Chapter 154: You Shouldn’t Have a Wife in this Lifetime

Underboss looked at the young girl crouched and focused on munching her pork head before feeling reluctant as well. He pushed the young man to one side and strode in front of Yu Xiaoxiao.

“Do you know where the second young master of your household went?” he asked.

Second Brother? Yu Xiaoxiao knitted her brows. Right, I haven’t seen him for days. Where did he go?

Underboss asked, “You’ve never heard your estate’s masters talk about second young master?”

Yu Xiaoxiao now recalled that Second Young Master Gu had taken her brother, Little Seventh, and Wei momo to run away. Now that Little Seventh was safe, why hadn’t Second Brother come home yet? It had been days since Gu Xingyan ran away with Yu Ziyi, but Her Royal Highness was only considering the problem now.

The youth only saw her silent, expressionless face and immediately blamed Underboss. “That lass only waits on others, so how would she know?”

Yu Xiaoxiao was thinking to herself, Did big brother and Little Gu forget to send someone to call second brother to bring back Little Seventh and Wei momo? So much for brotherly love! (Author: Your Royal Highness, you don’t have much sibling love either!)

Underboss took out a letter written on leather paper and gave it to Yu Xiaoxiao.

“Underboss!” the youth hollered.

Yu Xiaoxiao accepted the letter and said, “It’s fine, it’s just delivering a letter. I won’t take a messenger fee from you for that.”

“You’ll get beat up by the master of the house!” the youth exclaimed.

Yu Xiaoxiao gave a start. Whaa? I’ll get beat up for delivering a letter? What for?

“How’s this?” Underboss gave Yu Xiaoxiao a wooden token and said, “Come to our Cloud Mountain.” Since she’s only a servant, does it matter where she serves? Look at how Erdog’s acting.1 He definitely fancies her, so I might as well abduct this lass to the mountains and pair them up.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the wooden token, which was burned with an intricate pattern and had traditional Chinese characters she tried to study but couldn’t understand. Underboss next gave her a map and added, “After you enter the mountains, just head towards the center according to this map.”

Yu Xiaoxiao could understand maps and memorized it after a few glances. She asked Underboss, “Is your Cloud Mountain fun?”

The youth named Erdog quickly piped up, “It’s fun and full of fat rabbits and wild pheasants. Anyways, it’s got all kinds of things.”

Yu Xiaoxiao saw a mental image of chubby bunnies and was moved for a second. Her eyes shone as she asked Underdog, “Are you inviting me there to play?”

Underboss nodded.

“Then, can I bring my family?”

“If the Gu Estate gives you trouble, then you can bring your whole family along,” Underboss replied.

“Alright, I’ll go play at Cloud Mountain,” Yu Xiaoxiao agreed. As to how the Gu Clan was supposed to give her trouble, she simply let that phrase fly out her other ear.

“Take good care of the letter,” Underboss reminded her.

Yu Xiaoxiao placed it behind her pork head and asked, “What’s the letter about?”

The Underboss hesitated, then said, “It’s only greetings for ol’ Supreme Commander Gu.”

“Oh,” Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t suspect him. “Then don’t worry, I won’t lose it.”

“Then we’ll meet at Cloud Mountain,” Underboss finished before hauling Erdog away with him.

“You have to come, ah!” Erdog cried heartbrokenly at Yu Xiaoxiao.

Yu Xiaoxiao looked down at her pork head. Although she’d lost half the meat, she found out about a mountain packed with rabbits, so it was worth it. She gave herself kudos before settling back down to nom on the meat.

—

By now, Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei had just carried Gu Xinglang out of a jewelry store. After browsing and getting dazzled by the selections, Third Young Master Gu finally settled on a butterfly jade hairpin. It was packed in a carved wooden box that looked grand and elegant, but he wasn’t sure if his wife would like it.

Xiao Zhuang pointed at a nearby stall selling syrup and asked, “Royal Son-in-Law, do you want to bring back some syrup for the princess?”

Xiao Wei glared at him. You’re the one who actually wants some, don’t you?

When Gu Xinglang recalled his wife’s eating habits, he nodded. “Go buy some, we might as well bring the whole family a portion.”

“Yes,” Xiao Zhuang obeyed and ran towards the stall.

Gu Xinglang and Xiao Wei waited beneath the eaves of the jewelry shop. Most of its customers were women. Although they weren’t allowed to look at the pair directly, there were plenty of side-glances that soon made the two men waver.

“Royal Son-in-Law, I’ll go check what’s taking Xiao Zhuang so long,” Xiao Wei said before shamelessly abandoning his master to flee.

Gu Xinglang couldn’t move in his chair and could only wait.

Soon an old Daoist holding an Eight Trigrams banner stopped in front of Gu Xinglang and examined his with his beady eyes before sucking in a cold breath. Gu Xinglang didn’t believe in Eternal Life Temple, so he naturally doubted fortune tellers like this Daoist too.

“What business do you have?” he asked.

The old Daoist ignored Gu Xinglang’s icy expression and placed his banner on the ground before walking over to look at Gu Xinglang’s legs. “How could you still be alive?!” he exclaimed.

Even the bystanders leaned away at the old Daoist’s words. No wonder this Daoist looks so poor, has a wan and sallow complexion, and is wearing patchy robes. Look at how his mouth is cursing people to die. It’s a miracle he hasn’t starved to death yet.

The old Daoist stared at Gu Xinglang as he repeatedly sighed and shook his head. Gu Xinglang wouldn’t lose his temper from something so trivial and said, “If Sir Daoist has nothing else, then please leave.”

“How about telling your fortune?” the old Daoist asked.

“I’ve never believed in things like fate,” Gu Xinglang shook his head.

The old Daoist only stiffened and said, “You’ve gone through a huge tribulation, only to meet a benefactor who allowed you to escape death. Is this daoist correct?”

Gu Xinglang replied coldly, “There’s no one in the capital who hasn’t heard of my, Gu Xinglang’s, story. If Sir Daoist wanted to hear about my past, then sitting at any wine shop or teahouse would do.”

When the bystanders heard Gu Xinglang announce his name, they realized he was the Royal Son-in-Law and third son of the Gu Estate and quickly backed away. It wasn’t so easy to get involved with the son-in-law of the royal family.

Gu Xinglang waved a hand to dismiss the old Daoist. “Sir Daoist, please leave.”

The Daoist didn’t budge.

“Why does Sir Daoist insist on telling my fortune?” Gu Xinglang asked.

“Your Love Fate is too faint,” the old Daoist said with some pity as he looked at the carved wooden box in Gu Xinglang’s hands. “You were never destined to have a wife in this lifetime.”

Now that the topic had shifted to Yu Xiaoxiao, Gu Xinglang’s expression blanched. His gaze on the Daoist intensified as he asked, “What do you mean by that?”