Lin Feilu huffed and puffed as she dragged the two basins back to Mingyue Palace. Fortunately, she had ordered Song Yu to escort her around that time. She passed over the ski basins to her when she arrived.
When Lin Feilu returned to Mingyue Palace, Lin Zhanyuan sat on the threshold with Chang Er in his arms. He looked at her glumly and said, “Sister did not take me skiing!”
Lin Feilu asked, “How was Brother’s writing today?”
Lin Zhanyuan drooped his head in embarrassment.
Lin Feilu suppressed her smile and patted his head. She then took hold of his hand and dragged him inside. Lin Zhanyuan asked, “Did Sister and Seventh Brother go skiing?”
Lin Feilu was baffled by who this Seventh Brother was. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she finally got it, “I have said it many times. It’s not the Seventh Brother. It’s His Royal Highness the Seventh.”
Lin Zhanyuan retorted loudly, “That’s Seventh Brother! Five, six, seven!”
Xiao Lan smiled as she walked to them “What five, six, seven?” Seeing Lin Feilu’s wet clothes from the snow, she scolded gently, “Went playing again? What should I do if you catch a cold? Song Yu, get the princess a change of clothes.”
Lin Feilu nuzzled her arm cutely.
After that day, there was no more snow. The weather cleared and the sun finally came out of hibernation. The snow that had accumulated throughout the winter began to rapidly melt. Lin Feilu visited the “ski resort” – the slopes were wet with puddles of water. It was time to say goodbye to ski games this year.
The sun was out, but the weather was colder than before. Lin Feilu finally understood the meaning of the phrase “The melting of snow is always colder than when it started to snow; it hurts more at the end than at the beginning”.
It was still a pleasure to enjoy the scenic view of the snow in the cold, but it was unbearable to endure an even colder weather with no scenic view at all. The entire palace was more deserted than before because everyone was reluctant to go outside due to the cold. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had even increased the supply of coal.
Emperor Lin had been engrossed in work lately and he finally got the recent political affairs settled. After hearing the eunuch’s report about the concubines complaining about being cold, he decided to take a vacation in the hot spring at the Lushan Palace.
This was a tradition for the royal family every winter but not everyone would be invited. For example, only either Noble Consort Ruan or Noble Consort Xi would be permitted to go one at a time because either one of them would need to stay to manage the harem. The Empress did not like to travel, and so had chosen to stay in the previous years.
Emperor Lin would usually bring along a few favored concubines, together with the princes and princesses.
As soon as the eunuch got the news, he began to draw up a list of entourages for Emperor Lin.
Everyone knew the names on the list as it was always the same people from the previous years with slight adjustments.
Last year, Emperor Lin was accompanied by Noble Consort Ruan, and this year it would be replaced by Noble Consort Xian. Concubine Xian had always adored her nephew, so Emperor Lin had added Xi Xingjiang onto the list. There were nineteen people in total for this trip.
Emperor Lin listened carefully as the eunuch read the namelist, nodded, and suddenly thought of something, “Add the Fifth Princess.”
The eunuch was immediately taken aback.