Chapter 1182: Conferring a single character (1/2)

Because Long Feiye had never brought up the issue of his surname, Han Yunxi forgot all about it. Now it was directly affecting the name of their precious baby.

Drawing lessons from her own naming skills, Han Yunxi didn’t change their son’s surname but only discussed his nickname with Long Feiye. After all, the customs of the imperial clan dictated that imperial prince’s names had to be picked with care. Long Feiye should bestow one personally and then have the divination masters divine it. As he had yet to consecrate his ancestors, the matter of the son’s name would have to be left until later.

Han Yunxi thought for a bit before she grinned. “Since today’s the 15th, why don’t we nickname him ‘Fifteeth?’”

Zhao mama and the others servants were left floored. Everyone shot sympathetic looks towards the little master. As he couldn’t understand his parents at all, his eyes simply darted back and forth while his lips occasionally moved. Despite his foolish actions, it almost looked like he was scheming something.

Long Feiye was also aghast over Han Yunxi’s poor naming skills. Before he could refuse, Han Yunxi laughed and said, “In the future, he’ll learn that his nickname came from the Lantern Festival.[1] So why don’t we call him ‘Yuanxiao?’[2] Little Yuanxiao?”

Long Feiye suddenly thought of Gu Qishao. His real name should be “Gu Xiaoqi” (Gu Little Seventh) because he was born on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Although Long Feiye hadn’t reached out to Gu Beiyue or asked after his recent living quarters, he knew the time limit that the doctor gave him last time.

It was already the 15th of the first lunar month. How many days did Gu Qishao have left?

Besides the timely reports from Xu Donglin in Medical City on the fake progress of the illness, Long Feiye hadn’t gotten any letters from Gu Beiyue for a long time. Sometimes, no news was good news, but Long Feiye knew that Gu Beiyue’s “no news” was only bad news.

He lowered his voice and murmured, “He’s the eldest son and the future crown prince. You can’t be careless even when choosing a nickname.”

After some thought, Long Feiye proposed, “Confer upon him a single character of Rui (睿).[3] We can call him Rui’er.”

“Fifteen” and “Yuanxiao” were simply joke names from Han Yunxi. When Long Feiye brought up his Xuanyuan suname, she realized that nicknames couldn’t be a jesting affair like the children of common families.

“Rui…” Han Yunxi thought over the word and quickly nodded. “Alright, you call the shots.”

Every name a sovereign granted his sons was filled with implied meanings and moral messages. It defined the status of the prince in the emperor’s heart and his silent expectations for his future. That was also why empresses’ sons had different names than those born from concubines or consorts.

The Rui character didn’t have much meaning on the surface beyond describing someone clear on matters of principle or deeply conscious of the righteousness of a cause. They would be clear and wise during all their undertakings. The word itself was commonly used in names of ordinary people as well.

But it held greater weight in the imperial court.

One of the meanings of Rui was to show the respect subjects held for their sovereign. For example, courtiers could ask for the emperor’s guidance with phrases like mingjian (明鉴) and ruijian (睿鉴) to show “your brilliant idea, your penetrating judgment.” The emperor’s resolution in turn was called ruiduan (睿断).

Long Feiye had a lot of implicit meaning buried in his son’s nickname!

Everyone would understand his intentions once news of the name spread, especially the southern generals and others with their eye on the throne.

Zhao mama, the nurses, and the servant girls were all simple women with no comprehension of the connotations. As soon as they saw Han Yunxi nod, they added their praises by default.

Han Yunxi held her son and coaxed, “Rui’er...Rui’er, you have a name now. Your father didn’t just give you a simple nickname.”

Hearing this, Long Feiye knew Han Yunxi had understood his goals too. Little Rui’er was still clueless, but he could sense his parents’ feelings and happily stretched out his arms to laugh. Both Han Yunxi and Long Feiye were amused before the latter reached to pick him up. Little Rui’er got to see his father close-up. He was fine at first, but suddenly broke into wails again.

They had lost track of the times this had happened. The disconsolate Long Feiye refused to accept the curse and let little Rui’er cry as he asked Han Yunxi, “How did I offend him?”

Han Yunxi smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know either.”

Everyone said it was hard to read Long Feiye’s thoughts, but it was even harder to untangle his son’s! Long Feiye patiently comforted the baby, but little Rui’er only cried nonstop. Without a choice, he had to return the baby to Han Yunxi. Rui’er immediately stopped his tears as soon as he was in his mother’s arms.

“Maybe you look too fierce so he’s afraid of you. You should smile at him often and more obviously. After a while, he’ll stop feeling scared,” Han Yunxi grinned.

Long Feiye truly did look fierce when he wasn’t smiling. Now his lips twitched silently. Although he doted on his son, he couldn’t bring himself to turn into someone who broke into exaggerated smiles every time they met.