"It's impossible," Su Wan'er interrupted him before he could finish. She had thought he had some brilliant strategy. "It's a perfect opportunity for us on the battlefield right now. How could we stop the war?"
"But if we fight now, we're just fighting the new recruits from the Southern Border. If we intend to take Nanjing, they'll be our subjects in the future. This won't hurt the Yuwen family."
"But how can we directly target the Yuwen family?"
"Stop the war. Maybe we need a reason, and that reason is a marriage alliance."
"A marriage alliance. That's too good for the Southern Border. Besides, the Southern Border was willing to send their princess to the Jin Kingdom voluntarily, but the Jin Kingdom just didn't accept it." Su Wan'er was extremely puzzled.
"It's not about taking the princess from the Southern Border. It's about marrying off someone from our side to one of their elders in the Southern Border."
"!" Su Wan'er was speechless. What a crazy idea Si Junlin had!
"Moreover, you'll write an imperial edict for me tomorrow to marry General Su Wei, the third daughter of General Su of the Su family in the Jin Kingdom, to the Southern Border."
"Si Junlin, you want me to marry into the Southern Border?!" This was simply absurd. It was impossible even when she was in her female form, and now that her identity had changed, did he mean for him to use his own body to marry into the Southern Border?
"You're right. It's me who will marry into the Southern Border. After that, you'll go with me as a bodyguard in the dowry."
"You mean the two of us... will infiltrate the Yuwen family in this way and then..."
"Exactly. After that, we can act according to the situation. The Yuwen family is already in internal strife, so they're probably in a complete mess. And when an elder gets married, the Holy Maiden will naturally attend. But the Yuwen family still hasn't found the token, so the Holy Maiden is still Long Xiaojiu." Si Junlin seemed to have thought it through very carefully. "But this token is now in your possession."
"Right. So as long as I return the token to Xiaojiu, and the Jin Kingdom still supports Xiaojiu as the Holy Maiden, isn't it logical for Xiaojiu to regain the position of the Holy Maiden?"
"Correct. By then, once the internal strife in the Yuwen family breaks out, if several elders lose the support of the people, it's not impossible for the Holy Maiden to take power."
At that time, the Jin Kingdom could feign gathering all its troops to put pressure on the Southern Border. The Holy Maiden would step forward to stop the war and negotiate peace. The Holy Maiden who saved the people of the Southern Border from the fire and water would naturally become the unchallenged ruler.
Su Wan'er's mind was racing. Although this strategy was somewhat risky, after all, the Jin Kingdom had the support of hundreds of thousands of troops. If it succeeded, they could take the Southern Border without firing a single shot and ensure permanent peace between the two countries.
"I'll go and issue the imperial edict right now to marry you off to the Southern Border!" The smile on Su Wan'er's face was overflowing. It was like coming up with a brilliant strategy during a battle, which really made her heart surge.
"Hey, it's not you who's getting married. You're so quick to marry me off." Si Junlin teased her. In fact, everyone knew very well that even if someone was married off in this marriage alliance, the elder there wouldn't easily trust her. Just like if a daughter from the Southern Border was married to the Jin Kingdom, she might have to stay alone in the boudoir for several years. After all, it was really dangerous to let someone from another country lie beside the monarch.
Early the next morning, the generals led their troops to conduct daily drills in the military camp. Because of the quietness of the Southern Border and the lack of action for a long time, everyone had slowed down their pace step by step.
But just when everyone was relaxing their vigilance, suddenly came the news that the emperor had issued an imperial edict for the whole army to listen to the training.
Since the emperor was on a personal expedition, there were naturally as many imperial edicts as needed. Moreover, it was the emperor's first time in the military camp. Everyone thought it was just a routine speech. Even Gu Jingtian thought that maybe Si Junlin was going to assert his authority.
But when the eunuch accompanying the emperor read out the imperial edict and sent messengers to spread it throughout the major military camps, everyone was shocked. This imperial edict was to cease the war with the Southern Border! Not only that, but they also had to send someone to the Southern Border for a marriage alliance.
Now even the lowest-ranking soldiers knew that the Jin Kingdom's troops were in a dominant position and could completely defeat the Southern Border. It was okay that the Southern Border didn't come to seek peace, but the Jin Kingdom actually took the initiative to ask for peace?
As soon as this imperial edict was issued, there was naturally a crazy commotion in the military camp. The generals were full of doubts and reported to their superiors and stopped the drills.
Then Si Junlin had to issue another imperial edict to comfort the soldiers that the war would still be fought, and the Jin Kingdom wouldn't withdraw its troops. None of the hundreds of thousands of troops here could return to the capital. All of them had to stay and prepare for the war.
Finally, the morale of the army was stabilized a bit. Maybe this was just a strategy of the emperor and the marshal. Since ancient times, all is fair in war, and there were countless strategies on the battlefield. Those who came out to fight naturally understood this truth.
But when they learned who the person to be married off for the marriage alliance was, everyone was in an uproar again.
The person to be married off was none other than their marshal, Su Wei, the third daughter of the Su family.
Now no one doubted whether the emperor had issued the wrong imperial edict because everyone thought the emperor was crazy. From the battalion commanders of each battalion to the leading generals of the garrison, one by one rushed to the marshal's tent. Ostensibly, they were saying they wanted to find out clearly, but actually, they were coming to fight for their marshal.
After all, their marshal had just established her prestige in the military camp last month, and everyone had witnessed the marshal's ability and strategies. Moreover, this was the Su family's army. If someone with a malicious intention guessed, the emperor's move naturally had the suspicion of suppressing the Su family and taking back the military power. How could the generals and soldiers of the Su family's army tolerate it?
Si Junlin had naturally thought of this result in advance. Naturally, everyone in the military camp was puzzled and dissatisfied, but he didn't expect there to be so many dissatisfied people. Almost most of the generals came to the main camp to ask for an explanation. He finally saw the almost god-like status of Su Wan'er, the marshal, in the military camp.
In the end, everyone only dared to block in front of the main camp. No one dared to go in. So they elected a vanguard, and this vanguard was none other than their deputy marshal, General Gu Jingtian.
Gu Jingtian rushed in regardless. Then he knelt on one knee and saluted with a fist. "Your Majesty, please forgive this humble general for his rudeness. Please come out and give us an explanation. Otherwise, this humble general will have to invite Your Majesty out personally."
Su Wan'er held back her laughter and watched him looking so serious. If he knew that the body of the emperor now was actually his younger sister Wan'er, would he beat her to death?
Su Wan'er coughed lightly and said seriously, "General Gu, please rise quickly."
Naturally, Gu Jingtian didn't buy this. He dodged her hand that was trying to help him up, with a threatening look in his eyes. He had made up his mind before he came in. If Si Junlin really dared to marry Su Wan'er to the Southern Border, he would fight him to the death today.
"General Gu, could you please not look at me like this? I'm now powerless, while General Gu is highly skilled in martial arts. Does your look mean you're going to rebel?"