Ji Ling smiled and followed his parents into the banquet hall. The door opened and all eyes fell on him instantly.
Duke Ji Ting politely welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. Then, the banquet began. Everyone gathered around to congratulate Ji Ling and present the gifts they’d prepared.
Apart from some friends and subordinates who were close to Ji Ting and his wife, the people who came today were mostly the original’s pals. They were not only the original’s friends, but also the helpers who later schemed with him and encouraged him to deal with Ning Yu.
For example, the one Ji Ling immediately saw at a glance was a young man with gray hair and a smart appearance, Earl Sinclair's youngest son, Rhodes. He was the same type as the original and they got along very well. In the book, his character was a small named role.
Rhodes put his arm around Ji Ling's shoulder and smiled, “Why did our hero come out so late?"
Ji Ling quietly pulled Rhodes' hand off his shoulder. He looked around with a lack of interest and said casually, “A little something kept me.”
He watched Ji Ting and the other elders go to the inner hall, then found a place to sit down, one hand lazily supporting his chin, looking pensively at the people in the hall.
As an experienced player this time, Ji Ling decided to quietly slack off. In the original book, he only filled an unimportant role. It was only when he made things difficult for the main character, and used his malice as a foil to the main shou’s perfection, that the author would stingily write him in ink. It didn’t really matter what he did at other times, so he had no restrictions.
Last time, he wasn’t too familiar with the world and the rules of the mission, plus he was overly cautious about revealing the truth. Because of that, he was tired out to the max. Naturally, he wouldn’t waste his time and energy in unnecessary places this time.
At any rate, he was an experienced person.
Ji Ling propped his chin up absent-mindedly. If someone came to talk to him, he would go through the motions and say a few words. This was the advantage of being a noble. Even if others tried to curry favor with him, he could respond or disregard as he wished, and no one would dare get angry at him.
The table in the hall was filled with precious gifts of all kinds. Last time, it really scared him, because he was just a young man from the 21st century. Since he came from an ordinary family, how could he have seen such shocking treasures before? It was a real eye-opener. He almost lost it and slipped up, showing his ignorance. This time, however, he was very calm.
Outlook was something that could be trained through experience.
Given the Ji family’s position in the empire and his status, it was quite normal to receive these kind of gifts. Imperial nobles were more extravagant than he imagined. Nobles had status and financial power beyond the reach of ordinary people, and monopolized important resources in nearly the entire universe. Although these gifts were precious, they were, in the end, a matter of currying favor with Ji Ting. To the Ji family, they weren’t much and could easily be *accepted.
Ji Ling suddenly remembered…
All of a sudden, there was a clamor of noise. Then, the door opened and a high voice announced, "Grand Duke Carlos has arrived!”
Ji Ling was dazed for a second, and immediately stood up with a surprised look in his eyes!
In fact, Ji Ling was not the only one surprised. The hall was quiet for a moment. Soon after, people turned to look at the door one after another, and began whispering to each other. Therefore, no one noticed Ji Ling's blunder or if they did, felt like it was no big deal.
At that moment, everyone's thoughts were: “How could Grand Duke Carlos personally come himself? !”
Ji Ling's thoughts were: “Why is the biggest villain in the book, the lifelong enemy of Emperor Jing Sui, the ruthless, unfeeling and sinister BOSS, Grand Duke Carlos, here now? He definitely didn't come last time.”
Although Grand Duke Carlos and the Ji family could be considered family friends, the original had to call him, **Uncle Carlos when they met. Later, Carlos and Ji Ting gradually grew apart because of their different political views.
Ji Ling meticulously went through his memories. Last time, Carlos just arranged for his housekeeper, Anderson, to send him a congratulatory gift. That was considered courteous already, because with his status, there was no need to attend such a small time coming of age banquet in person... What's more, the Ji family did not have the status for him.
He was someone who could sit at the same level as the emperor.
Although they were both dukes, Carlos was the most powerful duke of all. He had nearly as much wealth as the entire royal family, and controlled the empire's most important energy vein. Countless imperial nobles followed his every order. He was as rich and powerful as the heavens…the ultimate villain who fought against Emperor Sui for a whole book!
At the same time, Carlos was also the most fearsome person in the book, and the one Ji Ling was least willing to provoke.
Without any more time to think about it, the crowd in front of them automatically parted into a path. A refined man with brown hair and brown eyes walked towards him slowly.
He had a beautiful and refined face, smiling gracefully and appropriately. The angle of his lips was just right, and his light brown eyes carried a faint smile. He was dressed in black formal clothing, holding a silver-black cane in his left hand, and a blue flannel box in his right hand. From across the crowd, he turned to look at Ji Ling, and the smile on his thin lips deepened slightly.
Ji Ling suddenly closed his eyes, almost scared into taking a step back. However, he quickly pressed down his shock, and affectionately stepped forward, saying in a confused voice: "Uncle Carlos, why are you here?"
Ji Ting also got the news, and rushed out from the inner hall to greet him. He hadn't heard before that Carlos would come in person. Besides, hadn’t he already ordered his housekeeper to send the gifts over? What did he intend by suddenly coming here now?
For this kind of person, every move he made had a meaning behind it. Ji Ting didn’t dare relax his guard. He stood in front of Ji Ling quietly, and gave a hearty laugh, “Today is just the birthday of this lowly one’s son. How could we have you come in person?"
Carlos smiled and shook his head. His deep eyes were dim and his tone was gentle. "Xiao Ling also calls me uncle. How could I not come to his coming of age banquet? This is a gift I prepared for him."
He raised his hand and opened the flannel box in his hand. Ji Ling saw that their relationship was quite good, and thought of what happened in his last life. He smiled on the surface, but cursed him inwardly for being a shameless old thing. You still remember that I call you uncle, but in order to achieve your own goals, you didn’t hesitate to send me to the pits. Fortunately, I had pretty good luck. Otherwise, I would’ve fallen right into your hands.
Calling you a villain is not an empty accusation.
Although he thought that in his mind, Ji Ling still smiled and looked at the box in Carlos’ hands of the box, appearing very happy to receive the gift.
There was a tear-shaped blue gem in the center of the box. The clear light blue was flawless, as if there were water waves rippling within. It was different each time you looked at it, and gave off a new beauty from one angle to another.
Ji Ling recognized it at once. This was a gem from the bottom of Fairsand Lake on Blue Ocean Star (planet). Only after tens of thousands of years of precipitation could it be dyed with such beautiful color. Although it was an extremely precious gift, it was still not too expensive to accept.
Clearly, Ji Ting also recognized it, and sighed in relief. He was afraid Carlos would be bringing out something difficult... Just a gem was nothing. As he was wondering what Carlos’ intentions were, he heard him speak.
Carlos looked deeply into Ji Ling's eyes, and his voice was deep and soothing, spreading clearly throughout the hall: “The sapphire of Fairsand Lake is as beautiful as your eyes. I thought about it several times, and decided it was the most suitable gift, so I decided to give you Blue Ocean Star. I hope you like it, my boy. "
"Thank you... What?" Ji Ling said with his mouth half-open, eyes wide in disbelief looking at Carlos.
Not a sapphire, but Blue Ocean Star?!
Blue Ocean Star was a small planet with a diameter of 12,000 kilometers. Although it wasn’t large in size, its reputation was definitely not small. The empire had numerous star domains under its command. There were countless different small planets, and many didn’t even have names, but were identified by a number. However, Blue Ocean Star wasn’t like that at all.
In this year's latest referendum, Blue Ocean Star was selected as one of the ten most beautiful planets in the universe. It was a famous scenic spot, and had been voted as ‘the planet you want to visit the most’ for three consecutive years. It had a long-standing reputation. If it was opened to tourism, it could easily make a fortune everyday. Truly, too valuable to describe with a price.
Blue Ocean Star was also the most mysterious of the ten most beautiful planets, only because it was the private property of Grand Duke Carlos, and this rich owner didn’t open the planet up for tourism and development. It was also the place people wanted to visit the most but couldn’t. Everyone in the empire could only see its elegant demeanor through pictures and videos.
Even a sapphire from the bottom of Fairsand Lake could fetch sky-high prices on the starwide web, not to mention a planet!
This gift... was a bit too heavy.
Ji Ling’s brain had crashed…
So when Carlos took up his right hand, and gently dropped a kiss on the back of it, Ji Ling was so stiff he forgot to move.
After a long time, his eyelashes trembled, and he lifted his line of sight to look into Carlos’ deep eyes, shaking unnoticeably .
Ji Ling shouted frantically in his heart: [System!!! System, you come out now! Explain what’s going on! ]
Translator’s notes
*Accept a gift as in, “Oh no, this gift is too expensive, I couldn’t…!” Said people from the Ji family never (except to Carlos…)
** Not uncle as in your parent’s sibling, but respected older male type of ‘uncle.’
Ji Ling smiled and followed his parents into the banquet hall. The door opened and all eyes fell on him instantly.
Duke Ji Ting politely welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming. Then, the banquet began. Everyone gathered around to congratulate Ji Ling and present the gifts they’d prepared.
Apart from some friends and subordinates who were close to Ji Ting and his wife, the people who came today were mostly the original’s pals. They were not only the original’s friends, but also the helpers who later schemed with him and encouraged him to deal with Ning Yu.
For example, the one Ji Ling immediately saw at a glance was a young man with gray hair and a smart appearance, Earl Sinclair's youngest son, Rhodes. He was the same type as the original and they got along very well. In the book, his character was a small named role.
Rhodes put his arm around Ji Ling's shoulder and smiled, “Why did our hero come out so late?"
Ji Ling quietly pulled Rhodes' hand off his shoulder. He looked around with a lack of interest and said casually, “A little something kept me.”
He watched Ji Ting and the other elders go to the inner hall, then found a place to sit down, one hand lazily supporting his chin, looking pensively at the people in the hall.
As an experienced player this time, Ji Ling decided to quietly slack off. In the original book, he only filled an unimportant role. It was only when he made things difficult for the main character, and used his malice as a foil to the main shou’s perfection, that the author would stingily write him in ink. It didn’t really matter what he did at other times, so he had no restrictions.
Last time, he wasn’t too familiar with the world and the rules of the mission, plus he was overly cautious about revealing the truth. Because of that, he was tired out to the max. Naturally, he wouldn’t waste his time and energy in unnecessary places this time.
At any rate, he was an experienced person.
Ji Ling propped his chin up absent-mindedly. If someone came to talk to him, he would go through the motions and say a few words. This was the advantage of being a noble. Even if others tried to curry favor with him, he could respond or disregard as he wished, and no one would dare get angry at him.
The table in the hall was filled with precious gifts of all kinds. Last time, it really scared him, because he was just a young man from the 21st century. Since he came from an ordinary family, how could he have seen such shocking treasures before? It was a real eye-opener. He almost lost it and slipped up, showing his ignorance. This time, however, he was very calm.
Outlook was something that could be trained through experience.
Given the Ji family’s position in the empire and his status, it was quite normal to receive these kind of gifts. Imperial nobles were more extravagant than he imagined. Nobles had status and financial power beyond the reach of ordinary people, and monopolized important resources in nearly the entire universe. Although these gifts were precious, they were, in the end, a matter of currying favor with Ji Ting. To the Ji family, they weren’t much and could easily be *accepted.
Ji Ling suddenly remembered…
All of a sudden, there was a clamor of noise. Then, the door opened and a high voice announced, "Grand Duke Carlos has arrived!”
Ji Ling was dazed for a second, and immediately stood up with a surprised look in his eyes!
In fact, Ji Ling was not the only one surprised. The hall was quiet for a moment. Soon after, people turned to look at the door one after another, and began whispering to each other. Therefore, no one noticed Ji Ling's blunder or if they did, felt like it was no big deal.
At that moment, everyone's thoughts were: “How could Grand Duke Carlos personally come himself? !”
Ji Ling's thoughts were: “Why is the biggest villain in the book, the lifelong enemy of Emperor Jing Sui, the ruthless, unfeeling and sinister BOSS, Grand Duke Carlos, here now? He definitely didn't come last time.”
Although Grand Duke Carlos and the Ji family could be considered family friends, the original had to call him, **Uncle Carlos when they met. Later, Carlos and Ji Ting gradually grew apart because of their different political views.
Ji Ling meticulously went through his memories. Last time, Carlos just arranged for his housekeeper, Anderson, to send him a congratulatory gift. That was considered courteous already, because with his status, there was no need to attend such a small time coming of age banquet in person... What's more, the Ji family did not have the status for him.
He was someone who could sit at the same level as the emperor.
Although they were both dukes, Carlos was the most powerful duke of all. He had nearly as much wealth as the entire royal family, and controlled the empire's most important energy vein. Countless imperial nobles followed his every order. He was as rich and powerful as the heavens…the ultimate villain who fought against Emperor Sui for a whole book!
At the same time, Carlos was also the most fearsome person in the book, and the one Ji Ling was least willing to provoke.
Without any more time to think about it, the crowd in front of them automatically parted into a path. A refined man with brown hair and brown eyes walked towards him slowly.
He had a beautiful and refined face, smiling gracefully and appropriately. The angle of his lips was just right, and his light brown eyes carried a faint smile. He was dressed in black formal clothing, holding a silver-black cane in his left hand, and a blue flannel box in his right hand. From across the crowd, he turned to look at Ji Ling, and the smile on his thin lips deepened slightly.
Ji Ling suddenly closed his eyes, almost scared into taking a step back. However, he quickly pressed down his shock, and affectionately stepped forward, saying in a confused voice: "Uncle Carlos, why are you here?"
Ji Ting also got the news, and rushed out from the inner hall to greet him. He hadn't heard before that Carlos would come in person. Besides, hadn’t he already ordered his housekeeper to send the gifts over? What did he intend by suddenly coming here now?
For this kind of person, every move he made had a meaning behind it. Ji Ting didn’t dare relax his guard. He stood in front of Ji Ling quietly, and gave a hearty laugh, “Today is just the birthday of this lowly one’s son. How could we have you come in person?"
Carlos smiled and shook his head. His deep eyes were dim and his tone was gentle. "Xiao Ling also calls me uncle. How could I not come to his coming of age banquet? This is a gift I prepared for him."
He raised his hand and opened the flannel box in his hand. Ji Ling saw that their relationship was quite good, and thought of what happened in his last life. He smiled on the surface, but cursed him inwardly for being a shameless old thing. You still remember that I call you uncle, but in order to achieve your own goals, you didn’t hesitate to send me to the pits. Fortunately, I had pretty good luck. Otherwise, I would’ve fallen right into your hands.
Calling you a villain is not an empty accusation.
Although he thought that in his mind, Ji Ling still smiled and looked at the box in Carlos’ hands of the box, appearing very happy to receive the gift.
There was a tear-shaped blue gem in the center of the box. The clear light blue was flawless, as if there were water waves rippling within. It was different each time you looked at it, and gave off a new beauty from one angle to another.
Ji Ling recognized it at once. This was a gem from the bottom of Fairsand Lake on Blue Ocean Star (planet). Only after tens of thousands of years of precipitation could it be dyed with such beautiful color. Although it was an extremely precious gift, it was still not too expensive to accept.
Clearly, Ji Ting also recognized it, and sighed in relief. He was afraid Carlos would be bringing out something difficult... Just a gem was nothing. As he was wondering what Carlos’ intentions were, he heard him speak.
Carlos looked deeply into Ji Ling's eyes, and his voice was deep and soothing, spreading clearly throughout the hall: “The sapphire of Fairsand Lake is as beautiful as your eyes. I thought about it several times, and decided it was the most suitable gift, so I decided to give you Blue Ocean Star. I hope you like it, my boy. "
"Thank you... What?" Ji Ling said with his mouth half-open, eyes wide in disbelief looking at Carlos.
Not a sapphire, but Blue Ocean Star?!
Blue Ocean Star was a small planet with a diameter of 12,000 kilometers. Although it wasn’t large in size, its reputation was definitely not small. The empire had numerous star domains under its command. There were countless different small planets, and many didn’t even have names, but were identified by a number. However, Blue Ocean Star wasn’t like that at all.
In this year's latest referendum, Blue Ocean Star was selected as one of the ten most beautiful planets in the universe. It was a famous scenic spot, and had been voted as ‘the planet you want to visit the most’ for three consecutive years. It had a long-standing reputation. If it was opened to tourism, it could easily make a fortune everyday. Truly, too valuable to describe with a price.
Blue Ocean Star was also the most mysterious of the ten most beautiful planets, only because it was the private property of Grand Duke Carlos, and this rich owner didn’t open the planet up for tourism and development. It was also the place people wanted to visit the most but couldn’t. Everyone in the empire could only see its elegant demeanor through pictures and videos.
Even a sapphire from the bottom of Fairsand Lake could fetch sky-high prices on the starwide web, not to mention a planet!
This gift... was a bit too heavy.
Ji Ling’s brain had crashed…
So when Carlos took up his right hand, and gently dropped a kiss on the back of it, Ji Ling was so stiff he forgot to move.
After a long time, his eyelashes trembled, and he lifted his line of sight to look into Carlos’ deep eyes, shaking unnoticeably .
Ji Ling shouted frantically in his heart: [System!!! System, you come out now! Explain what’s going on! ]
Translator’s notes
*Accept a gift as in, “Oh no, this gift is too expensive, I couldn’t…!” Said people from the Ji family never (except to Carlos…)
** Not uncle as in your parent’s sibling, but respected older male type of ‘uncle.’
