Lou Baili didn't understand why Lou Yuhuan had such a strong reaction to Liu Ming'an's name. He also didn't know why Liu Ming'an looked so incredulous upon hearing this question.
Lou Yuhuan was still eagerly waiting for Liu Ming'an's answer. After a moment, they saw the young man nod.
"It is these two characters, and..." Liu Ming'an paused, a thought flashing through his mind.
He continued: "My father said the meaning behind giving me this name was exactly the eight characters you just mentioned - wisdom and courtesy, a peaceful life."
Now it was Lou Baili's turn to be surprised. Both "Ming" and "An" were common characters used in names, with various meanings. How could Lou Yuhuan accurately state the meaning behind Liu Ming'an's name?
Was this young man deliberately agreeing with him? To curry favor?
But when Lou Baili looked towards Liu Ming'an, the young man's eyes were clear and bright, open and honest, without any trace of flattery or ingratiating behavior. Even when facing him, a high-ranking official, the youth remained neither servile nor arrogant, but polite and composed.
Before Lou Baili could figure out the reason behind this, Lou Yuhuan was already tearful beside him.
Liu Ming'an watched as the old Grand Tutor rose from his seat and walked to his side. When he opened his mouth, his voice was choked with emotion: "Your name is Ming'an, Ming'an, Ming'an... He gave you this name... I knew it, how could there be two people so similar without reason..."
Lou Yuhuan stared intently at Liu Ming'an, tears blurring his vision. In his daze, he recalled that afternoon when the whole family was in a flurry of excitement.
"Father, sister-in-law has given birth! It's a boy! I'm an uncle now, and you're a grandfather, haha..."
"Oh, Father, have you chosen a name for my nephew?"
"Lianyu? Call him Lou Lianyu? Hmm~ That's too literary, hard to pronounce! I'll name my own children in the future."
"If I have a son, haha... I'll call him 'Ming'an', meaning wisdom and courtesy, a peaceful life..."
...
Lou Baili, seeing his father in tears, was greatly alarmed and quickly stood up to inquire: "Father, what's wrong?"
Liu Ming'an felt a tightness in his chest, that seemingly absurd thought from earlier seeming to become reality.
"My father's name is... Liu Qingzhi. The 'Qing' of green hills and the 'Zhi' of arriving in succession," Liu Ming'an stood up, looking at the old man before him, slowly speaking of the person in his memory, wanting to confirm something: "He had excellent calligraphy and could paint. He knew the Four Books and Five Classics by heart... He had a red birthmark the size of a broad bean on his right wrist."
Liu Ming'an stopped there, because there was no need to say more. The expressions of the Grand Tutor and the Tutor said it all.
"You are... you are Qingzhi's child!" Lou Yuhuan seemed to use all his strength to utter this complete sentence.
Liu Ming'an sighed, allowing Lou Yuhuan to weep on his shoulder, unsure of his own feelings. He had thought that in this world, apart from Jiang Ning, no one else had any connection to him. Yet unexpectedly, in one night, he had gained so many relatives.
And all these relatives were connected to his father who had passed away many years ago.
Why?
Why did his father, clearly born as the son of a wealthy official family, change his surname to become a rural villager?
Why did these family members seem to care so much about him, yet Liu Ming'an had never heard his father mention even a word about them?
Reuniting with relatives should be joyous, but Liu Ming'an felt a wave of bewilderment.
Lou Baili, watching his father cry tears of joy, felt a surge of emotion. He could only reach out and gently pat the old man's back.
Lou Yuhuan cried for a while, barely composing himself. He turned away, using his sleeve to carefully wipe the tears from his face before turning back, looking at Liu Ming'an with an eager expression and asking: "Good child, where is your father? Where have you been living all these years? Who is your mother? Have you been living well? Do you have any siblings? How old are you now..."
Lou Yuhuan's questions came one after another. He wanted to make up for all the missing twenty-plus years of time.
Liu Ming'an was stunned. How should he answer? Should he directly tell these two that Liu Qingzhi had passed away fourteen years ago?
Lou Baili, seeing Liu Ming'an not answering, thought he might be having difficulty accepting his newfound identity, so he suggested: "Father, Ming'an, it's windy here. Let's go to the study and talk slowly."
"Good, good!" Lou Yuhuan agreed repeatedly, affectionately holding onto Liu Ming'an and saying: "Ming'an, come with grandfather to the study. We'll talk slowly, no rush, we'll talk slowly..."
Grandfather...
Liu Ming'an repeated this title in his heart, feeling an indescribable bitterness rising from within.
The saying "blood is thicker than water" was indeed not empty words. Once he realized these two people were blood relatives, Liu Ming'an couldn't remain indifferent no matter how he looked at them.
"Alright," Liu Ming'an heard himself say. He also had many questions to ask. He wanted to know what kind of person his father, who had given him life, really was.
Liu Ming'an stepped forward, helping Lou Yuhuan walk towards the study alongside Lou Baili. During this time, Lou Yuhuan kept his eyes fixed on him, his gaze a mixture of joy and sorrow.
Once they were seated in the room, Lou Yuhuan eagerly repeated the questions from earlier. Liu Ming'an lowered his gaze, avoiding their intense stares, and answered what he could.
"I'm from Lingshan Town, under Baoji County in the southwestern prefecture. I live in Lotus Flower Village. My mother is also from Lotus Flower Village, her name is He Shuyun."
"I have no siblings, I'm my parents' only child."
"I'm nineteen this year, turning twenty in half a year."
"As far as I can remember, we've always lived in Lotus Flower Village."
Lou Yuhuan's eyes reddened again, nodding continuously.
"Are your parents still in Lotus Flower Village now? Or did they come to the capital with you?" Lou Baili still asked this question.
Lou Yuhuan also looked at Liu Ming'an expectantly, waiting for his answer.
Liu Ming'an raised his eyes, looking at those two pairs of hopeful eyes, feeling a dull ache in his heart.
He slowly opened his mouth, his voice sounding as if it was being forcefully squeezed out of his throat: "My parents... have both passed away. I'm the only one left in the family."
"What?" Lou Yuhuan and Lou Baili exclaimed in unison, their eyes full of shock, their faces suddenly turning ashen.
"Qingzhi, dead..." Lou Yuhuan murmured these words, two streams of hot tears falling down his face, which was filled with unbearable grief.
There was visible moisture in Lou Baili's eyes too. That young man in his memory, always smiling gently, for so many years he had only thought they were separated by mountains and rivers, each living well, never imagining they were now separated by life and death.
"How did Qingzhi..." Lou Baili couldn't bring himself to say the word "die."
Liu Ming'an naturally understood what Lou Baili wanted to ask. He spoke heavily: "Fourteen years ago, he went hunting in the mountains, encountered a flash flood, his body was never found."
"Encountered a flash flood, body never found..." Lou Yuhuan repeated these words, and after a while, suddenly laughed bitterly, his eyes full of desolation: "Qingzhi! Did you plan this? You've made me, with white hair, send off one with black hair. You are truly unfilial!"
Having said this, he broke down in tears.