How am I not drunk yet...
Meng Zhuqing found it rather amusing. Drunkards never admit to being drunk, and the one before her was no exception.
"Being drunk allows me to see father... to see big brother, second brother... to see my male and female cousins..."
The moment Tobanya’s drunken words spilled out, Meng Zhuqing immediately felt a pang of heartache. He pitied her.
"They are all together... I’m all alone... just One Person all alone..."
"Commandery Princess..." Meng Zhuqing felt so heartbroken, but had no idea how to console the person before him.
Upon hearing his voice, Tobanya, bleary-eyed, turned her head toward Meng Zhuqing. She saw him even less clearly, straining to focus, but to no avail. However, that didn’t stop her from drunkenly asking, "Why haven’t you left yet?"
Meng Zhuqing sighed, "Commandery Princess, please go inside. Not only is it cold, but it’s also getting late—"
Before he could finish, Tobanya lost her patience, angrily chastising him in a drunken slurred tone, "Everyone says you’re not him; you can’t control me, get lost!"
Meng Zhuqing felt another stir in his heart, but he still took Tobanya’s words as nothing more than drunken babble, completely unreliable.
Sighing once more, he took a couple of steps closer to her and said, "Commandery Princess, this General truly is Meng Zhu—"
Before Meng Zhuqing could finish his sentence, Tobanya suddenly lunged forward and even stretched her hand swiftly toward Meng Zhuqing’s face. Before he could react, she had pulled off the mask on Meng Zhuqing’s face.
Tobanya even proudly boasted, "This Commandery Princess has now removed your mask. Let’s see how you can continue to deceive this Commandery Princess into believing you’re him!"
Meng Zhuqing’s body turned rigid, and he forgot to breathe.
She had audaciously removed his mask, not even giving him time to prepare, an eventuality he had not anticipated.
He had thought that from the moment he donned the mask, henceforth, in every encounter with her, he would be wearing it. It didn’t just cover his face, but also his heart.
"Let this Commandery Princess have a good look at you... Ah..." Tobanya, still intoxicated, leaned in close to his face, her stunning beauty encroaching his space, her breath, heavy with alcohol, showering his face causing his heart to pound like a drum.
Tobanya, steadying her wobbly self against the table with one hand, scrutinized his face closely. The distance between her face and his was indeed very, very close.
He dared not breathe even more so.
And his heart was beating even more wildly.
Perhaps it was the effect of the alcohol-laden breath she exhaled; he felt himself getting a bit drunk, his mind hazy and unable to think of anything.
"Eh..." Tobanya stared at him for a long time, finally expressing mild surprise, "You look somewhat familiar..."
How could I not look familiar? I am Meng Zhuqing.
Meng Zhuqing first reacted inwardly with annoyance, truly feeling that Tobanya had had too much to drink, but the words that came out were gentle and patient, "Commandery Princess, how many times do you want this General to tell you that I am Meng Zhuqing?"
However, because of this, his stiffness from earlier subsided; he now felt calm. Since she was just a drunk at this point, even if his feelings were exposed, in her state, she would not notice.
But his heart still thumped vigorously.
It was clear that this person had an enormous impact on him.
"Meng Zhuqing..." Tobanya murmured softly again, her eyes and expression full of disbelief, yet she continued to gaze at him, her beautiful eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration.
After a while, she raised her hand and touched his face.