Outside the grand hall, in a magnificent garden, phoenix-tail flowers bloomed everywhere, creating a dazzling and brilliant sight.
"Who gave you the audacity to come running to the Phoenix Pavilion?"
"You're just as shameless as your mother. A bastard is a piece of trash born of a mother with no morals and raised with no manners."
"I... I was just too hungry, so I... I came out..."
A filthy little girl looked at the two aggressively approaching figures before her, retreating step by step as she cautiously explained.
"Bah! What do you think you are? Did this Prince give you permission to speak? It's already a mercy you haven't starved to death, yet you dare to sneak out."
Hearing the girl talk back, the speaker immediately dealt her a slap that sent her staggering. Seizing the opportunity, a young boy standing nearby shoved her hard, sending her crashing to the ground.
"All right, Second and Fourth. She's just the spawn of a lowly maid, so why bother wasting your breath on her? If it weren't for the fact that she carries the King's blood in her veins, the Queen would have long since ordered her sent down to join her shameless mother. Since we can't just dispose of her, out of sight is out of mind."
"Big Brother is right. Second Brother, Fourth Brother, since Big Brother has spoken, if you really beat this bastard to death, the four of us won't be able to answer to Father."
"She's just a bastard, I'm not afraid at all."
With that, the youth referred to as Fourth stepped forward, eager to land another kick on the fallen girl.
The little girl dared not fight back. She could only curl her body up tightly, silently waiting for the blows to land.
"Stop right there! What are you doing?"
Just as the boy was about to strike with malicious glee, a childish voice rang out from the distance. A lovely little girl came running swiftly toward them and threw herself in front of the girl on the ground, shielding her.
"Don't be afraid. I'll protect you."
Luo Yue glanced back at the girl, then turned to face the four figures standing before her.
"I, Feng Mian of the Phoenix clan, along with my younger brothers and sister, pay our respects to the God Monarch."
Seeing Luo Yue appear, Feng Mian quickly dropped to his knees, at the same time casting a sharp glance at his three younger siblings standing beside him.
"We pay our respects to the God Monarch."
Seeing the princes and princess of the Phoenix clan kneeling before Luo Yue, the little girl on the ground cautiously stood up, knelt as well, and whispered to Luo Yue.
"Pa... pay res... respects to the Go... God Monarch."
"Don't be scared. I'm here to protect you," Luo Yue said, comforting the trembling girl before turning back to face Feng Mian and his siblings.
Hearing Luo Yue's words, the little girl froze, cast a furtive glance at Luo Yue, and hurriedly lowered her head again.
"Why are you bullying her?"
"With all due respect to the Demon Ancestor, we were only worried that this ignorant maid might offend the Demon Ancestor and the God Monarch, so we were just giving her a warning."
Hearing Feng Mian's explanation, and remembering that everyone else indeed treated her with great respect, Luo Yue momentarily felt as though she understood Feng Mian's actions.
"No, no! Hit people is wrong!"
Luo Yue shook her little head, immediately tossing that thought out of her mind, and walked straight over to the little girl.
"Are you all right?"
Seeing Luo Yue reach out toward her, the little girl instinctively shrank back.
"Dirty."
"It's fine! I get dirty sometimes too, and my Master never minds."
With that, Luo Yue reached out and helped the little girl to her feet.
"God Monarch, she is merely a maid. Doing that will only dirty your hands."
Fourth, still kneeling on the ground, spoke up with evident displeasure.
"Fourth!"
Feng Mian glared at him, then hastily looked back at Luo Yue.
"My younger brother knows no better. I beg the God Monarch to forgive him; Feng Mian will surely discipline him strictly afterward."
"Hmph! Does being ignorant mean you can bully people? Bullying people is always wrong!"
Luo Yue turned her little head away with a displeased pout, grabbed the girl's hand, and walked toward where Shen Shuanghan was waiting in the distance.
As for the four siblings kneeling on the ground, Luo Yue couldn't care less. She knew a bit about etiquette, but just a bit—she had zero desire to deal with nasty bullies. Running straight to her Master was the best way to handle this.
"I'll take you to my Master. She's amazing and will definitely help you teach them a lesson!"
Chattering away, she pulled the little girl along without ever looking back.
"Oh, right! My name is Luo Yue. They say I'm the little God Monarch of Yaoguang Holy Land. What's your name?"
Halfway there, seemingly remembering that she still didn't know the other's name, Luo Yue turned her head and asked.
"God Monarch, I... I don't have a name."
"You don't have a name?"
"No, I don't. You can just call me Nameless, God Monarch."
Hearing this, Luo Yue's face filled with utter incomprehension.
"How can someone not have a name?"
"Auntie said that when the day comes when I can leave this place, I'll be able to have a name of my own."
"Why wait until you leave? If you don't have one, we can just make one up right now!"
"God Monarch, I'm not allowed to have a name—that's the Empress's decree, so I..."
The girl withdrew her hand, looking at Luo Yue in helpless panic.
"It's fine! Uncle Demon Ancestor is here with us, that Empress of yours won't dare stop us."
"Since you don't have one, let's just make one up. Let me think... hmm... uh... do you have any ideas?"
Luo Yue tilted her head and pondered for a long time before finally looking helplessly at the girl beside her.
"Then... then let's call her Li, hoping that one day I can leave (*li*) this place."
"No, no! 'Li' won't do, the meaning isn't good. How about A-Li, with the 'li' from glazed glass (*liuli*)?"
"You can share my surname Luo. Shedding all the dust and returning at last, far away from the past, and shining brightly like glazed glass from now on. Mmm, not bad! You can be called Luoluo Luoli. What do you think?"
Hearing Luo Yue's words, the girl stood in a daze. Looking at the little girl even younger than herself, apart from her deceased Auntie, Luo Yue was the very first person to treat her this kindly.
"Mmm, my name is Luoli. Luo from Luo Yue, and Li from glazed glass."
"Great! Let's go, Luoli, I'll take you to meet my Master, and then we'll go find Uncle Demon Ancestor."
Luo Yue pulled Luoli's hand and hurried toward Shen Shuanghan. This was the first time she had ever given anyone a name, and she couldn't wait to show off her achievement in front of her Master.
Before long, Luo Yue arrived at a stone table where Shen Shuanghan was sitting, sipping tea.
"Master, this is Luoli! I picked the name myself. What does Master think?"
Seeing Luo Yue's curious expression, she practically had the words *praise me* written all over her face.
"Not bad, it sounds lovely. It certainly doesn't waste Master's usual teachings, and the meaning is very nice."
Shen Shuanghan smiled, reached out, and patted Luo Yue's head, while Luo Yue looked proudly at Luoli.
"Luoli pays her respects to my Lord."
"All right, Master knows all about what happened. Come along, your Grandmaster and Uncle Demon Ancestor are already waiting for us."
Shen Shuanghan finished the tea in her cup and waved her hand, putting the tea set away.
Just moments ago, Shen Shuanghan had received a voice transmission from Liu Yunyan telling her to bring Luo Yue back—presumably because the Illusory Birth Pond was ready.
Shen Shuanghan bent down, picked up Luo Yue, and began walking back, while Luoli could only quietly follow behind them.