Chapter 42 Part 1

Shen Jiujiu leaned against the bars of the cage, having gnawed his way through the two strips of jerky he had brought along.

His bird claws were inevitably slick with oil from gripping the meat.

Shen Jiujiu, who had been raised with such meticulous care and had a deep love for cleanliness, looked around the cage before hopping over to the little water bowl. He smacked his beak against it, shook his head vigorously to scoop water out with it, and used the water to wash his claws.

Xie Jingtang was indeed poring over the accounts, but the corner of her eye was stealing glances at that little bird dumpling.

It was mostly because he was just so entertaining.

A tiny ball of fluff, yet he sat with the prim posture of a person. His eating habits were remarkably refined, and after finishing his meal, he even washed his claws.

Washing one’s claws was a clever enough habit for a bird, but this little dumpling went even further. He clearly disdained the idea of dirtying his drinking water with his oily claws and instead used his thoroughly waterproof head to slosh the water out.

Once clean, he dragged away the pouch that had held the jerky strips and meticulously wiped his slightly damp body dry.

Finally, he lowered his head to admire his reflection in the water’s surface, preening with delight as his tail feathers wagged back and forth.

Aww, how was this little creature so utterly adorable?

As she watched, Xie Jingtang lost track of her work for a moment, and before she knew it, a plump little bird had appeared on the ledger page.

Could she really not take him with her?

Xie Jingtang gazed at the chubby bird sketched on the ledger, then at the vain little fellow still admiring himself in the cage. She struggled to suppress the flutter in her heart.

But he was just so cute.

She liked him so much.

Xinian had never been one for venturing outside or mingling with strangers. If he had such a lively, endearing little bird to keep him company, surely he would be delighted?

That child had always been curious about his birth father. After enduring all these ordeals, he was bound to return deeply shaken. A little bird to comfort him and distract his thoughts wouldn’t be a bad thing at all.

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Xie Jingtang let out a silent sigh.

Shen Xinian was the son she had raised from infancy, and no one understood his gentle heart, his soft nature, his stubborn sensitivity, or his deep yearning for family quite like she did.

Xinian had left the capital at such a tender age. If Shen Mingqian had truly held any place in his heart for this son, Xinian would not have been left with absolutely no memory of his birth father.

Yet there were many things that Xie Jingtang, as his mother, found it nearly impossible to voice to him.

Could she tell him that his birth father had abandoned him because the physicians had declared him frail and doomed to an early grave? That Shen Mingqian had repeatedly demanded another child?

At the time, all her attention had been devoted to her son, leaving her to neglect the household accounts—which had paved the way for what happened later between Shen Mingqian and Madam Zhou.

Even now, the memory of Shen Mingqian prattling on about taking a wife of equal standing made Xie Jingtang’s stomach turn.

“Xinian may be my legitimate son, but his health is truly frail. Even if I petitioned to have him named Heir to the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion, His Majesty would never approve. Besides, with his weak constitution, he cannot be seen in public or burdened with too many duties. He will need a robust and clever younger brother to support and care for him one day.”

“Er’er is the one who will bear the weight of the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion in the future. His birth must not be too lowly, lest outsiders mock us… Jingtang, you hail from a merchant family, while Madam Zhou is a refined lady from a noble house. It simply won’t do to make her a concubine…”

Xie Jingtang drew in a deep breath, pressed her fingers to her temples, and clenched her back teeth tightly.

In the past, she had merely considered Shen Mingqian shameless. After a decade of marriage, she thought she knew him well enough—he was weak and incompetent, but at least not a vicious schemer.

Under Prince Wu’s relentless surveillance and mounting pressure, Xie Jingtang had devised a plan to fake her death and send Xinian to the capital under the pretext of the Imperial Examinations. With the temporary protection of the Zhenguo Marquis Mansion, he could stay out of the storm. Once he achieved scholarly success and entered officialdom, his life would be secure.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Shen Mingqian would defect to Prince Wu’s side, using Xinian as bait. He had fabricated charges to throw their son unjustly into prison, all to lure her out of hiding!

If Shen Mingqian stood before her now, Xie Jingtang truly wasn’t sure she could stop herself from driving a blade straight through him.

She had always known that even a tiger would not devour its own cubs, but she had forgotten that the likes of jackals and hyenas would gnaw on their young without hesitation when faced with gain.

Sister Zheng Ying had been right—her judgment of men was abysmal.

“Chirp chirp? Chirp chirp chirp?”

A clear, crisp bird call rang out. Xie Jingtang paused, startled, and turned toward the window.

There was her little bird dumpling, pressed against the side of the cage. His round black eyes fixed on her without blinking, brimming with unmistakable worry.

For a fleeting moment, Xie Jingtang felt disoriented, as if she were seeing Xinian half-kneeling before her, gazing up with the same tender concern.

“Chirp?”

Seeing his mother’s expression shift from fury to sorrow, Shen Jiujiu pressed himself desperately against the cage bars, aching to burst free and nestle into her arms.

Xie Jingtang came back to herself. Her lips parted slightly. After a long hesitation, she set down her brush, walked to the window, and opened the door of the bird cage.

Before she could swing it fully open, Shen Jiujiu was already squeezing through, launching himself straight at her face.

Xie Jingtang caught the little bird deftly. She felt his beak nuzzling against her cheek over and over, and her heart softened. In a low voice, she murmured, “How can you hold no grudges like this? I captured you, yet here you are—not fleeing at your chance, but worrying over me?”

Shen Jiujiu rubbed his fluffy cheek insistently against his mother’s, then delivered a tiny peck with his beak. “Chirp chirp chirp~”

You’re my mother—naturally, I worry about you the most!

Unable to help herself, Xie Jingtang cupped the little bird dumpling in both hands as his wings spread wide, then buried her face in his fluff. She planted kisses from the top of his head to his little belly.

Shen Jiujiu grew bashful from all the affection. He flapped his wings like a tiny duckling wriggling in her grasp, curling his claws tight while emitting soft “chirp chirp chirps” from his beak—a perfect picture of birdish embarrassment.

Xie Jingtang kissed him all over again.

Helpless, Shen Jiujiu wrapped his wings around her cheek, turning his beak aside for fear of accidentally poking his mother, who was lost in her doting.

Little birds were wonderful! So fluffy and cute, they ate so little, and they didn’t even shed!

Xie Jingtang held the bird a short distance away, her expression turning utterly serious as she asked Shen Jiujiu, “Little one, do you think there’s any way I could wrest you away from your owner?”

Shen Jiujiu froze in shock.

Wh-what?

Were his benefactor and his mother… incompatible?

Did it have to be one or the other?

“Don’t ignore me now. I know you’re far smarter than the average bird! You can understand what I’m saying, can’t you?”

Xie Jingtang placed Shen Jiujiu in the palm of her left hand and prodded his round belly and tiny wings with the fingers of her right.

“You might think I look a bit ragged right now, but if I can just weather this storm, my enemies won’t be rounding up the whole lot of them, but they sure as hell won’t have time for me afterward.”

“Then whether I dust off my old trade or start fresh somewhere new, our family will be swimming in cash, no question.”

“Forget a gold necklace so fine you can barely see it—I could build our little bird a house of solid gold! Complete with swings and a bed of the purest stuff, water and seed bowls encrusted with gems!”

Xie Jingtang’s eyes sparkled brighter with every word.

Shen Jiujiu gaped at his mother trying to bribe a little bird, his mind reeling from the shock that birds apparently ended up in funeral pyres too.

“Be my little bird and you won’t have to stick your neck out as some bird spy, hustling in the wide world. You can just stay home with your brother, spending money hand over fist, living happy and healthy. Stars? Here’s a star. Moon? Moon’s yours.”

“The household servants will wait on you hand and foot, and not a whiff of the world’s filth will ever touch you.”

Xie Jingtang coaxed the little bird with all the patience of a mother hen, scheming to turn him and bring him home.

“Listen here, little guy—in this world, money and the smarts to make more mean a life of pure comfort. Those bigwigs in office? Their heads are on the block every day. One slip, and it’s raids, executions, the whole family wiped out—and a little bird like you ends up on the guillotine with them.”

“How tragic!”

If Shen Mingqian hadn’t pulled that classic hero-rescues-beauty stunt, staying devoted to the end, Xie Jingtang never would have traded her cushy life as a wealthy young lady for the grind of running a household in the capital.

Back then, she’d figured his family was solid: noble title, no official post to draw heat, ears to the ground for big news, safe as long as they didn’t court trouble.

But this little bird’s master? Daring to buck Prince Wu. Not many at court had the guts. After puzzling it out all afternoon, Xie Jingtang had a pretty good hunch who it was.