I've never hated being unable to take human form so much on New Year's Day.
When he was thrown into the icy cold pool, Yuan Dan closed his eyes in despair, and then suddenly realized that he did not sink.
New Year:"?!"
The little bird, with its abundant feathers and little flesh, was indeed quite lightweight, and with its feathers providing support, it managed to float halfway on the water's surface.
On New Year's Day, it used its wings to paddle along the water and swim towards the shore.
"Your Highness, look! This little bird can actually swim!" A palace maid standing by the pond teased Consort Li.
"Stop it quickly, don't let it come up!" Consort Li seemed to find amusement in this, and hurriedly called for palace servants to use bamboo poles to splash the water and prevent the bird from swimming up.
New Year:"……"
She glanced lightly at the group of people laughing on the shore, then decided to give up on swimming to shore and instead floated in place.
"Hey, why isn't this little bird moving? Is it drowning?"
"Poke it with a bamboo pole."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Just as the palace servants were about to poke the bird with bamboo poles, a sharp voice suddenly rang out: "His Majesty has arrived!"
As the eunuch finished speaking, a figure in bright yellow approached from afar.
Everyone immediately knelt down: "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Xiao Changqi's indifferent gaze swept over everyone present, but he didn't see the little bird, and his face immediately darkened.
"Chirp?" A soft bird call suddenly rang out.
The man's slender figure stiffened, and he looked toward the source of the sound, only to see a pink ball floating lifelessly on the water's surface.
With a flick of his toes, Xiao Changqi leaped across the pond and scooped up the wet pink ball from the water.
"Chirp chirp..." Yuan Dan shook off her wet feathers, and some pool water splashed onto the man's brocade robe.
Everyone else, seeing this, assumed the young emperor would become angry.
The next second, the man reached out and ruffled the bird's head, his deep voice carrying a hint of tenderness: "Why did you go into the water?"
Yuan Dan shook its head, pointed with its wings at Consort Li and the others who were still kneeling and hadn't gotten up, and complained, "Chirp chirp chirp..."
I didn't want to go into the water; they threw me in.
Having spent so much time with the birds, Xiao Changqi was able to understand some of their body language to some extent.
Following the bird's wingtip and listening to its pitiful little voice, Xiao Changqi roughly guessed what had happened.
"Who can tell me why my little Yuanyuan is in the pond?" Xiao Changqi glanced at everyone present, his tone icy.
The palace maid trembled like a sieve, stammering and unable to utter a coherent sentence.
"Unwilling to talk?" Xiao Changqi said calmly, "Then drag them all out and execute them."
"Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!"
“I will tell you, I will tell you.”
Xiao Changqi raised his hand slightly, stopping the imperial guards who were about to drag the person away.
"Yes, the bird fell in by itself, it has nothing to do with us servants."
His eyes were darting around; it was obvious he wasn't telling the truth.
Having served in the palace for so many years, the chief eunuch had a knack for judging people, and thus easily saw through the maid's lie.
Xiao Changqi naturally noticed this as well, and with a slight movement of his hand, the palace maid was dragged away.
Another chorus of pleas for mercy rang out.
On New Year's Day, Xiao Changqi wrapped her in a towel, and the man used some internal energy to dry the feathers on her body in no time.
"Chirp chirp." Yuan Dan squatted in the man's palm, looking down at the kneeling crowd as if looking down on the world. Its short little wings pointed to the palace maid next to Consort Li, and finally to Consort Li.
The meaning is obvious: she and the people around her threw her into the pond.
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