Lin Feilu didn’t get to know the Empress Dowager for long— not as much as Lin Zhanyuan, anyways. And at the beginning, she approached her Imperial Grandmother with purpose and schemes to get special treatment.
However, the warmth in their relationship in the latter years was not fake as she didn’t merely address her as ‘Imperial Grandmother’ without having any sort of feelings. Lin Feilu still wanted to take Lin Zhanyuan to Mount Wutai to accompany her for a while after this winter, but who would have thought that last winter was the final moment between grandmother and her grandchild?
Though there were sobs and sounds of wails all around, how many of them were truly real?
Lin Feilu threw a handful of millet stalks into the brazier and said silently in her heart, Imperial Grandmother, have a pleasant journey.
With the passing of the Empress Dowager, according to the Great Lin Empire’s ancestral system, all the descendants of the royal family will have to carry out their filial piety for two years. During this period, celebrations and entertainment were forbidden in the capital as everyone should mourn together.
Not long after the Empress Dowager’s funeral, it was the New Year. The palace cancelled the year-round banquet and the reunion banquet. This was the most deserted New Year’s Lin Feilu had experienced since her transmigration.
The marriage of the Second Prince Lin Jiwen was originally scheduled for the beginning of spring, but now there was no choice but to have it postponed. Lin Feilu and Lin Wei, who have yet to be engaged, also naturally placed their plans on hold. Finally, Emperor Lin no longer force her to choose a husband, which made her life much easier.
After being comforted by Lin Feilu that people would turn into stars in the sky after death, Lin Zhanyuan finally stopped crying. He sat on the threshold every night looking at the stars, hoping to find out which one was his Imperial Grandmother.
After they buried the Empress Dowager in the Imperial Mausoleum, Lin Ting petitioned to go there to keep vigil for a year. Emperor Lin felt ashamed that he had not fulfilled his duties as a son and needed to entrust one of his sons to take his place, so he granted his wish.
After the snow melted, the capital city that had been silent for many months finally ushered in the arrival of spring. Although the country was still mourning, the people didn’t have to keep wallowing in sorrow because it was considered a joyous funeral. Apart from hosting happy events and participating in entertainment, everyone could do what they wanted to and live their own lives as they wished.
Compared with the Empress Dowager’s death, what attracted Emperor Lin and his courtiers’ attention was actually the Song Empire’s actions in the past two years.
Since the battle for the free city 2 years ago, the Song and Great Lin Empires have never confronted each other. They were both stationed at their borders to train their soldiers, remaining alert about everything that concerned the opposing party.
When spring was about to enter, there was an urgent report from the frontier, saying that the frontier defence of the Song Empire seemed to have been mobilised and the garrison horses had been increased. The Imperial Court immediately waited with the full force of their army as Emperor Lin dispatched his generals, waiting for the Song Empire to declare war against them. As a result, after anxiously waiting, the news of the Song Empire sending troops to attack the Wei Kingdom, which was huddled in the southern border, came.
The world knew that the Great Lin Empire, the Song Empire, and the Yong Kingdom were the three pillars that constantly confronted each other. However, many small countries like the Wei Kingdom took advantage of the past melees as a diversion, establishing themselves as the Kings of their own countries.
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