At that time, the little girl was the very embodiment of being doted on and pampered; whoever appeared around Ying Xu, anyone who wanted to get close to her, their family background and origins would be thoroughly investigated, so as to prevent the little girl from being harmed by people with ulterior motives.
So Xie Jingchen was naturally no exception. His origins were “unknown,” as he had been picked up by Ying Xu from the gate of the Cold Palace, so naturally it was necessary to investigate when he had entered the palace and why he had entered, to make everything clear and understood.
However, after Eunuch Xiang, the chief eunuch by the former emperor’s side, went to investigate, he discovered that there were no records of Xie Jingchen’s file in the palace at all, with absolutely no trace related to him, as if this child had appeared out of thin air.
And while no information about Xie Jingchen could be found in the records, this person did in fact truly exist. There was absolutely no way Ying Xu could keep someone of unknown origin by her side, so under such circumstances, Eunuch Xiang followed the trail and ultimately uncovered his true background.
——Within this deep palace, there was still such a hidden pearl left in the sea.
Before Xie Jingchen’s identity was revealed, no one had truly thought in this direction; as for whether no one had verified his identity before, this was completely unnecessary, because everyone tacitly assumed that any male who could appear in the palace, unless he was a prince or imperial grandson, would otherwise only be a eunuch.
So during the period right after Ying Xu had just picked Xie Jingchen up from the Cold Palace, although there were many people around the little girl in the palace who protected her and guarded against the possibility that Ying Xu had saved an ingrate who might turn on her, and who would immediately deal with him if Xie Jingchen dared to do anything to Ying Xu, no one had actually thought that the “little eunuch” the little girl picked up from the Cold Palace was not a little eunuch, but a prince.
When he first learned this news, Xie Jingchen felt utterly bewildered.
After all, from the time he had memory, he had always been in the Cold Palace; he had never imagined that his father would be the lofty Son of Heaven, the most noble person under the heavens—he, who had always been bullied and scolded as a useless person, was actually a prince?
And while feeling bewildered, there was naturally also more or less a bit of resentment in his heart—if he was the emperor’s son, then why had he been bullied in the Cold Palace for so many years?
All were sons of the emperor, so why was it that the unlucky prince who was bullied just happened to be him, while others could live in luxury and comfort, yet he could not even get a full meal?
However, such emotions did not linger in Xie Jingchen’s heart for long; or it could also be said that just as those feelings of grievance had barely arisen in his heart, they were immediately extinguished, like cool lake water poured onto newly ignited flames.
After hearing this news, Ying Xu merely opened her beautiful phoenix eyes and turned her gaze sideways to look at Xie Jingchen, who was shaken to his core by the news, without any extra emotions such as sympathy or pity, simply saying in a most ordinary, natural tone, “So you’re also one of Imperial Uncle’s sons.”
In the little girl’s soft words, there was also a trace of inexplicable disdain.
But it was precisely Ying Xu’s “treating it as ordinary” that pulled Xie Jingchen’s somewhat unbalanced emotions back—because to her, whether or not Xie Jingchen was the emperor’s son would not change his status in her eyes at all; in fact, that definite answer even made her seem a bit unimpressed.
And immediately after that, Ying Xu seemed to think of something, and said with a somewhat enthusiastic tone, “Since you’re Imperial Uncle’s son, and you don’t have a name yet, I’ll give you one!”
The tone of the little girl’s words was a statement, not a question; the moment she said it, it was already decided.
After a period of interaction, Xie Jingchen also knew just how decisive the little girl who had picked him up was—Ying Xu was the little ancestor of everyone in the palace—so naturally he would not say anything in opposition.
Anyway, his opinion was not important, and anyway no one would listen.
What was more, at that time he already had experience being a toy for the little girl; regardless of what he thought in his heart, his words and actions had already reflexively followed Ying Xu’s lead.
So the little girl’s naming game began just like that.
That afternoon, Ying Xu dragged Xie Jingchen, whose injuries had not yet fully healed, to the library that ordinary people were forbidden to enter, and the little girl, who was very interested in this matter, earnestly wanted to come up with a good-sounding name.
In the end, among book after book taken down by the palace attendants, the little girl held in her hands a book whose origin was unknown, lifted it up, and pointed at a certain character on it for the little boy beside her to see. “Hey, look, this will be your name from now on.”
At that time, Xie Jingchen had only just been learning to recognize characters with Ying Xu for a few days, and he did not recognize what character it was at all, so he could only look at the jade-white, lovely, extremely pleasing little girl with a bewildered gaze, expressing that he did not understand.
And at that time, Ying Xu had not yet become like later, constantly calling Xie Jingchen an idiot; after the little boy expressed that he did not recognize this character, she explained it to him with great patience,
“This character is pronounced Chen; it means a precious treasure.”
Then the little girl added, “Sounds nice, right?”
In her beautiful phoenix eyes was the pride of thinking she was really amazing.
She did not ask whether Xie Jingchen liked it; to Ying Xu, as long as she herself liked it, that was enough. Everything had always been like this—so long as she was happy, whatever she wanted, she would have.
And Ying Xu had chosen this character largely because during that period she was treating Xie Jingchen as a novel and rare toy, so naturally he could be counted as a treasure.
But Xie Jingchen completely fell for that sentence. Even though in his own heart he actually knew that, to Ying Xu, this noble young miss, he was merely a plaything that had caught her fancy for the moment, and since he was still new, naturally everything about him seemed good.
But even knowing everything, after that sentence, his already-loosened heart could no longer maintain its original stance.
The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window lattice, gentle yet carrying a certain inexplicable heat, falling upon the young boy’s body, and at that moment, Xie Jingchen clearly knew that he was finished.
He wanted to stay by Ying Xu’s side. Forever and ever.
——Chen means precious treasure.
Whether in his ears or in his mind, he could not control that sentence from lingering—words that he could not tell whether they were a blessing or a curse that forged a cage of confinement.
Afterward, Xie Jingchen asked, “From now on… will I be called Xie Chen?”
The royal family’s surname was Xie—this was something Xie Jingchen already knew at that time.
After hearing this question, the little girl paused slightly, then said somewhat uncertainly, “The sons of Imperial Uncle seem to all have two-character names, and you also have to add your generational character, right? You wait—I’ll ask Eunuch Xiang later what that character is.”
As for why she did not directly ask the palace attendants following the two of them, the reason went without saying—each one was more timid than the last, and would surely say something like they dared not privately discuss a prince’s name. Very boring.
After that, Ying Xu obtained from Eunuch Xiang the generational character for the princes of that generation—it was the character Jing—so Xie Jingchen’s name was thus settled.
And the emperor truly went along with the name the little girl had chosen, entering this suddenly acquired son from the Cold Palace into the jade register and the imperial genealogy.
Later on, Ying Xu had by her side an almost permanent attendant.
No matter what, he insisted on following Ying Xu, stubborn to the extreme, no one could drive him away, and the only person in his eyes was Ying Xu. Like a shadow, carrying a kind of obsession that made people uneasy.
But fortunately, Ying Xu did not mind Xie Jingchen’s abnormality. The little girl, who had been the center of attention since childhood, very much liked the feeling of having someone whose whole heart and eyes were filled only with her, who cherished her and took her as everything.
But even if Ying Xu did not mind, there were always people who minded on her behalf.
Xie Jingchen’s abnormality was quickly noticed by the former emperor and General Ying. As elders who loved the little girl, the two naturally did not want to keep such a potentially dangerous wolf cub, who might at any moment lash out and hurt someone, by Ying Xu’s side.
However, at that time Ying Xu simply liked playing with Xie Jingchen, and they could not directly go against the little girl’s wishes—Ying Xu would not give face to anyone—so they could only work on Xie Jingchen himself, deliberately making things difficult for him in matters unrelated to Ying Xu, hoping that Xie Jingchen would get the hint and stay away from Ying Xu.
But these things were clearly not successful. One matter after another, not only did Xie Jingchen not leave, but it even ended up letting Ying Xu know that her Imperial Uncle and her father did not like the little attendant she had picked up.
And as the saying goes, extremes reverse; because the two elders’ “targeting” of Xie Jingchen back then was too “obvious,” the result ended up completely opposite to their intention—unexpectedly making Ying Xu feel that her little attendant was really like a little cabbage in the ground, with no one liking him, and thus she developed a bit of pity.
……
Recalling those past events, Xie Jingchen suddenly felt as if a lifetime had passed.
Although in a certain sense, it truly had been a lifetime apart.
Looking at those beautiful phoenix eyes that were watching him and waiting for an answer, Xie Jingchen slightly lowered his head, then slowly spoke the words he had not had the chance to say four years ago,
“Because I wanted myself to be worthy of A-Xu.”
After his words fell, Ying Xu’s eyes blinked lightly, and it was hard to tell whether it was because she had been looking at him too intently and her eyes blinked involuntarily, or because of the reaction produced by his words.