Little Pink Starfish

Jiang Zhuojun Is Not My Buddy

As soon as Momo Wang finished speaking, a strong wind swept through the mountains, followed by fluttering snowflakes falling from the sky.

Watching the sudden snowfall dance through the air, Yu Xiaoxiao frowned—this kind of weather was definitely not good news for their group.

Gu Xinglang took off his thick cloak and draped it over Yu Xiaoxiao’s shoulders, then ordered his men, “Find a place to take shelter from the wind and snow first. There’s no rush to leave the mountain.” After all, they’d just rescued the Jiang clan—imperial criminals. They needed to wait and see how the Zhuque court would respond before making their next move.

The group searched around in the mountains until Yu Xiaoxiao finally spotted a cave halfway up the slope. Gu Xinglang and Yu Xiaoxiao went in to inspect it and decided it was a good temporary shelter: hidden and adequate against the elements.

“Good enough?” Yu Xiaoxiao asked.

Gu Xinglang nodded, then turned to Xiao Zhuang and said, “Bring everyone in.”

Xiao Zhuang accepted the order and was about to leave when Yu Xiaoxiao suddenly asked, “Where’s Xiao Wei?” She hadn’t seen him for a while.

Xiao Zhuang paused, then replied with clear irritation, “Princess, Xiao Wei got bewitched by a woman.”

“What?” Yu Xiaoxiao perked up. She looked away for just a moment and Xiao Wei’s already found true love?

Gu Xinglang, who already knew about Xiao Wei caring for Jiang Yue-niang, shot Xiao Zhuang a look and told Yu Xiaoxiao, “Don’t stir things up. That’s Jiang Zhuojun’s older sister. She’s already married and has a child.”

Yu Xiaoxiao, still excited, was hit with a bucket of cold water by her husband. In this world, married women were off-limits.

Xiao Zhuang added, “Miss Jiang isn’t married anymore. I heard her husband abandoned her—seems it was because of the Jiang clan’s recent trouble. Tch.” He clicked his tongue and said to the couple, “Princess, Prince Consort, what kind of heartless bastard does that? His in-laws get in trouble and he just dumps his wife and kid? If I ever meet that scum, I’ll beat him half to death!”

Gu Xinglang had no idea what expression to put on after hearing Xiao Zhuang’s rant. How bored must this group be to have already dug up everything about Miss Jiang? Were they really just ‘strolling’ out of Taichang earlier?

Yu Xiaoxiao nodded. “So that’s how it is.” Since the divorce had already happened, Xiao Wei falling in love wasn’t a problem anymore. “I want to go see Xiao Jiang’s sister,” she said eagerly.

Gu Xinglang immediately pulled her back and gave Xiao Zhuang a look.

Xiao Zhuang took the cue and darted out of the cave.

“Leave this alone,” Gu Xinglang said, hugging Yu Xiaoxiao.

She frowned. “You look down on divorced women?”

“Divorced?”

“Oh, I mean… ‘he li’—formal separation.”

“She was…” Gu Xinglang sighed. Being abandoned… that kind of thing was better left unsaid. “That’s not what I meant,” he said gently. “Let’s just keep an eye on things. Xiao Wei might not even feel that way.”

“Really? But didn’t Xiao Zhuang and the others already see it?” Yu Xiaoxiao was skeptical.

“Xiao Zhuang can’t even figure out his own love life,” Gu Xinglang pointed out. “How would he know what Xiao Wei’s thinking?”

Yu Xiaoxiao thought that made sense. If Xiao Zhuang hadn’t sorted out his own love story, how could he understand someone else’s?

“Alright,” she agreed. “We’ll wait and see.”

“Just observe,” Gu Xinglang emphasized again.

“Got it,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “But what if Xiao Wei really likes Xiao Jiang’s sister?”

“Then I’ll help him,” Gu Xinglang promised.

“Then no problem.” Yu Xiaoxiao was completely reassured. As for the differences in nationality—Xiao Wei being from Fengtian, Jiang Yue-niang being from Zhuque—as well as differences in status, identity, and the fact that she was from a disgraced family, none of that mattered to Yu Xiaoxiao. In the apocalypse, if two people liked each other, they’d just roll into bed together. How hard could marriage be?

Gu Xinglang tapped Yu Xiaoxiao’s lips with his finger and asked, “Xiao Jiang—are you close with Jiang Zhuojun?”

Uh-oh. The whole thing about the tyrant empress and her lover couldn’t be revealed. If she said it, her Xiao Gu would think she was mentally ill—it’d damage their relationship. Yu Xiaoxiao rubbed her nose and said, “Isn’t he your buddy?”

“He’s not my buddy,” Gu Xinglang replied. “We used to be on opposing sides.”

“Oh, really?” Yu Xiaoxiao tried to look surprised. “Then I misunderstood.”

Gu Xinglang looked at her expressionless face. His wife couldn’t even pretend to be surprised convincingly.

“We already saved him. We can’t just send him back, right?” Yu Xiaoxiao mimicked a whip-wielding gesture like the guards and said, “If Xiao Jiang goes back, he’s dead for sure.”

So after all that, she’s still defending Xiao Jiang!

Gu Xinglang hugged his wife again—there was nothing left but helplessness.

“I think the Jiang family was framed,” Yu Xiaoxiao looked up at him and said.

“That’s Zhuque’s internal affair,” Gu Xinglang reminded her.

“So what?” Yu Xiaoxiao retorted. “They’re humans too. And we already got involved.”

“Trying to clear their name won’t be easy,” Gu Xinglang whispered. “It’s about a power struggle in the royal family—how can we get involved?”

“No idea,” Yu Xiaoxiao replied. “We’ll figure it out as we go.”

Gu Xinglang choked on that. “That’s your plan?”

“We don’t know the details yet,” she said, leaning against his chest and sniffing at his scent. “Why don’t you talk to Xiao Jiang later and see what he wants?”

“You’re not going to talk to him?” Gu Xinglang asked.

“I’m not sure he even understands what I’m saying,” Yu Xiaoxiao admitted, lifting her head with a sigh.

Gu Xinglang chuckled and rubbed her head.

“Prince Consort,” Big Boss’s voice called from outside the cave.

“I’ll go see,” Gu Xinglang let go of her.

“I’m coming too,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, grabbing his hand.

Big Boss stood at the cave entrance, stamping his feet from the cold. When he saw the two of them coming out, he didn’t even react to their hand-holding and said, “Prince Consort, should we bring the wagons into the cave? I’m worried there’s not enough space.”

“Then just leave the stuff outside,” Yu Xiaoxiao said.

“These are all treasures,” Big Boss argued.

“Come on,” Yu Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at him. “They’re not even ours. Why do you care so much?”

“Leave them out,” Gu Xinglang said firmly.

Big Boss looked at the couple, then nodded and ran back toward the parked carts. Fair enough—not our stuff. Why freeze to death guarding it?