Lin Feilu looked at him for a while and shrugged her head in frustration. She grumbled, "Forget it."
Whether he accepted 3 thousand beauties or 8 thousand beauties into his harem had nothing to do with her; she wasn't the one who was going to marry him anyways.
Lin Feilu adjusted her mentality and regained her spirits. She looked at another packet of snacks in Lin Ting's hand and asked, "Brother, why did you buy two?"
Lin Ting flipped through the book and smiled casually, "I got used to it."
Lin Feilu, "Oh, you bought the other one for sister Yan Xin, didn't you?"
Lin Ting smiled and tried to hit her playfully with the book, but Lin Feilu evaded, laughing merrily.
The journey from then on was full of smiles and endless laughter. After half a month, the group finally arrived at Mount Wutai.
A Shadow Guard had already gone up the mountain to inform the Empress Dowager about their arrival. As soon as they got to the foot of the mountain, Lin Feilu saw Nanny Liuzhi, who was always by the Empress Dowager's side, waiting along with a few soldiers. She immediately jumped off the carriage and ran over with a smile, "Nanny, why did you personally descend the mountain?"
Liuzhi practically watched her grow up and was very fond of the Fifth Princess, so she greeted her and said with a smile, "Princess, you are finally here. The Empress Dowager has been wondering when you were going to visit."
She greeted Lin Ting, who was coming over, "Your Highness King Qi, are you feeling better? The Empress Dowager has been thinking about you. Mount Wutai is quiet and serene— it would do good for you to heal yourself while you are here."
Lin Ting smiled.
The group went up the mountain.
As a Buddhist Mountain, Mount Wutai was also the place where Empress Dowager practised the art of Buddhism in her later years. Naturally, the facilities provided were sufficient. There were countless Buddha statues and Buddhist caves carved on both sides of the mountain wall along the way. The giant Buddha stone statue in the mountain seemed even more magnificent as it was adorned with exquisite carvings.
The air in the mountain was fresh and had a touch of sandalwood fragrance all around. The natural scenery was also very spectacular. The quietness of the location emanated a soothing Zen feeling, which gave off different vibes from the Qin Mountains.
As soon as they got to the platform in front of the Buddhist temple, they saw Empress Dowager being supported and waiting there.
After so many years, the Empress Dowager had aged a lot. Her back which once remained straight, could not help but hunch itself. She was now a senior who had lived over the ripe age of 70.
(editor's note: this is a cultural and also an era thing: you live past 60, you're almost immortal; 60,65,70,80,88,90,100 are all worth celebrating)
Lin Feilu shouted 'Imperial Grandmother' from a distance and ran towards her. Once she got in front of her, Empress Dowager smiled as she spread her hands and embraced her granddaughter, "You are finally here."
She also pulled Lin Ting, who had made his way over, in front of her to scrutinize him. After a while, she finally sighed, "You've lost weight."
Lin Feilu said, "Eldest Imperial brother has gained some weight in the past few months, but he was thinner before!"
The three talked and laughed as a group of geese passed by not far away from them, stirring up a layer of white mist around the mountain stream.
Compared with the Thousand Blades Sect, the days on Mount Wutai were more peaceful and leisurely.
After all, there were no burly men who counted out the number of times they swung a blade and practised their swordsmanship from morning to night. Here, there were only monks who walked silently and chanted sutras every day.
Lin Feilu slept for a period of time before she began to go to the Buddhist Hall with Empress Dowager for morning classes and listen to the sermons of the eminent monks. Believing in it or not was one thing, but listening to their low tones and comfortable scriptures indeed brought them a lot of peace of mind.
The saying was true, especially for Lin Ting. Although the relaxation period he had in the martial world made him feel much better in the past few months, he still felt guilty for those who died in the battle for succession. Now that he came to Mount Wutai, he knelt in front of the Buddha statue most of the time to pray.
An eminent monk said that reciting the Rebirth Mantra could often save the souls of the dead and help eliminate evil obstacles along their way of reincarnation. All the unease and guilt in his heart could be comforted in front of the Buddha statue.
As soon as he approached the eminent monk, Lin Feilu was a little worried, for fear that the eminent monk would say, "I think Your Highness should devote yourself to Buddhism," Lin Ting's personality was already very Buddha-like, so Lin Feilu was worried that he would end up shaving his head and join the ranks of the red robes.
However, Lady Yan Xin was still waiting for him to return!
Naturally, she was just overthinking. No matter how influential the monk was, he dared not speak out and guide an Imperial Prince to become a monk.
After observing for a while, Lin Ting did not seem to harbour any thoughts of becoming a monk. Therefore, Lin Feilu felt relieved and started catching monkeys all over the mountain.
She had so much fun along the way that she almost forgot her promise to Lin Zhanyuan. When it was time for Lin Feilu to leave Mount Wutai, she would have to return to the palace, so she should catch a monkey in advance and keep it with her. With Lin Ting by her side, she wasn't worried about having trouble rearing the monkey.
Fortunately, wild monkeys in this era were not animals under the protection of the law, so Lin Feilu didn't have to be psychologically burdened. She initially thought that a clever little monkey jumping up and down would be very difficult to catch, but who would have it merely took Lin Ting, the proclaimed animal whisperer, to stroll around the mountain twice. That was all it took for a little monkey to voluntarily swing down from the tree and look at the two people in front of him curiously.
Lin Ting squatted down and took out the apple he had prepared in advance. The little monkey jumped directly on his hand, caught the apple, and nibbled onto it. Lin Ting held it in his arms, and it didn't reject his touch at all. In fact, the monkey looked kind of content.
Lin Feilu was stunned and had to give Lin Ting a thumbs up, "As expected of a Disney Princess."
Lin Ting was still laughing as he teased the little monkey. Hearing this, he turned his head and asked, "What Princess?"
Lin Feilu laughed it off and said excitedly, " Eldest Imperial brother, let's give it a name— how about calling it Kong Kong?"
Lin Ting laughed and shook his head, "Being in Wutai Mountain for so long, your comprehension has improved greatly. Master Shi An should be thrilled to know about it."
Lin Feilu, "?"(1)
(T/N: I don't have such high levels of comprehension, but as a guess, 'kong' directly translates to empty in English. Perhaps Lin Ting understood that the monkey didn't think much before jumping into his arms even though he could have meant it harm. Hence, empty-minded. Repeating its name twice is also just further insulting the monkey for not thinking things through. So the name basically summed up the monkey's personality)
What comprehension?
I'm talking about the 'kong' from the Monkey God, Sun Wukong.
With Kong Kong, Lin Feilu's days on Mount Wutai were a lot more fun. It was worthy of being a monkey from a Buddhist Mountain, after all– it was full of spirit and understood human nature. Technically, it was very worry-free for Lin Feilu to raise Kong Kong.
The mountain's climate changed faster than the rate at the foot of the mountain. Lin Feilu's ten sets of autumn clothes have yet to have been repeated when it seemed like winter had suddenly entered the mountains.
The Empress Dowager accompanied Lin Feilu to the fire and said, "It will be cold when it truly starts to snow in winter, but the scenery will also be breathtaking. You can enjoy the beauty of it by then."
Lin Feilu had always liked snow. Snowball fights, building snowmen and skiing have become an essential activity for her and Lin Zhanyuan every winter. It's a pity that she couldn't accompany him in the palace this year and that adorably silly brother of hers was probably going to cry again.
She chose a skiing wonderland for herself early on. The slope and the location were extremely suitable for skiing, and she also prepared some skiing tools in advance. Everything was ready as she merely waited for the snowfall.
The next few days were always better because of the building anticipation.
One morning in the twelfth lunar month, Lin Feilu woke up and heard the sound of snow falling from the branches outside her window.
She didn't even have time to put on her shoes as she ran over and opened the window.
The mountain and plains were covered with a blanket of white snow as Mount Wutai, which was already quiet, became more tranquil due to the snow. It's a pity that this silence was quickly broken by Lin Feilu's shouting. She wrapped her cloak and carried her tub as she headed straight to the ski slopes.
The mountain palace servants knew that the Princess looked forward to skiing. After the snow fell last night, they transported the snow from all around the area to her chosen location to build layers of snow. Therefore, the snow on this steep slope was much thicker. Lin Feilu slid to the bottom as her laughter drifted out along the flying snow.
She didn't go back until she was content with playing, which was around noon. As soon as she entered the room, she saw Empress Dowager sitting with Lin Ting and whispering something. Lin Ting still had a letter in his hand, but the atmosphere between the two was slightly heavy.
The smile on Lin Feilu's face gradually faded, and she asked anxiously, "Imperial grandmother, Eldest Imperial brother, what happened?"
The Empress Dowager looked up and smiled kindly, "The Little Fifth Princess is back? Was it fun? Liuzhi, see if the Princess' dress is wet."
Lin Feilu was very nervous, "What actually happened? Don't try to hide it from me."
Lin Ting smiled and shook his head, "It's not a big deal, so why would there be a need to hide it from you? Come see for yourself."
She hurried to take the letter.
Looking at it, she understood what had happened.
In the end, Emperor Lin still waged war against the Song Empire.
As Lin Ting had analysed before, instead of merely watching the Song Empire gradually grow more prominent, it was better to take the initiative to attack when the new Emperor was less prepared.
However, this use of troops was not a full-scale deployment of soldiers. It was just a small-scale test conducted by Emperor Lin.
There had always been a 'no man's land' on the border between the two countries. This part of the territory did not belong to either the Song Empire or the Great Lin Empire. However, because of the traders who frequently traded between the two countries, a trade city no less than the size of Fuzhou had formed. Although somewhat dangerous, it was a very prosperous city.
The businesses there were very developed, so to own the city's tax and silver would naturally generate a lot of income.
But because it did not belong to any party, there was no need to pay taxes. Such a virtuous circle led to the formation of even more prosperous business districts.
When Emperor Lin issued his soldiers to the city, he wanted to incorporate this 'free zone ' into the Great Lin Empire's territory. By doing so, it could be taxed to fill the national treasury in the future.
According to the style of the previous Song Emperor, he might have given up this piece of territory that did not belong to the Song Empire, and he would not have competed with the Great Lin Empire at all.
Nevertheless, Song Jinglan was not his father.
As soon as the Great Lin Empire made a move, the army on the border of the Song Empire directly pressed their army to the edge of the free city. That made it clear that they wanted to compete with the Great Lin Empire for the city's ownership.
The letter was sent half a month ago. According to the timeline, the two armies should have had a confrontation, but no one had yet known the results.
However, this trial would also allow Emperor Lin to understand the attitude of the new Emperor of the Song Empire.
After Lin Feilu read the letter, she was in a complex mood for a while. The war was too distant of a concept for her. Whether in her previous world or her current life in these ancient years, she never thought that war would ever happen to her one day.
Fortunately, this time was only a small-scale tentative confrontation, far from the point where the two countries would fight seriously against each other.
As Lin Ting said, it's not really a big deal.
She sat down in front of the stove with a bit of disappointment, "I wonder who won."
Lin Ting reassured, "We just have to wait for the news."
Due to this incident, Lin Feilu had no interest in the skiing that she had been looking forward to for a long time.
In January, two days before the Lunar New Year, the latest battle report letter finally arrived.
In order to compete for the ownership of the free city, the two countries fought several times. In the end, they were tied, and neither of them succeeded. They retreated to their territories as the city kept its freedom.
This was the best result based on Lin Feilu's opinion, and it might be a good result for the Song Empire.
But for the Great Lin Empire, it was horrible news.
A tie was equivalent to a loss when it came to matters that concerned the Great Lin Empire.
This was because they failed to crush the weak country they once despised.
The country that sent a Royal prisoner over once they heard of Emperor Lin's rage; the same country that trembled in fear and awe of the Great Lin Empire that they held high regard of; the same country that the Great Lin Empire once never even thought to think of as a potential threat.
The same country— the Song Empire.
Resisting the Great Lin Empire's use of soldiers showed that they were indeed different from the past.
Lin Feilu suddenly remembered what Noble Consort Xi had taught her many years ago.
She said that the Emperor's debauched political affairs were the root cause of the weakness of the Song Empire. They once dominated the Central Plains as the ancestors of the Great Lin Empire fought against the Song army and were defeated in Huaiye.
Someone who was a wolf would never truly become a dog(1).
(T/N: Someone who was once powerful or formidable would never truly become weak)
When a scheming and ruthless Emperor sat on the throne of the empire that once ruled over the Central Plains, it would reawaken the wolf's soul.
It was unbelievable that said person would be the same Little Pretty Boy that ate popsicles with her in summer and baked sweet potatoes with her in winter.