Song Jinglan nodded and was going to lean over in order to carry her. Before he could do so, Lin Feilu hurriedly said, “I’ll walk by myself this time!”

He raised his eyebrows, “Weren’t you tired?”

Lin Feilu pulled his hand and intertwined their fingers. She clasped them tightly together and shook her head with a smile, “Just hold my hand.”

He smiled, gently sweeping her long hair that brushed against her cheek, “Mmhm, let’s go.”

Not long after, the people in the camp could see that His Majesty had returned with Princess Yong An. Seeing that the Princess was alive and well, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Amitabha, everything went well; God indeed was merciful to her.

After a night’s rest, the convoy continued to set off from camp.

The Song Empire was located in the south and had always been known as fertile land. After passing through the barren border, the surrounding lands gradually became prosperous. The farming and commerce sections were arranged in an organised manner, and the customs differed from those in the Great Lin Empire. The Canal Towns(2), the softly spoken native dialects; each and every part of the Empire had its own specific characteristic and style.

(T/N: Canal Towns, also known as Water Towns, are ancient towns that are built around a body of water such as rivers and canals. These towns also have many bridges)

Lin Feilu celebrated her 18th birthday on the road.

Throughout the previous years, the climate would still hover around springtime in the Great Lin Empire in this particular month. However, the shadow of summer was already looming over the south. Even so, there were enough supplies when passing through the official gates across the land. There were also enough ice cubes to cool off the sweltering heat, so the carriage was still quite cooling.

As soon as the weather got hotter, Lin Feilu didn’t want to wander around the streets anymore. Only stopping for meal breaks and short rests, the convoy finally sped up their progress.

Lin Feilu had actually forgotten about her birthday.

Too many things have happened during this time, and she had been on the road for a long time. Coupled with the change of weather, Lin Feilu’s concept of time was blurred, so she didn’t even remember it was her birthday today. After getting into the carriage, she sat on the couch with one leg atop the other and looked through the scripts of a few plays she had picked up a few days ago.

Just as she was reading the part where the protagonist and the heroine were having a secret rendezvous before being bumped into by the heroine’s parents, her feet that were dangling in the air were suddenly held by a pair of somewhat cold hands.

She didn’t look back and merely kicked her foot in protest.

Lin Feilu then smiled, but felt something cool wrap around her legs. She was feeling sort of coquettish but was also half surprised, “What are you doing?”

Upon looking at her leg, she saw a red ankle chain.

Lin Feilu turned over and sat up. Uncrossing her legs, she lifted her feet and looked closely at the anklet.

There was a thin chain made of unknown material, but it was exquisite and beautiful. Sporting a bloody red hue, it hung on her fair ankle, which made it particularly eye-catching. The grandest part of it was at the buckle of the chain— a red phoenix with its head and tail linked together.

The phoenix was the representative of an Empress in ancient times.