“Why Shen, of all surnames?”
Sui Ziming’s words carried a deeper meaning.
Pei Du lifted his teacup, his peripheral vision catching sight of the disheveled little bird yanking itself free from the banana with great effort. Sticky fruit pulp smeared its beak and head. The corner of his mouth curved faintly. “Nothing. Just a casual remark.”
Shen Jiujiu had indeed confessed to being the little bird, but not entirely. Caught off guard by Pei Du exposing his little bird disguise, he didn’t dare meet the man’s eyes right now.
His little gaze darted about.
Pei Du, who always provided a handkerchief just when the little bird needed one, sat there calmly like a fisherman with his line in the water, showing no sign of offering aid.
Head still sticky, Shen Jiujiu hinted repeatedly with flicks of his tail feathers. No handkerchief appeared, so he could only circle the table in search of something to wipe his face.
Sui Ziming couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
He was tempted to tease the lofty Chief Minister for scheming against a mere little bird, but he knew better—on any topic Pei Du wished to sidestep, no one could pry a single word from him. Instead, he turned to the final matter that had brought him here.
“The Zhenguo Marquis Mansion is preparing to ship that batch of silver out disguised as merchants. I figure they’ll stage a mountain bandit raid on the caravan themselves—dead men tell no tales.”
After marrying Shen Mingqian, Madam Zhou had leveraged the shops Xie Jingtang left behind to handle plenty of business for Prince Wu, both aboveboard and in the shadows.
Plainly, neither Prince Wu’s faction nor the marquis mansion had any intention of surrendering silver already in their grasp.
“I’ve got men watching them. The moment they leave the city and hit the mountains, I’ll swoop in and take it back myself!” Sui Ziming swept his hand through the air with flair, youthful and handsome, brimming with high spirits.
Shen Jiujiu, who had been scrubbing his face on the nearby tablecloth, suddenly whipped his head around, eyes bulging round.
—Hold on, kid, you’re not the one who ends up dead over this, are you?!
Shen Jiujiu was deeply invested in this topic, but Sui Ziming glossed over it, shifting to other military and court affairs with Pei Du.
The little bird finished cleaning itself on the tablecloth, its gaze flicking repeatedly toward Sui Ziming.
Unlike Pei Du, who intuitively grasped the little bird’s wishes, Sui Ziming not only skipped returning to the silver heist plan but seized the moment to ruffle the little bird vigorously several times over.
The rough strokes left Shen Jiujiu’s scalp prickling. He snapped his beak open to peck several times, but Sui Ziming dodged every attempt.
Infuriated, Shen Jiujiu spun around and dove into Pei Du’s sleeve, refusing to emerge.
When Sui Ziming departed, he coaxed and cajoled until Shen Jiujiu poked his head out. Then, from somewhere, he produced a glittering chain and slipped a slender gold necklace around the little bird’s neck.
Fine and lightweight, perfectly suited to a little bird, with a sapphire the size of a fingernail dangling in the center.
Though diminutive, the little bird necklace sparkled with exquisite brilliance—an obvious treasure.
“A welcome gift for our Jiujiu~”
“Now that you’ve accepted it, I’m your big brother Ziming, got it?”
“Come on, shake on it.”
Sui Ziming hooked Shen Jiujiu’s claw with his finger and gave it a firm shake, his smile bright and insufferably smug.
“Claws too short? Then don’t go coveting my treasure A Sa from now on!”
…
After Sui Ziming left, Shen Jiujiu began stealing glances at Pei Du again.
Recalling Pei Du’s sudden utterance of “Shen Jiujiu,” the little bird’s tail feathers swept back and forth across the table, a strange shyness blooming within—like being called an intimate pet name by someone truly special.
Truth be told, Shen Xinian’s childhood nickname really was Jiujiu.
He couldn’t recall why his mother had chosen such a raucous-sounding name, but Shen Xinian had answered to Jiujiu for over a decade. Even when she was furious and spanking his palms, she’d bark it sternly: “Shen Jiujiu.”
Yet Pei Du made no further move to unmask Shen Jiujiu’s identity. Instead, he extended his hand toward the little bird.
Shen Jiujiu hopped neatly into Pei Du’s palm. As Pei Du made his way to the front study, he craned his neck to peer about, chest puffed out to proudly display his new gold necklace to every passerby.
He looked both clever and utterly endearing.
Feeling the modest weight against his chest—not at all cumbersome for a bird, but reassuringly present—Shen Jiujiu flapped his wings and let out a soft chirp.
With such ideal proportions and heft, no store-bought necklace could match; Sui Ziming must have commissioned it specially for Shen Jiujiu.
Sui Ziming might bully the bird and be a total pest, but… actually… he was pretty great.
In the study, Shen Jiujiu was set down beside the inkstone. He watched, eyes wide, as Pei Du unrolled a sheet of paper and ground fresh ink in fluid, practiced motions.
Shen Jiujiu cocked his head.
What… was this?
Calligraphy practice to refine his spirit before tackling official duties?
Shen Jiujiu hopped sideways, planting his two little claws squarely on the paperweight.
Pei Du nudged the little bird off with a finger and gently shoved him back toward the inkstone.
Shen Jiujiu could no longer feign oblivious ostrich. Tail drooping, he shuffled reluctantly to the inkstone’s edge. His claws scratched idly along the rim, dipping nowhere near the ink.
The little bird who owed a policy essay was trying to wriggle out of it.
Even with only Shen Jiujiu in the study, Pei Du maintained his impeccably upright posture—but his finger prodded the little bird’s wing in a most improper fashion.
Again and again.
Shen Jiujiu lifted his wing to smother Pei Du’s hand, grumbling with a chirp.
Pei Du said evenly, “That abacus cost me one hundred taels.”
Shen Jiujiu’s pupils dilated in shock.
One hundred taels?!
Highway robbery!!
Shen Xinian had only fetched twenty taels for it—what black-market den was that, flipping it for eighty taels pure profit?!
Prime farmland on Jinling’s outskirts went for twenty taels a mu; eighty could sustain an ordinary family of five for seven or eight years!
Capital prices might run high, but not that high!
And inflated costs never favored the buyer.
That carpenter’s shop was a blatant scam!
Outraged, Shen Jiujiu bounced across the rice paper like a feisty little ball, dying to charge to West Market and peck lumps onto the shopkeeper’s scalp.
Pei Du said nothing of his own role as the scam shop’s mastermind. He smoothed the claw-crumpled paper with a finger. “Don’t fret. The topic will be simple for you.”
Shen Jiujiu chirped in righteous fury.
Afraid of the essay? Hardly!
It was the claw cramp he dreaded!
People with hands could never grasp a little bird’s writing woes!
But the indebted little bird knew he held no high ground and couldn’t dodge the essay forever. Mind whirring, he hatched a plan.
First, he raised his tiny claw, holding it up against the paper to highlight the size difference, then twisted his head to gaze pitifully at Pei Du.
“Cheep cheep. Cheep cheep cheep.”
Little bird claws were small; it’d be real hard work.
Pei Du knew full well that even if the policy essay itself wasn’t difficult for Little Bird, the process of writing it was truly arduous without hands or the ability to speak.
He paused for a moment, then promised, “I can take you out to play again. You can have anything you want.”
But Shen Jiujiu shook his head solemnly and firmly.
Pei Du narrowed his eyes.
Clearly, the Little Bird before him had no intention of shirking the essay. Instead, he had some other demand—one that couldn’t be swayed even by the lure of outings and snacks.
Pei Du held his tongue with utmost caution. Shen Jiujiu dipped a claw into the inkstone and scrawled a vertical line of words across the rice paper before him.
Written in haste, the characters looked wild and unruly, with several bird footprints smudged in for good measure. The three bold words “Cuddle While Sleeping” leaped into Pei Du’s view.
Each character was about the size of a Little Bird Dumpling, and with a black-footed little bird standing watch nearby, eyes bright and expectant, it was impossible for Pei Du to pretend he hadn’t seen it.
Pei Du: “…Why must it be this?”
Lord Pei genuinely didn’t understand.
Real birds shouldn’t want to cuddle up while sleeping with people, and as a person, one certainly shouldn’t want to cuddle up with another.
Shen Jiujiu raised one wing arrogantly and chirped twice in a domineering tone.
—Just say yes or no!
Pei Du fell silent for a long moment, his expression shifting subtly. In the end, he nodded.
Shen Jiujiu puffed out his chest proudly and hopped onto the inkstone, shooting Pei Du a triumphant glance to signal that it was time for fresh rice paper.
Pei Du set aside Little Bird’s ink treasure and laid out a new sheet for Shen Jiujiu.
Shen Jiujiu: “Chirp chirp?”
What’s the topic?
Pei Du’s gaze darkened slightly. “On ‘School Teaching.'”
Shen Jiujiu’s poised little claw froze mid-air.
Of course, he was all too familiar with this topic.
After the Provincial Examination came the Metropolitan Exam, and in that year’s Metropolitan Exam, Shen Xinian—the once-genius Jieyuan who had placed at fifteen—had achieved only mediocre results.
Because of that, he hadn’t advanced to the Palace Examination. With the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion working against him in the shadows, he had been shut out of officialdom entirely.
And the policy essay topic Pei Du had named was precisely the one Shen Xinian had faced in that Metropolitan Exam.
Shen Jiujiu didn’t turn to look at Pei Du or ask questions. Instead, he took a deep breath and raised his little bird claw.
Outside the study, the sunlight streamed in perfectly, while wisps of light smoke curled from the incense burner within.
At the desk, Shen Jiujiu wrote his policy essay on the rice paper with painstaking care, stroke by stroke. Behind him, Pei Du watched the little bird quietly for a while.
At first, when he’d noticed Little Bird’s interest in the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion, he’d suspected some connection there.
After guessing Little Bird’s true identity, he’d instructed Sui Ziming—who was already investigating the mansion—to look specifically into Shen Xinian.
Sui Ziming had known early on that this little bird claimed to have once been human, come to repay Pei Du’s kindness. Later, when Pei Du tasked him with digging into Shen Xinian, Ziming was the first to deliver a full report on the man’s life.
Separate threads might not connect, but laid side by side, the truth became obvious.
Though questions lingered about Shen Xinian, Little Bird’s behavior confirmed one thing without doubt…
There was no question: Shen Jiujiu was the former Shen Xinian.
When Sui Ziming had left, he’d handed over all the intelligence to Pei Du. Pei Du had skimmed it briefly and spotted the details Ziming had deliberately withheld in Little Bird’s presence.
During Shen Xinian’s time in the Capital, he’d been beset on all sides. His own father had designs on the Xie Family’s businesses.
His stepmother, Madam Zhou, had gone to such elaborate lengths with the Imperial Examinations scandal not only because her own son had indeed cheated, but also because Shen Xinian had repeatedly hinted at an old connection with the Court Prime Minister Pei Du. This had made the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion and Madam Zhou wary, prompting them to test the waters and probe the true nature of Shen Xinian’s ties to Pei Du.
By sheer coincidence—or misfortune—that Pei Du at the time truly had no knowledge of Shen Xinian’s existence.
Pei Du closed his eyes, suppressing the tangle of emotions. From the low cabinet behind the desk, he retrieved a short piece of wood and a carving knife, then lowered his gaze to carve.
~~~
The policy essay was too long to finish in one go with Little Bird’s tiny claws, so they decided to tackle it in stages.
That night, Shen Jiujiu’s second bed-climbing attempt went off without a hitch, thanks to Pei Du’s tacit approval.
However, when Shen Jiujiu tried to snuggle up, Pei Du showed a hint of hesitation, as if words hovered on the tip of his tongue.
Shen Jiujiu magnanimously nestled by Pei Du’s pillow, planning to wait until the man fell asleep and try his old trick again.
But no sooner had Shen Jiujiu closed his eyes to feign sleep than he felt himself gently scooped up and placed properly on the pillow.
Stunned, Shen Jiujiu opened his eyes to find Pei Du’s own tightly shut, lips pressed into a thin line.
Shen Jiujiu chirped softly and hopped forward, nuzzling his beak against Pei Du’s cheek.
Pei Du truly lived up to being Little Bird’s benefactor.
So gentle, so generous.
Little Bird thinks you’re the best in the world~
