Little Pink Starfish

Brothers Who Sold Themselves into Slavery

Yu Xiaoxiao swiftly and efficiently butchered the mother bear—skin to skin, meat to meat, bones to bones, and the organs all piled together. Honestly, the scene was both bloody and brutal. As for the men present, no need to mention them. Even Madam Wei, who had just come to from a faint, took one look at the gory scene before her and promptly passed out again.

Xiao Zhuang took the two bear cubs and hid off to the side. Watching their mother get carved into meat chunks was too much—even if the cubs were too young to understand, he couldn’t bear it.

“She was a good mother,” Yu Xiaoxiao said as she scraped her hands clean on the ground, glancing over at the empty stomach. “There wasn’t a bit of food inside—looks like she hadn’t eaten in a long time because of her wounds.”

Indeed. Everyone looked at the two chubby little cubs and realized just how much the mother bear must have sacrificed to keep them well-fed.

“Meeting us was actually a good thing,” Yu Xiaoxiao said to Xiao Wei. “At least her kids get to live.”

Xiao Wei nodded and stepped up to help her load the bear meat into the basket that was originally meant for fat rabbits.

The guards, however, were close to vomiting from the strong smell of blood in the air. They weren’t like Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei, who had survived brutal training to become shadow guards. Those two had already seen more than their share of life and death. But for the guards, the overwhelming stench made it hard to even breathe.

Gu Xinglang’s carriage was moving slowly to match Yu Xiaoxiao’s pace. Hearing Li Yuanle talking outside, Gu Xinglang lifted the curtain.

Li Yuanle glanced inside. “Second Brother’s asleep?”

“He’s completely worn out,” Gu Xinglang replied.

“Qinghui, can I ask you…” Li Yuanle began.

“You don’t need to ask,” Gu Xinglang interrupted in a low voice. “This won’t spread.”

Li Yuanle clasped his fist in gratitude. “Thanks, brother.” The Gu family had always been known for their integrity, so he fully believed Gu Xinglang would keep his word.

Resting his hand on the window, Gu Xinglang looked at the shrubs along the roadside and asked, “That man who was talking to the princess earlier—what he said, was it true?”

“What did he say?” Li Yuanle asked.

“That they were driven to rebel, robbing the rich to help the poor?”

Li Yuanle was silent for a moment. The sound of hooves crunching against gravel filled the air. Finally, he sighed. “You know what kind of world we’re living in. Do I even need to explain why my father and I left Donghai? Chengzhou is our family’s ancestral home—who would willingly abandon their roots unless they had no choice?”

Gu Xinglang opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, couldn’t find the right words. He simply said, “Xiao Lezi.”

“The military doesn’t interfere with politics,” Li Yuanle said coldly. “My father couldn’t stand the tax officials abusing their power, so he arrested a few of the worst ones. But what happened? Because of that one rule—that the military must not interfere in civil affairs—our Li family had no choice but to leave. Qinghui, we’ve always held ourselves to a high standard. But a little Li family from Chengzhou… What could we really change? Yes, we failed my sister. But… sigh.” The young general let out a long sigh, shaking his head with a bitter smile and saying no more.

Just from hearing Li Yuanle admit that they had wronged his sister, Gu Xinglang could tell that the relationship between Xiongxiong and the Li family’s daughter wasn’t just a one-sided obsession from a bandit.

“And the princess?” Li Yuanle’s expression softened as he asked.

Finally, a faint smile returned to Gu Xinglang’s face. “She can’t let go of that bear she hunted. She’s back there with some guards, cleaning it up.”

Li Yuanle chuckled and whispered, “I’d always heard Her Highness the Princess was a gentle and graceful woman, much like the Empress. In the military, when we heard she volunteered to marry you, I was full of gratitude. But now that I’ve met her face to face, she’s… quite the character.”

Was that a compliment for his wife? Or something else entirely? Gu Xinglang asked, “What do you mean, ‘quite the character’?”

“Be content, Little Third,” Li Yuanle winked and grinned. “With a wife like Her Highness, your days will never be dull.”

“What do I have to be discontent about?” Gu Xinglang muttered, then added, “When we get back to the manor, that Xiong guy is definitely going to stir up trouble about what happened earlier. You’d better think about what you’ll say to my grandfather.”

“I know we can’t kill him right now, or silence him,” Li Yuanle said in a low voice. “They dared to kidnap your Second Brother and the Seventh Prince. Just Xiongxiong alone wouldn’t do that—there must be someone behind him, and we need to find out who.”

Gu Xinglang nodded.

Li Yuanle spurred his horse and rode ahead.

Gu Xinglang leaned back against the cushions, thinking about what Li Yuanle had said. He shook his head and chuckled. Boring life? Since marrying this woman, his life had been anything but boring.

At the mountain pass, Madam Wang was waiting. When she saw the Prince Consort and the others returning but not the princess, she immediately asked, “Prince Consort, where is the princess?” Not that she thought he had lost her—he wasn’t the kind of man who didn’t care about the princess.

Gu Xinglang winced as he imagined her reaction when she saw the big black bear. “Mammy, the princess hunted a bear.”

The former pirates were full of resentment. That bear was killed by our blood and flesh!

“A bear?” Madam Wang blinked.

Gu Xinglang nodded. “Yes, Mammy. She’ll be along soon, with the bear she hunted.”

He wanted to prepare her mentally.

Madam Wang simply said, “As long as she didn’t kill a person, she can kill whatever else she likes.”

Gu Xinglang: …

Then she saw the bandits and jumped in shock. Without even asking who they were, her first question was, “The princess hurt them?”

Heavens above, she thought, how far is she from actually killing someone?

Gu Xinglang quickly shook his head. “They were hurt by the bear.”

That bear was brought here by your wife! The pirates wanted to shout.

Madam Wang’s expression immediately turned sympathetic. “That must’ve been a ferocious bear. Prince Consort, who are these people?”

With a straight face, Gu Xinglang said, “They’ve willingly sold themselves to serve the princess as slaves. I’m taking them back to the manor for questioning.”

The second-in-command glanced back at the bandit leader being dragged along. Their tragic tale had just gained another chapter. Just like that—with a flick of his lips—Gu Xinglang had turned them into slaves, voluntary ones no less. What a tragedy! Anyone who heard would be moved to tears!

The bandit leader held it in. To stay alive and out of Li Yuanle’s hands, what was wrong with becoming a slave? One had to live to have hope.

“Then they must be thoroughly questioned,” Madam Wang said sternly. “Being a slave to the princess isn’t something you just get to do.”