trivia

The next morning, Cui Shenzhi opened his eyes and looked anxiously at his arms, fearing that everything that had happened the day before was just a dream.

Fortunately, Ping An did not disappear; she was sleeping peacefully in his arms.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but his body involuntarily tightened its grip on Ping An, causing Ping An to grunt in dissatisfaction. He quickly released his grip and gestured to the palace servants around him to be quiet so as not to disturb Ping An's peaceful sleep.

Cui Shenzhi quietly guarded the peace for quite a while, until Qi Kang quietly reminded him that it was getting late and that if he didn't deal with government affairs soon, things would get delayed, and only then did he reluctantly leave.

Ping An woke up shortly after Cui Shenzhi left.

She sat up, and after washing up with Qiu Yan's help, she ate her breakfast while saying with some dissatisfaction, "Dingxiang is the girl I brought back from Qingshui Town."

The voice that answered "Peace" was not Qiu Yan's.

“His Highness has already returned to the palace. With Qiu Yan serving him and Aunt Qing Ya taking care of him, how could that stupid girl Ding Xiang be worthy of serving His Highness?”

Ping An lowered his eyes and gave a cold snort.

“She’s stupid? I think she’s incredibly clever, that’s why she managed to fool both me and Shenzhi. Don’t you think so?” Ping’an turned her head and said, “Princess Qiao.”

Qiao Siyu curtsied, her expression remaining unchanged.

"Your Highness is joking."

"Are you joking? Dingxiang knew Shenzhi was there, and she clearly stated the month of my pregnancy, which means she already knew the child in my belly was Shenzhi's. But Shenzhi acted as if she knew nothing. Isn't this you and her playing us for fools?"

“So that’s what Your Highness meant,” Qiao Siyu stepped forward and whispered, “Your Highness, I’m not playing tricks on you and His Majesty, but helping you and His Majesty.”

"Help us?"

Qiao Siyu nodded.

"Your Highness, you have met His Majesty. You should know how His Majesty has been doing since you left."

Ping An thought about how Cui Shenzhi had obviously lost a lot of weight, what she had heard from Qiu Yan yesterday, and everything she had seen with her own eyes, and said with a hint of anger at his lack of ambition, "So what?"

"So you should be able to see that His Majesty's situation has not been good since you left. Let alone marrying and having children, it's unknown how long he will live. The reason you were able to live freely among the common people is because of the Qiao family's support, and the Qiao family's support... is inseparable from His Majesty's influence."

“If His Majesty were to die young without an heir, the world would surely descend into chaos, and the deal between the Qiao family and His Majesty would naturally be null and void. Your Highness, you are a woman with a great fortune but no power, influence, or protection. You are no different from a child carrying a thousand pieces of gold in the bustling marketplace. What do you think your fate will be?”

"That's why I asked Dingxiang to seize the opportunity to bring them together. It's not only because of my ambition to make the Qiao family the top merchant family for generations, but also for His Majesty, and even more so for you."

Ping An pouted.

"Come on, no one in this world can't live without someone else, let alone an emperor who owns the whole country."

But despite saying that, a voice deep inside Ping An was telling her, 'What if?'

What if Cui Shenzhi really can't live without her? After all, Cui Shenzhi is so weak-willed. Although he is an emperor, he can be bullied by anyone. She was bullied like that after only three months away. If she really doesn't come back, Cui Shenzhi might be bullied to death.

Qiao Siyu looked at the worried expression on Ping An's face and raised her eyebrows with a hint of smugness and playfulness.

*****

In the days that followed, Ping An and Cui Shenzhi practically spent all their time together.

Ping An didn't really want to, but every time she tried to leave, Cui Shenzhi's expression looked just like that of a pitiful abandoned puppy. The palace servants around her, especially Qiu Yan, looked at her as if she wasn't going out for a walk, but rather as a heartless woman who was about to abandon Cui Shenzhi and leave.

The two were either handling government affairs together in the Qianqing Palace, or studying Ping An's belly, guessing whether the child in her womb was a boy or a girl, and discussing what name to give it.

"Ping An, if it's a boy, how about we name him Xianzhi? It means 'I envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals,'" Cui Shenzhi said hopefully as he held Ping An. "If it's a girl, how about we name her Youyi? It means 'The phoenix comes to pay homage,' okay?"

Ping An felt a lump in her throat.

I envy not the immortals, but only the loving couple...

Name a boy like that? Are they expecting him to grow up to be a love-obsessed idiot? Can't they hope for something better in Choi Shin-ji?!

Ping An wanted to retort, but seeing Cui Shenzhi staring intently at her, she couldn't say anything.

Forget it, let love and romance fill your mind. It's better than being like Fu Yunjin and Cui Shenzhi. One was empress for over ten years, and the other was crown prince for many years. Now they are the founding emperor, but they both have the temperament to trample on anyone.

As for "You Feng Lai Yi" (meaning "The Phoenix Comes to Court"), although the word "phoenix" refers to the male and the female "huang," it's somewhat inappropriate to use it for a girl's name. But oh well, compared to the saying "I only envy the mandarin ducks, not the immortals," "You Feng Lai Yi" is already quite good; at least it's an auspicious omen.

only…

"And what's your surname?"

surname.

That's where things get complicated.

"As for Cui, there's no need to mention her. As for Fu... Fu Yunjin gave birth to me, so I don't mind if my child takes her surname. But I do mind if my child takes Fu Xiuzhu's surname. And my mother's surname is even more out of the question. She doesn't even use it herself, so how can she let my child use it?"

“As for your original surname…” Ping An frowned: “You said you were a son-in-law who would live with his wife’s family, so of course my child can’t take your surname.”

“That’s only right,” Cui Shenzhi quickly expressed his opinion: “Moreover, the surname Ping comes from Yan Ying, the prime minister of the State of Qi during the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a capable minister who could be compared with Guan Zhong in the Records of the Grand Historian. It is an excellent surname.”

After a moment of silence, Ping An shouted, "Say your last name again! Which surname?!"

Cui Shenzhi immediately realized that he had misunderstood.

"I misunderstood. What surname do you want for the child?"

Ping An glanced at Cui Shenzhi with some disdain, then had Qiu Yan bring over a box containing crumpled paper with the Hundred Family Surnames. She reached out, randomly picked one out, and unfolded it in front of Cui Shenzhi.

Cui Shenzhi stared at the crumpled character 'Dou' on the paper and fell silent. He wanted to say that this was too casual, but what he finally said was:

"The surname Dou is quite good. It was bestowed by Shao Kang of the Xia Dynasty to commemorate his mother, Hou Min, who sought refuge in Xue..."

“Dou?” Ping An interrupted, “Wait, let me draw another one. I don’t really like Princess Dou of the Han Dynasty. She’s really not smart. It’s fine if you don’t like Consort Li pulling Liu Rong down, but next you should find a way to push someone weak and easy to bully up, so that Chen Ajiao won’t end up in the situation of being relegated to Changmen.”

"Or rather, when facing an emperor like Emperor Wu of Han who has his own ideas and thoughts, one should know how to be humble and submissive... No, Wei Zifu's ending was not good either. It should be said that Chen Ajiao should not have been married into the Han family. Emperor Wu of Han was a cold-hearted and heartless man. It would be better for him to be his sister than his concubine."

Ping An pulled one out again, this time it was Huo.

“No, I don’t really like Huo Chengjun either,” Ping An casually tossed aside. “She wanted to be empress, so she relied on her powerful father Huo Guang to poison Xu Pingjun. Why didn’t she kill Xu Pingjun’s child as well? When Huo Guang died, she only remembered to be humble after that. That’s too unwise.”

"Besides, Huo Guang already had the power to depose and install emperors, yet Huo Chengjun only wanted to become empress. She never thought of encouraging Huo Guang to overthrow the Han Dynasty and become a princess. Hasn't she heard the saying, 'Are kings and nobles born with special privileges?' The Liu family rose to power from commoners."

Ping An pulled out another one, this time it was Zhao.

Zhao is a fairly common surname, and Ping An shouldn't have thought much of it. However, since the two surnames mentioned before it are related to the Han Dynasty and Emperor Wu of Han, she couldn't help but think of Lady Zhao, the woman from Gouyi who was forced to give up her mother and keep her child. Her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

Cui Shenzhi quickly reacted, took the crumpled paper and threw it aside, and gently said to Ping An, "Isn't Empress Lü good? Empress Lü was very smart. Not only did she make great contributions to the establishment of the Han Dynasty, but she also knew how to implement benevolent policies and allow the people to rest during the more than ten years she was in power. This not only consolidated the regime and stabilized the political situation, but also laid a solid foundation for the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing. Although she did not have the title of emperor, she had the power of an emperor. Even Sima Qian wrote a biography of Empress Lü when he compiled the Records of the Grand Historian."

“Empress Lü was indeed clever, but she worked hard all her life and ended up with nothing. Her son was gone, her grandson was gone, her Lü clan was almost wiped out, and she left behind a reputation in history books that was more bad than good. This is too unlucky.” Ping An beckoned Qiu Yan to come forward and said to Cui Shenzhi, “I can’t do it, you do it.”

Helpless, Cui Shenzhi could only reach out and grab a crumpled piece of paper, handing it to Ping An.

It's Pei.

Ping An finally showed a satisfied expression.

"Let's go with the surname Pei. We can tell everyone that your original surname was Pei. That will reduce the trouble. What do you think?"

Choi Shin-ji certainly wouldn't have any objections.

"Okay, then let's use the surname Pei. Pei Xianzhi, Pei Youyi, both sound nice."

*****

Half a month later, Lu Fengping stopped Ping An's menstrual flow through medication and acupuncture before announcing that Ping An's condition had stabilized.

The day after learning the news was the morning court session, and Ping An decided without hesitation to give everyone a big 'surprise' the next day.

Watching Ping An bouncing around, planning how to scare the ministers tomorrow, Cui Shenzhi couldn't help but shake his head with a smile, and inwardly shed a tear for the princes and ministers.

However, Cui Shenzhi underestimated Ping An.

—The next day, Ping An did not wear her court dress, but a set of casual clothes that the Imperial Household Department had made for her at some point. Although it was a casual dress, it had all twelve imperial symbols and nine dragon patterns.

Choi Shin-ji was a little confused.

"Ping An, what's wrong with you...?"

“I’m not feeling well enough to wear court robes. You wouldn’t want my child to be lost the last time I go to court, would you?”

"Of course I don't want anything to happen to you and the child, but..."

Cui Shenzhi thought for a moment and then stopped talking. To him, peace and his child were everything. As long as he didn't mess with the country and the people, he would let Ping An do whatever he wanted. If anything went wrong, he would take responsibility.

Ping An was preoccupied with how to torment the ministers, so he didn't bother to ask what he hadn't said. He leisurely sat on the imperial carriage and headed to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.