Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As soon as the Emperor returned, Su Zhongguan departed, taking the palace maids with him. Soon, only the two of us remained in the side hall.

I suddenly felt a bit awkward. Not knowing what to say, I simply kept smiling at him.

The Emperor also seemed a bit uncomfortable, but when he saw me, there was no sign of annoyance on his face. He walked over and, just like that day, patted me on the head. Only then did I realize, a step too late, that I had forgotten to salute him again. However, he didn’t look angry at all.

He really is a good person.

Even after becoming the Emperor, he is just as kind as he was when he was the Crown Prince.

The atmosphere felt a bit stagnant for a moment. Even someone as slow-witted as me felt a faint sense of being lost. Finally, the Emperor was the first to speak.

“…The register says your name is Yu Ling. May I call you Ah Ling from now on?”

“No.” I shook my head and told him bluntly, “That’s not my name.”

Being called Ah Ling felt so strange.

The Emperor was taken aback for a moment, then asked, “Then what is it?”

“Xiao Man.” I perked up and said to him with utmost seriousness, “You must call me Xiao Man, because that is my only name.” The name Yu Ling certainly wasn’t given to me by my Father or Mother; otherwise, why would I have never heard Mother call me that? It was probably… given to me by my uncle from the branch family? I wasn’t used to it at all.

However, the Emperor was very easy to talk to. He looked at me with a smile and said, “Alright, I will call you Xiao Man from now on.”

I nodded, then asked him in return, “Then how should I call you?”

I actually knew the Emperor’s name. Doukou had written it out for me to see before-though… she had traced the characters in my palm with her finger, not forgetting to warn me never to speak it aloud.

Yin Zhi-what a lovely name. It was just a pity that I didn’t recognize the characters, and they certainly didn’t recognize me.

Perhaps because my question was too blunt, the Emperor seemed a bit stunned, but he quickly recovered.

“Yin Zhi. My name is Yin Zhi.”

I mimicked his tone from a moment ago. “Your name is Yin Zhi. May I call you Ah Zhi from now on?”

The Emperor said warmly, “Alright.”

In my heart, I quietly changed my way of addressing him from ‘Emperor’ to ‘Yin Zhi,’ and then I tried speaking it aloud: “Ah Zhi?”

“Yes.”

The Emperor responded.

He really has a wonderful temperament.