Little Pink Starfish

Cry One More Time and Father Won’t Want You Anymore

When emotional entanglements escalated to murder, even the usually shameless Yu Xiaoxiao frowned. “That woman was this ruthless? If she didn’t want to be with him anymore, just break up. Why kill?”

Unlike Xiao Wei, who was good at keeping quiet, Xiao Zhuang blurted out, “Princess, they were already married. How do you just break up? That woman was unfaithful, had an affair—she—”

“Alright, alright,” Yu Xiaoxiao cut in. “Murderers deserve to die. That woman got what she deserved.”

The bandit leader remained silent. When he thought about how Miss Li had become an imperial consort, and was now being smuggled out of the palace to reunite with him… What even was this? He refused to think any deeper.

Xiao Zhuang asked worriedly, “Princess, what if the Dali Temple finds out a female prisoner’s missing tomorrow morning? Won’t they come after us?”

Yu Xiaoxiao tidied the corpse’s hair and said, “Did anyone see you?”

“No,” Xiao Zhuang answered confidently.

“Then what are you afraid of the police—I mean, the Dali Temple—for? Pick up the body. Let’s go,” Yu Xiaoxiao stood up.

Xiao Wei hoisted the body onto his shoulder. “Princess, I can carry this and get over the palace wall. But what about Xiongxiong?”

Yu Xiaoxiao turned to the bandit leader. Honestly, since she met him, she hadn’t seen him display any impressive abilities.

Now, being stared at by both Yu Xiaoxiao and Xiao Zhuang with eyes full of disdain, the former pirate chief was furious—but had nothing to say. It was true, he couldn’t leap onto the palace walls from the ground without alerting the guards.

“You carry the corpse. I’ll take him,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, shaking her head at the bandit leader.

“Got it,” Xiao Zhuang replied.

Yu Xiaoxiao and Xiao Zhuang took the corpse and headed toward the imperial palace.

The bandit leader tightened his collar and followed the two, shivering slightly from the night chill. With his thin clothes and injuries, his back hunched. The atmosphere was like that of a warrior about to embark on a journey of no return—a bit tragic, really.

Meanwhile, in the Lan Book Pavilion, Emperor Xianzong sat on a couch with Yu Ziyi in his arms. Now that he was with his father, the child had stopped crying, clinging to Xianzong’s robe and slowly falling back asleep. The warm hall made his plump cheeks blush like two red apples.

A line of imperial physicians took turns feeling the prince’s pulse.

Taking the opportunity, Xianzong began lecturing Gu Xinglang. “Gu Xinglang, how did you win all those battles? My son falls sick and you don’t even think to call a physician to the house? What if he really had something serious and carrying him here worsened it?”

Gu Xinglang lowered his head and silently took the scolding—as if His Majesty was giving him a life lesson.

Xianzong continued, “You’re clueless, but what about Gu Chen and your elder brother? None of them thought to step in and help? You came all this way by yourself?!”

“Yes,” Gu Xinglang replied.

Xianzong was appalled. With a family this unreliable, how was his son supposed to grow up healthy in the Gu household?

Gu Xinglang said, “Your Majesty, I admit my mistake.”

“What about Linglong?” Xianzong asked. Then he waved it off. “Never mind, I don’t want to know. Weren’t there palace staff watching over the prince? Didn’t they know that imperial doctors can be summoned out of the palace?”

As the saying goes, one lie leads to another. Gu Xinglang was discovering just how painful that could be. “Well,” he began, “actually…”

After hearing “actually,” Xianzong heard nothing else. He turned and pointed at Xiao Wei. “You speak.”

Xiao Wei looked at Gu Xinglang.

“Why are you looking at him?” Xianzong snapped. “You speak. What happened?”

Xiao Wei gritted his teeth and braced himself. “Your Majesty, Madam Wang wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early. Nanny Wei had been watching over the prince. But Her Highness said it was nothing serious and that there was no need to summon a physician.”

Xianzong’s eyes widened. “Linglong said there was no need?”

“Yes,” Xiao Wei said. “Your Majesty, the Princess is quite skilled in medicine. But Prince Consort and the old marshal saw that His Highness kept crying nonstop, so they decided it was best for the Prince Consort to bring him into the palace.”

So it was all because of his daughter again. She had blocked them from calling a doctor for her own brother? Xianzong clutched his head in exasperation. “That’s her biological little brother!”

Neither Gu Xinglang nor Xiao Wei responded. They’d never sensed any warm sibling affection from the Princess toward her little brother.

Just then, the final physician finished checking Yu Ziyi’s pulse. Xianzong asked irritably, “So? What’s the diagnosis?”

The physicians hesitated. The Seventh Prince was in perfect health—eating well, sleeping well, generally thriving. But how were they supposed to say that? The prince had just cried like he was on his deathbed. If they now reported he was totally fine, His Majesty might kill them on the spot.

Xianzong’s heart tightened at their silence. Was it something incurable?! “SPEAK!” he shouted.

Yu Ziyi, having just drifted back to sleep, was startled awake by his father’s roar—and instantly began bawling again.

“What’s going on now?” Xianzong panicked, cradling his son.

Jingzhong quickly said, “Your Majesty, perhaps it’s better to let the palace nannies soothe him.”

The two nannies who had earlier been rejected stepped forward again, hands outstretched.

Gu Xinglang spoke up, “Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince dislikes them.”

Jingzhong frowned. “What are you saying, Prince Consort? Are you suggesting only people from the Gu household are fit to care for His Highness? That’s a serious claim!”

Xiao Wei jumped in, “Your Majesty, earlier at the study pavilion, His Highness cried as soon as he saw these two.”

“Outrageous!” Jingzhong barked. He couldn’t yell at Gu Xinglang, but a lowly guard? Fair game. “What right do you have to speak here?”

Gu Xinglang cut in coldly, “Aren’t you a servant too, Chief Eunuch Jing? We can’t talk, but you can?”

“Enough, all of you shut up,” Xianzong snapped, growing impatient. “What’s wrong with this boy?”

Gu Xinglang and Xiao Wei turned to look—and saw Yu Ziyi clutching his father’s robe with both hands, refusing to let go. The two nannies didn’t dare pry his fingers loose, and Xianzong was clearly at a loss.

Gu Xinglang quickly said, “Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince is just reluctant to leave you.”

Xianzong looked down at his crying son and awkwardly bounced him in his arms, patting his back. “You can’t start copying your sister and tormenting your father too. It’s the middle of the night—why aren’t you sleeping? What do you want, huh? Father will count to three. Cry one more time, and father won’t want you anymore!”