I am going *feral* over the way Xiao Heng calls her xiao limao.
Her name is Li. Jiang Li’s name is obviously also Li.
Xiao Heng knows she isn’t Jiang Li, and he’s basically the only one (besides Tong-er and the other temple maidens) who is 100% certain of her real identity
But they’re both named Li!
When they’re alone he basically never ever calls her “Jiang er-niangzi” (second lady Jiang). He basically only references her connection the Jiang family when they have an audience.
And when he calls her A’Li, that’s basically acknowledging both identities! Both of her families called her that.
But there’s one moment early on when he’s goading her into revealing her true identity, and he says, “Li? Lihua? Or Limao?”
Lihua is a perfectly acceptable girl’s name. Limao is not.
Lihua is obviously referring to the “real” Jiang Li — it means pear blossom, and the show makes it clear that that is her symbol. It also associates pear blossoms with all of the women who have been wronged and die unjust deaths.
Limao is specifically referring to Xue Li, aka Xue Fangfei. The jade pendant from her mother is a cat, and cats are wily, stubborn, and aloof. All things that describe this very strange lady he’s just met.
Xiao Heng’s question is basically, “Are you a delicate noble flower or are you a scrappy stray cat?”
She’s the kind of cat that brings you small dead animals, and he adores her.
When he calls her xiao limao, he means her and only her. Not the real Jiang Li. Not her pretending to be Jiang Li. But also not Xue Fangfei, who loved Shen Yurong and suppressed her own talents and intelligence in service of her husband’s aspirations. He means the woman who dug herself out of her own grave, asked him to arrest her, and uses him however she pleases like a true cat.
This is what a leopard cat looks like:
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