After returning from the back mountain, Mu Xueshi’s mind remained in a daze. The images refused to leave him—the naked bodies of those two men, the shameless words and breathless moans they had exchanged.
So what the Third Prince had said was true. In this place, affection between men seemed perfectly ordinary.
Yet seeing it with his own eyes—seeing it carried to such an uninhibited extreme—was more than Mu Xueshi could easily accept.
He pressed a hand against his chest and drew a deep breath, steadying himself before preparing to head back to the courtyard to wait for Wu Cai. By now Wu Cai had surely finished enjoying himself on the back mountain. Whether he would still take Mu Xueshi to the pleasure house tonight was another matter entirely. The thought filled him with both anticipation and unease.
Just then, something suddenly struck his head.
“Ah—!”
His small head spun, and the world seemed to whirl around him. By the time he managed to regain his senses, he noticed a striking bird flying not far away.
Without realizing it, Mu Xueshi began chasing after it.
The bird’s feathers were a soft pink, crowned with a pale white crest that resembled a tiny phoenix plume. It carried itself with an almost noble air.
The longer Mu Xueshi watched it, the more convinced he became that the creature possessed a strange intelligence. Whenever he ran faster, the bird flew farther ahead. When he slowed down, it fluttered its wings and settled somewhere nearby, tilting its little head as it pecked lightly at its left wing—as if deliberately waiting for him.
At one moment, Mu Xueshi could even swear he saw mockery in its eyes.
“So cute! This is too fun!” Mu Xueshi cried excitedly as he dashed toward it.
To his surprise, the exact same words suddenly echoed beside his ear.
“So cute! This is too fun!”
“Huh?” Mu Xueshi frowned in confusion.
The echo was far too clear—and far too immediate. Besides, this courtyard was not deep enough to produce such a perfect echo.
Puzzled, Mu Xueshi decided to test it.
“Stop right there!” he shouted at the bird.
The moment he finished speaking, the bird flapped its wings and opened its small red beak.
“Stop right there!” it repeated fluently.
Mu Xueshi burst into laughter, bending over from the force of it.
“Hahaha! So it’s a parrot!”
No wonder it seemed so lively—it could mimic human speech.
He lifted a slender finger and pointed toward his own shoulder.
“Come here!”
The parrot perched upon a nearby flowering vine and immediately echoed back:
“Come here!”
“I’m telling you to come here!” Mu Xueshi called impatiently.
“I’m telling you to come here!” the parrot replied just as stubbornly.
Fine, fine—I’ll come to you then, Mu Xueshi thought.
Tiptoeing carefully, he crept toward the vine, intending to grab the mischievous creature. But just as his hand was about to close around it, the parrot flapped its wings and flew away again.
Mu Xueshi immediately gave chase.
The bird darted straight into a room. Unable to stop himself in time, Mu Xueshi rushed in right behind it.
“Who goes there?!”
A furious shout rang out.
Before Mu Xueshi could react, two guards rushed forward from behind and seized his shoulders.
His expression instantly changed.
His gaze swept the room—and then froze.
Lying in the center of the bed was the Grand Tutor’s wife.
Mu Xueshi quickly pointed toward her and hurriedly explained to the guards, “I am the lady’s son!”
Upon hearing those words, the Madam slowly sat up with the help of a maid. Her complexion looked somewhat pale, and she appeared faintly nauseous.
Realizing that he had rudely burst into the room over nothing more than a bird, Mu Xueshi immediately bowed.
“Mother, your son has behaved poorly. I saw that bird and liked it very much, so I chased it all the way here.”
The Madam spoke gently, instructing the two guards to release him and inviting Mu Xueshi to sit beside her.
These guards had only been in the manor for less than a month, so they were not particularly familiar with Mu Xueshi. Seeing a figure suddenly rush inside, they had reacted instinctively and restrained him without thinking further.
“You may withdraw,” the Madam told them.
“Yes, Madam.”
The two guards left with embarrassed expressions.
Once they were gone, only three people remained in the room. The Madam ordered the maid to brew tea for Mu Xueshi, and soon the chamber was left with just the two of them.
The Madam took Mu Xueshi’s hand, her expression warm and affectionate.
“Xue’er, you used to dislike noisy creatures like these the most. How did you become so taken with the bird I keep? You even chased it all the way from the back manor to here.”
The question instantly left Mu Xueshi speechless.
It felt as though someone had caught him by the tail.
Facing the Madam’s gentle gaze, he replied awkwardly, “The Third Prince must have told you… I’ve lost my memory. I don’t remember anything from before.”
Seeing his discomfort, the Madam did not press further.
Instead she asked, “How goes the investigation into your father’s case? Have you discovered any leads?”
Mu Xueshi sighed and shook his head.
“I don’t know why, but everything feels chaotic. There seem to be clues everywhere, yet none of them connect.”
Hearing this, the Madam softened her tone even more. She rested a hand upon her belly and smiled faintly.
“These matters cannot be rushed. It is just like how I wish the child in my womb would be born sooner—but even then, I must still wait another six months.”
But Mu Xueshi had barely heard a word she said.
His attention had already drifted to the pink-crested parrot perched atop its cage.
He teased it with his finger. Each time he reached out, the bird hopped to another perch instead of flying away. Back and forth it moved, its tiny claws tapping lightly as if performing a dance.
Mu Xueshi watched with delight, giggling cheerfully.
“If Xue’er likes the bird so much,” the Madam said with a smile, “why not let Mother give it to you?”
Mu Xueshi hurriedly waved his hands.
“No, no, Mother. I only played with it because I happened to see it. This bird is so noble—if you gave it to me, I might ruin it… heh. If it ever has chicks someday, you can give me one of those instead.”
Although he said this aloud, his eyes remained fixed stubbornly on the parrot.
He truly did like it.
But he feared that he might not remain here much longer.
The Madam herself had said that the former Mu Xueshi disliked noisy creatures like this. If he took the bird with him and later left… who knew how its true owner might treat it afterward?
Futile Devices Scans 
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