After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 57

“Name… what name?” the Emperor hesitated and asked, “Rong…”

 

“…not the name of this body.” Zhou Xun, who had buried his face in his knees, spoke in a muffled voice, “Your own name…”

 

“Your name, from before you came here.”

 

“…”

 

Zhou Xun felt the cushion beside him sink slightly; he knew this indentation came from the Emperor’s weight.

 

He had sat down beside him.

 

“Why do you want to know my name?”

 

The Emperor asked him.

 

“Because…” Zhou Xun said, grateful that he was wearing a mask, “I want to know who it is I’m talking to.”

 

He knew this person was not the original Emperor.

 

He also knew that this person’s original name wasn’t Rong Xuan.

 

But he wanted to know… he wanted to know who this person was, the one who nonchalantly hung peaches on the tree, the one who easily confided in him, the one who had just tried to take off his mask, the one who barged into his world without warning and showered him with sunlight when he was unprepared…

 

Who exactly was he?

 

He wanted to see through this façade, beyond the identity of the Emperor and the appearance of “Rong Xuan,” to see him.

 

“My name…” The Emperor rarely faltered, “My old name wasn’t very nice.”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The Emperor: “It wasn’t just not nice, it was very common.”

 

He hemmed and hawed for a long time, not so much concealing as feeling embarrassed. Zhou Xun looked up at him and tugged at his sleeve.

 

The Emperor quickly mumbled two words indistinctly. Zhou Xun said, “I didn’t hear that.”

 

The Emperor: …

 

“…Can I use my online name?” The Emperor pleaded, “Something like ‘Nine Night Sorrow’ or ‘Lord Don’t Laugh’…”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The Emperor took a deep breath, leaned close to Zhou Xun’s ear, and said two clear words.

 

“Hao Yu!” The Emperor said, as if giving up any desire to live, “My name is Hao Yu!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

“Don’t laugh at me!” The Emperor cried out miserably, “In my time, this name was very common, really. If you threw a brick, you’d hit seven or eight Hao Yu’s and ninety Zi Xuan’s… Fine.”

 

He covered his head and began to feel dejected, “This name really is cheesy, isn’t it?”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The Emperor: “Sigh, I wanted to come up with a cooler name just now, but alas…”

 

“Although many people might have this name, it has a good meaning.” Zhou Xun said seriously, looking at the Emperor who was covering his head, “Your parents must have loved you very much and had high expectations for you.”

 

The Emperor: …

 

“For some reason,” he said, “when you put it that way, I suddenly feel like my name is quite nice, warm, even though it’s still very common and not a unique name like the protagonists in Long Aotian novels…”

 

“Perhaps in your world, many people have this name. But among them, I only know you.” Zhou Xun said.

 

“When I hear this name in the future, I’ll only think of you.”

 

…

 

Seeing the tag with his number drawn by the celestial lady, Xie Zhengqing looked at his badge as if he had been burned.

 

“Nonsense!”

 

“Lao Xie, Lao Xie!” His friend, seeing Xie Zhengqing drop the tag and try to flee, grabbed his arm with a mischievous smile, “The lady is waiting for you, don’t be in such a hurry to leave!”

 

Several servants also rushed up, grabbing Xie Zhengqing, who was trying to escape. “Young Master, the celestial lady is still waiting downstairs! You can’t just leave without saying a word…”

 

People who were watching started whispering. Xie Zhengqing, held by several people, couldn’t forcefully shake them off, so he said, “Just let her draw another one! I really can’t…”

 

“Young Master, it’s been the rule of Yan Yun Pavilion for many years; we’ve never seen a guest who was unhappy to be an honored guest and instead tried to leave. This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for the lady, a grand occasion. If you leave like this… how embarrassed would she be?” One of the scrawny servants said. Xie Zhengqing, who had been struggling, paused in thought.

 

Seeing Xie Zhengqing seemed to be considering, the servant continued to fan the flames. “Young Master, don’t misunderstand. Our celestial lady only performs; she doesn’t sell her body. If you go, she’ll just chat with you, play the pipa…”

 

“Fine.” Xie Zhengqing finally said, “Take me up.”

 

Seeing Xie Zhengqing’s figure disappear downstairs, the man plucking the strings in the flower pavilion squinted his eyes.

 

“Master, the fish has taken the bait,” said a man in black standing beside him. Through the beaded curtain, they could see everything happening on the street below—from the celestial lady’s procession, to the drawing of the marked bamboo slip, to the few words spoken by the scrawny servant, and finally to Xie Zhengqing being surrounded by several people and escorted into the restaurant.

 

The man addressed as “Master” had handsome features, but his thin cheeks gave him a sinister and eerie aura. He wore purple clothes and a silver mask. In front of him was a strange instrument, neither quite a qin nor a pipa. The instrument had only three strings, and under his fingers, it produced faint, ethereal sounds.

 

This was not a native instrument of the Jing Kingdom; even Zhou Xun wouldn’t be able to recognize its origin if he were here.

 

“The night view of the capital is beautiful; it truly lives up to its reputation as the ‘City that Never Sleeps’ of Jing Kingdom.” The man’s voice was hoarse, “The qin and zither of the Jing Kingdom are also nice, but after all…”

 

They are not from Da Liang.

 

“Master, a few days ago, spies from the Da Liang royal city sent a secret message. The third prince is dissatisfied with the empress regent. Using the pretext of privately managing a horse farm, they quarreled endlessly, causing the emperor to be furious.”

 

“The empress cannot bear children, and although the third prince is her adopted son, he is not her biological child. From the day she killed his mother to take him, she should have known this day would come.” The man in purple spoke leisurely, “These are the repercussions of the emperor’s past actions. He killed his own brother for the throne, committing fratricide, yet pretended to be a loving brother, claiming to manage state affairs temporarily, and raising his brother’s only child while secretly humiliating him… Ha, the royal family of Da Liang is truly interesting.”

 

“Master, a few days ago, the empress sent people to secretly hunt you down again. The emperor’s claim to the throne is not legitimate, and as the orphan of the late emperor, you are the rightful heir. She still feels uneasy about you,” the man in black said, his face showing some resentment, “You have already been exiled in Jing Kingdom for several years because of them, and they still won’t let you go!”

 

“Zheng—!”

 

The man in purple plucked the string, and the man in black immediately fell silent.

 

“Yes, six years,” the man in purple said, glancing at the crescent moon outside the beaded curtain, “I have been in Jing Kingdom for six years now… It’s time to bring back a city defense map to please my uncle.”

 

As he spoke, his eyes under the silver mask were dark, filled with past, thick, dark memories. His lips curled into a cold smile: “How do you think my uncle will praise his nominal eldest prince, his filial son and virtuous grandson?”

 

“Master…”

 

Noises of footsteps and voices of men, along with the sound of sliding paper doors, came from outside.

 

It seemed Xie Zhengqing had been escorted upstairs into the room where the celestial lady was.

 

The paper door slid shut again.

 

From the adjacent room, faint sounds of string instruments could be heard. The “Flower” room they were in was only separated by a wall from the “Moon” room where the celestial lady was, so if there was any commotion… they might hear it here.

 

“Master, Xie Zhengqing has entered Miss Qingruo’s room. Miss Qingruo is clever; with her there, the matter of the city defense map should go smoothly,” the man in black said.

 

The man in purple remained silent. The man in black continued, “But I fear Xie Zhengqing might be too vigilant and suspect Miss Qingruo’s identity…”

 

“She has been here since she was twelve. No matter how Xie Zhengqing investigates, she is clean, with absolutely no ties to Da Liang,” the man in purple said calmly.

 

The man in black hesitated, finally saying, “But the matter of the city defense map is crucial… It is your chance to return to Da Liang and reclaim the throne. If anyone fails to keep it a secret at this stage, it could…”

 

“I found Qingruo when she was five,” the man in purple said softly, “She is mine.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The man in black withdrew.

 

He knew that Miss Qingruo was found by His Highness when she was five. At that time, she was just a little girl, nearly starved to death, crying in a pile of corpses, having lost her parents in the war. His Highness was then an ostracized prince, feared and deemed ominous by everyone in the palace.

 

From such a young age, Miss Qingruo had been following His Highness. Even the man in black had never imagined that the girl who trusted His Highness wholeheartedly would eventually become a pawn in this grand scheme without complaint or regret.

 

Because now, His Highness had nothing, and everything he could have had to be used as pawns for his revenge.

 

But tonight, besides the “Flower” room next to the “Moon” room… there were indeed better places in Yan Yun Pavilion for observing.

 

After the man in black left, the man in purple took out another secret letter from his sleeve.

 

“The plague in Xizhou…” He looked at the letter, a cold smile forming in his eyes, “My uncle has sent a big gift for ‘my’ throne.”

 

“But I didn’t expect the Jing Kingdom to act so swiftly, sending men in black to kill the bribed high priest and station soldiers to guard the medical hall in Xizhou.” The man in purple murmured, “Unfortunately, the current treatments are still ineffective, and the chaos in Xizhou will last for months. Xizhou borders Da Liang and Northern Wei. If Xizhou is in chaos, the city defense troops will be in disarray. Da Liang can take advantage of this, strike where the defenses are weak, and seize Xizhou, a strategic military location… As long as the plague in Xizhou is unresolved, Da Liang has a chance. I wonder…”

 

He suddenly laughed.

 

“Whether that initial piece of infected clothing in the water source had anything to do with Northern Wei? After all, Da Liang isn’t the only one eyeing Xizhou.”

 

He casually tossed the secret letter into the candle flame. The yellowing paper was instantly consumed by the fire.

 

“Hao Yu!”  – The name “浩宇” (Hào Yǔ) can be interpreted as follows:

 

– **浩** (Hào): This character means “vast,” “grand,” or “immense.” It often conveys a sense of greatness or something that is expansive, like the ocean or the sky.

– **宇** (Yǔ): This character typically refers to the universe, the cosmos, or the space within the heavens. It can also mean “house” or “roof,” but in the context of a name, it usually points to something grand or universal.

 

Together, “浩宇” (Hào Yǔ) can be understood to mean “vast universe” or “grand cosmos,” suggesting a sense of expansiveness, grandeur, or ambition. It’s a name that conveys significant aspirations or a broad, all-encompassing vision.