Lin Nianzhi felt a strange sense of distress in her heart. She fiercely rebuked, “What’s the use of this junk?! Not even my maidservants would use this!” She turned to her maidservant and said, “Take this and dispose of it!”
The maidservant looked at Lin Feilu and muttered softly: “Fifth Princess, our Princess just wants to care for you. This old hand stove will not keep you warm, furthermore it will easily scald your hands. This lowly servant will dispose of it for you. Please use this new hand stove instead, you will definitely like it.”
Lin Feilu looked at them, slowly stretched out her hand to take the new hand stove and held it in her palm. Then she broke into a smile, “It’s so warm.”
Lin Nianzhi proudly proclaimed, “In the future, whatever you lack or want for, you should directly ask for it from me. As long as I’m here, how can I allow you to be mistreated?” She took a good look at her again and asked: “Why are you wearing this cloak again? The previous time I met you, you were also wearing this. Don’t you have other winter garments?”
Lin Feilu replied in a whisper, “This one is the warmest.”
Lin Nianzhi immediately ordered her maidservant, “Send those winter garments which were received a few days ago from the Imperial Embroidery Workshop to Mingyue Palace.”
The maidservant replied, “My Princess, you are much taller than the Fifth Princess. I am afraid that the sizes may not be suitable for her.”
Lin Nianzhi thought for a while before she continued on, “Then take it to the workshop and let them alter the changes to them. By the way, didn’t Uncle send over a snow fox skin a few days ago? Take that along and let them make a new cloak for Little Fifth Sister.”
Lin Feilu waved her hands repeatedly, “No, Eldest Imperial Sister, I don’t need them. I’m still very young and small, I won’t be able to wear them.”
Lin Nianzhi glared at her and responded, “Why can’t you wear them? Have you seen any other princess in this palace that wears clothes as shabby as you do?!” When she finished, she felt that her words might have been a little too hurtful, so she added another sentence: “You are the Fifth Princess. You have the right to wear whatever you like!”
Lin Feilu was moved to tears and looked at her with keen eyes.
Lin Nianzhi felt a sense of satisfaction as if she had performed an act of noblesse oblige.
(T/N: Noblesse Oblige is a French saying which means ‘the responsibility of the wealthy is to give generously’. This has a similar effect to the original Chinese sentence which was literally “Lin Nianzhi felt the satisfaction of saving commoners”.)
The maidservants received their orders and left. Lin Nianzhi dismissed all the other servants then sat on the soft daybed with Lin Feilu, eating melon seeds and playing with her nine-rings puzzle.
Since her early childhood, she had always loved playing with puzzles. Even as a young child, she managed to solve a simpler version of Nine-Rings. As she grew older, the difficulty of these Nine-Rings also increased. This one she had recently attempted to solve was the most complex puzzle she had encountered, so far she had not managed to solve it for the past few months.
Lin Feilu nibbled on her snacks as she watched on. Suddenly she spoke, “Eldest Imperial Sister, I think this clasp can be reversed.”
Lin Nianzhi was taken aback, “You know how to play this?”
Lin Feilu shook her head earnestly: “No, this is my first time seeing this.”
Lin Nianzhi looked at her suspiciously before she proceeded to listen to her suggestion and reversed the clasp. Unexpectedly, it worked. She became a little excited and asked Lin Feilu: “What’s the next step?”