Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Why Did You Provoke It?

This dramatic scene fell into everyone’s eyes and drew a wave of shocked cries.

Du Jun Yan and the others stared with wide eyes, fixed on the white dove standing tall and proud on Du An Rao’s shoulder, calmly grooming its feathers as if no one else existed.

After a long moment he finally found his voice and asked with difficulty: “An An, you are saying this bird is your Master’s carrier pigeon, the one from your temple?”

“Yes. His name is Little Bai. He is the carrier pigeon my Master raised. Back when we were still on the mountain, Master always used him to exchange messages with his old friends. I didn’t expect it would be my turn now. But…”

Du An Rao turned to look at the dove, which was clearly a size bigger than when she came down the mountain. The corner of her mouth twitched as she said: “Little Bai, what have you been eating out there with Master lately? How did you get so fat?”

The white dove froze mid preen. Then it flapped straight onto the top of Du An Rao’s head and started pecking like crazy.

It seemed Du An Rao had long expected this. She quickly protected her head, crouched and ran, dodging around while loudly begging for mercy.

“I was wrong, I was wrong. You are not fat at all. You are round, round and cute!”

Sadly, the dove seemed immune to that line already. It still pecked her two more times before flying back to her shoulder. It then lifted its head to a forty-five degree angle, posing like a smug parent who thought naughty kids deserved a beating.

Du An Rao held her aching head and could not help muttering again: “Looks like it’s not just the meat that grew. Your temper did too. Ah, don’t peck, don’t peck. I was wrong, I really know I was wrong!”

Another round of chaos followed. By the time the dove finally calmed down and landed back on her shoulder, every hair ornament on her head had fallen off.

Luckily, Du He Xuan, their chief stylist, was reliable. Since today was the twins’ coming-of-age ceremony, he had specially done braided hairstyles for them.

So even without the hair ornaments, her hairstyle stayed neat. Otherwise, Du An Rao really would have had to spend her birthday with a bird’s nest on her head.

The Du family members: “…”

You just had to provoke it, didn’t you?

They looked again at the white dove standing on Du An Rao’s shoulder, its little claws stepping on her like it owned the place, still full of swagger and pride.

The surrounding audience: “…”

This was really strange. How could they see emotions like disdain and dislike in a bird’s tiny black eyes?

Seeing that girl and bird had finally calmed down, Du Yu Xi lightly cleared her throat and asked the question everyone cared about.

“An An, that thing in your hand is…”

Du An Rao lowered her head to glance at the brocade pouch in her hand. Her brows curved as she said: “It should be the birthday gift my Master sent me.”

“Birthday gift?” Du Yu Xi leaned forward curiously. She wanted to see what kind of birthday gift this legendary Master had sent, but she was afraid that asking too directly might be rude.

Du An Rao did not mind. Seeing through Du Yu Xi’s thoughts, she casually poured out what was inside the brocade pouch.

Everyone froze.

“This is… copper coins?”

Lying in Du An Rao’s palm were five small round copper coins, a little thinner than modern coins. They were strung together with a red cord, with a tiny red knot tied on top, looking delicate and eye catching.

As soon as Du Yu Xi finished speaking, the white dove on Du An Rao’s shoulder had already finished grooming its messy feathers. It lowered its head and rubbed against the side of Du An Rao’s neck.

Du An Rao seemed to have guessed something. Her smile faded a bit as she reached up to tap the dove’s little head.

The next second, the dove flapped its wings and followed the route it came from, wobbling as it flew out the main doors.

Du An Rao and Yi Yi watched it leave with reluctance. Only after the dove flew out of the courtyard did they pull their attention back to the birthday gift in her hand.

“These are Five Emperor Coins.”

“Five Emperor Coins?” someone echoed.

Du An Rao nodded and lifted the small string of coins.

“So called Five Emperor Coins are a ritual artifact made by stringing together copper coins cast in the reigns of five different emperors in ancient times. They can ward off evil and miasma and invite wealth and blessings.”

“As everyone knows, in ancient times the imperial capital was said to be the place where the true dragon Son of Heaven received the Mandate of Heaven. Copper coins were witnesses to all the policies and actions taken when they ruled, so they naturally absorbed some of their energy. The wiser and more famous the emperor, the stronger the power these coins hold.”

After carefully examining the five coins, the corners of Du An Rao’s lips lifted.

“The set my Master sent me should be the Great Five Emperor Coins. He picked coins cast under wise emperors from different dynasties, ones everyone has heard of. The effect is super boosted. If you carry them with you, malevolent spirits will not dare come near, and villains will not dare approach.”

Even she was stunned when she finished speaking.

[Could it be that Master predicted Second Cousin’s situation ahead of time and specially sent me this kind of birthday gift?]

Jiang Wen Tao and his son both trembled. Their eyes on that string of Five Emperor Coins turned hot.

No matter what reason Master had for sending this gift, there was no doubt this thing was useful for the current Jiang You Nian.

Du An Rao had already wanted to save him. Now that she had this, she felt much more confident.

“I can try to help with Second Cousin’s situation, but I have shallow learning. I cannot promise I can fix his problem for sure.”

“It’s all right, it’s all right,” Jiang Wen Tao said quickly. “We really have no other way now. We can only try everything and see if we can win him a chance to live. If you can really help You Nian, you will be our whole family’s benefactor. If it doesn’t work out, we will never blame you.”

Only then did Du An Rao relax. She handed over the still-warm Five Emperor Coins: “These can seek good fortune and avoid misfortune. Take them back and let Second Cousin wear them for a while. If there is really something unclean causing trouble, having these there can at least suppress it a bit. As for the rest, we can talk after I see Second Cousin.”

Jiang Wen Tao and his son treated the coins like a treasure. Holding the Five Emperor Coins, they almost wished they could grow wings and fly straight back to City B.

Father Du saw that they had said about all they needed to and stepped up to make the final decision: “Since it is like this, I will contact Director Qiao in a bit and have him make arrangements in advance. You also need to ask clearly whether You Nian’s condition is suitable for a transfer. If he can be transferred, what do you need to do to cooperate? If his condition is still stable enough, have him moved over. That way, if anything happens, we are all here and can take care of each other. But if it really is not possible, then we can only have An An make a trip.”

Du An Rao had no objections and accepted this plan.

Because of Jiang You Nian’s situation, the Du family no longer had the mood to keep celebrating the birthday. But there were many guests coming and going today. As the host family, even if they were heavy hearted, they could not leave everyone hanging and be rude.

Right at this time, Mother Du, who had gone upstairs earlier with some relatives because of Ruan Xiu Ru’s earlier scene, finally came back down with a few familiar sisters.

As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her older brother and her little nephew. Her eyes lit up as she said: “Brother, Chang Bin, you’re here. Where is your wife and Nian? Why didn’t they come with you?”

After she spoke, she seemed to notice something and frowned: “What were you just talking about? Why do you all look so serious?”