Chapter 25

Pei Du had changed out of his bloodstained crimson court robes. His serene blue casual attire now lent him a restrained and gentle air, infused with the quiet composure unique to a scholarly minister of power.

But not those eyes.

Shen Jiujiu had seen that look in Pei Du’s eyes before.

It was when Pei Du had found Sui Ziming gravely wounded in a pool of blood.

Though after confirming Sui Ziming was out of mortal danger, Pei Du had swiftly regained his usual mild demeanor—even his later conversation with Shen Jiujiu showed no trace of abnormality.

A gentle smile, thoughtful instruction, even tucking the little bird into his collar to shield it from the wind. Every gesture perfectly embodied Shen Jiujiu’s ideal of the world’s finest benefactor.

Yet Shen Jiujiu hadn’t forgotten that instant of heart-stopping dread upon glimpsing Pei Du.

No exaggeration—at that moment, every feather on his body had stood on end.

The room fell so silent that a pin dropping would have echoed. Pei Du smiled warmly as he leisurely hooked back the bed curtain, leaving Shen Jiujiu fully exposed. Then, under the little bird’s tense stare, he sat sideways on the edge of the bed.

Shen Jiujiu shuddered uncontrollably.

Pei Du’s finger gently stroked the back of the Little Bird Dumpling. “Are you afraid?”

Only then did Shen Jiujiu understand. Back in the woods that afternoon, Pei Du’s sudden question—”Are you afraid?”—hadn’t been about the gruesome, blood-soaked scene at all. It had been about fearing him.

“…Chirp chirp chirp. Chirp.”

Yes, just a tiny bit afraid.

Shen Jiujiu shuffled his little bird rear toward the pillow, his wings dragging over the handkerchief that had covered him moments before. Instinctively, he clawed it across his head.

“Chirp.”

There. Not so scared now.

After catching his breath, Shen Jiujiu tugged the handkerchief back just enough to reveal his little black-bean eyes.

“Chirp chirp chirp.”

Now we can talk.

Pei Du leaned against the bedpost, watching the Little Bird Dumpling’s antics with leisurely amusement. His finger tapped lightly on his knee before he suddenly chuckled. “Xinian, truth be told, I don’t actually understand your chirps.”

On any other day, in any other place, Pei Du would never have mimicked the little bird’s chirping so… lifelike.

Shen Jiujiu blinked. “Chirp?”

Really?

But their chats had always gone so smoothly before.

Pei Du said nothing, his lowered lashes veiling eyes as deep and chill as a winter pool.

Compared to the earnest elegance he wore while seated in the study, Pei Du now radiated a mountain-steady calm, laced with a lazy noble authority.

His gaze settled on the Little Bird Dumpling huddled beneath the handkerchief. His tapping finger stilled. After a pause, he turned his slender hand palm-up.

Shen Jiujiu darted straight into that waiting palm and plopped down without ceremony.

The discarded handkerchief fluttered forlornly onto the pillow.

Emboldened by the belief that Pei Du couldn’t understand him, Shen Jiujiu unleashed a torrent of chirps.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

Sure, Sui Ziming had dropped hints a few times, so I’d braced myself a little.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

But springing this on me out of nowhere still scared the feathers off a bird!

Shen Jiujiu stomped hard into Pei Du’s palm, chirping all the while as he left behind a tiny twig-like claw print.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp… chirp chirp!”

You said your students have to be completely on your side—so doesn’t that make your bird one too!

The bird’s the one throwing himself at you here. Even if it’s a villainous little bird, I’ll own it!

But even villains shouldn’t terrorize a bird like that!

With that kind of setup, any bird would think you planned to boil it, roast it, pluck it, and braise it red!

Shen Jiujiu stood tall and manly in Pei Du’s palm, his beak working furiously, chirps pouring out without cease.

—Though he didn’t dare meet Pei Du’s eyes directly.

The Little Bird Dumpling’s chirps rose and fell in waves of fervent emotion. Yet their sheer density turned them into nothing more than a barrage of noise for a human who couldn’t understand.

Pei Du let Shen Jiujiu deliver his impassioned speech, maintaining a pose of rapt attention, his expression somewhere between amusement and a smile.

While chirping up a storm, Shen Jiujiu snuck peeks at Pei Du’s face, trying to gauge his reaction.

But Pei Du simply watched him in silence, and the little bird’s chirps grew softer, trailing off into near whispers.

Seeing he couldn’t bluff his way through, Shen Jiujiu folded his wings against his cheeks and looked up pitifully, his black-bean eyes glistening as if wet.

“…Whimper chirp.”

Chirp chirp’s your little bird, after all.

Pei Du’s gaze flickered, a spark of laughter flashing in his eyes before vanishing.

Limited by his small size, Shen Jiujiu couldn’t catch the subtle shift. But he felt the man’s aura soften palpably.

Sensing an opening, Shen Jiujiu flapped his wings and zipped up to Pei Du’s shoulder. His fluffy body pressed fully against the man’s neck, his cool beak nuzzling gently at the skin.

“Chirp~”

The little bird’s totally on your side~

Lost in his coquettish routine, Shen Jiujiu felt Pei Du tilt his head aside. He chased after, rubbing insistently.

Pei Du finally broke, a muffled laugh escaping him.

Shen Jiujiu: “?”

Clutching the benefactor’s collar in a bid to stay perched, the little bird craned his neck suspiciously, straining to read Pei Du’s expression.

Pei Du cupped the Little Bird Dumpling in his palm and laughed outright, making no effort to hide it.

Something felt off.

Enveloped in sudden darkness, Shen Jiujiu pondered deeply.

…This sensation…

Memories of that abacus trick—fifty turned to a hundred—flooded back. Duped once more, his eyes flew wide in realization.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp!!!!!”

The furious little bird pummeled and kicked within Pei Du’s palm. He jammed his head against the base of Pei Du’s thumb, claws bracing against the shoulder for leverage, beak clenched as he summoned every ounce of strength to burrow free.

The “mountain” weighing on his head lifted. With all his momentum unchecked, Shen Jiujiu shot upward in confusion, somersaulted through the air, and landed belly-up in Pei Du’s embrace.

His eyes went blank.

Pei Du brushed back the stray locks from his forehead. Those once-chill-pool eyes now curved into smiling crescents, the corners even tinged faintly red.

“Chirp—hic!”

Shen Jiujiu scrambled upright on Pei Du, wings flapping in a frantic tantrum, just like a little yellow chick exploding from the henhouse.

He was so mad he started hiccuping.

Pei Du paused for a moment before quickly gathering the Little Bird Dumpling back into his palm. With gentle strokes, he soothed Shen Jiujiu’s breathing.

Shen Jiujiu sprawled limply across Pei Du’s palm, his head dangling limply outward between the man’s thumb and forefinger. His tiny claws kicked feebly now and then, while soft hums and chirps escaped his beak.

“Sorry, that was my mistake. I shouldn’t have teased you, Jiujiu.” Pei Du had grown quite skilled at coaxing the little bird.

Shen Jiujiu huffed in outrage. “Chirp!”

Pei Du responded calmly. “Mm, I’m very bad.”

Shen Jiujiu eyed him.

Pei Du arched a brow. “Didn’t Ziming tell you?”

Shen Jiujiu: “…”

Aaaah!!!

So why did he keep falling for this man’s tricks, even after being duped so many times before?

The ruffled little bird had puffed up a full size larger. With his wings tucked tight, his already slender neck vanished entirely.

Pei Du chuckled and reached out with a finger to lightly pinch the tip of the chubby bird’s wing.

Shen Jiujiu snapped his wing back. “Chirp!”

What are you doing?!

Pei Du persisted, pinching the wingtip once more.

The little bird irritably flung it away again.

Somehow, Pei Du produced a plump, glossy red date. He held it delicately and nudged it against the Little Bird Dumpling’s wing.

Shen Jiujiu: “…”

What a red date.

Since his rebirth, the little bird hadn’t tasted one yet.

Shen Jiujiu twisted his head to glance at the enticing red date beside him. His beak twitched. With awkward reluctance, he turned around, spread his wings, and clutched the date Pei Du offered with his claws.

Fine. The little bird accepted this sincere apology.

Though the little bird dumpling’s beak was small, its sharpness was formidable. In short order, he pecked a neat little notch into the succulent fruit.

Shen Jiujiu ate with refined elegance and impeccable manners. Bananas required peeling, oranges demanded seed-spitting, and dates—he started with a precise peck, then nibbled in careful circles around the opening. It evoked the image of a child raised with the utmost discipline and propriety.

Pei Du cradled the little bird dumpling steadily in his palm. Abruptly, he spoke, his voice soft yet laced with earnest gravity.

“Xinian, thank you.”

Shen Jiujiu froze mid-bite. He glanced up at Pei Du, then flapped his wings to slap the man’s hand with a sharp smack. Smugly, he chirped twice.

Thank me for what?

As the little bird had said before.

Don’t worry—with Jiujiu here.

Jiujiu was super capable.

Pei Du gently rubbed along Shen Jiujiu’s back. Warmth softened his smiling gaze. “I just rushed through grading your policy essay. Tonight, why don’t we—”

Before Pei Du could finish, Shen Jiujiu’s beak jammed firmly into the date pit. Wings unfurled, he seized the date in his beak and bolted toward the window, not sparing a backward glance.

The little bird had slaved away all day to rescue this walking human, nearly racking up a colossal sparrow debt into the bargain. He’d just been bullied moments ago, and now, as night fell, he faced a policy essay critique session!

Is this how you thank the little bird?!

This benefactor wouldn’t do. Time for the little bird to run away from home.

The big date obstructed his view, but it didn’t hinder the clever little bird. He wobbled and zigzagged his way to the windowsill, gripped the latch with his claws, heaved it open, and burst through.

Pei Du watched the date-skewered bird ball vanish beyond the window. He shook his head with a helpless laugh.

Rising, he approached the door and swung it open. The servant who had withdrawn earlier waited outside. “Go inform Mr. Jin: the Inner Courtyard requires no more Calming Incense.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pei Du lifted his gaze to the pond landscape in the courtyard, splashed about by Shen Jiujiu earlier. Sunset speckled the lotus leaves with golden light, turning the water into a shimmering pool of gold.

He wanted to trust once more.

With a clever, capable Shen Jiujiu at his side.

He no longer needed the Calming Incense.

~~~

Shen Jiujiu fled Pei Du’s room and flew a sullen distance before alighting. He meant to find a quiet spot, pry the date from his beak, and resume his feast.

But the instant he raised a claw to shove at the fruit, a familiar wicked snicker erupted, barely stifled.

“Oh my, what candied hawthorn is this?”

Shen Jiujiu yearned to chirp but couldn’t part his beak. He bounced frantically on the ground, desperate to launch toward the window.

Today, the little bird would make this loathsome walking human learn exactly why the date gleamed so red!

Zhong Bo happened by and witnessed the scene. He hurried over, scooped up the Little Bird Dumpling, and delicately removed the red date from Shen Jiujiu’s beak. “Young Master Sui! How could you bully Jiujiu like this? You must be feeling much better. I’ll save tomorrow’s chicken leg for Jiujiu instead.”

Sui Ziming’s wounds weren’t dire—no poison, no vital strikes, merely a profusion of cuts. Thus, bandages swathed his upper body. Bored stiff and prone on the bed, he gazed idly at the view.

The tedium had prompted him to tease the bird who’d flown right to him.

Sui Ziming, robbed of his chicken leg by his own loose tongue: “No, I didn’t—”

Zhong Bo ignored Sui Ziming’s frantic urge to cry injustice. Kindly, he rubbed Shen Jiujiu’s beak. “Does it hurt, little one? If you’re uncomfortable, Zhong Bo will make meat mush for you these next couple days, all right?”

“Chirp!”

Shen Jiujiu nestled affectionately against Zhong Bo’s hand.

Up close, he caught the faint metallic tang of blood lingering on the man’s skin.

“Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp?”

Shen Jiujiu cheeped in frantic succession, but neither Zhong Bo nor Sui Ziming possessed Pei Du’s near-supernatural knack for bird translation.

“He’s asking if you’re hurt,” drawled the true culprit of the little bird’s recent torment, strolling in from the corridor.

Zhong Bo beamed at Shen Jiujiu. “Aiya, our Jiujiu is so clever!”

“Zhong Bo, it’s nothing—just this bloodstained court robe. How to clean it so the lord can wear it to court in a few days?”

The remark was plainly aimed at Pei Du.

Officials possessed a fixed number of court robes, emblems of rank and station. Carelessly ruining one invited impeachment for grave disrespect.

“One robe. Burn it.”

Pei Du claimed the still-seething little bird from Zhong Bo’s grasp and stepped into Sui Ziming’s chamber.

Shen Jiujiu’s ire lingered. He lashed out with a claw at Pei Du’s finger, then alighted on a perch in the room. Beak clamped around the red date, he tucked in to munch.

Sui Ziming took one look and knew exactly who was responsible for his innocent chicken leg vanishing into thin air—he’d taken the fall for it. He let out a long sigh. “I knew it. Taking the blame is my fate… My poor chicken leg… That chicken leg that was supposed to let me recover properly…”

Pei Du ignored Sui Ziming’s complaints. He pulled a green leaf packet from his sleeve and asked, “Where’s the chain mail?”

Catching those key words, Shen Jiujiu lifted his head from the dates and looked toward Sui Ziming.

…Yeah.

If this were the original plot, Sui Ziming—the one who was supposed to take an arrow—shouldn’t have been prepared like that, wearing chain mail of all things, the kind of armor used on actual battlefields.

So where had he gotten that chain mail?