First Meeting

Led by Yao Xiaodan, Fan Ling was introduced to the garden that belonged to the hall that hosted the banquet. The flowers were beautiful, and the pond brought about a balance to the everlasting greenery that existed. Drifting with the wind, the smell of the flowers was brought to Fan Ling who took a deep breath.

The silence was entrancing to Fan Ling, but sadly, she had a partner that did not appreciate the beauty of nature as much as she did.

"The imperial palace truly knows how to live to the fullest," Yao Xiaodan spoke. "There are probably more than twenty gardens in this palace, some for the concubines, some for the consorts, and some for the guests."

After being beside Fan Ling for more than half an hour, Yao Xiaodan was starting to get used to her quiet and somber personality.

"You truly have changed by so much," Yao Xiaodan sighed in resignation. "I've spoken this much and you've barely responded to a few of my sentences. If it weren't because everybody knows about your amnesia, I'd probably think that your body was possessed by someone. After all, the rumors definitely came from somewhere."

Her final statement interested Fan Ling.

"You never met me before this?" Fan Ling asked.

"Don't think that just because you're infamous, many people have met you," Yao Xiaodan seemed to speak with a bit of appreciation for her. "In fact, only a handful of people have met you. For some reason, you never really liked to go out. From what I heard, you only started showing your face to the public when you met Young Master Cao."

"I see…" Fan Ling replied as she spaced out. 'I suppose… we shared a similar trait.'

"Ling Ling, you're just going to stay here?" Yao Xiaodan asked Fan Ling who sat down on the pavilion that was built above the pond.

Fan Ling nodded her head to answer and then questioned, "Got a problem?"

Seeing her seriousness, Yao Xiaodan answered, "No… no problem…"

Yao Xiaodan wanted to speak, but she felt that for some reason, her voice would ruin the ambiance of the garden. She usually never felt like this, but maybe because of Fan Ling, she was starting to appreciate the nature of the garden more than usual.

However, after sitting in silence beside Fan Ling for about five minutes, Yao Xiaodan could no longer deal with the sound of crickets.

"Ling Ling, I'm getting bored. Do you want to go back to the banquet with me?" Yao Xiaodan inquired while standing up from her seat.

Fan Ling shook her head and said, "You go. I do not want to bore you."

Anyways, her activities were not really things that young people had an interest in. Probably because her age was thirty now, she no longer felt like searching for the fun in life or the dangers and adventures that the world had to offer. Instead, she just wanted to live in peace and silence.

"Do you know how to get back to the banquet?" Yao Xiaodan asked before she left.

"I do," Fan Ling nodded and answered. "Please tell my mother that I will be here when the banquet ends."

Yao Xiaodan calmly replied, "Okay."

However, in her head, she was shouting, 'Aren't you bored sitting here to appreciate the flowers in the dark?! Are you an old grandma?!?'

A while later after Yao Xiaodan left, Fan Ling started dozing off due to the comfort of the garden. Despite the coldness of the palace, the breeze from the wind and the fireflies lighting up like little lanterns made her comfortable enough to take a quick nap.

About five minutes later though, Fan Ling heard footsteps nearby. Due to her military past, she always made sure she was attentive even while asleep. Thus, she was a very light sleeper and could wake up at the tiniest bit of sound.

If alone, Fan Ling could still nap all the way to dreamland. However, with someone walking toward the pavilion that she was sitting in, she decided to wake up and stand up to welcome the person.

Her action of standing up was very quiet. But, the person who was walking closer seemed to have trained ears as their footsteps paused for a quick second before resuming after Fan Ling got up from her seat.

Once the person neared Fan Ling, she could see who the person was.

With handsome and exquisite features, the person walking toward the pavilion was Cao Guo.

"General Cao," Fan Ling greeted and then sat back down again.

From staring at him earlier in the banquet hall, Fan Ling could tell that he was a silent person and did not like much noise. As soon as she saw him walk into the hall, she could see his facial features scrunching up as soon as the guests started gossiping in their quiet voices about him and his father.

"Not going to call Guo-gege?" Cao Guo asked in a low flat voice.

"This is my first meeting with you. I am not familiar enough with you to call you gege," Fan Ling answered without staring at him.

Staring once was more than enough to show that she acknowledged his existence.

"First… meeting?" Cao Guo seemed to taste the words that he was trying to say.

"General Cao has not been in the capital for a while, so it is understandable that you have not heard about my accident," Fan Ling gave a short explanation. "I no longer remember my past."

Cao Guo stayed silent at her explanation and did not continue to speak. Instead, he stared at her as though to see if she was lying for his attention or speaking the truth.

Uncaring about the suspicions of Cao Guo though, Fan Ling questioned, "Will General Cao be staying here or will you be moving to another spot?"

"You dislike me here?" Cao Guo asked back in a disbelieving tone.

"Your appearance ruins the mood of the garden," Fan Ling answered before turning her head from looking at the pond to looking at his face. "No matter how handsome you are, your aura is too heavy for this garden to bear."

This seemed to be the first time that Cao Guo had ever received such a statement – such that he was left speechless although he usually never liked speaking in the first place.

"I will leave," Cao Guo did not want to deal with her. 'What if she was lying to me?'

Just like that, a short first meeting ended abruptly after a few spoken sentences.

Although Fan Ling did not care too much about their interaction, Cao Guo was different. The impact of seeing how different she was currently from the past was huge. He did not know how to react to her changed personality.

In the past, Fan Ling would always be in his face trying to earn his attention. If she merely tried to show her respect to him, he would probably give her a few favors. However, she attentively competed against other girls and women to gain his heart – which he believed to be nonexistent – and he hated such things.

Now though, Fan Ling did not show her previous annoying actions, nor did she give off a vibrant and lively aura. Instead, she changed completely from white to black. Her personality was very closed off and her aura was calming, peaceful, and somber.

In fact, due to his busy life, he was already used to the annoyances of people and society. However, for once, he was extremely attracted to the person who used to annoy him just from her aura alone.

'Was this possible?' Cao Guo wondered as he walked away at a fast speed.

Cao Guo did not want to be near Fan Ling in case her aura made him make a regrettable decision. Something was wrong, but he did not know what was wrong. The only thing that he knew was that he needed to make an escape.

Her difference was too huge that he no longer knew what the difference was that caused him to become attracted to her. To become interested in her. To want to know more about her.

He needed… to run away.

Fan Ling did not know about the internal turmoil that Cao Guo was currently in as he sped his way to a guest room that was uninhabited. At the moment, Fan Ling was distracted by the varieties of flowers that she could tell just based on their smell. Not only that, she was attracted by the stars in the sky.

Back in modern China, seeing stars was a rare almost impossible mission in the country unless one were to travel into the mountains. Even then, the stars were not too clear and there were only a few stars that one could see with the naked eye. If anyone wanted to stargaze, they needed a telescope.

Here though, Fan Ling could easily tell the stars apart – some of them, even stars that modern astrologists had named and labeled. Though, she was not an astrologist nor an enthusiast, so she only knew about the most famous and basic stars.

Still, to see the stars amongst her once dark and gray sky was as though the world was telling her that there was hope for the future.