Xie Jingtang had barely woken that morning when Jia San hurried over with news that Jiujiu was in trouble. She quickly changed clothes and rushed to his side.
“What happened to Jiujiu?”
Xie Jingtang crossed the threshold, her anxious eyes fixing on Pei Du, who stood rigidly in the room.
Pei Du said nothing, simply raising a finger to point at the tightly drawn bed curtains in the inner chamber.
Lord Pei’s acting had earned the double endorsement of Sui Ziming and Shen Jiujiu.
Sui Ziming had known about Pei Du’s mischievous streak for years, yet he still stumbled into the trap every time without fail.
As for Shen Jiujiu… well, Little Bird was a special case.
Xie Jingtang’s worry deepened at the sight. She hurried forward in a couple of strides and reached for the bed curtain—just as a fluffy white head popped out from a gap in the fabric.
Heh heh!
Your baby has suddenly appeared!
Xie Jingtang stood frozen, her outstretched hand clutching at her chest. After a couple of breaths, without even pausing to rub her eyes in disbelief, she threw herself forward and enveloped Shen Xinian in a tight embrace.
Shen Xinian had been mulling over whether his prank had been a touch too childish when his mother’s hands were suddenly pinching his cheeks.
“Jiujiu!”
“Mother!”
Shen Xinian hugged his mother right back.
Xie Jingtang kneaded her son’s cheeks with gusto. “Xinian baby!”
Shen Xinian nuzzled eagerly into her palm. “Mother snuggles!”
And so the mother and son launched into an excited examination of Shen Xinian’s new white hair.
“Doesn’t this hair color look a bit strange?”
“Don’t say that—Mother actually thinks it suits you rather well. Your skin’s so fair, it carries it off nicely!”
“Right? Right! I think it’s super cool too! I love it!”
“Let me get a closer look… When you were little, you took a tumble and got a scar behind your ear from a pebble. It’s completely gone now—wonderful!”
“Huh? I had that? Man, getting scars from a simple fall—ugh, I was such a fragile little thing back then.”
“You’ve always had delicate skin! But now it’s even softer. Let Mother give it another pinch~”
Pei Du sat silently in the outer room, maintaining his usual steady, unflappable air of reliability.
Jia San, who had accompanied Xie Jingtang, watched the scene with a grin lighting up her face.
Aw, so adorable!
Remembering what Jia Liu had told her on the way over, she lowered her voice. “My lord, Jia Liu reports that the High Priestess has arrived.”
She glanced at Shen Xinian, hesitated, then added, “Though the High Priestess might not… look entirely presentable at the moment.”
Pei Du raised his brows in surprise. “How so?”
Jia San hesitated, lost for words.
Last night, their master had ordered them to fetch the High Priestess from the relay station. Jia Liu had grabbed a sack and hauled her back under cover of darkness.
It happened that the Dark Guards on night watch outside the courtyard were Jia Ershiwu and Jia Liu. With Jia Ershiwu handling internal poison work, the task naturally fell to Jia Liu.
But Jia Liu… tended to approach his duties with a certain blunt honesty.
Pei Du knew his subordinates well enough. Recalling Jia Liu’s expression and tone from the night before, his eyelid twitched. He changed the subject calmly. “Go make her comfortable and see to her needs. Invite her to join us in the outer room for the meal.”
Jia San: “Yes, my lord.”
The moment Jia San had laid eyes on Shen Xinian’s hair, she’d understood why her master had called her and Madam Xie together.
She didn’t need explicit instructions; she already knew what preparations to make.
Once Jia San had gone, Xie Jingtang and Shen Xinian stepped out from the inner room.
Xie Jingtang bowed to Pei Du again. “Thank you, Lord Pei…”
Unlike the previous occasion, when he had stood firm and accepted her full courtesy, this time Pei Du rose and deftly sidestepped before she could finish.
His movements were lightning quick.
Xie Jingtang’s words caught in her throat, leaving her momentarily tongue-tied.
Watching from nearby, Shen Xinian’s heart stirred. His eyes sparkled as he gazed at Pei Du, but when Pei Du glanced his way, he smoothly averted his gaze.
The delighted curve of his lips, however, made his good mood plain as day.
Pei Du hadn’t overthought it; the dodge had been pure reflex.
Faced with Xie Jingtang’s obvious astonishment, he found himself at a loss for words.
Xie Jingtang caught the subtle implication.
Shen Xinian slipped an arm around his mother’s. “Aiya, Mother, Benefactor’s kindness—Jiujiu hasn’t forgotten! Don’t worry~”
Beneath his sleeve, he gave her hand an emphatic shake.
Xie Jingtang got the picture.
Her boy was likely getting exactly what he wanted: repaying that debt by throwing himself into the bargain.
So be it.
Pei Du put the awkward moment firmly out of mind.
This courtyard was Pei Du’s personal residence, after all. Normally, aside from him and the ever-present Zhong Bo, everyone else felt a bit ill at ease here.
Shen Xinian, though, knew it like the back of his hand.
He moved with effortless familiarity.
Fetching tea leaves and setting water to boil, he played the eager little bird to perfection—brewing cups for his mother and his benefactor, pouring the tea, and even digging out a packet of Little Bird’s favorite dried fruits from Pei Du’s usual pouch spot, arranging them neatly in a small dish.
Xie Jingtang: “…”
Jiujiu baby, you really don’t stand on any ceremony, do you?
Pei Du didn’t mind in the least.
On the contrary, when Shen Xinian fumbled with a walnut and raised it toward his teeth, Pei Du frowned.
Shen Xinian sheepishly lowered the nut and nudged it toward Pei Du’s hand. His eyes gleamed with bright expectation, his demeanor boldly affectionate and utterly unapologetic.
What could Pei Du do?
Let the boy actually chomp down on it?
He’d only just turned human—no physician had checked him over yet. What if something proved fragile?
Young men didn’t grow new teeth anymore. An injury like that would be no small thing.
Besides, Shen Xinian’s gaze mirrored Shen Jiujiu’s perfectly—those round black eyes aglow with pure trust and anticipation.
And so the calm, dependable Lord Pei took the walnuts and cracked them open one by one.
Xie Jingtang glanced once more at her white-haired son.
Shen Xinian accepted the opened nuts, bent his head in concentration, and shelled out the kernels with care. Before long, two tidy little mounds of plump, white walnut meats sat before Xie Jingtang and Pei Du.
Pei Du didn’t usually snack on these before breakfast. They were stocked in the room for Shen Jiujiu’s sake—Little Bird thrived on frequent small meals.
Shen Jiujiu had made a habit of perching nearby during Pei Du’s morning ablutions, pecking away at walnuts with his beak until Pei Du drew near, at which point he’d offer one up like a prized treasure.
Two months of routine had Pei Du tasting one as always before sliding the rest back to Shen Xinian.
Shen Xinian’s cheeks dimpled into pear-like smiles as he savored the fragrant kernels, one after another.
Xie Jingtang watched in awe.
She had always harbored worries before.
No matter what Pei Du said, or what Shen Jiujiu said, the vast gap in their statuses and her son’s occasional gullibility made Xie Jingtang, as his mother, unable to shake off her concerns.
After all, Shen Xinian had already died once.
Xie Jingtang could not bear the agony of losing him again.
That was why, even though she kept saying she was leaving, she just couldn’t bring herself to let go.
But now…
Truth be told, not even the matriarchs of other households managed Shen Xinian’s natural poise.
She knew her son inside and out.
Shen Xinian had been the sort who hated troubling others ever since he was little.
Even at an age when he could barely stand steady, he refused to let the maids help him dress or wash up, insisting on clambering onto a little stool to do it himself.
She had no idea just how much indulgence and reassurance Lord Pei had given Jiujiu for him to treat this place so effortlessly as his own private domain—accepting Lord Pei’s gifts and aid without the slightest hesitation or burden.
Xie Jingtang smiled and slipped a piece of walnut meat that Shen Xinian had shelled into her mouth.
It really was delicious.
After a round of tea, Shen Xinian—who now found his appetite ravenous since turning human—swept the table clean of snacks and felt like he could eat even more.
Pei Du noticed the anomaly. “Very hungry?”
Shen Xinian nodded pitifully.
He wanted iron-pot-stewed big goose.
Last time, that ferocious goose had been turned into a pot of stew, but the heavy seasoning meant Shen Jiujiu was only allowed a tiny taste. The aroma had been so tantalizing that Little Bird had drooled in his sleep that very night.
Xie Jingtang swept her eyes over the table, silently tallying up the dried fruits and pastries Shen Xinian had devoured, and frowned faintly.
That was actually quite a lot already…
Pei Du considered for a moment. “Later, we’ll have Mr. Jin take your pulse first, then discuss things with the High Priestess.”
“The High Priestess will use the chance to make demands.”
After more than a year of dealings, Xie Jingtang had a thorough understanding of the Western Regions Two Kingdoms and the High Priestess herself.
“The High Priestess hails from Yueshi, but this generation’s King of Yueshi is utterly mediocre, and the kingdom’s power is on the wane. She’s been eager to borrow Great Zhou’s influence to give Yueshi a boost. But the delegation isn’t made up solely of Yueshi clansmen, and as the supposedly impartial High Priestess, she can’t make her favoritism too obvious.”
Shen Xinian fished out a stray almond and popped it into his mouth with relish, his cheeks puffing out. “What’s there to fear? She’s the one who needs something from us—the advantage is ours. What we say goes.”
“Besides, the bad blood between the Western Regions Two Kingdoms is a good thing. I love that kind of simmering tension where they can’t actually come to blows but glare daggers at each other. Who knows, we might even turn a profit out of it~”
Xie Jingtang arched a brow.
Pei Du’s lips curved in satisfaction.
Footsteps sounded from outside. Zhong Bo entered carrying a tray that held two large jars and an empty wooden bowl about the size of two palms.
When the once-seen Shen Xinian greeted him so obediently, Zhong Bo’s eyes lit up at once.
Pei Du and Zhong Bo had business to discuss, so Xie Jingtang whisked Shen Xinian out to the yard to dye his hair.
Having spent years dodging about in the wilds, Xie Jingtang wasn’t as masterful at disguise as Jia San, but she knew the basics well enough.
She expertly identified the Ink Dry Lotus and Soapberry on the tray, mixed in some other ingredients, and handed the bowl to Shen Xinian to stir.
Perched on a low stool, Shen Xinian hugged the wooden bowl and stirred away, tilting his head back to make it easier for Xie Jingtang to weave little braids into his hair.
The autumn morning breeze was faintly cool as it brushed over the exposed stretch of Shen Xinian’s neck.
He reached up to touch it, suddenly feeling grateful.
Thank goodness Benefactor always removed the Little Bird Necklace before bed each night—to keep the jade pendant from smacking into his eyes or the bird’s beak during his wild sleeping flails.
Otherwise, the moment he turned human, he would’ve been strangled by it before even opening his eyes.
Only now did the realization hit him, leaving Shen Xinian with a lingering chill as he rubbed his neck.
“Right, Mother,” Shen Xinian said, remembering something. “Was I wearing that necklace with you before?”
“Hm?”
Xie Jingtang was running her fingers through Shen Xinian’s hair, marveling at how much softer and smoother it was compared to its former dry, frizzy state. It took her a beat to register his question about the necklace.
“Oh, you mean the sapphire one?”
“I gave it to Lord Pei right when I arrived at the Pei Mansion. Didn’t he pass it on to you?”
Xie Jingtang had assumed it belonged to Pei Du, so she’d returned it to him with an apology.
After all, she’d originally planned to keep Little Bird for herself… ahem.
But Shen Xinian knew the necklace’s origins inside out.
And Benefactor had never so much as mentioned the sapphire necklace to him.
In high spirits, the boy swung his feet back and forth, his pear-blossom dimples blooming in a grin once more.
“Hee hee~”
So cute!