Little Pink Starfish

An Unvirtuous Wife Brings a Fallen Home

When Xiao Wei reached the official road outside the north gate, Jing Mo and his group were already far in the distance. Watching his princess standing calmly, not flushed or winded, Xiao Wei began to seriously question himself—was his lightness skill really that bad?

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the sweat-drenched Xiao Wei, pulled a bamboo tube from her sleeve, and handed it over. “Drink this.”

Xiao Wei popped the stopper and took a swig without checking the contents. Only after the warm liquid hit his mouth did he realize it was lotus-root starch soup.

“I bought it on the way,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “Isn’t it tasty?”

Xiao Wei suddenly felt even more deflated. He had sprinted like mad, and she’d stopped for a snack and still got there first?

Yu Xiaoxiao, of course, had no idea what Xiao Wei was feeling. Watching the direction where Jing Mo’s group had disappeared, she sighed. “Little Six is gone.”

Xiao Wei swallowed the starch soup and asked, “Princess, you can’t bear to part with Sixth Prince?”

“Boys shouldn’t be raised like delicate flowers,” Yu Xiaoxiao replied as she turned back toward the city. From now on, she would be Yu Linglong. Her brothers would grow up into proper men under her watch.

As he tasted the sweet, faintly floral lotus-root soup, Xiao Wei found it… surprisingly good for something that women and children were said to like.

But before they could take more than a few steps toward the city gate, a group of travelers walking a wide berth around Yu Xiaoxiao caught her eye. Narrowing her gaze, she flickered forward and appeared right in front of them.

Xiao Wei still had lotus soup in his mouth and hadn’t even reacted yet.

The ten or so travelers froze. Some looked calm, others visibly nervous, but none said a word as they stared at Yu Xiaoxiao.

Xiao Wei caught up and glanced at the group. “Merchants?” Their clothing and gear all matched those of traveling traders. Nothing out of place, as far as he could tell.

“Is there something you need, young miss?” the leading middle-aged man bowed slightly and asked.

“Monks?” Yu Xiaoxiao said simply.

The whole group stiffened.

Xiao Wei’s gaze instantly sharpened, and he scrutinized them more closely.

“What are you talking about, miss?” the lead man waved his hands.

Due to the delayed opening of Fengjing’s city gates that morning, there were far more people on the road than usual. A small crowd had already gathered around them.

Xiao Wei whispered to Yu Xiaoxiao, “Princess, are they really monks?”

Without another word, Yu Xiaoxiao reached out and yanked the hat off the lead man’s head. “You think I wouldn’t recognize a monk just because you’re wearing a hat?”

The man tried to stop her, but he was far too slow. As soon as the breeze hit his shaved, scarred scalp, he knew they were exposed.

“It’s really a monk!” someone in the crowd shouted.

A few scoundrels who didn’t recognize Yu Xiaoxiao whistled and catcalled. One shouted, “Hey little miss, why are you pulling off a monk’s hat? I’m wearing a hat too. Come pull mine!”

Xiao Wei lunged, ready to attack, but Yu Xiaoxiao stopped him. The enemy was in front of them—what were those fools to her?

“We’re monks of Yongsheng Temple,” the middle-aged monk admitted. “Miss, why are you blocking our way?”

A younger monk behind him winced. Wouldn’t it have been better to just say we’re wandering monks? Linglong Princess might be against Yongsheng Temple, but she’s not against all Buddhists, right?

Once the name “Yongsheng Temple” was spoken, the entire crowd stepped back. Even the rowdy rogues shut up. Some women directly dropped to their knees.

Yu Xiaoxiao’s face immediately soured. She finally understood how deep Yongsheng Temple’s influence ran among commoners.

“Miss,” the monk asked again, “if there’s no issue, may we pass?”

Before Yu Xiaoxiao could speak, an old woman pointed at her and shouted, “Whose daughter-in-law are you? Disrespecting monks from Yongsheng Temple—didn’t your family teach you any manners?”

Yu Xiaoxiao glanced at the wrinkled woman—at least eighty, small and skinny, yet with a voice loud enough to shake rooftops.

“Get out of the way for the master monk!” the woman barked.

The monk looked smug now. In public like this, what can you do, Yu Linglong?

“Watch your mouth!” Xiao Wei barked at the old lady.

Another old woman chimed in, “Control your wife! With a wife this disrespectful, your house is doomed. What kind of man are you?”

“You—” Xiao Wei turned red. He wasn’t used to bickering with old women. All he could shout was, “Don’t insult my master!”

And just like that, the bystanders’ gazes turned even more judgmental. A young woman and a young guard—just the two of them, out here beyond the city gates. What were they really doing here?

“Shameless,” one woman spat on the ground.

Another muttered, “Immoral.”

Xiao Wei was about ready to explode. But could he draw his sword on civilians?

Commoners might be powerful in numbers, but Yu Xiaoxiao was even more powerful in shamelessness. Accused of being indecent and a cheater, the princess remained completely unfazed. She stared at the monk. “You say you’re from Yongsheng Temple? Since when do Yongsheng monks wear laymen’s clothes? If you’re going to lie, at least find a better excuse.”

The crowd paused. Come to think of it, monks from Yongsheng Temple never dressed like this…

“We have monastery credentials,” the monk replied.

Claiming to be from Yongsheng Temple without papers? That could get you beaten to death.

Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t know what “credentials” were, but the second he reached into his robe, she struck. Fighting was always her first solution to any problem.

Xiao Wei moved to help, but Yu Xiaoxiao barked, “You stay put. You’re still injured.”

So he stayed put, one hand on his sword hilt, glaring at the gawking crowd. “Get lost!”

The crowd was stunned. They’d all seen street fights, but nothing like this. The only way to describe it was: absolutely savage.

These monks weren’t Mo Wen’s elite. Just ordinary martial monks from Yongsheng Temple—and against Yu Xiaoxiao, they stood no chance. She flattened them with ease—knocking some unconscious, sending others flying, and planting a few straight into the dirt.

She didn’t care who they were.

Her goal: make sure none of these monks caught up with Jing Mo and his people.