Remarrying Chun Yuan

Chapter 372 Nickname

"Why?" the Empress asked, utterly perplexed. "I swear to the heavens that if what I just said was a lie, may I be struck by lightning!"

"I truly hope that you can enter the royal ancestral hall and become a royal heir... You should know that His Majesty has been living in constant fear and even feeling extremely guilty over the years. He often goes to the ancestral hall to offer incense and apologize, lamenting that he has failed to raise a fine and outstanding successor."

"Although the Crown Prince is my son, I know he is foolish. If he had a good minister to assist him, he would be alright. But now, for his own selfish desires, he has disregarded all principles and lost even the last shred of dignity. I cannot abandon the people of Daqi for his sake." The Empress was truly anxious. "Yuan Cuo, I beg you."

Yuan Cuo shook his head, "I have no doubt that what Your Majesty the Empress said was false. It is just that I myself did not want to join the royal family of the Great Qi."

"If I may be so bold as to speak, they never asked about me when they gave birth to me, and they never asked about me when they abandoned me. Because of this identity, I indirectly caused my adoptive parents to be killed. I have been self-reliant for more than ten years, and now they suddenly want to recognize me back into the royal family? In my opinion, this is an extremely ridiculous thing."

Yuan Cuo said respectfully, "I do not recognize the royal family, nor do I recognize the one from the Chu Kingdom. In this life, I only recognize Yuechu as my wife and the two children she bore for me. That is all."

His words were calm and detached, without any hesitation or perfunctoriness.

His refusal to admit it was not due to conflicting interests or cowardice, but rather to resentment and grievances as a junior, which left the Empress speechless for a moment.

"Really? Won't you reconsider?" The Empress was taken aback by his words and was speechless for a moment.

Yuan Cuo nodded very seriously, "I will not consider it anymore. I am grateful for Your Majesty's grace and even more grateful for the Empress's righteous support."

"I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position..."

The Empress didn't know what words could soothe the heartache she had endured for over a decade.

She understood perfectly well that if Yuan Cuo hadn't been exceptionally capable and if things hadn't become so urgent, Emperor Qi Xiao would never have opened up his past stains and scars and gritted his teeth to admit his past mistakes.

Even if Yuan Cuo tried to associate himself with the imperial family, he would make Yuan Cuo a dead man who could not speak for himself.

But now it's not a matter of whether Emperor Qi Xiao acknowledges him or not, but that Yuan Cuo refuses to acknowledge him.

For some reason, the Empress felt a sense of vengeful pleasure.

Yuan Cuo smiled slightly, his expression refined, "Empress has also been wronged."

The Empress choked up, turned away, and swallowed back the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"Let's not keep them waiting any longer, let's go check on the beginning of the month."

Since it doesn't make sense, there's no need to dwell on it.

The Empress continued to walk hand in hand with Yuan Cuo to Yuanchu Pavilion, also to make the visit today a success.

Liu Yuechu was naturally unable to come out to greet the Empress, and the Empress did not ask her to kowtow.

Once inside, after looking at the two little ones, he saw that the Empress had given them a considerable reward.

"Do they have names yet?" The Empress looked at the two adorable little ones, and her earlier displeasure vanished.

Those cherry-red lips and crystal-clear face reminded her of when she gave birth to the Crown Prince; he was just as adorable then. It was only because he grew up to be so cowardly and stupid that she could only blame herself for not raising him properly.

"They haven't chosen a name yet. There's too much controversy. My godmother and my brother Zhongyao don't agree. Old Master Zhuang also specially sent someone to deliver the message, wanting to choose a name for them."

“Yuan Cuo wants to make the decision himself, and there’s been a lot of arguing and no conclusion yet.”

Liu Zhong was naturally eager to try, but Liu Yuechu still refused to forgive him and hadn't even let him see the two children, though Liu Zhong had already written down their names.

Liu Yuechu was also very distressed. She gave birth to the child, but her opinion was not asked at all when naming the child.

However, naming a child is a troublesome task, so she wasn't really keen on arguing about it.

"His Majesty has mentioned giving them names these days, but he didn't expect them to be born so early. They haven't had a chance yet. Once His Majesty's decree is issued, their efforts will be in vain. These two little ones are the lucky stars of the Great Qi, so His Majesty naturally values ​​them very much." The Empress smiled and touched the soft, jade-like little hand, feeling very happy.

Liu Yuechu looked at Yuan Cuo thoughtfully. Could it be that he had agreed to join the royal family?

Yuan Cuo smiled and gave her a look. "The nicknames are simple and have already been decided. The daughter will be called Tuanzi and the son will be called Baozi."

"..."

The Empress and Liu Yuechu were speechless for a moment.

"If you dare call me that, I'll divorce you!" Liu Yuechu punched him angrily, but Yuan Cuo didn't feel any pain and held her hand tightly. "Divorce is impossible, and what's wrong with this name? A humble name is easy to raise."

"What was Minister Yuan's childhood name?" the Empress asked, deliberately trying to amuse herself.

Yuan Cuo: "..."

Liu Yuechu's eyes lit up.

The maids were also watching from the side, their eyes darting around expectantly.

Although the son-in-law treated them kindly, he possessed an imposing air without being angry. At this moment, a joke would be ideal, otherwise the atmosphere would be too oppressive.

"I don't have a childhood name." Yuan Cuo was clearly lying.

Liu Yuechu persisted, "Will you tell me or not? You deliberately concealed the truth from the Empress, which is also a crime of deceiving the Emperor."

Yuan Cuo: Whose real daughter-in-law is this?

"It's all just amusing stuff, why hide it? Perhaps if your childhood nickname were revealed, it would be related to your talent and intelligence, and you could use that as a starting point to think about the children at the beginning of the month." The Empress was naturally trying to please them.

Liu Yuechu nodded. "Your Majesty the Empress is right. Besides, it's just a childhood name. If my husband has to hide it, then what about something much bigger...?"

Yuan Cuo: "Tiedan."

"???" The Empress was momentarily surprised and even more incredulous. "The Minister of Works is a man of great talent. How could he have such a down-to-earth name?"

Liu Yuechu was also surprised. She had deliberately tried to stir up trouble and ask questions, but she didn't expect to get such a ridiculous answer.

"As I just said, a humble name makes it easier to raise someone. When I was first taken in by my adoptive parents, I was indeed seriously ill and had a lot of medicinal herbs with me." Yuan Cuo was truly helpless.

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Then came a burst of laughter.

Seeing that Liu Yuechu was almost laughing to tears, Yuan Cuo could only feel sorry for her and asked, "Are you satisfied now?"

"It's all my husband's fault for not telling me sooner, otherwise you wouldn't have lost face in front of the Empress." Liu Yuechu really didn't mean it; who would have thought his childhood name was so corny?

The Empress couldn't help but chuckle, but then felt a pang of bitterness.

She hadn't laughed so freely in a long time... Life outside the palace was wonderful.

After a few brief words, the Empress presented Liu Yuechu with a gift.

After giving it to her, she returned to the palace without giving Liu Yuechu a chance to open it and consider whether to accept it.

After seeing the Empress off, the group hurriedly returned to Liu Yuechu's courtyard.

Liu Yuechu stared at the string of jade prayer beads, puzzled. "Shouldn't I have accepted this?"