A Master of Cross-dressing

"Xiao Li's story sounded pitiful, and she was so delicate and lovely that she seemed harmless, so I took pity on her and agreed to her request."

Song Xuan looked down at Sun Liu. "Your husband brought another woman home, and you were willing to agree to that?"

Sun Liu remained silent. The man explained instead, "My wife is gentle and virtuous. After hearing Xiao Li's tragic story, she didn't refuse either. She agreed right away."

Lu Xiaoliu, Song Xuan, and the other men exchanged glances, their meaning plain without words.

See? When you marry, you need to find a wife with a heart that generous!

"The next day, Xiao Li was about to leave. It was my own damned loose tongue-I asked where she planned to go next."

"Xiao Li said pitifully that she had no home and nowhere to go. If we didn't mind, she wanted to stay with us a little longer.

She said she could make needlework to sell and use the money to pay rent. She could also help with chores and farmwork. In short, she wouldn't eat our food for nothing.

I discussed it with my wife. We thought it was only one more mouth to feed, and Xiao Li could work and earn money too. It wasn't as though we couldn't afford to keep her.

My wife also said that I worked for other people outside the home, often leaving early and returning late. When things got busy, I might only come home once every few days. With another woman to keep her company, she wouldn't have to be frightened all alone at home.

So I agreed."

The man lowered his head in shame. "I had selfish motives too. Xiao Li was pretty, no less so than my wife, and her husband was dead, leaving her homeless.

I thought that if we lived together long enough, I could naturally take Xiao Li into my bed.

An ordinary commoner like me actually had a chance to have two beautiful wives in this lifetime. How could I resist the bliss of enjoying both?

But alas, that greed was what brought disaster upon us!"

Song Xuan and the others had a rough idea of what had happened. Following the usual pattern, Xiao Li was probably no respectable woman. She had likely led the dutiful Sun Liu astray, eventually resulting in an adultery case.

"At first, everything was normal with Xiao Li living at home. I went into town to work during the day, while my wife and she did needlework at home and tended our half-mu plot.

Every day, coming home to those two lovely beauties made a whole day's toil feel worthwhile.

But gradually, after half a month, I began to feel that something was wrong at home.

Sometimes I woke in the middle of the night and saw my wife secretly crying under the covers. When I asked what was wrong, she only shook her head and said she'd had a nightmare.

Whenever I went out to work, my wife looked worried, as though she had something to say but didn't dare say it.

I grew suspicious and wanted to get to the bottom of it. One day, I told my wife and Xiao Li that I was going out to work and might be away for three to five days this time.

Xiao Li looked very happy. She reassured me that with her at home, I had nothing to worry about and could work in peace.

After saying goodbye to them and walking some distance away, I didn't go straight into town. Instead, I sneaked back home.

Before I even entered, I heard moaning. I kicked the door open and saw Xiao Li and my wife lying naked on the bed, doing that!"

As he spoke of it, the man clenched his fists, his eyes reddening.

Song Xuan was stunned too. The case file said that Sun Liu had committed adultery and been caught in the act by her husband, but it hadn't said she had been fooling around with a woman!

Song Qian and the others also fell into thought.

The laws of Great Zhou really didn't seem to specify how to sentence a wife who fooled around with another woman behind her husband's back.

The Ministry of Justice had convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to immediate execution. That did seem a little excessive.

"Your wife likes women?"

Song Xuan glanced at Sun Liu, who dared not raise her head. Sexual orientation was difficult to judge. As someone who had transmigrated after receiving a modern education, he didn't discriminate against such people.

What was wrong with women grinding tofu together?

Just look at those high officials at court-quite a few kept male lovers in their mansions!

At Song Xuan's question, tears streamed down the face of the man named Sun Bu’er.

"If Xiao Li had been a woman, I could have let it go! I would've pretended I hadn't seen anything!"

"You might even have joined in, right?" Lu Xiaoliu drawled.

Sun Bu’er choked at that remark, momentarily at a loss for how to continue.

Song Xuan gestured at Lu Xiaoliu. "Stop interrupting."

"Sun Bu’er, are you saying that the pretty widow who called herself Xiao Li wasn't a woman?"

"No!"

Sun Bu’er said furiously, "He was a man! That thing between his legs was even bigger than mine!"

At those words, the cell instantly fell silent.

Song Xuan nearly choked on his own saliva. That turn had been so sharp it had almost wrenched his back.

Good grief. After all that, this was actually a case involving a master of cross-dressing!

"You spent so many days with Xiao Li and never once realized he was a man?" Song Qian sounded doubtful. The whole affair seemed far too incredible.

"I really couldn't tell!"

Sun Bu’er let out a long, bitter sigh. "He was small and slender, with long hair and a lovely face. His voice was soft and delicate, and his Adam's apple barely showed. How was I supposed to tell?"

"If that's true, it really would be hard to tell," Song Xuan said with a sigh.

In this world, small breasts and small buttocks were considered beautiful in women, with just enough to fit delicately in one hand deemed ideal. In loose clothing, it was difficult to tell whether someone was male or female from their figure.

People generally judged by height, facial features, hairstyle, and voice.

Sun Bu’er was an ordinary farmer with little experience of the world. It was perfectly understandable that he had been deceived.

"Did you catch that man called Xiao Li?"

"No!" Sun Bu’er shook his head. "He must have panicked a little when I caught them. He pulled up his trousers and escaped through the window.

He probably knew martial arts. He was fast-gone in the blink of an eye.

Once I saw that he knew martial arts, I didn't dare keep chasing him. I was afraid he'd fly into a rage from shame and kill me to silence me."

Song Qian scoffed. "So you didn't dare provoke the adulterer and took your anger out on your wife instead, reporting her to the authorities?"

"I didn't report her!"

Sun Bu’er hurriedly shook his head. When he looked at Sun Liu, he no longer hurled abuse as he had upon first entering the cell. His eyes were filled with helplessness.

"I was angry, and I did beat her right then, but I really didn't report her! It was a family disgrace to begin with. Besides, the government office is a demon's den that devours people. How would I dare come here?"

Song Xuan nodded slightly, then looked at his wife and asked, "Sun Liu, is what your husband said true?"

Sun Liu knelt and kowtowed. "It's true!"

"Then do you think you committed adultery?"

"I..." The woman sobbed. "I... I didn't want to either. But that man was too powerful. I couldn't resist him at all. He also threatened to kill my entire family if I told anyone.

He knew martial arts, and we're just ordinary commoners. How could we dare stand against someone like him?"