Little Pink Starfish

Big Brother, You Mean We Should Start Another Fire?

Yu Xiaoxiao helped push the strands of hair stuck to Li Wan’s face behind her ears and said, “What now? We send them out of the palace.”

Gu Xingnuo asked, “In broad daylight?”

“Uh…” Yu Xiaoxiao thought for a moment and said, “Big brother, you and Xiao Gu go out first and wait. I’ll throw Little Sister Li and Bear-bear out through the palace gates, and you just catch them.”

Gu Xingnuo shook his head. He believed his sister-in-law could throw people out, but such superhuman feats were far beyond what he could handle.

At this moment, the First Boss scrambled up the rockery, ignoring both Yu Xiaoxiao and Gu Xingnuo as he dashed straight to Li Wan and dropped to his knees beside her. “Wan’er?”

Li Wan had truly fainted this time. When she saw a tree flying overhead earlier, the young miss of the Li family was scared out of her soul.

The First Boss called her several times without a response and reached out with trembling hands to check her breath.

“She’s still breathing,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “Your true love is fine.”

Feeling the faint breath under her nose, the First Boss finally collapsed backward in relief, from kneeling to sitting.

Xiao Wei ran up just then and asked Yu Xiaoxiao, “Princess, are you alright?”

Gu Xingnuo noticed how Xiao Wei actually looked Yu Xiaoxiao over from head to toe. The eldest young master immediately thought maybe everyone who followed his sister-in-law wasn’t a normal person either. She was the one chucking trees—what danger could she possibly be in?

The First Boss rolled his eyes at Xiao Wei. How could he ask such a question with a straight face?

“I’m fine,” Yu Xiaoxiao waved him off and pointed at the First Boss. “The ones hurt are Bear-bear and his true love.”

Not only did the First Boss look miserable at those words—even Gu Xingnuo felt mentally exhausted.

Xiao Wei walked over to the First Boss, looked down at him, and asked, “Where’s Xiao Zhuang?”

Now that he was sure Li Wan was alive, the First Boss had the heart to answer. “Xiao Zhuang is in the Ministry of Justice.”

Yu Xiaoxiao asked, “How did you get caught?”

That question left the First Boss with blood and tears in his eyes—who else’s fault was it? The very culprit had the nerve to ask?

Xiao Wei turned to Gu Xingnuo. “If Xiao Zhuang was caught inside the palace, why was he sent to the Ministry of Justice?”

Gu Xingnuo thought for a moment and asked the First Boss, “Who caught you?”

“No idea,” the First Boss grumbled. “A group just barged in and grabbed Xiao Zhuang right away.”

Xiao Wei snapped, “And what were you doing? Did you run? Are you even useful at all?”

If he had the strength, the First Boss would’ve leapt up to fight. Even when he was uninjured, he wasn’t a match for Xiao Zhuang. Now that he was hurt, how could he win?

Yu Xiaoxiao stepped in to defend him. “Xiao Wei, be fair. Look at Bear-bear now—who could he possibly fight? It’s a miracle he can still walk upright.”

The First Boss: …

Xiao Wei shot him a side-eye full of contempt. Even if he didn’t say anything, everyone could see how much he looked down on the guy.

Realizing the conversation was going off-track, Gu Xingnuo turned to the First Boss and asked, “The people who caught you—did they say anything?”

The First Boss shook his head.

Xiao Wei asked, “Did you reveal your location?”

The First Boss replied angrily, “Why can’t you think better of me? Xiao Zhuang and I stayed hidden the whole time. Who knows how they found us?”

Gu Xingnuo motioned for Xiao Wei to hold his tongue and asked the First Boss, “Then you were taken out of the palace after that?”

The First Boss answered, “We were stuffed in boxes. When we came out, we were already in a cell. Xiao Zhuang said it was the Ministry of Justice’s dungeon.”

“You and Xiao Zhuang were locked up together?” Gu Xingnuo continued.

The First Boss shook his head. “They took him away soon after.”

Xiao Wei squatted down and said to Gu Xingnuo, “Wouldn’t Zhao Xiangye bringing Xiao Zhuang into the palace help frame the princess more?”

Gu Xingnuo replied, “Xiao Zhuang is the princess’s personal guard. If he faces His Majesty, he can say he was accompanying the princess.”

“But His Majesty saw with his own eyes that only I came with the princess today,” Xiao Wei whispered.

Yu Xiaoxiao said, “My dad’s easy to fool. Do you really think he remembers what happened last night? At most, he’ll only remember which woman was in his bed.”

…

The First Boss said, “Aren’t you afraid of dying, saying things like that about His Majesty?”

“Hehe,” this time Yu Xiaoxiao and Xiao Wei both laughed at him.

Damn it!

The First Boss nearly exploded in rage.

Gu Xingnuo rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s not get into that now. Zhao Qiuming not bringing Xiao Zhuang was the right move. Bear-bear is a fugitive. If Yuan Le’s family is found harboring him, the charge of colluding with criminals could drag down not just them, but everyone close to them.”

“We’d be implicated too?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Gu Xingnuo nodded.

Yu Xiaoxiao said to Xiao Wei, “We should go see if Zhao Qiuming’s dead yet. If not, we’ll give him another stab.”

Xiao Wei replied, “Princess, shouldn’t we save Xiao Zhuang first?” With the princess’s skills, they could kill Zhao Qiuming any time. Right now, saving Xiao Zhuang was more urgent.

Gu Xingnuo sighed. “Don’t you think it’s not safe to leave Bear-bear and Consort Li in the palace?”

Yu Xiaoxiao thought for a second. “That’s simple.”

Gu Xingnuo said, “I can’t catch them if you throw them.”

Yu Xiaoxiao said, “They were smuggled out in boxes last time. Let’s just do that again. Xiao Gu has to leave the palace anyway.”

Gu Xingnuo asked, “And the princess is taking palace property on the way out?”

Yu Xiaoxiao replied, “If Zhao Qiuming can take it, why can’t I?”

“Last night the palace was in chaos. Zhao Qiuming could’ve taken advantage of the confusion or used the fake emperor’s name to smuggle them out,” Gu Xingnuo said. “But it’s daytime now, and the palace is calm again.”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked toward the palace gates—there were still cries coming from that direction.

Gu Xingnuo’s eyelid twitched. “This is only slightly less dramatic than a deadly fire.”

Yu Xiaoxiao immediately said, “So, big brother, are you saying I should start another fire?”

Gu Xingnuo hadn’t even responded yet when the First Boss fell to his knees before Yu Xiaoxiao. Another fire? Spare him!

Xiao Wei grabbed Yu Xiaoxiao’s hand. “We can’t start a fire!”

“Ahem,” Gu Xingnuo coughed.

Xiao Wei followed his gaze and realized—he was holding the princess’s hand again! He quickly let go.

“I’ll just go ask my dad for some things,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “It’s just a few boxes.” Her idea came quickly, and Princess Yu gave herself a mental thumbs-up—so clever, wasn’t she?

Gu Xingnuo nodded. That plan could work.

“But how do we leave this place?” Xiao Wei asked. The top of this rockery was high and spacious, but how would they get the First Boss and Miss Li to the study?

“Go find two sets of eunuch uniforms,” Gu Xingnuo told Xiao Wei. “Have them dress as eunuchs, and we’ll just walk out.”