Little Pink Starfish

Nanny, Please Spare the Taoist

Gu Dasha led General Li Yuanle toward a west wing drawing room in the Gu residence.

Li Yuanle forced down his bitterness and resentment, then asked quietly, “Brother Gu, why did you ask to see me today?”

Gu Xingnuo smiled faintly. “Let’s sit and talk. It’s good news.”

Li Yuanle couldn’t imagine what good news he could possibly have.

While the two men walked toward the drawing room, Yu Xiaoxiao stepped out from Second-in-Command’s room. She glanced around and decided it was time to find Granny Wang and ask for breakfast.

Granny Wang stood in the courtyard, staring up and down at a rather shabby-looking figure—none other than the Taoist Tian Xingzi.

Tian Xingzi shrank under her gaze, practically curling into himself.

“You came to see the princess?” Granny Wang asked.

“Yes,” Tian Xingzi nodded.

“You’re filthy,” she said. “A beggar?”

“I’m not…” he protested.

“Look down!” she barked.

He lowered his head, thoroughly cowed. This fierce aunt was scarier than she looked.

“You think just anyone can meet Her Highness?” Granny Wang loomed over him, easily a full head taller. “Look at yourself—filthy robes, tangled hair crawling with lice, sallow skin, fingernails longer than a woman’s and packed with enough dirt to plant a vegetable patch. And what’s this? No socks and shoes with holes. You’re sure you’re not here to beg?”

After that barrage, Tian Xingzi felt like a beggar himself.

Xiao Wei stood in the corridor nearby. He recognized the old Taoist but didn’t dare intervene while Granny Wang was present.

“Our princess doesn’t keep idle people,” Granny Wang declared. “Go on. Leave.”

Just then, Yu Xiaoxiao walked into the courtyard and immediately spotted Tian Xingzi. Her eyelid twitched—this wasn’t going to be fun.

Seeing her, Tian Xingzi ran over, calling out, “Princess!”

Yu Xiaoxiao seriously considered pretending she didn’t know him.

Granny Wang quickly approached and asked, “Princess, do you know this man?”

“Uh…” Yu Xiaoxiao really wanted to deny it.

“He came on orders from Prince Jing,” Tian Xingzi blurted.

“Why would you talk to a beggar?” Granny Wang’s glare sharpened.

“He’s not a beggar,” Yu Xiaoxiao explained. “Fortune telling is a legitimate profession.”

“Fortune telling?” Granny Wang stared at Tian Xingzi. “Princess, you can’t just trust anyone who claims to be something.”

Sensing another long lecture, Yu Xiaoxiao interjected, “Granny, he’s a friend of Xiao Gu’s.”

From the corridor, Xiao Wei closed his eyes. Your Highness, you really just threw this onto the prince?

Tian Xingzi hesitated, then asked hopefully, “Princess, may I go now?”

“Where would you go?” she asked.

He straightened a little. “I am a man with no fixed home.”

“But Mo Wen is still alive,” Yu Xiaoxiao pointed out. “How will you find peace with that?”

Tian Xingzi’s solemn demeanor crumbled. “Princess, I can’t beat Mo Wen.”

“Coward.” Yu Xiaoxiao clapped him on the shoulder, knocking him flat. “You can’t give up before the fight even starts!”

Face down on the ground, Tian Xingzi sobbed internally. Against Mo Wen, giving up at the start IS the only option.

Granny Wang squinted. “Princess, who is this Mo Wen?”

Yu Xiaoxiao was about to answer, but Xiao Wei quickly stepped forward, shaking his head. The Empress and Granny Wang were devout believers in Yongsheng Temple.

Yu Xiaoxiao asked Granny Wang, “What’s your opinion on Yongsheng Temple?”

“Amitabha,” Granny Wang intoned. “Princess, it’s time to send offerings again.”

“Heh.” Yu Xiaoxiao chuckled.

“Heh heh heh,” Tian Xingzi echoed nervously.

Xiao Wei stood to the side, expressionless.

“What’s going on with you two?” Granny Wang asked.

“I want breakfast,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “Granny, please get started.”

“Who’s Mo Wen?” Granny Wang persisted.

“Did I say that name?” Yu Xiaoxiao turned to Tian Xingzi and Xiao Wei.

Both shook their heads.

“You misheard, Granny.”

“Peanut-filled tangyuan!” Yu Xiaoxiao shouted, retreating to the corridor. “And sesame ones too! Get Xiaogu and Xiao Wei some pork noodles!”

“I want noodles too!” Tian Xingzi said.

Granny Wang grabbed him by the collar.

Yu Xiaoxiao watched from the corridor and whispered to Xiao Wei, “Granny always nags about keeping proper boundaries. What’s she doing grabbing a Taoist by the collar?”

Xiao Wei leaned against a post, still recovering from his injury. “She looks like she wants to beat him.”

In the courtyard, Tian Xingzi shouted, “We can talk this out! No need for violence!”

Yu Xiaoxiao handed Xiao Wei a peanut candy. “I just beat up Zhao Qiuming’s third daughter.”

Xiao Wei froze. “Zhao Sanxiaojie?”

“Yeah,” Yu Xiaoxiao nodded. “The real one. Erqiu’s still locked up somewhere.”

“You caught the real Zhao Sanxiaojie?” Xiao Wei was stunned. What else happened after I left for medical treatment?

“Nope,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, chewing her candy. “Little Er ran into her on the street and carried her home.”

Xiao Wei: What even is this timeline?

“Granny!” Yu Xiaoxiao shouted, “Please let the Taoist go!”

If she had the strength, Granny Wang would’ve flung Tian Xingzi straight over the courtyard wall.

Xiao Wei asked, “Who’s Little Er?”

Yu Xiaoxiao wrinkled her brow, trying to recall. “He’s one of Xiongxiong’s crew, the second-in-command… What’s his name again?”

“Xu Wei,” Xiao Wei supplied.

“Xu Wei,” Yu Xiaoxiao repeated. “But ‘Little Er’ is easier.”

Xiao Wei gave up. “Fine. But how did he end up meeting Zhao Sanxiaojie?”

Yu Xiaoxiao looked up at the sky with a sigh. “Fate moved its hand.”

Xiao Wei: I give up. Completely.