I’m such an idiot.
Too stupid.
~~~
Shen Jiujiu huddled with his wings folded inside the birdcage, his little black bean eyes brimming with utter despair.
A black cloth draped over the cage, plunging the inside into pitch darkness, broken only by the occasional faint glimmer of light. He couldn’t see a thing outside.
At first, a little eunuch would lift the cover now and then to add food and water. But after they realized the bird inside neither ate nor drank, growing thinner by the day and clearly on its last legs, even the eunuch stopped coming.
Shen Jiujiu had no idea what kind of bird he was, but he seemed to be sparrow-sized with a fairly long tail that swished and scraped against the bars whenever he turned around.
The cage was always dim anyway, so even when he strained to peek under his chest feathers, he couldn’t tell what color they were.
Shen Jiujiu craned his neck, rubbing his itchy head against the bars, then slowly rolled over inside the cage.
Before becoming a bird, Shen Jiujiu had been Shen Xinian.
The Shen from the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion.
Shen Xinian hadn’t grown up in the marquis mansion. He barely knew his marquis father and had never even met his stepmother, Madam Zhou.
As the mansion’s servants put it, Shen Xinian was just a country bumpkin raised on an estate in the countryside, clueless about the world.
Shen Xinian hadn’t come to the capital chasing the heir’s position or anything from the marquis mansion. No, he’d agreed to come to find someone.
A benefactor who had saved his life in Jiangnan three years earlier.
Back then, Shen Xinian had nearly drowned. If that passerby hadn’t pulled him from the lake, he’d probably have a grave overgrown with weeds several feet tall by now.
That fleeting glimpse had haunted Shen Xinian for three years, the man’s features etched deep into his memory.
But he never found his benefactor. Instead, Shen Xinian died.
At the age of eighteen.
Framed by his stepmother Madam Zhou, he took the fall for his half-brother’s crimes—crimes committed under the name of the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion’s legitimate son—and ended up dying unjustly in prison.
No words for it. Poor judge of character, blind to the truth.
He really was stupid.
The little bird ball huddled in the corner of the cage stirred, stretching out the two tiny claws tucked beneath him and splaying them behind like makeshift struts.
The capital’s people and schemes were too complicated. Shen Xinian hated it.
But Jiangnan held no home for him anymore.
The bird ball swayed lightly, his small claws kicking twice against the cage floor.
Being a bird was boring as hell.
Trapped in a covered cage was bad enough, but only clear water to drink and millet to eat? Miserable.
No other birds around to chat with, no one to eavesdrop on for juicy gossip—just dead silence.
At first, driven by survival instinct, Shen Jiujiu had pecked at the millet. But after a couple of days, the meat-loving Shen Jiujiu fell into total despair.
Even as a cat or dog, you might snag some meat. As a bird? Pure torment.
In utter despondency, Shen Jiujiu let out another sigh. The downy feathers around his eyes still bore damp traces as he flattened from a balled-up puff into a sad, splayed-out bird pancake on the cage floor.
A bird’s life wouldn’t last long anyway.
Might as well starve.
Suddenly, the heavy sound of palace doors being pushed open echoed from outside, followed by approaching footsteps.
Shen Jiujiu twitched his head.
Those quick, pattering steps belonged to the little eunuch who’d changed his food and water before.
“Master, this is the bird.”
“A tribute from the Western Regions. They say it’s a rare beauty even there!”
The little eunuch’s voice dripped with fawning flattery. The black cloth over the cage lifted slightly, dim light spilling in to illuminate Shen Jiujiu inside.
Shen Jiujiu cracked his eyes open. Golden bars gleamed faintly in the light.
Three days without food had left the bird’s chest feathers dull and lusterless, wings drooping limply, and his slender tail looking somewhat ragged.
The two faces outside loomed close. A face-connoisseur since childhood, Shen Jiujiu glanced once and turned away.
Ugly. Enough to hurt a dying bird’s eyes.
Couldn’t even let him go out staring at something nice.
“You’re sure this little beast starved itself? If you’re trying to fool me and botch His Majesty’s orders, watch your hide!”
The old eunuch’s voice was soft and shrill.
“How would this servant dare deceive Master? It’s true—”
The little eunuch panicked, flung open the cage door, reached in, and pinched Shen Jiujiu out. He pried open the bird’s beak with one hand, scooped millet with a tiny spoon, and shoved it toward the mouth.
Weak from hunger, Shen Jiujiu didn’t struggle, letting the eunuch force-feed him.
But the instant the hand withdrew, Shen Jiujiu’s beak gaped wide. With a flick of his head, he spat a huge glob of millet and saliva all over the little eunuch.
Pah!
The little eunuch didn’t dare clean himself, bowing and scraping instead. “See, Master? This servant spoke the truth.”
“Not bad. This is the one.” The old eunuch, his face like wrinkled orange peel, seemed pleased with Shen Jiujiu. In that soft, shrill voice, he ordered, “It’s getting late. Bring it along and follow me.”
Shen Jiujiu was shoved back inside.
The black cloth dropped again, shrouding the ornate golden birdcage.
The cage was lifted. In a rush, the little eunuch walked fast, swinging it wildly. Water from the bowl splashed down on Shen Jiujiu like a deluge.
Inside, Shen Jiujiu rolled his eyes, not bothering to struggle as millet crumbs rolled across his already soaked feathers.
Whatever. Do your worst.
He wasn’t planning to survive as a bird anyway.
“Lord Pei has arrived—”
A distant announcement rang out. The little eunuch’s steps quickened further; Shen Jiujiu could even hear the servant’s labored breaths from running.
Just delivering a bird. That urgent?
“This servant pays respects to Lord Pei.”
The head eunuch switched to self-referring as “this servant” before this Lord Pei, but the shrill voice, drawn out deliberately, carried a peculiar mocking edge.
“This is the tribute bird His Majesty has granted you. Precious thing—take good care of it.”
Lord Pei?
Pei?
Someone a palace eunuch like this addressed with such deference was most likely the current Prime Minister, Pei Du.
That familiar surname stirred something in Shen Jiujiu.
His long-untraced benefactor shared the same family name.
The capital was a vast, bustling place, full of Pei families. But the most renowned was undoubtedly Prime Minister Pei Du’s line.
Shen Xinian had indeed considered the possibility that his benefactor might be Prime Minister Pei.
But on one hand, he’d learned that Pei Du hadn’t left the Capital in years. On the other, with Shen Xinian’s status as a newcomer without connections, there was no way he could meet someone like Pei Du face-to-face.
—Sigh, he couldn’t even get his hands on a portrait.
As the golden birdcage swayed lightly, another hand reached out to take it.
Pei Du’s movements weren’t particularly gentle, but his hand was steady, easing Shen Jiujiu’s nausea just a bit.
“This subject thanks Your Majesty for the gift.”
Pei Du’s voice was flat and arrogant, coolly deferential in just the right measure.
The grand eunuch seemed displeased by his calm composure and fawned with a smile. “His Majesty said this bird is awfully stubborn. It’d rather starve to death than touch a bite of the imperial food. It’s just like…”
“Like what?”
There seemed to be a hint of amusement in Pei Du’s voice, his tone lifting slightly without a trace of displeasure.
The birdcage held steady. Shen Jiujiu, huddled in the corner, twitched his wingtips and tilted his beak toward the nearer human, faintly catching a wonderfully pleasant scent.
“Like… like…” The eunuch’s voice caught under some invisible pressure. Gritting his teeth, he relayed the emperor’s words. “Just like someone who doesn’t know the times.”
“Oh?”
Through the black cover cloth, Shen Jiujiu heard Pei Du tap the cage bars lightly with his fingertip—a slow, supremely elegant and noble motion.
His voice remained utterly serene, without a ripple.
“Then please inform His Majesty on my behalf…”
~~~
Shen Jiujiu was carried into the sedan chair and brought back to the mansion with Lord Pei.
As the birdcage swung along, Shen Jiujiu flicked his tailtip and inhaled another whiff of Lord Pei’s scent.
He had no idea what incense the man used, but damn, it really smelled good.
No wonder it went straight to a bird’s head.
“My lord, this is…?”
A slightly aged voice came, which Shen Jiujiu figured belonged to the steward of Pei Mansion.
“His Majesty’s gift.” The birdcage was handed off to someone else. “Hang it under the eaves outside the study.”
The black cover cloth was finally lifted.
Blinding sunlight pierced through the cage, dazzling Shen Jiujiu until his vision blurred. He instinctively ducked his head, beak-first into the cage floor.
When Steward Zhong Bo pulled off the cover, he saw a bird on its last legs—feathers soaked, stuck with millet grains, looking utterly wretched.
Even without knowing what had happened, Zhong Bo sensed the naked sarcasm and malice behind it.
“My lord, this bird is truly inauspicious. Perhaps—”
“No matter. Hang it up.” Pei Du’s voice remained calm.
Huh?
He could put up with that?
Shen Jiujiu, having heard the whole exchange and knowing he wasn’t welcome, had figured his bird life might end without further starvation. He was utterly surprised.
Curious, he twisted his head toward the outside of the cage—and locked eyes with a gaze like a frigid pool.
A few paces away stood a man in the first-rank crane-embroidered official robes, a golden fish pouch dangling from his jade waist belt, swaying faintly with his movements.
He looked no older than twenty-six or twenty-seven, yet his presence was startlingly composed.
Sword-straight brows slanted into his temples, beneath which were a pair of chilling phoenix eyes, tails slightly uptilted—a face that should have been amorous and charming, yet frozen by the icy starlight in his gaze, all allure subdued.
Such features ought to belong to some poetic, wine-loving scholar of the Hanlin Academy. Instead, even the purple robes and jade belt couldn’t suppress the air of cold menace about him.
He didn’t match the mild-tempered image Shen Jiujiu had imagined at all.
But Shen Jiujiu’s attention had already shifted entirely elsewhere.
The long-tailed White Jade Chirp, moments ago sprawled half-dead in the cage, suddenly perked up. Bright light burst from his round black eyes.
Shen Jiujiu flapped to the cage’s edge. His little beady eyes went wide, cheek feathers squished by the bars into two streaks.
His sharp beak strained through the gaps, urgently aimed at Pei Du outside. A series of melodious chirps poured out.
“Chirp chirp!! Chirp—chirp chirp~ chirp!”
Gone was the dying-bird act from before.
Pei Du paused faintly.
Zhong Bo looked astonished. “What’s this now?”
Shen Jiujiu never dreamed that Pei Du was truly the man he’d been longing for.
And after dying and reviving as a bird, he’d run into Pei Du by sheer dumb luck!
He’d become Pei Du’s bird!
What was this called?
Just like Mother said: fate brings those destined together from a thousand miles away!
Strength he didn’t know he had surged through him. The scrawny long-tailed bird wheeled around to the food dish, reared up one claw, and slammed it down with ruthless dominance—like claiming his meal.
All the while, his glossy round black eyes fixed on Pei Du outside the cage.
He shoveled it in so fiercely he nearly choked a few times.
No, couldn’t choke.
Shen Jiujiu whipped his head to the water bowl, pecked a couple gulps.
Then turned back to devour.
The bird didn’t want to die anymore.
The bird wanted—to live!
