Little Pink Starfish

To Go or Not to Go, That Is the Question

The Second Boss and his crew lit a fire in the cave, using a pot to melt snow over the flames.

Xiaofeng and a few palace attendants first warmed up some dry rations. After receiving Gu Xinglang’s order to cook rice porridge, they dug out a sack of rice and started rinsing and boiling it.

The cave had been cold and drafty, but as the fire crackled and the pot began to boil, warmth filled the space. The sweet aroma of rice porridge floated through the air, gradually soothing the terrified Jiang clan members.

Yu Xiaoxiao was tending to the injuries of the women and children of the Jiang clan. As for the men, they had to make do with Tian Xingzi, the half-baked doctor.

She didn’t prioritize Jiang Yueniang’s treatment just because Xiao Wei had taken a liking to her. To Yu Xiaoxiao, a patient’s urgency took precedence—not their relationship.

Jiang Zhuojun had received treatment from Tian Xingzi and managed to force down a bowl of porridge. Color returned to his face. Looking at Gu Xinglang standing before him, Jiang Zhuojun clasped his hands in thanks and said quietly, “I owe you for this.”

Gu Xinglang sat down beside him, tossing a few dry branches into the fire. In a low voice, he asked, “What are your plans now?”

Jiang Zhuojun opened his mouth several times but couldn’t say anything. His rescue had come so suddenly—how could he know what to do next?

“Her Highness believes the Jiang family was wronged,” Gu Xinglang said.

Jiang Zhuojun gave a faint smile. “Unfortunately, she’s a princess of Fengtian.”

Gu Xinglang glanced toward the nearby Jiang clan members. “Within your clan, are you the one calling the shots now?” Jiang Zhuojun was of illegitimate birth. If any legitimate heirs of the main line remained, he wouldn’t have much say, regardless of his military rank.

Jiang Zhuojun also looked at the others and said quietly, “My grandfather, father, and uncles were all executed. None of the legitimate sons over ten survived.”

Gu Xinglang’s eyelid twitched.

“So tell me—what should I do now?” Jiang Zhuojun asked, like a man with no way forward.

Gu Xinglang thought for a long while before saying, “Is there no one in Zhuque who would dare to save the Fourth Prince?”

“With what happened to the Jiang family so plain to see, who’d risk saving His Highness?” Jiang Zhuojun gave a bitter laugh.

“As long as he’s alive, there’s still hope, isn’t there?” Gu Xinglang replied. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how hollow they sounded. When his own family had been imprisoned, weren’t they just waiting to die too?

Jiang Zhuojun fell silent, staring blankly at a jagged stone jutting from the cave wall.

Gu Xinglang kept tossing branches into the fire. Now that they had time to think, he truly didn’t know what to do with the Jiang clan. “If you escort a Buddha, you might as well escort him to the west”—but where were they supposed to escort the Jiang family?

Meanwhile, Yu Xiaoxiao was resetting Jiang Yueniang’s leg and said, “Who set this before? It’s not aligned right.”

Jiang Yueniang wasn’t intimidated by the princess from Fengtian and softly replied, “I did it myself—just wanted it to stop hurting.”

Xiao Wei stood silently nearby, handed over a hot towel, and asked, “Princess, will her leg heal?”

“As long as the bones knit back properly,” Yu Xiaoxiao said as she splinted her leg with wooden boards.

Xiao Wei patted the boy clinging to his leg and smiled softly. “Hear that, Baobao? Your mother will be fine.”

The little boy looked at Yu Xiaoxiao with fear and stayed quiet.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at him. He reminded her of Xiao Liuzi—big eyes, tiny frame, and a head too large for his body. She patted his head and sighed. Several of the Jiang children were in poor health, and not from injuries. She didn’t know how much longer they’d last, and there wasn’t much she could do.

“Princess,” Baobao finally mustered the courage to call out to her.

“Just call me big sister,” Yu Xiaoxiao said.

“Call her aunt,” Xiao Wei immediately corrected. This kid calls me uncle. If he calls the princess “big sister,” that messes up the generation order.

Yu Xiaoxiao protested, “I’m not that old.”

Xiao Wei said, “He calls me uncle.”

“And?”

“So if you’re his sister, does that make you my niece?” Xiao Wei asked.

Yu Xiaoxiao: … Yeah right! There was no way she’d call Xiao Wei “uncle.”

Jiang Yueniang was a bit stunned. Isn’t this man supposed to be a bodyguard? How is he speaking to Her Highness like this? Isn’t this… disrespectful?

“Fine, call me Aunt,” Yu Xiaoxiao told Baobao.

“Auntie!” Baobao’s voice was much louder and more confident this time.

Back at the fire, Jiang Zhuojun asked Gu Xinglang, “Since we raided the Taichang slave market, how are you planning to enter Chiyang City?”

The former pirates nearby were all stunned by this.

Big Boss turned to Gu Xinglang, alarmed. “Right! We came here to celebrate the Zhuque Emperor’s birthday, didn’t we?”

The former pirates all suddenly remembered—they were supposed to drop off a birthday gift and be done with it. How had they ended up holed up in a mountain cave?! Whether the Jiang family lived or died, what did it have to do with them as Fengtian citizens?

Something wasn’t right. This whole thing felt off.

Gu Xinglang couldn’t be bothered with the lot of them. Now they realized what they’d done? On that stone platform, who was it that charged forward without hesitation, blade in hand?

Big Boss asked cautiously, “Prince Consort, is this General your… buddy?” If they’d saved one of Gu Xinglang’s friends, then it wasn’t really meddling. That would make him feel a bit better.

Gu Xinglang shook his head. How many times do I have to say it? He and Jiang Zhuojun had fought on opposite sides—they were battlefield enemies, not buddies!

Big Boss’s fragile heart shattered. So they really had meddled in someone else’s business… What now?

Everyone stared at one another in a daze.

At that moment, Yu Xiaoxiao strolled over, munching on a steamed bun. No matter the situation, Momo Wang would never allow her to eat street snacks.

Second Boss immediately asked, “Princess, can we still go to Chiyang City now?”

Mouth stuffed full, Yu Xiaoxiao mumbled, “Of course. Why not?”

Big Boss pointed at Jiang Zhuojun. “We rescued the whole Jiang family, plus Nuxiong’s barbarian clan. Won’t the Zhuque Emperor come after us?”

Yu Xiaoxiao replied, “It’s not like anyone knows we did it. What’s there to be afraid of?”

Hmm?

The ex-pirates’ eyes lit up. Yeah! No witnesses—who could say they did it?

Just then, Tian Xingzi came over and said, “But our names are all on the travel documents.”

“Oh crap,” Yu Xiaoxiao groaned. “I forgot about that…”