"You want me to copy it?"

"I have to rely on you," Ye Qianning said earnestly.

Gao Qi stared at her delicate, doll-like face. He wanted to object, but then he thought about how small and pretty she was. Making her copy the text twenty times seemed too pitiful.

"Fine, but just this once."

Ye Qianning hummed in agreement. ’Just once? Dream on.’

’There are still some things I need to coax out of this fool.’

Inside the classroom, three small figures were hunched over their desks, writing, while Ye Qianning was hunched over, taking a nap.

A short while later, Luo Wen brought a meal from Immortal’s Drunk. She got up, set up a separate table, and began to eat the fragrant food and sip her tea, looking utterly content.

The tutor snuck over to take another look, and his old face immediately twitched. ’Oh well,’ he thought. ’Who cares who writes it, as long as it gets done.’

Seeing how incredibly shrewd the little girl was, the tutor secretly decided to assign harsher punishments in the future—just for show, of course. After all, she wasn’t the type to suffer a loss.

After finishing her meal, Ye Qianning went back to napping on her desk. When it was time for lunch, Sang Zhi called out to her, but she just waved her hand away. She was already full.

"I’m going to eat. I’ll copy more for you when I get back," Gao Qi said.

"Alright. Eat plenty. You’ll need the energy," Ye Qianning instructed with a grin.

Gao Qi’s haughty expression softened as if he’d just been praised. He nodded emphatically and ran toward the dining hall. Who would have guessed that after just a few steps, he would run right into the tutor.

No running in the academy! As punishment, you will copy the Disciple’s Rules ten times!

"..."

Ye Qianning silently averted her gaze. ’This really isn’t my fault...!’

"Dammit, took me forever to find you."

The voice arrived before the bird did.

Ye Qianning’s heart sank. ’What is all this nonsense I have to deal with every day?’

’For a few lousy fortune points, I have to deal with a bunch of kids every day. And not only are my points not going up, but I’m also stuck with a bird that has a ridiculously foul mouth!’

The little honey-sucker flew into the classroom. "Our Clan Leader said the flock can help, but your requests can’t be too unreasonable."

"What kind of request counts as unreasonable?" Ye Qianning asked.

"Roasting and eating us."

"You don’t have two ounces of meat on you. No one would eat you." Honey-sucking Parrots were a very small species; a roasted one wouldn’t even be a mouthful.

"Being toyed with," the little honey-sucker added.

"...Toyed with?" Ye Qianning suspected it had used the wrong term.

"It means you can’t lock us in cages and taunt us. Our entire clan is very proud," the little honey-sucker said, puffing out its tiny chest.

"Don’t worry, I won’t do any of that."

’As for this "pride," she wasn’t seeing much of it from him.’

The little honey-sucker nodded, somewhat satisfied. "Then there’s no problem."

"I just need you to relay some messages for me. The pay is one cart of fruit per month." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"What kind of messages?"

"I want you all to build nests in the various manors across the Capital City and monitor everyone’s every move. The moment you hear any news about the General’s Manor, you are to report it to me immediately. Also, keep a record of what happens in each household." Ye Qianning needed to gather intelligence on all the officials in the Capital City as quickly as possible.

Her father had made many enemies at court. Though things were quiet for now, laying the groundwork early would ensure they were prepared when a crisis occurred.

"That’s it?" the little honey-sucker asked, suspicious.

"That’s right. Every household has secrets they don’t want exposed. That’s what I want to know."

The little honey-sucker fell silent for a moment, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Dammit, and here the Clan Leader was thinking it was some huge undertaking. On my way here, he warned me again and again, afraid my gluttony would cause me to screw it up. I can’t believe it’s just this simple."

"It may not be a big deal to you, but it is to me."

"Fine, piece of cake. I’ll go tell the Clan Leader right now... uh... Clan Leader? What the hell, why did you come here yourself?" the little honey-sucker squawked, turning to look at the bird that had just landed on the windowsill.