While Lin Feilu was outside, Lin Zhanyuan would periodically walk up to the front gates, waiting for her return. When he saw his little sister had finally returned, he cheered happily, “Jujubes! Jujubes!”
Lin Feilu ran over to him with a smile. She showed him the rabbit in her arms. “Brother, look, do you know what this is?”
Lin Zhanyuan had never seen a rabbit before so his eyes immediately widened. He hesitated for a while as he looked back up at his sister, then again at the rabbit and stared for some time. Finally, he stretched out a finger and hesitantly touched the rabbit’s head. It was fluffy, soft and pleasant to touch.
Lin Feilu said, “This is a rabbit. It’s a little white rabbit, see how white its fur is? It likes to eat radish and green vegetables. It’s a cute animal that likes to jump around.”
Lin Zhanyuan clapped his hands excitedly. “A rabbit! A little white rabbit! White, white fur! Likes radish, very cute!”
He was so happy that he had completely forgotten about the jujubes. Once they were inside, he played with the little rabbit. He also ran to the small kitchen and brought some vegetable leaves to feed the rabbit. When Xiao Lan asked about it, Lin Feilu only said that she found it outside. Xiao Lan did not say anything else in response, instead she helped them to make a bed for the rabbit.
Lin Feilu wrapped cloth strips around a board to prevent wood splinters from pricking the little rabbit. As she did that, she asked Xiao Lan casually, “Mother, have you ever seen the Empress?”
Xiao Lan was making a cage for the rabbit with Yunyou. She replied softly, “I met her a few years ago. When I was very sick, the Empress was very kind to come visit and wished me good health. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her for almost three or four years now.”
“Is the Empress beautiful?”
“The Empress is the mother of the nation, naturally she is the most beautiful.”
Lin Feilu spoke as though she were naive, “The Empress has to manage the Imperial Harem, does that mean she’s very fierce? Otherwise, how can she make everyone listen to her?”
Xiao Lan was startled. She hurried to cover Lin Feilu’s mouth and looked around in horror. She was relieved when she didn’t see any others, and reprimanded her daughter with a stern face, “Lu’er, don’t talk nonsense! Her Imperial Majesty is your Royal Mother, as her child, you must not speak of the Empress like that! Not to mention that the Empress has always been kind and compassionate; and is wholeheartedly devoted to Buddha. Her Imperial Majesty is fair and kind to all the concubines in the Imperial Harem. While the harem affairs are handled with assistance by two Noble Consorts, it is precisely because Her Imperial Majesty sits at the top of the harem that His Imperial Majesty can rule the nation with peace of mind.”
(T/N: Mothers call their children with the “-er” suffix as an endearment.)
Lin Feilu nodded with a naive expression.
Xiao Lan gave her a few more earfuls before her thoughts drifted. She began to reminisce about the past and chatted with Qingyan about the Empress.
Lin Feilu listened for a long time and felt that the Empress they spoke of was not at all like the mother of the young boy she met today. After all, devout Buddhist followers were strictly opposed to bloodshed. How could someone like that force her son to kill a rabbit?
But if it wasn’t the Empress, who else is thinking of fighting for the throne?
After all, the empress’s family was a formidable faction. Her father, Du Lao, was the Imperial Grand Mentor. He was a well known Confucianist across the nations and had over three thousand students under his tutelage. He was also Emperor Lin’s mentor, thus he was highly respected by the emperor. The prestige of the empress’s family was unshakeable, moreover, the empress also gave birth to a son. Soon, the third prince was appointed to be the crown prince. Occasionally there were rumors saying that the third prince was an intelligent, studious child who behaved with grace and humility. As such, he was dearly beloved by Emperor Lin.