Chapter 21: Setting a Trap – Despicable Methods

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The notices posted by the Wen Manor vanished overnight, making Wen Zhixu suspect someone was setting a trap.

“Second Master, the waiter from Xianqing House saw a fat and a thin man tearing down all the notices nearby.”

Wen Zhixu unfolded the notice with a pig’s head drawn on it without even looking up: “Their appearances?”

He highly suspected Lin Xihe.

But motives must be considered for everything. Was it for revenge, or to prevent him from finding the bird? Upon careful thought, as the legitimate daughter of the Lin family, Lin Xihe wouldn’t stoop to such despicable acts.

Wen Zhixu had long heard Lin Pinyan complain that his dear elder sister had swindled all his silver.

Whoever found Emerald Phoenix would be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver. Could it be that Lin Xihe was also short of money, hence this idea?

The gatekeeper announced that someone outside claimed to have found Emerald Phoenix and requested an audience with the Second Master.

Had he wronged Lin Xihe? Suppressing his doubts, Wen Zhixu ordered a servant to bring the person in.

Led by a Wen Manor servant, a person carrying a birdcage tiptoed swiftly along the bluestone path. Just after turning the curved corridor, they reached the main hall of the Wen Country Duke Manor.

Inside the hall, light and shadow shifted, with twelve rosewood screens blocking the view.

The person’s knees weakened as they respectfully said: “This humble one pays respects to Second Master Wen.”

Wen Qi stepped out, his tone deepening, “Did you tear down the notices?”

“Replying to Second Master, this humble one did not tear any notices. This bird flew to my persimmon tree, eloquent and extraordinary. After carefully tending to it for several days, I learned that the Second Master’s residence had lost a bird.”

Wen Qi walked to the birdcage, “How can you prove this bird is the one our residence lost?”

The sparrow inside the cage seemed to sense something, uneasily hopping off its perch: “Coo chirp, coo chirp.”

The person bowed lower: “Second Master, why not let it say a few words?”

Wen Qi: “Alright then.”

The person said a sentence, and the sparrow repeated it.

Wen Qi marveled: “As you said, it’s quite clever.”

“Of course!”

“Bought from Yu Lin Yuan?”

“Ah.”

“Cost quite a bit of silver?”

“Not too much, just five taels!”

After these words, the main hall fell into dead silence.

“Do you think our Wen Manor is naive?” Wen Qi’s expression changed sharply, “How dare you try to deceive our young master with a bought sparrow!”

The person’s face paled greatly – the one he had been speaking with wasn’t the famous Wen Zhixu of the capital.

He crawled forward on his knees, scrambling behind the screen and shouting: “I want to see Second Master Wen!”

Behind the screen was completely empty.

Wen Zhixu couldn’t be bothered to see someone trying to exchange five taels of silver for a thousand taels out of greed.

“Are you worthy?” Wen Qi unceremoniously drove him away, “Take your birdcage and leave quickly!”

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A maid came running, panting heavily: “Miss, miss…”

Lin Xihe shook her head at the commotion: “With this physical condition, you’ll do slow laps around the Lin Manor tomorrow.”

The maid made a pained face: “Miss, this servant really can’t run…” It’s Qingwu who’s actually the plump one!

Lin Xihe glanced at her, noting her slender arms and legs: “You’ve reminded me – on top of cardio, you’ll add dumbbell training.”

The body is the capital of revolution. In any case, everyone must train!

This maid was sent by Min Shi, tasked with reporting every detail about the young miss’s activities.

“Miss, what are dumbbells?” The maid had an ominous premonition.

Lin Xihe revealed a harmless smile: “They’re good things, very suitable for you!”

Even if ten spies came, they’d all have to train under her.

Lin Xihe had just finished changing Bu Bu’s bandages, carefully wrapping the gauze. In her previous life, she had experience rescuing stray dogs.

The maids and elderly servants attending nearby cast sympathetic glances at Bu Bu—Que Er now resembled a desiccated mummy wrapped in bandages.

Mummified Bu Bu let out a hoarse croak: “Gah…”

One more wrap and I’ll really croak for good.

Qingwu hurried back to Tinghe Courtyard from outside the manor.

“Really?” Lin Xihe looked up from her seat.

She instructed the Housekeeper and maids to stay behind, having the Housekeeper supervise the new maids’ “dumbbell lifts,” before following Qingwu toward the side gate.

“Young mistress, look.” The two of them crouched stealthily behind a carriage, peering from the side gate toward the main entrance of Wen Manor.

Beneath the solemn plaque of Wen Country Duke Manor stretched a winding queue in complete silence, broken only by the competitive chirping of various songbirds from their cages. Some carried birdcages while others perched falcons on their arms—a truly unusual spectacle.

The manor gates opened as the steward stepped sideways through them, announcing: “Those who have genuinely found the myna bird may enter. All others, please depart.”

Nine-tenths of the crowd dispersed.

Lin Xihe curled her lip: Is this the power of a thousand taels?

“Would the Second Young Master appreciate this falcon for amusement?” someone raised their arm, “How could a myna compare to a falcon’s majesty? This falcon can catch rabbits.”

The steward replied sternly: “Our Second Young Master only favors his particular myna—the picky-eater who doesn’t speak and won’t wake before midday.”

Bullseye! Lin Xihe slapped her thigh. When she first adopted Bu Bu, it couldn’t speak and she’d mistaken it for a crow.

Bu Bu was indeed picky, but since it enjoyed eating insect larvae, she’d have to make her cheap younger brother dig up more.

At some point, a pair of sharp falcon eyes had fixed on Lin Xihe. She scolded it across the distance: “How could you bear to catch those adorable little bunnies? Bullying the weak—you should be ashamed!”

“Do you think it understands when you insult it?” a voice remarked beside her.

“All living things possess awareness,” Lin Xihe retorted without turning.

The person warned: “Be careful it doesn’t peck your head.”

“It’s tethered. What’s there to fear?”

No sooner had she spoken than the falconer unfastened the chain, telling the steward: “I’ll have it catch a sparrow right now!”

With a wingspan over a meter wide, the falcon beat its wings twice and soared upward.

Lin Xihe tilted her head back, tracking the falcon’s flight, when the familiar voice sounded beside her again, dripping with undisguised mockery: “It’s coming for your head. Better run.”

Why did that voice grow more familiar by the minute? Lin Xihe glanced sideways and met Wen Zhixu’s half-smiling eyes just as he straightened up leisurely.

The next instant, a massive shadow descended overhead, plunging Lin Xihe’s vision into sudden darkness.

The falcon hovered mid-air as two black feathers drifted down in slow motion. Before she could react, sharp talons hooked her hairpin and yanked violently—

Lin Xihe felt a sharp pull at her scalp and cried out in pain.

“Get away! Get away!”

Wen Zhixu felt no satisfaction at seeing revenge served as the young woman’s hair tumbled down like spilled ink.

Lin Xihe completely lost composure, windmilling her arms like tiny pendulums while shrieking: “Not the face! I’ll get scarred!”

In her panic, she desperately grabbed at what felt like a lifeline—clutching Wen Zhixu’s sleeve so tightly she might tear it, then deciding this wasn’t secure enough, she shoved her entire head under his arm.

With disaster looming, she couldn’t afford to care about past grievances—any port in a storm.

Wen Zhixu, now reduced to human shield: “…”

Chaos ensued.

The highly intelligent falcon, seeing someone “protecting” the girl who’d insulted it, simply changed targets and pecked Wen Zhixu instead.

A sudden pain shot through his neck, and Wen Zhixu’s eyes turned frosty.

The falconer turned ashen-faced; his attempt to curry favor with Second Master Wen had backfired, resulting in the young master’s injury. In a panic, he shrieked curses at the falcon soaring overhead.

Seeing the situation turn sour, the falcon shrewdly cut its losses. Clutching the maiden’s hairpin tightly in its talons, it vanished into the clouds in an instant.

“Second Master Wen!” The man dropped to his knees with a skid. “This lowly one deserves death!”

Wen Zhixu shot him an icy glare. “Leave now if you value your life.”

The crowd that had gathered hoping to claim the thousand-tael reward dispersed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Xihe lifted Wen Zhixu’s sleeve, her gaze slowly traveling upward until it settled on the side of his neck.

She froze in place, her usually lively eyes now fixed and unblinking.

Her hair hung loose and disheveled, with strands sticking out at her temples like two messy parentheses framing her face.

“There’s a hole,” she stated blankly, “in your neck.”