After returning to the manor, Shu Changyu went to Madam Li’s place to look for a parrot stand.
Madam Li had raised a parrot in her early years. Its feathers were snow-white, its crest majestic, and it could mimic human speech. It was obedient, amusing, and beautiful. Madam Li was extremely fond of it.
However, one day later on, General Shu came home drunk. Madam Li was out meeting friends at the time and was not in the room. The parrot, smelling the alcohol, became restless on its perch and began shouting loudly. General Shu, half-drunk and half-awake, thought it was a person. The noise gave him a headache; after a few failed attempts to stop it, he flew into a rage and struck it with a punch, knocking it straight off the stand where it died instantly.
Because of that incident, Madam Li made General Shu sleep in the study for many nights. Madam Li was nostalgic, so the parrot stand had never been thrown away.
“How did my son find a parrot?” Madam Li asked happily when she heard he needed the stand.
After General Shu killed the parrot last time, he had felt guilty, but stubbornly refused to admit it, instead saying Madam Li was wasting time on frivolous hobbies. Madam Li had been angry, but never kept another parrot afterward.
“No, I found a little bird. It feels cramped in a cage,” Shu Changyu said. “If Mother likes it, I can bring it here for you to play with for a couple of days.”
Madam Li was delighted upon hearing this and immediately ordered the maid to bring out the dusty parrot stand and clean it.
“Oh right,” she said. “Your father sent you a letter yesterday.”
As she spoke, she had someone fetch it from a table inside. “The gatekeeper mistakenly delivered it to me. Since you are here today, take it back with you.”
Shu Changyu agreed and took the letter.
“I haven’t read what’s inside,” Madam Li said, leaning over curiously. “Your father rarely writes to you. Since there’s nothing urgent, why don’t you open it now?”
As a noble young lady, Madam Li would never casually open someone else’s letter in private. But her personality was lively, and she could not suppress her curiosity, so she could only ask Shu Changyu to open it in front of her.
Shu Changyu could not help but smile bitterly and opened the letter in front of her.
The moment it was opened, the familiar tone of General Shu’s scolding burst out.
“As your father, I heard you actually fell off your horse while riding through the streets in celebration. Truly an eye-opener! As a general’s son, you cannot even sit a horse properly—clearly you’ve been spoiled rotten in the capital! You might as well resign and return to Yanmen Pass to properly train in the basic skills of riding and archery that a man should possess! This is the first and last time. If you disgrace my name again, I will personally ride back with a spear and take your head!”
The letter had no signature or formal heading, just a sudden block of text filled with anger and killing intent. Shu Changyu had not seen his father for many years, yet upon seeing this familiar tone, he actually felt a sense of closeness and could not help but smile at it.
But Madam Li, who had been secretly reading alongside him, was instantly furious.
“That old brute! Always shouting about killing and fighting! He can even speak to his own son like this! I’ll write him a letter myself and teach him some manners!”
Shu Changyu could not help laughing and quickly stopped her.
“Mother, has Father not returned home for New Year’s in several years?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject.
“…That is true,” she replied.
“I haven’t seen him in a long time. Now that I’m being scolded by him, I actually feel… close to him,” Shu Changyu said with a smile. “If Mother wants to write him, then tell him and Sister to return home this year for the New Year. Since Big Brother passed away, our family has been rarely together.”
After this year, the northern state of Liao would launch a major invasion. His father would be ordered to pursue them, but due to disputes in the rear causing supply shortages, the army would fall into chaos and eventually be trapped and die in the north.
Although the emperor now seemed less suspicious of him, Shu Changyu still felt uneasy.
Madam Li paused and sighed. “Then I will follow my son’s suggestion. I will write to your father later.”
Shu Changyu finally felt reassured, took the parrot stand, and returned to his courtyard together with the letter.
Ji Mu had once said that this bird’s ambition lay in grain, not the blue sky. Shu Changyu had not believed it before. Only when he placed the bird onto the stand did he realize Ji Mu had been right.
Not only was the bird extremely obedient when its claws were restrained, but once placed on the stand, it immediately began hopping about, looking for food in the small bowl, showing no resistance that a caged bird should have.
Seeing its small, ambitionless behavior, Shu Changyu could not help but laugh. He picked up a small water jug and added water for it.
“Young master,” Qing Feng entered from outside. “A noble has come to see you.”
“Which noble?” Shu Changyu turned and asked.
“He said he is surnamed Ye, from the Ministry of Rites.”
Shu Changyu frowned slightly upon hearing this. Minister Ye of the Ministry of Rites—if nothing unexpected had happened, this person should be the elder brother of Ji Mu’s birth mother, Consort Yun.
After a brief thought, he said, “Let him in.”
Soon, Ye Sir was invited into the courtyard. Shu Changyu immediately recognized him—this was indeed Ye Qingyun’s elder brother, Ye Qingrui.
Ye Qingrui was already past sixty, his beard and hair almost entirely white. When he saw Shu Changyu coming to greet him, he quickly bowed, only to be firmly supported back up.
“Minister Ye, what are you doing?”
Ye Qingrui, relying on the emperor’s guilt toward his late younger sister, had risen steadily through the ranks and now held considerable power. He sighed and, without further pleasantries, said directly:
“I have come today out of necessity. I beg Third Young Master for assistance.”
Shu Changyu’s brows furrowed slightly.
“Third Young Master,” Ye Qingrui said, eyes red. “I only had one younger sister, Qingyun. Her death was unclear and unjust, yet I had nowhere to appeal. I have never been willing to let this matter rest, but I had no channel for justice, and she died with grievances unresolved.”
“My condolences,” Shu Changyu said with a sorrowful expression, carefully observing the man’s face.
What was his intent in saying all this?
Then he heard Ye Qingrui continue.
“Back then, my father and I risked everything to smuggle the Second Prince out of the palace. Unfortunately, we were discovered by the Empress and were forced to separate from the prince. Now that my father has passed away and the Second Prince has returned to the palace, I ask for nothing else—only to see him once more.”
Shu Changyu’s brows tightened further.
As expected.
Just as he thought, Ye Qingrui wanted to attach himself to Ji Mu in hopes of securing future support. But Ji Mu was in the deep palace, and Ye had no way to see him directly, so he had come through Shu Changyu instead.
Shu Changyu showed a troubled expression.
“If I were able, I would certainly go through fire and water to assist you,” he said. “But… I am of little importance, merely a tutor. I enter and exit the palace alone, and truly cannot think of a way.”
“No need to worry,” Ye Qingrui quickly said. “You only need to help me arrange a meeting with the Second Prince. I will handle the rest and ensure I meet him.”
Shu Changyu paused again, then refused:
“Minister, His Majesty is quite wary of princes forming ties with external relatives. Although Consort Yun has long passed, you must avoid suspicion. I understand your sincerity, but… please be patient and do not cause unnecessary trouble.”
Seeing that Ye Qingrui still wanted to persuade him further, Shu Changyu raised his hand to stop him.
“Minister Ye, I am too timid to take such risks,” he said, bowing deeply. “Please find someone more capable.”
With such a firm dismissal, Ye Qingrui had no choice but to take his leave.
As he left, Shu Changyu looked at his graying hair and slightly hunched back, and suddenly felt a trace of pity. After all, this was Ji Mu’s only remaining relative in this world.
In the imperial family, father and son were first ruler and subject before being father and son. Only Ye Qingrui was the one person who could truly be called Ji Mu’s family.
Perhaps having returned to this life, he had grown a little soft-hearted. In his past life, he would not even have blinked if this man’s head had fallen before him, let alone feel sympathy over mere estrangement.
“Minister Ye,” Shu Changyu called out before he had gone far.
Ye Qingrui turned back.
Shu Changyu bowed deeply once more.
“Minister Ye, it is not that I refuse to help. It is only that the Second Prince has just returned to the palace and is still unstable in his foundation, so it is not appropriate to cause disturbances. I understand your concern for him, but if you truly care for his well-being, please consider what is best for him and do not let him take unnecessary risks.”
With that, he gestured for Ye Qingrui to leave.
Ye Qingrui looked at him deeply but said nothing further and departed.
A moment later, Shu Changyu turned back and continued feeding water to the little bird.
“Father, how did it go?” After Ye Qingrui left the manor and boarded his carriage, his second son, Ye Chengjing, who had been waiting inside, asked.
Ye Qingrui shook his head.
“That Shu old general is stubborn, and Shu Third Young Master is no better. He is timid as a mouse and rejected me outright.”
Ye Qingrui had once helped rescue Ji Mu from the palace with his father. He was more than ten years older than his sister and had watched her grow up. Saving her child at her request had originally been from the heart.
But as a man in midlife, with elders to support and children to plan for, he had long passed the stage of acting on emotion. Originally, when Ji Mu returned to the palace and was not favored, Ye Qingrui had no intention of getting involved and feared bringing trouble upon himself. But now Ji Mu had somehow gained the emperor’s favor. Although his early education was lacking, he was young and had time ahead of him.
None of Ye Qingrui’s sons were particularly capable, so he had to plan early for them while still in office. Thus, as soon as Ji Mu became favored, he tried every means to connect with him.
Now that the emperor was weak and increasingly ill each year, no one knew when a new ruler would ascend.
Planning ahead required exactly this.
“…Then,” Ye Chengjing said, realizing the plan had failed here.
“We must find another way,” Ye Qingrui sighed.