Lin Feilu abruptly awakened from her sleep.
Someone was knocking on her window.
Bang, bang, bang, it was the sound of stones hitting on her window. She thought she was dreaming at first, so she was momentarily stunned when she opened her eyes. The room was so dark that she could not even see her fingers, but the sound of stones hitting her window became clearer, as they repeatedly knocked in a consistent, unhurried rhythm.
She rolled over and sat up. Subconsciously she thought of calling out for someone, but for some reason, the words that wanted to come out from her throat came to a halt.
She got out of bed, put on her shoes, and fumbled her way in the dark to open the window. When she walked to the window, the sound stopped abruptly. When she finally unfastened the latch to open the window, a stone flew past her ear and fell inside her room, bouncing a few times before it landed.
Outside, the cold moon hung in the night sky. The silhouette of barren trees blended into the nightscape. Fine snowflakes drifted in the wind, causing her to shiver and grumble in the same breath.
Just as she did not see anything, so did the sound vanish. She turned her head around. Borrowing the moonlight shining into her room, she looked at the stone that fell onto the floor.
Lin Feilu quietly closed the window, walked over and picked up the stone. The stone was covered with a layer of white cloth. She took the white cloth off. No lamp was alight, so she walked to the furnace in her room that was still burning with silver charcoal to read the words by the light of the fire.
It was still too dark to read clearly and the handwriting was crooked, so it took her a while to finish deciphering the message.
The night was silent, only the furnace would occasionally flare with sparks that shattered in the wind. After reading it, Lin Feilu slowly pinched the white cloth in her palm, picked up the stone, walked to the window and opened it.
There was still nothing outside.
She whispered, “Hey, can you hear me?”
Only the cold winds answered her.
She looked into the fog in the night. Regardless whether anyone heard her, she uttered in a soft voice, “Thank you.”
Lin Feilu threw the stone out, then closed the window, walked to the furnace and threw the white cloth full of handwriting into the fire. The fire licked it up, and the white cloth was quickly burned. A smear of flame rose in the air, reflected in her quiet pupils.
The next morning, Lin Feilu was still asleep when suddenly she heard Yunyou cleaning the courtyard outside her room. She heard her say in surprise, “Why are there so many pebbles outside the window?”
Qingyan said, “What if it’s mice? Hey, don’t use your hands, those pebbles might be dirty. Quickly sweep up these dirty things.”
Lin Feilu turned over under her blanket.
In the afternoon, the Imperial Embroidery Workshop sent many new winter clothes. These were all the clothes that Lin Nianzhi had previously requested for Lin Feilu. Since they were originally tailored for the eldest imperial princess, naturally the colors and the patterns of the brocades were made to be the best. Even if they were now tailored for the fifth imperial princess, the designs were just as out of ordinary.
The snow fox fur that Lin Nianzhi gifted Lin Feilu was also turned into a cloak delivered to her residence.
The cloak was made of a large red fabric material which was embroidered with a few plum blossom patterns. The snow fox’s fur was pure white without a trace of impurities; it was made into a collar and a hood. Altogether it was a warm and beautiful cloak.
Xiao Lan fell in love with the cloak at first sight. She quickly asked Lin Feilu to try it on. She was a fair child that looked especially good in red. When she wore the red cloak and walked in the snow, the entire snowy landscape shone in high contrast against her as the main feature.
Yunyou could not help but to say, “The little princess was born so beautiful, why don’t you wear this cloak at the end-of-year banquet?”
Xiao Lan was still smiling at first, but when she heard this, her smile faded, and she whispered, “It’s not the place to make a spectacle of ourselves.”
Startled, Yunyou immediately followed up, “My Lady is right.”