Lin Feilu was despondent for several days, feeling guilty over the death of that palace guard. Every day, apart from praying to Buddha, she was either reading or practicing her writing. Some days, she was unwilling to even leave her room.
Today, when she was teaching Song Yu to write her name in the room, suddenly she heard the sound of pebbles hitting against her half-opened window.
Gradually, more and more pebbles were being thrown and struck against the window like a torrential rain. Song’yu had a quiet and introverted personality, thus she was scared of all this ruckus. However, she still remembered her oath to serve and protect her master, thus she mustered every fibre of her being to investigate the cause behind the noise. Lin Feilu thought of Song Jinglan first when she heard the noise, but she quickly denied it.
Making such a ruckus during the day under this beautiful blue sky was not something that pretty boy would do.
She called Song’yu to stand back as she walked over to open the window by herself. It was not snowing anymore. The sun was barely peeking out from behind the clouds, casting a few crowns of light from above. There was snow piling on the branches and the eaves of their house. It was a sea of white, thus, Xi Xingjiang, who was dressed in black while sitting in a tree, was particularly conspicuous.
He loaded another slingshot in his hand and was aiming at her window. When he saw her opening the window, he released the slingshot with a smile and whistled at her.
Lin Feilu angrily cursed, “You-! Bad boy!”
Xi Xingjiang was not bothered. He dangled his feet leisurely and asked with a smile, “Little bean, where is my gift?”
So many things happened in the past few days that she had completely forgotten about it. Looking at her reaction, Xi Xingjiang lowered his head slightly, then suddenly he spoke in a loud voice, “Wow, so you forgot about it? You little liar.”
Once he finished speaking, he slammed the soles of his feet on the tree trunk. His entire being flew down from the tree, gliding in the air, and floated to her window.
He propped his upper body against the window sill, and raised his hand to grab and tug her hair bun.
Lin Feilu grabbed her head and backed away, fiercely retorting, “I did not forget!”
Xi Xingjiang stretched out his hand bluntly, “Then give it to me!”
Lin Feilu glared at him before turning around and instructing Song’yu who was frightened by this scene, “Go and get the hand cream in my makeup box.”
Song’yu quickly went to retrieve it, and Xi Xingjiang was a little curious when she heard her mentioning the words ‘hand cream’. When it was delivered to her hands, she opened the lid — it was fragrant and soft. Suddenly he looked disgusted, “What is this?”
Lin Feilu replied, “Hand cream! Apply it on your hands to protect your palms from frostbite! If you don’t want it, then return it back to me!”
Xi Xingjiang took a look at her and stuffed it into his breast pocket, “Who said I don’t want it?”
He smiled and leaned over, propping his head up with an elbow on the window sill. “Little bean, I heard that a few days ago, someone died in the Imperial Palace?”
He only brought it up on a whim. He did not expect Lin Feilu to become uneasy at the mention of this news, even the maid beside her had bowed her head down in a stiff manner.
Xi Xingjiang was taken aback. His previously frivolous posture immediately became a little bewildered as he panicked to say something else. “Eh nevermind, I was just asking casually. Were you frightened?” He reached out and patted her small head. He attempted to console her with his childlike logic, “It’s alright, there’s nothing to be afraid of. After all it’s just one dead person, right? I have seen many more dead people on the battlefield.”
Lin Feilu: “…”