"A Lai?"
The woman silently repeated the name.
Gongxi Chou smiled. "You're the future of my clan."
The woman's brows relaxed. "Gongxi Lai?"
When Gongxi Chou heard the woman call herself "Gongxi Lai," his expression froze for a moment. He had never planned to have her take his surname. Even among one's maternal kin, people valued keeping their names unchanged—unless extraordinary circumstances left them no choice.
"You really intend to abandon your old name?"
The woman's face paled slightly. She lowered her head to avoid Gongxi Chou's gaze. "Yes, yes. If you think I'm reaching above my station..."
"That's not what I meant. If you're willing to take the Gongxi surname, I should be thanking you." Gongxi Chou had always been patient with women. "Thank you."
The woman was now Gongxi Lai.
"A Lai, come with me."
After a moment's thought, he led her to his study.
Gongxi Lai followed as he asked.
There, she saw Gongxi Chou crouched over with his backside sticking up as he rummaged through the cluttered room. She rarely came to the study, but every time she did, it was such a mess she could barely find a place to stand. Books and official papers were scattered everywhere, but the chest in the corner, carved with the clan crest, was spotless.
Under Gongxi Lai's puzzled gaze, Gongxi Chou finally found a thick scroll of Clan Genealogy at the bottom of the chest. He laid it open on his desk, then, smiling, silently picked up his brush and wrote the three characters "Gongxi Lai" beneath his mother's name, next to his own.
He said, "I should have given you a place in the family long ago. I'll have Mother acknowledge you as her adopted daughter, and you can be my adopted younger sister. How does that