Chapter 65: Yao Yao’s Name

The palace attendants standing beside the Emperor turned pale when they saw Yao Yao not bowing and instead staring straight at the imperial face with her big, black eyes.

The Emperor was the supreme sovereign—how could a little girl dare look at him like that?

Even if the Heir of Chengming Marquis held imperial favor, he shouldn’t allow his people to be disrespectful toward the Emperor!

As for the little heir, that was one thing, but what was the identity of this girl?

Just as everyone assumed the Emperor’s frown was due to displeasure at being stared at, his close aide, Li Yunsheng, was about to scold Yao Yao for her lack of manners—when suddenly, the Emperor smiled and beckoned to her.
“You’re the distant relative of the Chengming Marquis he mentioned to Us?”

The Emperor’s voice was gentle, lacking even a trace of his usual authority.

When facing the little girl, even his gaze softened involuntarily.

Even Li Yunsheng, who had long served by the Emperor’s side, had never seen him like this.

Although everyone inside and outside the palace knew the Emperor doted on Noble Consort Wei’s daughter, Princess Junhe—spoiling her to the point of lawlessness—Li Yunsheng, always at the Emperor’s side, knew the truth.

If the Emperor truly loved his children, he wouldn’t indulge them.

The pampering of Princess Junhe and allowing her to run wild in the harem was merely a tactic in the game of power.

The Emperor was no naïve child—he did not wear his emotions openly.

But now, as he looked into Yao Yao’s clear and bright eyes, a strange sense of familiarity surged even more strongly.

Despite reading over a hundred memorials daily and managing lingering affairs of state while conversing with ministers, the Emperor had an excellent memory. He had been able to recall everything he truly took to heart since childhood.

The mention of this girl had only come casually from the Chengming Marquis while they were playing chess at the Hall of Mental Cultivation. The Marquis had briefly mentioned taking in a distant relative, a little girl about four or five years old.

The Emperor hadn’t given it much thought at the time and casually told him to bring the child to the palace.

But the palace guest list had already been finalized, and it was too late to add more names. So, the Emperor instructed the Marquis to include the girl on the list of accompanying servant girls, allowing her to enter under the guise of a maid and bypass some red tape.

Since it was a direct imperial order, the Chengming Marquis didn’t refuse and passed the message to Lady Wei upon returning.

At the time, the Chengming Marquis’s residence was caught in a storm. Lady Wei hadn’t expected her own maternal family to have just left the capital before her husband’s family stirred up trouble again.

Over the course of the New Year, the Xie family had failed to gain anything. They were now facing hardship and poverty.

When the last of their money was nearly gone, the old couple of the Xie family, unable to bear seeing their sons and grandsons starve or freeze, waited until the Marquis was out of the residence, Young Master Xie had entered the palace, and the Wei family had moved out. At that precise moment, they spent their last two taels of silver to hire someone to create trouble.

Lady Wei, faced with a sharp-tongued common woman, found herself at a loss. She couldn’t drive her away, nor did the woman enter the house.

Before Lady Wei could come up with a solution, the woman suddenly charged into the crowd and dragged a young maiden toward the Marquis’s carriage, throwing her under the hooves.

“If the Marquis doesn’t want you, then neither do I! If you’ve got any guts, go beg the Lady to take you in! If you don’t, then go smash your head and die!”

After venting her anger, the woman left the girl sobbing in place.

The onlookers only watched for amusement.

The disturbance caused quite a scene—especially the girl’s weeping, like a flower in the rain, invoking pity.

Even Lady Wei couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy.

It wasn’t until the girl knelt before her, begging desperately for a chance to live, that Lady Wei realized she had been targeted in a scam.

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In the palace.

When Yao Yao heard the Emperor ask whether she was the Chengming Marquis’s distant relative, her chubby face showed nothing but confusion.

“Distant relative?”

What’s a distant relative?

She didn’t understand and tilted her head, looking at the Emperor, her watery eyes blinking.
“Uncle, what’s a distant relative?”

Everyone around them froze—this little girl not only showed no fear of the Emperor but actually called him “Uncle.”

Though the Emperor was indeed old enough to be called “Uncle,” this wasn’t the kind of “Uncle” one used for the Emperor! How daring she was!

Even the Emperor himself was surprised by the title, but he found it rather amusing.

Everyone in the palace feared and revered him—even the Empress had grown distant.

He remembered when he first married the Empress, they had once shared tender moments.

But after ascending the throne and filling the harem with new women, the two gradually drifted apart.

He had tried to repair their relationship, but Consort Wei always interfered.

Now that the Empress was pregnant again, he finally found a chance to reconnect with her.

Perhaps that was why his mood had been fairly pleasant lately.

The Emperor explained to Yao Yao gently,
“A distant relative means a family member. Are you the Chengming Marquis’s family?”

As he spoke, his gaze unconsciously shifted to Xie Yihang.

After observing for some time, he could tell the young heir was different from ordinary children.

The little girl feared nothing—likely due to innocence and ignorance of his identity.

But the young heir of the Chengming Marquis was no longer that young. Boys his age, when entering the palace, wouldn’t even dare lift their heads—only he remained calm like Yao Yao.

Without hesitation, Yao Yao replied,
“I’m Persimmon Brother’s family, not Uncle Marquis’s family.”

The Emperor let out a chuckle.

He actually understood what she meant.

This little girl had clearly taken the young heir as the head of the Marquis’s household. It seemed the Chengming Marquis didn’t command much authority at home.

Li Yunsheng, standing beside the Emperor, couldn’t help but laugh.
“Miss, the Heir and the Marquis are part of the same family.”

“Exactly.”

Yao Yao didn’t understand why they were laughing. She had answered very seriously.

Persimmon Brother had said he would be her family, but Uncle Marquis hadn’t said that.

Seeing the girl’s troubled expression, the Emperor didn’t make things difficult for her and instead asked,
“What’s your name?”

“Yao Yao,” she answered sweetly, tilting her head.

“Yao Yao?”

A sudden image flashed in the Emperor’s mind. The little girl from the Yu family who once dared to pee on his robes was also named Yao Yao.

He had named her himself.

At first, he’d called her “Niao Niao” (a gentle name), but later found it inappropriate and changed it to “Yao Yao.”

Yao Yao of the Divine Capital, a radiant fairy—he had drawn the name from that imagery.

“Which ‘Yao’?” the Emperor asked once he returned to his senses.

Yao Yao lifted her chubby hand and traced characters in the air while mumbling,
“One ‘wood,’ one ‘sun.’ That’s how you write Yao Yao. Persimmon Brother taught me how to write my name.”

“You can write?” The Emperor was surprised.

Royal children started their education early—by five or six they could read.

But writing usually began after the age of seven.

Because of her round build, Yao Yao looked even shorter than others her age.

The Emperor had assumed she was only about four years old, still in the playful stage—not the kind to sit still and study.

Even Princess Junhe had only just started school this year.

And she was already six, yet hadn’t held a brush before.

Yao Yao noticed the surprise in the Emperor’s eyes and thought he didn’t believe her. She immediately puffed out her little chest and declared with full confidence,
“Of course! Persimmon Brother said Yao Yao is super smart. After the New Year, he’s going to teach me to read a book called The Analects!”