Dong~
Dong~
Faint bells drifted into the silent Bedchamber as the light gradually brightened.
On the bed, the sleeping Empress Dowager was disturbed by the bells that rang day after day. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly before she rolled over and felt around beside her.
Rustle~
Rustle, rustle, rustle~
?
Her right hand paused. She opened her eyes and looked, only to find the outer side of the bed empty. The dress draped beside the dressing table was gone, too.
"Where did she go...?"
Slightly puzzled, the Empress Dowager assumed Perfected Person Xuanji had gone out on some business during the night. She was about to lie down again when she spotted a white ball of fluff on the tea couch by the window in the outer room.
Propping herself up for a closer look, she discovered that the fluffy thing was a large white bird, sleeping utterly oblivious with its head tilted, and fastidiously lying on her soft pillow.
"Oh?"
Her eyes brightened slightly. She got up, slipped on her palace shoes, and went into the outer room to inspect it closely.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck? Beloved consort?"
"Beloved consort" was Li Ren's name for it, while "cluck, cluck, cluck" was Perfected Person Xuanji's. Since Niao Niao had spent so long sponging food and drink off them aboard the boat on the return journey, the Empress Dowager had picked up the names, too.
Unfortunately, Niao Niao kept an extremely regular schedule: it played like mad when it should not be sleeping, and when it was time to sleep, not even thunder could wake it.
After calling for a good while without getting any response, the Empress Dowager's eyes shifted. She thought for a moment, then tried again.
"Big fat bird?"
"Cheep?!"
Niao Niao, which had been sleeping as though neither