In the back, Ling Xiao"s smile got deeper. If it was about their daughter, Lan Luofeng"s aggressive personality would come out. He had suffered from it many times. Even he would succ.u.mb to her, much less all these people.
Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie"s expressions froze when they heard the shameless praise Lan Luofeng had for Ling Lan. They didn"t seem too happy about it.
The representatives below quickly got reminded by Lan Luofeng and they went to check Ling Lan"s track records. They were instantly dumbfounded by it the moment they read it. Within a short span of around four years, the number of merits she had gained were equal to the number of merits an above average soldier would gain in his entire career. This astonishing track record made them exclaim, “Like father, like son.”
Compared to Ling Lan"s extraordinary track record, Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie"s records fell short in comparison. After all, all their merits were gained through their time spent in the military. Their value wasn"t like Ling Lan"s merits, which she got using her real ability and through battles.
“Since Ling Lan was able to build an independent army from scratch, I believe that he will be able to lead a division properly. Although Ling Lan is young, he has his advantage too. With his youth, he would have enough time to learn and develop the 23rd division into the division his father envisioned, and I trust that he won"t disappoint his father. As for the direction of the 23rd Division, I"m sure Ling Lan knows and understands it better than anyone here.” Lan Luofeng gave a knowing smile. She didn"t explain herself explicitly but everyone knew what she was saying.
General Ling Xiao had definitely discussed with Ling Lan on the future of the 23rd division. A scene slowly appeared in everyone"s mind. A father and son sitting in a study room chatting about their resolve in the military. The former was talking about the 23rd division while the latter talked about the Lingtian Independent Army. This should have been a legendary scene but it only invoked pity now. A lot of the audience started favouring Ling Lan. In their minds, it made more sense to have the son continue his father"s dream.
Lan Luofeng"s gaze turned sharp. “Based on what I"ve mentioned above, Ling Lan is the most suitable person to take over the 23rd division. I can"t think of a reason to reject his candidacy. For myself, I can"t stop the most suitable candidate from getting the position just because I want to avoid arousing suspicion. I can"t be selfish. Thus, I agreed to be Ling Lan"s representative.”
Both times, Lan Luofeng spoke about being selfish. The way she said it was different but the content was the same. The image of a righteous wife of a soldier who cared about the nation, its people, and her family was imprinted deeply in everyone"s mind. While they admired her, they felt sad for her too.
They were completely convinced to let this virtuous lady be the representative of Ling Lan. Lan Luofeng"s speech gave Ling Lan more bargaining chips and at the same time, she managed to portray herself perfectly. She indirectly gave her daughter more support.
He Xuyang forcefully calmed his turbulent emotions. Major General Lan"s speech seemed normal but it was actually brilliant to anyone who understood her underlying intentions. She laid out the advantages of having Ling Lan as the general of the 23rd division from many different perspectives. The wife of General Ling Xiao and the mother of Young Master Lan was truly not an ordinary woman. They had underestimated Major General Lan. Everyone underestimated Major General Lan. They deserved to be fooled by Major General Lan.
“Thank you for your willingness to listen to me.” Lan Luofeng saluted. She looked very handsome in her current image.
The representatives from the Lingtian Independent Army started applauding enthusiastically. Their enthusiasm also affected the other representatives who respected Lan Luofeng. The First Marshal clapped happily too. Only the expressions of the Second Marshal and the Third Marshal were sour. However, they could only unwillingly clap.
Ling Xiao only started smiling and clapping after he saw his wife"s beautiful performance.
Since the three great marshals and the commander of the Flying Dragon Special Forces acknowledged her, those with impure intentions didn"t dare speak up. Soon, a loud roar of applause echoed through the venue. It lasted for a very long time.
Seeing Lan Luofeng already earning a standing ovation at the beginning of the conference, Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie turned gloomy. They felt that they were in a dire situation. Now, they weren"t as confident as before.
After Lan Luofeng returned back to her seat, the two of them continued with the conference and explained their plan for the 23rd division"s future. However, their speech didn"t leave any impression in the hearts of the representatives. They were only talking about their vision, not General Ling Xiao"s.
Actually, Ling Xiao was always a bugged character. A lot of people in the headquarters were jealous and envious of him. However, if they were involved in a mess with Ling Xiao, they would follow his lead involuntarily. This was because they believed Ling Xiao and trusted that all the decisions he made were right. Hence, they would rather follow Ling Xiao"s vision of the 23rd division"s future and not anyone else"s.
This kind of mindset was contradictory. They wanted to suppress Ling Xiao but yet, they believed and respected him. We could only say that Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie didn"t understand the representatives" true thoughts. They thought that they could reorganise the 23rd division based on their own plans, but reality thought them wrong. Thus, more and more people began to lean towards Ling Lan.
After that, it was time for the representatives to ask questions. They threw some standard questions at Qiao Zhenyu and Yang Tie before focusing all their attention on Lan Luofeng.
The range of the questions was very broad. Some even asked Lan Luofeng what she liked to do in her free time. Although the questions they asked were strange, they had a valid reason for doing so. Lan Luofeng didn"t have any management experience in the military so they could only use her hobbies and habits to a.n.a.lyse and understand Lan Luofeng better before they could make a decision to see if she was a suitable representative for Ling Lan.
Lan Luofeng didn"t mind their weird questions. She smiled and replied to all the questions at face value. Her natural and graceful att.i.tude gained even more approval.
Ling Xiao"s face turned dark. ‘d.a.m.n it, what do they think they are doing? Are they trying to flirt with my wife right in front of me? Are they looking for death?"
Soon, the final voting would be held. The Second Marshal and Third Marshal noticed that the majority of the votes weren"t on their side so they secretly signaled to their confidants.
Before the host could announce that it was time to start the voting process, the general of the 6th division suddenly stood up from his seat and said, “I don"t have any opinion against Ling Lan being the general of the 23rd division. However, I"ve one question that I must ask.”
Ling Xiao frowned slightly. He knew that it wouldn"t be that easy of a road.
The host looked at the First Marshal instinctively. The First Marshal lowered his head when he heard the general of the 6th division talking. He didn"t say anything.
The host understood what he meant by that so he looked directly at him and said, “General Yuan, please come up and speak.”