"Come, Ping, pay your respects to your grandmother!"
"Aunt!"
Guo Ping ran happily to the Empress Dowager and threw himself straight into her arms.
The Empress Dowager looked at the little fellow in her arms, then raised her head to look at Cao Mao.
"Why have you come?"
"Aunt, Father brought me!"
At that moment, Empress Dowager Guo felt rather muddled.
Cao Mao, however, did not mind. These were all minor matters; everyone could use their own forms of address from now on. If they truly insisted on sorting out generational seniority, all sorts of inconceivable situations would arise in the world today. For example, Cao Mao's wife was Sima Yue, whose mother was Xiahou Hui. Xiahou Hui's father was Xiahou Shang, who was Xiahou Yuan's nephew. Xiahou Yuan also had a niece who married Zhang Fei, and their daughter married Liu Shan. From this perspective, Cao Mao and Liu Shan were even distant relatives!
Even setting that perspective aside, there were plenty of other ways to claim kinship with these people.
Over the years, the Great Clans had intermarried until their relationships were too tangled to unravel.
As Empress Dowager Guo looked at Guo Ping, her feelings were complicated. Seeing how happy he was reminded her once again of her younger paternal cousin who had died young, and sadness entered her eyes.
Her voice softened considerably. "Have you eaten?"
"What would you like to eat?"
"Aunt, I ate before I came. I'm not hungry."
Empress Dowager Guo played with the child for a while before looking at Cao Mao, asking him to explain the situation.
Cao Mao looked at Sima Yue beside him and said, "Take the child back to the hall first. I still have important matters to discuss with Mother."
At that moment, Sima Yue was the