Chapter 270
Chapter 270
Once Ji Yan’an understood what had happened, he looked at the soot-blackened child giving him an ingratiating smile, her little white teeth standing out brilliantly against her face.
His expression darkened.
Then there was the fiery-red bird she had dragged out from inside her clothes-except it was black now too.
A large patch on its bottom had been burned bare. Its once-fluffy feathers were stained with ink from the dirty brush water, leaving it wet, bedraggled, and pitch-black.
Ji Yan’an sneered. “Jiang Yunsui, go copy the Thousand Character Classic. You’re not allowed out until you finish.”
Jiang Yunsui felt as though the sky had collapsed.
“Could I-”
She tried to bargain.
“Twice,” Ji Yan’an said.
“I’ll copy it! I’ll copy it, all right? I never said I wouldn’t!”
Jiang Yunsui muttered under her breath, her blackened little face radiating reluctance.
“As for you…”
Ji Yan’an had never encountered such a troublesome bird-one that caused chaos everywhere and had nearly shoved itself into the mouths of carnivores several times.
He was beginning to doubt whether it truly was a Phoenix-Mimic Bird. According to Shen Qingzhu, the species was elegant, fastidious, and reasonably intelligent.
But this one…
It loved rolling in mud and sometimes crawled into the stove. Once, the kitchen staff had found it inside while lighting the fire, and it had nearly burned to death. It stuck its head into the mouths of cats and dogs and displayed all manner of bizarre behavior.
Nothing about it resembled an intelligent bird.
The little menace caused even more trouble than Jiang Yunsui!
“Find a cage. Wash it, dry it, and lock it inside. The next time it causes trouble, cage it again.”
Reasoning with it was useless because it could not understand, but they could not let it run wild. It was too young to beat, either.
Ji Yan’an’s head ached. Though he had never married or raised children, he already understood how hard the adults in his family had once worked.
Before disaster befell the Ji Family, Ji Yan’an himself had been a notorious little tyrant in the Capital City.
Both culprits were punished. Fortunately, the painting was unharmed.
Ji Yan’an decided he needed to hide it somewhere safer.
His grandmother had been a highly educated lady of noble birth who personally taught him calligraphy and painting. She had loved Master Xu’s works, and her influence led Ji Yan’an to love them as well.
Yet none of the paintings he had seen before affected him as profoundly as the present one, The Army at the Gates.
Perhaps because he had witnessed war and its cruelty firsthand, he appreciated this painting all the more.
He had never expected the little girl to sneak in merely to see it, much less cause such an uproar.
The study could not be used for the time being. Its contents were moved to another room while repairs began.
Huohuo was taken away and caged.
Its cries as it left were truly miserable and pitiful.
But Ji Yan’an hardened his heart. Huohuo needed to learn a lesson.
Jiang Yunsui trudged back to her room with her head hanging and was not allowed to rest.
Shuqin and Shuhua washed her clean and dried her hair.
“Mistress, why don’t you begin writing?”
Jiang Yunsui rested her chin on the small desk. “Bring me the paper and brush.”
Her handwriting could not yet be called beautiful, and she especially disliked writing.
She loved painting and could now produce decent embroidery, but everyone criticized her handwriting.
“They complain my writing is ugly, then punish me by making me write!”
Little Mushroom puffed out her cheeks until two soft little lumps appeared.
“Why couldn’t he ask me to embroider a sachet for him? I can embroider a pretty little fish now.”
“Once I finish, he’ll definitely complain that my writing is ugly again.”
“It isn’t my fault. These characters are too hard! Can’t they have fewer strokes? One character has as many strokes as a talisman.”
“Miss, you shouldn’t say such things carelessly,” Shuhua warned.
“I’m not saying anything carelessly.”
She huffed.
Gripping the brush in one small hand, she worked hard while muttering nonstop, resentment pouring from every word.
“It’s all Huohuo’s fault. How does it cause even more trouble than I do?”
Shuhua and Shuqin could not help laughing. So their young mistress knew she was troublesome.
A figure stood outside the window, listened to her muttering for a while, then left.
Nanshu hurried after him.
“Little Yunsui wasn’t really at fault today. It was all Huohuo!”
Ji Yan’an glanced at him.
“Enough. Tell her maids to let her rest once night falls.”
Nanshu grinned. “Hehehe… I’ll tell Shuqin and Shuhua right now.”
Ji Yan’an shook his head faintly. Everyone in the residence indulged that little girl. No wonder she was growing bolder.
Still, compared with the timid child who feared everyone when they first met, he preferred her arrogant.
Jiang Yunsui wrote slowly, but she did not rush or cut corners. She formed each character carefully.
It was not that she had no desire to slack off. The last time she had copied carelessly as punishment, Ji Yan’an doubled the assignment.
As for asking someone else to write for her…
Her distinctive handwriting would be remarkably difficult to imitate.
After obediently writing at home for three days, she finally finished and went to submit her work.
Ji Yan’an had moved into a new study. A familiar little ball of feathers stood on his desk.
It was Huohuo.
At that moment, it had its bare little bottom raised while it pecked at beans.
“Wrong. I’ve told you already-the green beans go over here.”
Nanshu held a small paddle and tapped Huohuo’s bald bottom every time it made a mistake.
“Chirp, chirp, chirp!”
The little creature was furious and squawked fiercely at him.
Ji Yan’an’s voice rang out. “No food until you finish sorting them.”
Huohuo immediately froze.
Then it lowered its head and reluctantly resumed picking up beans.
Jiang Yunsui looked over. A small bowl held roughly two handfuls of mixed soybeans and mung beans. Huohuo picked them up with its beak, placing soybeans on one plate and mung beans on another.
Why had it received this punishment?
After spending one night in the cage, it behaved for two whole days.
Ji Yan’an had personally kept Huohuo beside him over the past few days.
But that morning, while Ji Yan’an was working, a document fell to the floor. Huohuo’s beadlike black eyes darted around. It stealthily stepped in Ji Yan’an’s ink, hopped down, and trampled all over the document, stamping footprints everywhere.
By the time Ji Yan’an noticed, the page was covered in black little tracks shaped like branching twigs.
Thus, Huohuo was sentenced to sort beans.
The moment it saw Jiang Yunsui, it fluttered toward her with an aggrieved cry.
Ji Yan’an quickly caught it and put it back.
Huohuo chirped furiously but did not dare go too far.
Perhaps because Ji Yan’an was the first person it saw upon opening its eyes, Huohuo generally obeyed him.
Apart from Ji Yan’an and Jiang Yunsui, the unruly little Phoenix-Mimic Bird listened to no one and caused trouble everywhere.
It was a tiny demon incarnate.