However, before the elder passed away and a new one took over, the Jin Kingdom had conquered the Southern Border, and then he could return.
"The elder of the Southern Border may be old, but he is ambitious. He's not as useless as you think, brother," said Si Junlin.
Seeing that Gu Jingtian was about to argue with him, Si Junlin said impatiently, "I've made up my mind. Besides, Brother Jingtian, if I don't marry into the Southern Border, at my age and having been married before, who else would marry me?" He knew very well about Gu Jingtian's feelings for Su Wan'er. Only he could marry her.
"You're still young. How can you talk about yourself like this? Besides, our families had an engagement when we were young. If you don't mind me..."
"I do," Si Junlin said coldly. Then, realizing his tone was too harsh, he quickly comforted Gu Jingtian, "Brother Jingtian, I've told you many times that I only have sister - brother feelings for you. Moreover, this is a matter related to the fate of the two countries. Don't make trouble here."
"Make trouble? I'm trying to stop you from jumping into the fire pit, and you think I'm making trouble? Wan'er, are you okay? You must have been poisoned by a Gu. Are you feeling unwell?" Gu Jingtian quickly noticed something was wrong with Su Wan'er. He suspected that the people from the Southern Border had poisoned her. Otherwise, why would she insist on marrying the elder?
"I'm fine. I have something to counter the Gu. I've always been wearing the bracelet that Xiao Jiu gave me. Ordinary Gu won't harm me."
"Then why are you doing this?" Gu Jingtian finally couldn't hold back. He grabbed her hands and argued with her, as if trying to wake her up.
Si Junlin was shocked and then furious. He shook off Gu Jingtian's hands and said, "I've told you I'm doing this voluntarily. Brother Jingtian, if you don't listen, just go and rest. I'll trouble you to send me off in a few days. Qingcao, see the guest out."
"Wan'er, you're crazy..." Before Gu Jingtian could finish his words, Qingcao politely escorted him out.
"Your Majesty, this servant dares to say something out of turn. General Gu and our young lady have known each other since childhood. He really cares about her. Why not tell him the truth so that he won't worry about it every day?" Qingcao couldn't bear to see Gu Jingtian being kept in the dark. Given his feelings for the young lady, he would surely be unable to eat or sleep well in the future.
"We can't let him know."
"Why?" Qingcao was confused.
"You don't need to know. This is also your young lady's intention," Si Junlin still planned to let Su Wan'er tell him herself. Maybe the little girl could figure it out. Everyone could see that Gu Jingtian had feelings for the young lady. Even if he knew the truth and that it was a plan, would he allow Si Junlin to replace Su Wan'er and marry into the Southern Border?
He would probably object. Moreover, there was a possibility that he would mess things up. It was better to keep it a secret. At least in Gu Jingtian's eyes, this was something Su Wan'er was willing to do. So he would only try to stop Su Wan'er and wouldn't follow them to the Southern Border.
After the peace - seeking truce letter was sent to the Southern Border, the people there were naturally shocked. But this was such a good thing. Even if they suspected a trick, at least they would have a truce. The people of the Southern Border would surely be overjoyed to accept it.
Sure enough, one day later, the elder of the Southern Border replied in person. In the letter, he even praised General Su of the Su family and directly promised her the position of queen.
Su Wan'er and Si Junlin read the reply together and smiled at each other.
"See, I said that as long as they're not fools, they won't refuse such a good chance for a truce."
"Yes. A person like General Su of the Su family would surely deserve such treatment if she marries there," Su Wan'er couldn't help feeling proud.
"If the female general of the Su family really cared about this, the Southern Border wouldn't even have a chance. She could even give up the position of the queen of the great Jin Kingdom," Si Junlin said meaningfully.
Because the matter was urgent and the Southern Border seemed eager to have General Su Wei marry there, they could only find the residence of the official in Liancheng, a small border city of the Jin Kingdom, for the female general to get married from. Naturally, none of the Su family members could make it in time. Moreover, except for the military and Liancheng, Si Junlin had already blocked the news, so it didn't reach the capital.
In the end, the female general only took Qingcao, a maid, and a guard with her when she got married. And only General Gu Jingtian, a cousin from her mother's side, sent her off. Since it was a plan, they didn't pay much attention to the formalities. They hurriedly decided to send her off two days later.
The Yuwen family of the Southern Border was overjoyed. Elder Yuwen planned to have the whole clan greet the bride, and he would also come to the border in person to pick her up, but the Jin Kingdom refused.
The Yuwen family had used too many tricks, so they couldn't be trusted. If all the Gu - using experts of the whole clan came to the border, no one knew what kind of trouble they would cause. Therefore, the Jin Kingdom proposed to send the bride directly to the capital of the Southern Border.
Before getting married, Su Wan'er corresponded with Long Xiaojiu. Although Long Xiaojiu wasn't very willing for them to interfere in the affairs of the Southern Border, and Si Junlin didn't tell her the whole plan, she understood the current situation. Although she had tried her best to instigate the internal strife between the two elders of the Yuwen family in the Southern Border, she still couldn't damage their foundation. So she had to agree to this plan.
"I'm afraid I'll have to trouble General Gu to escort us all the way to the capital," Su Wan'er was dressed as a guard for convenience. She had even cut Si Junlin's hair a bit shorter. Yesterday, Si Junlin had scolded her, saying that people of the royal family were not allowed to cut their hair from childhood to old age.
At this moment, wearing a guard's uniform and smiling, she greeted the cold - faced Gu Jingtian. Gu Jingtian had a gloomy face, looking like he didn't want to talk to anyone.
But when he saw Su Wan'er, he was still shocked. "Your Majesty, what are you doing?"
"Shh - as you can see, I'm now a dowry guard of General Su." Actually, the female general could have brought more guards when getting married. The reason they didn't let Gu Jingtian go was that he had fought against the Southern Border in the border area for several years. The enemy might recognize him, and that would ruin the plan. So Su Wan'er and Si Junlin had to keep it a secret from him.
"Your Majesty, this may not be appropriate. What on earth are you thinking?" In such a dangerous situation, what was Si Junlin thinking? He was the king of a country. How could he be so hasty as to disguise as a guard and go deep into the capital of the Southern Border? If something happened to him, the whole country would be leaderless.
"General Gu just needs to follow the order."
The group was quite large. But after crossing the border, most of them could only watch them leave from a distance at the border line.
At this time, Si Junlin, sitting in the sedan chair, was wearing a red wedding dress. He had brought a bronze mirror with him and was carefully admiring the face of Su Wan'er in the mirror. Even though it was a hasty makeup, thanks to the careful arrangement of the official in Liancheng, her makeup was complete with facial decorations.