, you're sleeping so soundly, you can't even hear your wife calling you?"

Old Ma remained in the same position, showing no sign of being woken up. Normally, such a loud voice would wake even the deepest sleeper, but Old Ma did not react at all.

The woman was both worried and hopeful. She wanted her man to wake up and discover the group's purpose and evil, but she also wanted him to stay asleep and not see her current disheveled and terrified state.

After a while, there was still no sound from all around...

Just when even Seventh Brother thought the man had really fallen asleep, Old Ma turned over and ended up facing away from them!