Finally Meeting ML

From the moment that Cheng Meili left her table, Fan Ling had to deal with the constant chatter of her new acquaintance, Yao Xiaodan. For a short while, Fan Ling even wondered if Yao Xiaodan was a parrot that could not stop talking.

Thankfully, the eunuch finally announced, "His Majesty has arrived!"

With that announcement, everyone stood up and shouted in unison, "May the emperor live for tens of thousands of years!"

As soon as the emperor stepped into the room, he stated, "You may all be seated."

Then, the emperor walked to his golden throne and took a seat there gracefully. Once he took his seat, he gestured for his eunuch to pour a cup of wine for him.

A cup of wine in hand, the emperor exclaimed joyously, "After years of an unending war on the borders, finally peace remains. For that, we have Chief General Cao and General Cao to thank!"

After that, the emperor raised the cup to his lips and downed the wine. Following him, the rest of the guests also did so. After all, if the emperor drank, they also had to drink.

Weirdly though, the two main figures were not in the room. Thus, many of the guests were whispering amongst themselves about where the two people were.

Despite them trying to stay as silent as possible though, the emperor could still hear their small conversations.

"Zhen knows that many of you are wondering where the two generals are," the emperor said in a majestic voice. "Patience is virtue. Who you are expecting will eventually arrive."

Just as soon as the emperor finished saying that, the eunuch waiting at the entrance of the banquet hall announced, "Arriving, Chief General Cao and General Cao!"

Hearing the announcement of the main characters of this banquet, everyone turned their heads to look at the entrance.

At first, Fan Ling felt no interest to look at the pair of father and son, but for some strange reason, she felt compelled to stare. Well, not only that, but she was also a tiny bit interested in seeing who the man was that the original owner could be so blatantly ignorant towards all of the high society.

Staring along with the guests, Fan Ling saw Chief General Cao first. Although the man was old, one could tell that he was still full of strength and energy. Probably from his constant training, it was easy to tell that he was still extremely healthy for his age.

Behind him, was the main character that Fan Ling was most interested in.

Behaving just the same as his father, Cao Guo did not look at anybody but the emperor. Even when they reached the center of the banquet hall, he did not lose his respectful stance toward the emperor.

However, for a moment, he lost his focus as he felt a persistent gaze on him. Looking towards the direction where he felt the continuous stare, he saw that the person was Fan Ling – the girl who always bothers him much that he got annoyed all the time.

To his surprise, she did not shy away nor did she blush. Instead, she raised her cup of wine and gave him a respectful nod before turning away to talk with another young miss sitting at the same table as her. Her behavior gave stumped him for a while before he decided that he should just ignore this person.

'If I give her any attention, she'll come and annoy me,' was his internal thoughts as he refocused on the speech the emperor was giving him and his father at the moment.

As for Fan Ling, once she turned away her attention to Yao Xiaodan, she did not actually listen to what her newly made friend was telling her. Instead, she was thinking about Cao Guo.

'I suppose I can see why the original soul loved Cao Guo so much so that she was willing to do stupid things for him,' Fan Ling thought in her mind. 'He is probably the most handsome man I've ever seen. Too bad, love is not my thing.'

Once she finished her internal thoughts though, she turned towards Yao Xiaodan and quietly said in a whisper, "Yao Xiaodan, do you not feel that you are being disrespectful for talking while the emperor is making a speech?"

"..." Yao Xiaodan who was abruptly interrupted amongst her chatter gave a bad face. "Ling Ling, I can call you Ling Ling, right? Well, doesn't matter, I'll call you that anyways. Ling Ling, why are you like my old man? What's so good about listening to the emperor anyways? It's not like he's going to talk about the juiciest gossip in the capital city."

Hearing her words, Fan Ling simply gave a sigh and turned silent again. This time, she did not care about Yao Xiaodan – not like she ever did in the first place. Instead, she focused on the words that the emperor was saying at the moment.

"To thank you for your hard work, Zhen has decided to grant any wish that you may have. Please, do not be shy," the emperor ended his speech.

"Well, if Your Majesty must grant my wish… Then, please allow this old man to retire!" Cao Guo's father stated before bowing respectfully.

All the guests thought that the emperor would be happy with this wish and grant it. However, to their surprise, the face of the emperor turned dark as though he hated the idea to the extreme.

As though to support the expression on his face, the emperor even said whilst losing his demeanor, "You old man, how dare you retire before Zhen retires!? You've already promised to serve me til death!"

A bit surprised at his outbreak, Cao Guo's father coughed as though to remind the emperor to remember that he was still in public.

Although the emperor understood what Cao Guo's father was signaling, he still said in an angry manner, "I refuse to let you retire! Work, you must work until we die together!"

Cao Guo's father continued coughing in embarrassment.

To save his father from the embarrassment of the emperor, Cao Guo stepped up and said, "This subordinate currently has no wishes. This subordinate would like to save my wish until I have one."

"If that is what you want, then Zhen shall allow it," the emperor replied to Cao Guo. "Well then, please take your seats and enjoy this banquet!"

After that, the banquet hall resumed its constant chatter, the continuous flow of servants moving about to deliver more food and wine to the guests, and the beautiful music played by the royal musicians.

"Yao Xiaodan, is it mandatory to stay in the banquet hall?" Fan Ling asked when she saw that the main event was over.

Right now, people were simply congratulating the two generals for their achievement in winning against their border enemies. As a female, they did not have to congratulate the two men, they simply needed their husbands to do so and everything would be fine.

"Why do you ask? Are you bored?" Yao Xiaodan seemed to finally run on the same course as Fan Ling.

Nodding her head, Fan Ling answered, "Also very annoying here."

"Well, you're not wrong. There are too many hateful people here that hurt my eyes. It's better to live with nature," Yao Xiaodan strongly agreed with Fan Ling.

As Yao Xiaodan was about to continue talking, Fan Ling cut her off, "Answer my question and stop the chattering. My ears are starting to hurt."

"Aigh… Fine, fine, fine," Yao Xiaodan said in a bitter voice. "If you want to go out, just inform one of your family members. If none of them are nearby, just inform a maid or eunuch."

"Alright," Fan Ling replied.

As soon as she got her answer, Fan Ling immediately stood up and abandoned Yao Xiaodan as she headed toward her mother – who was closest to her, although still far.

"Hey, Ling Ling, you're just going to abandon me like this?!" Yao Xiaodan almost screamed with fake tears in her eyes as she chased after Fan Ling.

"Mother," Fan Ling called out when she reached her mother.

"What is it?" Zhang Xiu answered her call.

"It is too stuffy in here. Will it be fine if take a breath outside?" Fan Ling asked, showing extreme respect toward her mother – even more so than at home just so that her mother could brag about her a bit.

Despite knowing that the actions of the original soul did not belong to her, she now had to help the Fan family a bit as she possessed the body now. Besides, the family really loved her, so she wanted to show a tiny bit of gratitude in ways that she could.

"Alright," Zhang Xiu nodded. "There is a garden not too far from here. Seeing as Old Yao's daughter is with you, you probably will not get lost. Xiao Dan, please take care of Xiao Ling."

"Yes, Madam Zhang!" Yao Xiaodan happily accepted her request.