Lin Feilu was worried that she might be brooding over the futures of these little fellas a wee bit too much.
The horse that Xi Xingjiang raised had an ebony fur coat and was of an excellent breed. It did not stir even as they approached the horse. Instead, it proudly held its head up high. It was not even bothered by the presence of its master. Xi Xingjiang reached out to pat it, but the horse sneezed right in his face.
However, he was not bothered by it. He turned around and smiled and said to Lin Feilu, “Such a fierce horse needs to be tamed. When it grows up, I will train it before presenting it to you. How about I give this horse to you once I’ve tamed it?”
Lin Feilu replied, “Sure.”
Xi Xingjiang grinned and said, “Then first you must call me Brother Xingjiang. Maybe if I feel good about it, I might even present it to you now.”
The little bean angrily shouted back at him, “Xi Xingjiang! You shameless…!”
Xi Xingjiang was taken aback for a moment, then he became overjoyed, “What are you scolding me for? This little beanie has no respect for seniority.”
Lin Feilu scowled and made faces at him.
Traces of snow were swept up by cold winds as they rose from the snowpile then fluttered down. The sun retracted further into the clouds, and not a single ray of sunlight was to be seen. Xi Xingjiang was worried that it was about to snow and it would be difficult to traverse. Thus, they did not stay any longer, as Lin Feilu snugly bound herself in her cloak, they left the hunting grounds together.
After that day, there was heavy snowfall for a few days. By now, snow had built up to a height of almost half a person, and sounds of snow-clearing could be heard everywhere in the Imperial Palace.
When Lin Feilu followed Xiao Lan to greet Consort Xian, she heard her chant a few words of prayer. If snow continued to fall and turned into a snowstorm, it was likely that the civilians would face the brunt of this disaster. Emperor Lin was concerned for the welfare of his subjects, thus he had been in talks with his ministers for a solution every day. As such, he had not entered the Imperial Harem for a long time.
Of course, the concubines of the Imperial Harem could not care less about the livelihood of common folk. They only look forward to the emperor’s visits to the Imperial Harem and hope he would flip their nameplates more often.
(T/N: Officially, how the emperor decides to sleep with his concubines is by the order of their ovulation cycles. On top of that, since there are more concubines than is accounted for in the days of the month, the emperor is presented a tray of wooden plates with the names of his concubines on it. He would randomly pick one to flip over then proceed to sleep with the selected concubine. Sometimes, the emperor completely forgoes this process and would frequently visit his favorite concubines instead. That is why it was considered a big deal if the emperor decided to visit at the drop of the hat, since that meant you had his favor and attention.)
As Consort Xian was speaking, suddenly the topic seemed to turn towards Xiao Lan. Seeing Xiao Lan had lowered her head as she embroidered a flower, suddenly Consort Xian smiled and asked, “Honorable Lady Lan hasn’t seen His Majesty for many years now, isn’t that right?”
Xiao Lan’s fingers trembled slightly, almost stabbing herself with the needle. She whispered back, “Consort Xian is right. It has already been four or five years.”
Consort Xian looked at Lin Feilu, who was eating snacks next to her, and sighed, “So, even Little Lu has never seen her father for so many years.”