Wild beast attacks happen every year. So although it was a surprise for everyone to know that the Fifth Princess and the Crown Prince were attacked, no one suspected it to be the scheme of mankind. If it weren't for Lin Feilu clearly seeing that the tiger was focused on attacking her Brother Crown Prince, no one would probably be able to question the actuality of the statement.
Emperor Lin investigated for a long time but he did not get any results. Adhering to the implemented principle of 'no wastage', he had the tiger hide processed and planned to present it to Xi Tan later on.
His lovely Noble Consort was afraid of the cold, so in winter, she could spread this tiger skin on the couch as a cushion. It was both majestic and warm, so it would definitely be a good thing to have around.
This happened on the first day of the Summer Hunt. In ancient times, everyone believed a lot in divinity and the will of the Gods. Hence, when even the Royal Astronomy Supervisors stated that it was a sign of bad luck, Emperor Lin became worried. He felt that the Summer Hunt was probably not meant to be held this year, so he cancelled the remainder of the event.
Lin Qing woke up in the evening. After taking the medicine, the discomfort in his stomach had subsided. Accompanied by a few palace staff, he went over to Noble Consort Xi's palace to thank her.
The injury on Noble Consort Xi's shoulder was a rather trivial matter. Instead, the previous injuries caused by her damaged internal strength annoyed her even more. After Xi Xingjiang went to the He Se Palace to visit Lin Feilu, he came back and remained here.
Seeing that Lin Qing was about to get on his knees, Xi Xinjiang hurriedly stopped Lin Qing.
She was merely a Noble Consort; how could she afford to have the Crown Prince kneeling before her!
In a deep voice, Lin Qing spoke towards the curtains, "Today, the Noble Consort's actions that saved this Prince's life is something that I will never forget."
Noble Consort Xi's faint voice echoed out from the other side of the curtains, "If the Crown Prince is safe, then the Great Lin Empire is safe as well. That was just me doing what had to be done, so don't take it to heart, Crown Prince."
Lin Qing had only occasionally heard of the Xi's family's righteousness from his mentors before. Although even Xi Xingjiang's day-to-day routine was very rambunctious due to his uncaring appearance, the Crown Prince was finally exposed to the Xi family's righteous mannerisms after this encounter.
Although Xi Xingjiang stopped him, Lin Qing still bowed slightly before walking out of the palace with heavy steps.
The guards were all dead, so only he and the Little Fifth Princess were the surviving witnesses to the situation at that time. Not to mention that his sister was rather young, so she probably didn't notice the tiger's strange movements at all. After she threw the rabbit, she was taken away by the frightened white horse. Hence, she didn't see the following scenes either.
The tiger was only hell bent on chasing after him and only intended on mauling him.
Yet, how many were willing to believe him if he told the truth?
Even he himself thought that it was absurd.
Lin Qing arrived back at the palace in silence as one of his guards immediately greeted him and whispered, "Your Highness, this subordinate went to check the leftover food from yesterday. It's not poisonous, but…"
Lin Qing looked up.
The guard continued, "This subordinate took all the food that Your Highness had eaten yesterday and went to see the doctor Gao. The doctor said that Xiao fruits and the Quercus vegetation are both cold foods. Although they are non-toxic, if they are eaten at the same time, they will aggravate the cold together and cause stomach pains."
The meals in the palace were all prepared in the Imperial Kitchen and these two kinds of food were not uncommon either. It wasn't unthinkable to have someone deliberately replace the fruits that were served after dinner with the Xiao fruits.
Lin Qing clenched his fists tightly and the guard observed his expression before he asked tentatively, "Your Highness, do you want to report this matter to His Majesty for a detailed investigation?"
"Detailed investigation? How is this going to be investigated?" Lin Qing sneered, "There is no proof that the tiger belongs to anyone now that it is dead and I have already eaten the food. Arguing about this in front of Father Emperor and not being able to provide the evidence to support the claims are not only going to anger Father Emperor; even the entire palace is going to slander us."
The guard hesitated,"Your Highness, you already know who the culprit is?"
Lin Qing looked at the gradually darkening sky outside the window as his tone remained low and deep, "Send a message to Mother Empress and ask her to have someone investigate the recent actions of Prime Minister Ruan and the Ruan Residence. Whatever it is, this Crown Prince will no longer sit back and remain lenient."
Emperor Lin explained that his subordinates had started to investigate the incident of the Crown Prince's encounter with the tiger. Although most people thought it was an accident, the parties involved were the Crown Prince and the Fifth Princess, so the matter definitely still needed to be checked out.
However, even after the investigation, nothing abnormal was found.
There were tigers in the mountains. A few years ago, Emperor Lin hunted one and the previous Emperor also encountered two bears in one of the past Summer Hunts, almost dying in the process—so it's really not uncommon for these beasts to attack. In the end, despite a thorough investigation, the matter could only be said to happen due to the bad luck of the Crown Prince and Fifth Princess.
Except for Noble Consort Ruan and the relatives of the Prime Minister Ruan, no one knew that the tiger was actually raised by them.
Assassinating the Crown Prince was a huge crime that could wipe out the entire main family and their distant branches, but since ancient times, the road to winning the heirloom had always been extremely dangerous. Hence, the path to obtaining fortune and wealth would definitely come with some form of risks as well.
Therefore, it must be done but in a foolproof manner to ensure that there was not a trace of humanity's tampering found in the 'accident'.
Using the Summer Hunt as an excuse to trigger the wild tiger's attack was the most unexpected way.
This ferocious tiger had been raised in the Prime Minister's Residence for three years. In fact, the Eastern Palace and the Yunxi Palace each have their own insiders. The spy secretly collected the Crown Prince's unwanted clothes and sent them out of the palace. Under the artificial training of man, the tiger became familiar with the smell of the Crown Prince from the clothes that belonged to it day after day. Hence, after being transported to the forest, it could accurately find out where and who the Crown Prince was.
In fact, they did not necessarily have to result in the death of the Crown Prince; a severed arm or a blind eye would have sufficed.
Once disabled, the Crown Prince would lose the qualifications of inheriting the throne.
But they never thought that this game that they had carefully arranged for many years could actually be ruined by a little girl!
Noble Consort Ruan was still sitting in the palace and drinking some tea as she was waiting for the news of the Crown Prince's encounter with a tiger to be delivered. Soon, the news did reach the palace, but before she had time to bask in joy, she heard that the Crown Prince had also returned safely.
Noble Consort Ruan was so angry that she clenched her teeth and smashed the hot tea cup against the door frame, "Those two ruined this Noble Consort's plans!"
Naturally, she was talking about Lin Feilu and Noble Consort Xi.
Although Ruan Shi and Xi Tan were both Noble Consorts, they had been at peace with each other for many years, neither being friendly nor ever posing the intentions to harm the other. Ruan Shi knew that Xi Tan had no intention of competing for the Imperial favour as she entered the palace only because she was injured and could no longer be on the battlefield.
After all, although the Xi family remained evidently loyal, the Emperor couldn't help but be suspicious of those around him. So if Xi Tan was part of the harem, the Xi family's position would also be safer.
Moreover, Xi Tan had no children. It's hard to say whether she couldn't give birth or she didn't want to give birth at all. However, every other Concubine would automatically exclude her from the equation when it came to harem battles and sinister tricks.
Unexpectedly, a person who was completely out of the picture was the one who ironically ruined their plans.
With that imbecile Lin Feilu riding her horse back to the palace to get help and Noble Consort Xi being a busybody who charged ahead to kill the tiger, the plan was entirely ruined! Noble Consort Ruan wanted nothing more than to eliminate both of them for once and for all. However, she knew that she was unable to make a move. If she were to take any sort of action despite the incident being ruled as an accident, she would practically be admitting to committing the crime herself.
Therefore, the only actions she could take would have to correspond to 'the worried bystander' profile that she appeared to be on the surface. With that in mind, she sent some gifts to the Crown Prince to express her 'concern'.
It's just that Noble Consort Ruan had been suppressing all of her pent-up anger inside, so she became a lot more prone to lashing out easily whenever she was agitated. Concubine Xie, who was five-months pregnant, came to the palace to escape the summer heat and accidentally offended Noble Consort Ruan with an unintentional remark. Due to her irritation, she ordered the Concubine to stand in her courtyard for four hours as punishment.
As a result, Concubine Xie went back the same day and saw red(1). Under the care of the imperial doctor, the child in her was able to be saved, but Concubine Xie became weaker due to the strenuous activity. There was a possibility that she would face great risks when the time came for her to give birth.
(T/N: Means a pregnant woman starts bleeding— it can mean that the baby is ready to be born or something has happened to it. Either way, it's unsettling and usually doctors would be summoned)
Emperor Lin was very annoyed when he heard about this. Although he always knew that Noble Consort Ruan was rather straightforward, he was vexed and agitated when he found out about the state of his child.
He just meant to reprimand her, but before she was punished, she started to cry.
Emperor Lin thought that the usually arrogant and bright woman looked quite pitiful when she cried. She explained while crying, "When this Noble Consort was pregnant with Ting Er, I even climbed a mountain with Your Majesty for fun and nothing happened. And now, I just told her to stand for four hours; how was I supposed to know that her body was that frail? Since Your Majesty thinks that this Noble Consort is making a big fuss, it is better to withdraw my rights as someone who takes care of the Six Palaces. Your Majesty should hang an empty position for me in the future and everything I do should be monitored by then."
Emperor Lin originally came with the intention to hold her accountable, but in the end, he had somehow become the villain instead. He had to appease the aggrieved and sobbing Noble Consort as he was worried about offending the Ruan family. In the end, he just admonished her with a few words and rewarded Concubine Xie a lot, as if he was trying to make up for it. In the end, the matter was brushed aside rather easily.
Political affairs in the Imperial Court always took up everyone's time. Now that the Summer Hunt was halted, this year's stay in the Summer Palace was shorter than it was in the previous years.
Not more than half a month later, Emperor Lin returned to the main palace.
Two days after Lin Feilu returned to the palace, she was summoned by the Empress to the Changchun Palace.
Lin Feilu didn't have much contact with the Empress as she (the Empress) devoted herself to worshipping Buddha, which diminished the need for the Imperial Harem to greet her in the morning. Usually, it was rather hard to even catch a glimpse of her as well. The only close contact Lin Feilu ever had with the Empress was the last birthday banquet. The Empress looked at her with a very peaceful gaze and there was a separate atmosphere around her that exuded a kind of dignity that was exactly the same as that of the Crown Prince.
This mother-and-son duo were the kind of people who remained very disciplined. Everyone knew that as long as they didn't make mistakes, no changes would be made towards the position of the Crown Prince.
But if someone stretched out their claws, they would never sit still either.
Naturally, this summoning was due to the fact that Lin Feilu had managed to get help to rescue when the Crown Prince encountered a tiger. Lin Feilu's contribution towards the safety of the Crown Prince was indispensable. The Empress used to treat the Princes and Princesses equally as she was neither harsh nor close to either, but at this time, she sincerely favoured Lin Feilu ever more slightly.
This girl is smart and clever. Although she is young, she is still calm and able to make the right decisions even in the face of danger, so she must not be underestimated in the future. Coupled with the indisputable fact that she saved the Crown Prince, the Empress had the intentions to form a camaraderie with her.
She did not reward the Fifth Princess with gifts as much as Emperor Lin did, but when she was having dinner with Emperor Lin, she brought up the issues of the vacant positions in the four Consort(2) ranks that were currently only occupied by two.
(T/N: In case anyone was wondering, the rules state that there can be no more than four Consorts at any given time)
"It's not good for them to be empty for a long time. You always have to bring up a Concubine first in order to comply with the regulations of the ancestors."
Emperor Lin was not the kind of Emperor who was insanely obsessed with beauties and he seldom worried about the harem. After all, the previous Emperor's harem left him with a herd of gloomy shadows clouding his mind. Hearing what the Empress said at this time, he asked her, "Empress, your words make sense. If so, does the Empress have a choice in her heart?"
The Empress pondered for a while, "The lowest rank of the Concubines in the harem that has birthed a royal child is at least bearing the Imperial Concubine rank, but Concubine Lan is a step away from that. The Fifth Princess is smart, whereas the Sixth Prince is pure and is deeply loved by the Empress Dowager. Your Majesty is a filial son, so you should know too— the Empress Dowager has practised the arts of Buddha very hard in her elderly years. Now, with the Sixth Prince accompanying her, it has fundamentally resolved the lingering regrets that gnawed at her heart for not being able to be affectionate and closer to her grandchildren. Concubine Lan had raised two excellent children for Your Majesty, so I think that it is only reasonable for her to be promoted to the rank."
Although Emperor Lin now preferred Xiao Lan and was willing to give her a promotion, he was still a little surprised to hear such words from the Empress, "I promoted her from an Honourable Lady to a Concubine before, which was already skirting with the rules. If I promote her again, this time directly from a Concubine to a Consort, I am afraid it will attract criticism."
The Empress smiled and took a piece of crystal dumplings for him and said warmly, "The rules were all set by the people, but this IS Your Majesty's harem. Naturally, you should have the final say. What qualifications do the others have to criticise you? Your Majesty is the sky, an honoured Son of the Heaven—your words are the truth. Besides, this is just a promotion in rank. In this world, Your Majesty has the final say, let alone a mere Imperial Harem. With a stable harem, you will feel at ease to handle governing matters in court. Concubine Lan has a gentle and kind personality and treats people amiably. If she can place herself firmly with the rank of a Consort, not only will it raise the standards for the other Concubines, it would also put you at ease."
As mentioned earlier, Emperor Lin was a domineering emperor. He was extremely arrogant and conceited as he felt that he was the best in the world— a true narcissist down to his very core.
The Empress had been with him since he was still the Crown Prince, so she had a clear understanding of his temperament. Therefore, she naturally knew what to say at such a time for things to proceed in her favour.
As soon as Emperor Lin heard this, he immediately felt that the Empress was worthy of being the Empress as her words truly made sense!
And he also knew in his heart that if it weren't for the Little Fifth Princess that day, the Crown Prince would have definitely died. The Crown Prince was related to the stability of the foundation of the Great Lin Empire. Just like Noble Consort Xi said, if the Crown Prince was safe, then all of the Great Lin Empire would be safe. The gold, silver, and gems he rewarded them with were all external objects. However, this reward was the one true reward that must be implemented.
So at the beginning of autumn, taking advantage of the Ancestor Blessing Ceremony, Emperor Lin stated his intentions to promote a certain Concubine.
Concubine Lan was promoted to a Consort. As the new rank implied, the Mingyue Palace was also promoted to one of the main palaces that came with the perks of being one of the four Consorts.
As soon as the Imperial Decree was issued, the entire harem was shocked.
It was shocking enough for Xiao Lan to be promoted by four positions previously, but the positions were low at the time and the room for her promotion was large. So despite everyone's initial shock, they accepted it after taking into account the years that she had to suffer beforehand.
Unexpectedly, it was only less than half a year after being promoted to a Concubine before she jumped another two positions and became one of the four Consorts! That was way too enviable to be true!
Many women could only remain at the Pure Lady or the Honourable Lady ranks for their entire lifetime.
Xiao Lan had endured a torrent of hardships for the past five years. Once all the hardships had passed, the sparrow was now turned into a phoenix!
There was a lot of discussion in the palace for a while, but soon, the news came out that the reason why Xiao Lan was promoted to a Consort was because the Empress personally mentioned it to His Majesty.
Why did the Empress give her such a big gift? Everyone knew the answer— was it not because of the Fifth Princess's actions that saved the Crown Prince during the Summer Hunt?
Sigh, they really didn't know what to say about the matter. Was it not because Xiao Lan had such a good daughter? Having a son made her fall out of Imperial favour, but having a daughter made her regain it back— what a roller coaster wild ride and fascinating life experience.
While outsiders to the matter were continuing to gossip a lot about it, the person mentioned; Xiao Lan, who received the Imperial Decree, was also stunned. Everything that happened this year made her feel like she was dreaming.
Lin Feilu was already thinking about helping her fight for the position of the Consort before, but she didn't expect that the position would be automatically delivered to her door before she started doing anything.
Suddenly, she felt that the difficulty of being a copy was getting lower and lower.
Do I really not want to become an Empress Regnant?
Forget it, she still wanted the luxury to sleep in. The Emperor woke up earlier than the roosters and went to bed later than mutts. If he indulged himself ever so slightly, he would be criticised by the courtiers. A life like that wouldn't even compare to a wage slave(3), so she just gave up on the thought.
(T/N: Someone who works for money, a typical 9-5 worker that would do overtime. Often describing someone who barely has a life apart from working)
Lin Feilu knew that this was a rare blessing from the Empress herself, so she didn't mind taking it.
Unsurprisingly, Lin Qing would become the Emperor in the future, so she didn't have to think about her own life for the time being. With Lin Qing there, at least Xiao Lan and Lin Zhanyuan could be guaranteed to have a safe and sound lifestyle. At that time, she will talk to Lin Qing about getting a fief— she didn't need to have a lavish life or a rich household; she just wanted to settle down.
At that time, she would let Xiao Lan take Lin Zhanyuan to live in the fief till their dying days in peace and comfort. That would be resolving her one and only concern.
As for her?
Lin Feilu felt that she should learn martial arts properly from Noble Consort Xi now. If she ever had the opportunity to leave the palace in the future, she would be able to freely roam the world, traverse the lands beneath the sky alone with a sword.
In the first half of her life, she would hold the palace-brawl script; the second half of her life, she would equip herself with the martial arts script— it was truly getting the best of both worlds.
Honourable Lady Lan becoming Consort Lan was in itself achieving quite a qualitative leap in honour, and lifestyle.
The Mingyue Palace, which used to be very serene and peaceful, suddenly became a popular place in the harem. Besides the Empress and the two Noble Consorts, the other Concubines came to greet her one after another.
Consort Xian watched Xiao Lan rise step by step. She saw Emperor Lin's Imperial favour towards Xiao Lan in his eyes, so it was inevitable that she felt a little sad.
However, at her age, she no longer expected the love of the Emperor. Everyone had their own aspirations and Consort Xian was not a troublemaker. Under the supervision of Lin Feilu, Lin Jingyuan was now more promising and was forging ahead. In the future, he would undeniably be crowned his own position and a fief, remaining rich, noble and happy in his life. With that, Consort Xian was more than satisfied.
In the past, among the four Consorts, Consort Hui and Consort Mei once formed their own faction, but now that the two Consorts have fallen, Consort Xian and Consort Lan have formed their own faction.
Xiao Lan had risen up to her current position, so naturally, her scheming and tactics have also adapted to suit as well. At first, she was a little weary and uneasy. Later, she gradually adapted to her new identity and new status. With the guidance of Concsort Xian, she quickly sat firmly in the position of a Consort and managed her subordinates well. Being in good order, there was no need for Lin Feilu to worry about it.
Time flickered into winter.
Lin Feilu keenly discovered that Lin Qing's attitude towards Lin Ting had altered slightly.
The brotherly atmosphere between the two before had now disappeared as the two seemed to currently be at odds with each other. Occasionally, Lin Qing would confront the other as well.
Lin Ting still looked docile and modest, but he was much quieter than before. Those soft eyes that perceived everything had not lit up for a long time.
Lin Feilu knew where this change came from.
When the Crown Prince encountered the tiger, it was impossible for the Empress's family to sit idly and not launch their own investigation. Once the clues were found, Noble Consort Ruan's faction was then completely hostile towards the investigators.
The Ruan family's reaction was very aggressive and that alone was more than enough to cause Lin Qing to be justified as someone who resented his elder brother.
In addition to being soft-tempered, Lin Ting was actually no worse than the Crown Prince in all aspects. He just didn't want to fight and usually didn't want to steal the spotlight. But even if he didn't want to fight, what could he do? Unless he completely broke away from the Ruan family by refusing to recognize his Mother Consort and neglecting the Ruan family, he would always remain as their most important pawn.
The Ruan family had developed thus far and their forces in the Great Lin Empire were commendable. But once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, their power and position would be overturned.
No one wanted to give all of that up.
Both of them were still in their teens, but they had to discard and shed all sense of personal relations for the throne. Although Lin Feilu had planned strategies in the beginning, her heart was full of flesh and emotions. She had long regarded these two as family, so seeing these two develop their relationship into something strained and gruesome was making her anxious.
But she couldn't do anything as this was not a small-scale palace fight. The battle for the position of the Crown Prince had always been cruel, fierce, and deadly. She would be involved the moment she decided to participate. However, she had her Mother Consort and her older brother behind her; she couldn't put them at risk.
Therefore, Lin Feilu could only remain anxious while watching the changes from the sidelines.
She was still the innocent, lovely and carefree Fifth Princess in front of everyone. Only when she secretly went to play with Song Jinglan would she show a hint of her true emotions.
It's getting a lot colder lately, so she had prepared enough silver coal early on as she sent all kinds of heating equipment to the Cuizhu Villa as if she didn't need the money.
This was Song Jinglan's second warm winter. He poured half a glass of water into the bamboo tube with white plums inside of it, and when he turned around, he saw the little girl warming her hands in a trance.
Her soft fingers were warmed red by the silver coal as the fragrance of her hand cream became stronger and stronger. She made a rose-flavoured hand cream this year and gave him two boxes of it. Although Tiandong complained that His Highness always smelled like he applied perfume on his body and did not suit the image of a man at all, Song Jinglan would still eventually reapply the cream.
He thought that smelling nice was pretty good for a change.
A small spark flickered from the charcoal stove as she regained her senses. Lin Feilu retracted her now warm fingers and rubbed them before she heaved a long heavy sigh.
Song Jinglan handed her a bamboo tube that had a few bamboo leaves painted on it in a very elegant shade of emerald, "I tried making some of the milk tea that the Princess mentioned last time. Would you like to try it?"
Lin Feilu replied with a surprised 'ah' before she met his gently smiling gaze. It took her a few seconds to realise what he said and she scratched her head, "It's not easy for you to get milk from the Imperial Household Department. Just drink it yourself, don't waste it on this kind of stuff."
However, the fact remained that she took a few sips of the drink from the bamboo tube after she spoke.
Song Jinglan smiled and asked her, "Is it delicious?"
She smacked her lips twice, "Bamboo-flavoured milk tea is not bad; unfortunately, there were no pearls(1)."
(T/N: Refers to 'boba pearls'. They're squishy and chewy, made from tapioca and commonly eaten in milk tea— aka, bubble tea)
Song Jinglan was confused. He thought about it seriously before he asked, "What kind of pearl is the Princess talking about? Are you going to grind it into powder and add it to the milk tea?"
Lin Feilu quickly waved her hand, "No, no, this is already pretty good!"
He nodded slightly and as the light from the fire reflected in his eyes, a calm and warm colour glimmered, "What is the Princess worrying about?"
Lin Feilu drank the milk tea for a while and her small mouth was still on the tip of the bamboo tube. Even so, her facial expressions seemed a bit troubled.
Song Jinglan asked slowly, "Is it because of His Highness the Crown Prince and the Eldest Highness?"
Lin Feilu looked up in surprise, "How did you know?"
Song Jinglan curled her lips slightly, "The two Imperial Highnesses have been caught in a rather tense atmosphere in the Imperial School; it wasn't hard to tell."
What do you mean 'it wasn't hard to tell'? No one else could tell! Lin Jinyuan for example, happily pranced around as he ushered both of his brothers to play a round of polo with him. Even when he was rejected, he kept asking for the reason and couldn't get a hint.
Lin Feilu couldn't help but to sigh again.
Little Pretty Boy is from the Song Empire, after all. Although she had no particular feelings for the grievances between the two empires, her own sense of belonging only belonged to the People's Republic of China!
However, talking about a sensitive topic such as the throne, it always felt strange to discuss with the captive Prince of the enemy country.
Song Jinglan had a calm expression as he gently rubbed the edge of his tea cup with his fingers and said in a low voice, "Both of the Imperial Highnesses are outstanding, but this path they walk is inevitable— there will always be a winner and a loser. The Princess's worries at the moment are all done in vain, so perhaps it might be better to think about how to protect the losing side when the inevitable time arrives."
Two sentences of his were all it took to break through the entanglement in Lin Feilu's heart.
She didn't care which brother of hers became the Emperor; she just wanted everyone to live peacefully.
She had never cared about anyone before.
Her parents ignored her, so she ignored them. Her lame excuse of 'friends' was hypocritical, so she didn't show any of her true feelings. The world was indifferent to her, and so in return, she was indifferent to it as well.
Instead, upon coming here, God seemed to be making up for her nonexistent childhood and family love little by little.
But it happened to occur in an era where relationships weren't important and bonds were fragile.
She could ignore everything else, yet she couldn't neglect her sincerity.
Lin Feilu lowered her head for a long time before she asked softly, "Then, can Your Highness tell me what I should do?"
Song Jinglan smiled very shallowly. He gently raised his hand and touched the top of her head as he spoke in a low and gentle voice, "Your Highness, you are very smart, so I believe the Princess will know what to do."
He looked out the window and raised the corners of his eyes, "It's snowing, Princess."
Lin Feilu turned her head over to have a look.
The sky that was still clear in the morning started to rain with a light shower of fine snow.
It was the first snow of the year.
Song Jinglan looked at her and said, "Make a wish— it will definitely come true."
Even though she knew that it was just a plot to deceive the naive girls in Korean dramas, Lin Feilu still closed her palms and eyes as she made her wish reverently.
Snowfall was a scene of winter, but it was also a sign that spring was coming.
After the New Year, Lin Feilu was most shocked when she learned that Emperor Lin and the Empress began to choose a husband for Lin Nianzhi.
Although she knew that women of the ancient times married early, Lin Feilu still felt that things were a little unacceptable when she saw the 13-year-old Lin Nianzhi shyly selecting the portrait of the potential suitors presented by the palace servants.
Lin Feilu seemed to see her future self portrayed by Lin Nianzhi.
This is way too scary ahhhhh!
Seeing her sitting on the side in a daze, Lin Nianzhi tugged on her sleeves slightly unhappily, "Little Fifth Princess! Can you be a little bit more serious?"
Lin Feilu, "I'm watching, I'm watching! Eldest sister, who is this? There is a mole on the corner of the eye; it kind of looks very romantic."
Lin Nianzhi looked at the portrait, "This is Du Jingruo, the main son of the Minister of Rites, who is now the Academic Head of the Ren Imperial College. Now that you mention it, it does sound a bit romantic…" She grew up in the palace since she was a child and didn't know much about foreign men, so she was slightly hesitant, "I heard that he is exceptional in writing. He was admitted to the Imperial College at a young age, so I think he has some insane talent for learning."
These portraits were all screened by the Emperor and the Empress before they were sent to her.
Naturally, he wouldn't be some sort of average mortal son since he was able to obtain the approval of the ruling Imperial monarchs.
Lin Nianzhi looked at them one by one before she finally asked her, "What do you think?"
Lin Feilu, "…all— all are good."
Lin Nianzhi concurred as well, "I think all are good too." She muttered, "Why can't I just accept all of these like Father Emperor did."
Lin Feilu, "?"
Wait! Eldest Imperial sister, your way of thinking is very dangerous!
Seeing her widened eyes, Lin Nianzhi laughed and pinched Lin Feilu's soft face, "I'm just simply making a joke, don't treat it so seriously."
Still, this matter concerned her life's happiness, so Lin Feilu asked a serious question, "Eldest Imperial sister, what is your ideal type?"
Lin Nianzhi asked, "What is an ideal type?"
Lin Feilu explained, "It's about the ideal husband for you; what are you looking for in a partner for life? Personality, appearance, family background, ideas— which aspect do you value more?"
Lin Nianzhi immediately said, "Of course the most important thing is to look good!"
Lin Feilu thought to herself, I understand, you and your Lin family are all about appearances.
Lin Nianzhi mulled on the question for a long time before her tone of voice gradually became shy, "I hope my husband is a modest gentleman. I want someone elegant and gentle who can love and protect me, treat me as his only one and hold me in the palm of his hand like a pearl."
Lin Feilu understood and spread out the stack of portraits, "Then let's get rid of the types like Xi Xingjiang first; they don't deserve it."
Lin Nianzhi nodded in agreement.
In the end, after picking the suitors out according to Lin Nianzhi's ideals, the one who best suited her ideal type was actually Du Jingruo, the son of the Minister of Rites with a mole on the corner of his eye.
Lin Nianzhi read Du Jingruo's portrait over and over before she finally made a final decision, "I'll take him!"
Having said that, the palace servants were called in to present the portrait to Emperor Lin.
Lin Feilu suddenly grabbed her wrist, "Wait!"
Lin Nianzhi looked at Lin Feilu curiously.
Although Lin Feilu knew that her words were merely nonsense, she couldn't help it, "Eldest Imperial sister, you have never seen him before. You only set a life-long event of yours based on a portrait. What if things turn out to be different from what you imagined; what would you do then?"
The modern concept of free love was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so she wasn't indifferent to it.
Lin Nianzhi was stunned for a moment and then smiled casually, "Although it's been like this for a long time now. Yet you're right. As princesses, we still have the right and privilege to choose our husbands. Those women among the common folk don't even get a chance to select their spouses."
The Eldest Princess, who always had something to say, was surprisingly rather open in this regard.
After Consort Hui's accident, she seemed to have matured a lot overnight.
She saw that Lin Feilu's face was still like a ball of worried wrinkles, so she smiled and patted her side buns, "Don't worry, it's the son of the Minister of Rites. At any rate, it won't be that bad," She paused, not knowing what to think as her eyes suddenly lit up, "Now if my dear little sister is that worried, why don't we go and see him for yourself?"
Lin Feilu asked, "You have the authority to arrange for me to meet him?"
Lin Nianzhi, "Of course we can't go out conspicuously, but we can always go secretly!"
After being here for so long, Lin Feilu had never left the palace. Hence, she was instantly moved when she heard Lin Nianzhi's words.
The Great Lin Empire's customs were relatively open and the restrictions on women were not as strict as they were in some eras, which could be seen from the fact that Noble Consort Xi was able to fight enemies and pick up martial arts.
It wasn't an unforgivable sin for the Princesses to leave the palace either; all they needed was the Emperor's consent.
This was easy to handle— Lin Feilu acted like a spoiled brat, saying that she had never been out of the Palace even though she was already this old. Added to the fact that she had never seen the prosperous folk living under the rule of her Father Emperor, he immediately approved her request happily.
Of course, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the two naturally shouldn't make a big splash in public. Emperor Lin asked the two leaders of the Forbidden Troops to accompany them and even secretly arranged some shadow guards to protect them.
Lin Feilu put on an ordinary and inconspicuous dress as she followed Lin Nianzhi into the carriage, staggering out of the palace.
This was Lin Feilu's third time venturing out of the palace. The first two trips out of the palace seemed to be a lot colder than being in the palace in terms of atmosphere and tension. Yet as of this moment, as the carriage gradually drove out of the palace, the hustle and bustle of the market also echoed in their ears, a warm atmosphere compared to her previous outings.
The carriage first took them to a small courtyard outside the palace, and the leader of the troops also changed into light-coloured clothing that made him blend in with the crowd like a chameleon.