Chapter 41: Chapter 41: The Unpopular Complacent Winery

Gu Xinglang smiled bitterly. “Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount, Baron1–naturally, Defender Duke outranks Defender General.”

Yu Xiaoxiao tsked. “Just pretend I never asked. Grandpa’s a commoner now, so what’s the point of comparing with others?”

Gu Xinglang’s complexion turned a little pale. “Our Gu Clan is loyal to the sovereign, so why would we care about such things? We–”

“Drink some water,” Yu Xiaoxiao placed a cup to Gu Xinglang’s lips. Look at what the sovereign’s done to you already? And the foolish family’s still not fighting back.

Gu Xinglang subconsciously drank a few mouthfuls of water. By the time he realized Yu Xiaoxiao was feeding him sips, he had almost drained the cup. He quickly took it from her hands.

Wang momo knocked on the door with red eyes. “Princess, what do you need to prepare for Eldest Crown Prince Jing’s banquet?”

Do we need to prepare anything for a banquet? Yu Xiaoxiao glanced at Gu Xinglang, then tried, “Don’t eat anything the day before?” If she knew Jing Mo would ask her out to eat today, she would have eaten less yesterday.

Gu Xinglang spat out his water. Wang momo had no water to spit, but she gave Yu Xiaoxiao a long look. She couldn’t figure out whether to cry or laugh. His Seventh Highness’s plight made her teary, but the sight of Her Royal Highness made her grin. Yu Xiaoxiao realized from their expressions that she must have done something foolish and ended up chuckling.

Gu Xinglang could sense the ill will of her chuckles and said, “Princess, now isn’t the time for jokes.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Wang momo asked Gu Xinlang, “Royal Son-in-Law, what would you like to prepare?” If she couldn’t rely on the princess, she’d find him instead.

“Don’t worry, momo,” Gu Xinglang replied. “My grandfather will order people to take care of the gift.”

“Royal Son-in-Law, you must help His Seventh Highness,” Wang momo said as she fell to her knees. “His Seventh Highness is still young. If he goes to Zhuri, how will he spend his days? Suppose something happens to him there? Nobody will be by his side to think up ideas. What will His Seventh Highness do then?”

Half lying on the bed, Gu Xinglang tried to pull Wang momo upright but failed repeatedly. He couldn’t move either, so he said, “Momo, get up first. I’ll definitely help His Seventh Highness if I can.”

Yu Xiaoxiao walked over and hauled Wang momo upright. “This isn’t hard, so don’t cry, momo.” Yu Xiaoxiao couldn’t make heads or tails of the twists and turns in the situation. However, she figured if her seventh brother was facing death, she could just take the babe away. The level of martial arts in this world meant no one could take her into custody. As for what would happen to Gu Xinglang and Wang momo after she ran away, suffice to say Yu Xiaoxiao hadn’t thought of it yet. To her, a world without zombies was already perfect enough.

Wang momo didn’t take Yu Xiaoxiao’s words seriously. Most likely, the princess was only trying to comfort her. How pitiful, ah! Tears fell from her face as she looked at the girl. Esteemed Empress raised the princess into someone who can’t even console people properly.

Yu Xiaoxiao coaxed Wang momo some more before she realized she only made the woman cry harder. In the end, she decided to shut up. Gu Xinglang said, “Momo, how about checking on His Seventh Highness? Let Wei momo set her cares at rest. Our Gu Clan won’t abandon His Seventh Highness.”

Wang momo wiped her tears and left. Right now, the Gu Clan still relied on the princess for survival. How could they help His Seventh Highness? The more she thought, the sadder she felt.

“Since Jing Mo’s sought us out, there’s still a chance to turn His Seventh Highness’s situation around,” Gu Xinglang said once Wang momo left. “We haven’t reached the worst case scenario yet.”

“Oh,” Yu Xiaoxiao replied.

Gu Xinglang clenched his fist. Worse comes to worst, they could have a life-and-death struggle and take Yu Ziyi out of the capital. As for how he’d set up the struggle against Zhao Qiuming and his men with his ankles still shot, Gu Xinglang didn’t think of it in his anxiety for the seventh prince. In some ways, husband and wife were two of a kind.

As dusk fell, Yu Xiaoxiao and Gu Xinglang got on the carriage again with Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei following on horseback to head for Complacent Winery. The whole way, Yu Xiaoxiao stared at the scenery outside. The ancient streets were lined with colorful lanterns, catching her rapt attention. Countless lights shone, mixed with the laughter and talk of the crowds and children fooling around. Multiple food vendors lined the streets. Nowhere in the dilapidated cities and villages of the apocalypse could one find such happy people and colorful scenes.

Gu Xinglang watched Yu Xiaoxiao’s shining eyes as she stared out the window and couldn’t bear to disturb her.

“When we come back later, shall we find a restaurant to eat something?” Yu Xiaoxiao turned towards him while swallowing her saliva.

“Alright,” Gu Xinglang agreed. He wholeheartedly wanted to do something for her, so he’d completely forgotten that they were on their way to a banquet of their own.

The carriage stopped in front of the winery, where a few of Jing Mo’s retainers had already been waiting for them for ages.

“Your Royal Highness, Royal Son-in-Law, if you may,” the head retainer gestured for them to enter after Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei helped Gu Xinglang off the carriage.

When Yu Xiaoxiao entered the establishment, she saw that it was supported by four pillars and five stories tall. It was a wooden building lit by lanterns and had the imposing air of a rich man’s estate, but she only knitted her brows and asked a guard, “Why can’t I hear anything? This winery isn’t about to go out of business, right?” All the restaurants she’d passed on the way were bustling with business, but here there wasn’t a peep. It was obvious that they didn’t have good sales at all. Jing Mo is Zhuri’s eldest prince, but he invited us to a restaurant on the brink of bankruptcy? If I remember right, he should have plenty of money.

The guard leading the way had a 囧 expression. He didn’t know how to answer. Although Complacent Winery was named as such, it was actually one of Zhuri Country’s strongholds in Fengtian’s capital city. Fengtian citizens should know that by default, right?

Yu Xiaoxiao looked at the head retainer and asked, “You’re the leader, so you explain.”

As the head retainer was a leader of sorts, he said with respect, “To reply Your Royal Highness, His Eldest Highness gave orders to reserve the entire place for Your Royal Highness and Royal Son-in-Law tonight for the sake of the banquet. All of the other guests were refused entry at the doors.”

“Really?” Yu Xiaoxiao looked towards Gu Xinglang. Why did she feel like the guy was lying?

Gu Xinglang only sighed. Just how many things does she not know from being raised in the palace?

Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei copied Yu Xiaoxiao’s typical facial paralysis. We’re only pageboys now, so we don’t know a thing.

Translator’s Note: My most amazing junior bro pointed me to the Easy Footnotes plugin on WordPress which I tested out in this chapter. It’s soooooo cool and easy to use! Expect more notes from me in the future if we get more trivia bits!