Even though Lin Ting was upset, he was still mindful of his manners and went to pay respects to his mother before retiring to his room. Noble Consort Ruan did not say much to him, but only waited for him to leave before asking Wang Yang, “Where did you say Lin Ting went this afternoon?”
Wang Yang replied cordially, “My Lady, His Highness went to Mingyue Palace.”
“Mingyue Palace?” Noble Consort Ruan had no impression of this little palace. It was not until a palace maid had reminded her of the plum garden incident that she remembered that was where the unfavored Honorable Lady Lan lived.
Wang Yang continued, “His Highness seems to get along well with the Fifth Princess.”
She knew of the young fifth princess. She heard that the fourth prince only started to study hard under this fifth princess’s supervision, thus she was deeply cherished by Consort Xian. Noble Consort Ruan did not care much about this matter, so she stopped asking more questions.
New Year’s Eve was fast approaching, and the Imperial Household Department had increased the expenses for each palace in preparation for the New Year celebrations. Lin Feilu asked Qingyan to send a basket of silver charcoal to Cuizhu Villa.
Qingyan had long been used to the princess’s frequent delivery requests, that was why she became familiar with the servant boy who dutily kept watch of visitors. She was no longer as flustered as the first time they met, and the two would talk and laugh about a thing or two.
It has been one year since Lin Feilu arrived in this world. She did not have any particular attachments in regards to New Year celebrations. In her past life, she would travel all over the world for New Year’s. She had neither celebrated or experienced a New Year’s Eve dinner. She also never had any relatives to visit over the New Year’s celebrations.
However, it was different now. Xiao Lan had Lin Feilu accompany her to decorate their home with window paper-cuts and spring couplets from early in the morning. In the midst of the ice and snow, Mingyue Palace, once a bleak and lonesome place, was now dyed with an air of jubilant joy.
(T/N: Window paper-cuts, or “window flowers”, are decorative artwork and are usually made to celebrate Chinese New Year. A couplet is a pair of lines of poetry. Each line is written vertically on a scroll of paper and is placed either on the sides of a door or as hanging scrolls inside a home. Spring couplets are poetry written especially to celebrate the New Year.)
With some scraps of fabric, Xiao Lan even sewed a red scarf for the two crooked snowmen in their courtyard. They looked oddly adorable after wearing them.
Lin Feilu had been feeling a little piggish since she learnt about the Ninety-nine-course meal served at the Great Reunion Banquet.
The Great Reunion Banquet has been a tradition since the founding of the Great Lin Empire. All ninety-nine dishes were unique dishes and all recipes were passed down to the present. Lin Feilu thought to herself, they must be very delicious!
However, in addition to inviting the emperor’s relatives, the only concubines who were allowed to attend the Great Reunion Banquet were the empress, the two noble consorts, and the four consorts. Although the emperor’s children were not exactly barred from attending the banquet, they could only do so if the emperor had given his blessings to them.
Thus, Lin Feilu was not qualified. When she went to the Changming Palace to entertain Consort Xian, she acted cutely and asked Lin Jingyuan to secretly bring a few dishes outside of the banquet venue, just so she could have a taste.
Lin Jingyuan fully agreed to her request, although he added a remark in disgust, “To be honest, the dishes served at the Great Reunion Banquet tasted horrible.”
Lin Feilu: “?”