The palace servants in the Yangxin Palace smiled when they saw Lin Feilu, “After a year of being away, the Fifth Princess is finally back in the palace. His Majesty could never stop ranting about it. His Highness King Qi is inside as well, so please enter, Your Highness.”
When Lin Feilu walked into the hall, she saw that Emperor Lin was leaning on the soft cushion. The stove in the halls was burning and steaming, warming the room. Lin Ting was sitting on the chair below as the father and son duo were chatting with a smile.
She shouted ‘Father Emperor’ happily, and Emperor Lin couldn’t help but sit up straighter, “My Little Five has finally returned ; come over and let me take a good look.”
Lin Feilu ran over with a smile as she hugged his arm and acted coquettishly. Emperor Lin patted her head and his slightly worn out expression couldn’t help but be a bit sad, “It’s been no longer than a year. And yet, it seems like I have gotten older; even my Little Fifth Princess has become a big girl now.”
Lin Feilu said, “Father Emperor is not old; you’re in your prime!”
Emperor Lin smiled and said, “It’s just your sweet mouth. Just now I was just telling your Imperial Eldest brother that you will be ready to marry after the spring. I already have a few houses outside the palace prepared for you, but you can choose one of them another day. Then, we’ll pick an auspicious day to give the plaque of the house a repair, and after your birthday, you can leave the palace and live alone.”
Lin Feilu forgot about it.
Lin Ting said with a smile, “Father Emperor said that our Fourth brother was the one who handled the selection of the houses. Once the year started, he started to busy himself with this matter— apparently seeming to be more concerned about it than you are.”
Lin Jingyuan secured the title of King Jing last year and was given a mansion outside the palace. He was also engaged with Mu Tingyun, the daughter of the Left Imperial Clerk.
The Imperial Clerks were of the second rank. The Metropolitan Court, together with the Ministry of Punishment and the Da Li Temple, was also known as the Three Judicial Divisions.
The Metropolitan Court was also divided into the left and right positions. In fact, the boy Ran Ye, who Xi Xingjiang violently beat up due to his desire to pursue Lin Feilu, was the son of the Right Imperial Clerk.
Lin Feilu did not expect that even Lin Jingyuan would have a wife selected for him within a year, so she was surprised and delighted, “I’ll go and find the Imperial Fourth brother in a while and thank him in person!”
The three of them chatted about the interesting things they had seen while traveling around over the past year. Lin Feilu also handed over his notebook to Emperor Lin, which recorded the unruly court officials that she had encountered and some suspected injustices. She hoped that Emperor Lin would follow up with investigations later on.
Lin Ting had already sent a letter to inform about the matter of King Pingyu before. Emperor Lin had no feelings for this royal brother, but because of his royal blood, he named him the King of a county.
Now that the Emperor had heard about the unjust deeds and flamboyant lifestyle, who was actually living a more debauched life than himself, Emperor Lin had already sent some officials to investigate. In the end, the matter was as true as the information that he had received from Lin Ting. He revoked the title of King Pingyu, took ownership of the Jinling City and demoted him to a commoner.
For a person like that, such a punishment might be worse than killing him outright.
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