"What? No way!" Long Xiaojiu blurted out her refusal instinctively.
"No way? Haven't you always been devoted to me? I've also considered that it's most suitable for the Holy Maiden of Southern Border to marry into the Jin Kingdom as the queen. You should get prepared. After the matter is settled and the situation stabilizes, I'll come to marry you."
"No... Uncle Emperor, how can I marry there?"
"Why not? Didn't you propose this yourself?"
"I just can't. I... I can't leave. Besides, Southern Border still needs me." Long Xiaojiu suddenly came up with an excuse.
"You don't need to worry about this. Since Southern Border has become a vassal state of the Jin Kingdom, there won't be any major upheavals. I'll just send someone to manage it."
Long Xiaojiu became even more flustered and kept refusing, but she couldn't come up with a good reason.
"Let's talk about this later. For now, the war between the two countries is of top priority. First, stop the war and make peace. Let Southern Border become a vassal state of the Jin Kingdom. I don't want to see the common people suffering in the flames of war anymore." Long Xiaojiu readily agreed and said that it was too late at night for Su Wan'er to stay any longer.
Su Wan'er naturally knew what was going on, so she didn't tease her anymore. After all, there would be plenty of time in the future, and it was more important to focus on the current matter.
"Si Junlin, I've arranged everything with Xiaojiu. But..."
"But what? Isn't your Xiaojiu the most obedient to you?"
"Xiaojiu... has changed her heart." It was quite funny to say. Su Wan'er couldn't help smiling.
"Changed her heart. Do you really think that little girl would be truly devoted to you, a cross - dressing person? Even if she was like that before, now that she knows the truth, she probably won't have those delusions anymore." Si Junlin always seemed to think that Long Xiaojiu's feelings for Su Wan'er were a mistake.
"Yes, I'm also very disappointed. It seems that Xiaojiu has developed some feelings for the Grand Elder."
"This won't do. If it's Long Xiaojiu, now that the Long family is in decline, the Jin Kingdom can completely control her. But if it's the Grand Elder, not to mention the situation of the Jin Kingdom, we've all seen the ambitions of the Yuwen family. It may be difficult to control them. If we can't force the Yuwen family to submit with tough measures, it's probably impossible to make them willingly become vassals of the Jin Kingdom."
Not necessarily. Look at the current policies of the Yuwen family. Except for the conscription, the rest are still relatively lenient. Moreover, "the conscription was planned by Xiaojiu. So maybe the Grand Elder can be won over."
"We'll have to wait until they're at the end of their wits. Otherwise, trying to win him over now will only boost the arrogance of the Yuwen family."
"Okay, let's support Xiaojiu to take the throne first."
The next day, following the pre - arranged plan, Long Xiaojiu led the servants of the Long family who had always sworn to follow her and escaped from the palace early in the morning. In no more than three days, she could hold the token and wait for news from Su Wan'er. Once the Jin Kingdom required the Holy Maiden to appear at the official ceremony for the coronation of the queen, she could appear justifiably.
"Elder, the queen - coronation ceremony will be held the day after tomorrow. I wonder how the preparations are going." Si Junlin personally came to the palace where the Grand Elder handled daily affairs. But seeing the mess in the palace, he was greatly shocked. Could it be that the Grand Elder was having a drunken tantrum?
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Southern Border will surely treat you well. Everything is well - prepared. I still have some urgent matters. Your Majesty, please go back and wait patiently." The Grand Elder hastily told her and then rushed her away.
"I wonder what has happened in the palace. Although I shouldn't interfere in politics, the Grand Elder should at least consider my face as the queen. Why have most of the guards in the palace been transferred away?"
Originally, she, the queen from the Jin Kingdom, was well - known as a female general with high martial arts skills. Naturally, she was the most dangerous person in the palace. But now, most of her guards had been removed. This was really strange.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The safety of the palace is still guaranteed. I have an urgent need for those guards."
Si Junlin couldn't get any useful information, so she left dejectedly.
"It's really strange. As soon as Miss Xiaojiu left, they mobilized all the people in the palace to look for her. Isn't she just a vanguard general? Why go to such lengths?" Qingcao and Su Wan'er were also sighing after hearing about this.
"I've told you before. Now the Grand Elder is completely devoted to Xiaojiu. Now that Xiaojiu is missing, of course, he has to look for her carefully. But according to what I've discussed with Xiaojiu, she will run towards our Jin Kingdom. The Grand Elder definitely won't think of that."
"In that case, maybe the Grand Elder can really be won over." Si Junlin was carefully considering the possibilities. "Maybe even if Long Xiaojiu doesn't come out to rule Southern Border, her influence on the Grand Elder is enough to make him act."
"Don't think about it. You can't use Xiaojiu like this. One thing is one thing. Xiaojiu will be willing to do anything for me as long as it doesn't harm Southern Border. But if you use her feelings like this, it's really... not very kind."
Su Wan'er guessed that Si Junlin would definitely think in this direction.
"Okay, I promise you." Si Junlin smiled. "You've also seen the Grand Elder's current state. The whole palace is in a mess because of Long Xiaojiu. If I don't promise you, if one day you disappear, I'm afraid the whole Jin Kingdom will be in a state like the palace in Southern Border."
Hearing this, Qingcao couldn't help laughing. It was really true that if her young lady hadn't said goodbye to her before leaving but had disappeared quietly like Miss Xiaojiu, the huge imperial palace of the Jin Kingdom might also be in such a state.
"Come on, don't make such jokes. The situation is urgent now. The problem is that the queen - coronation ceremony is the day after tomorrow. No matter how fast Xiaojiu runs in these two days, she can't cross the border of the Jin Kingdom, or there will be a threat. But there's no guarantee that the Grand Elder won't find her. So how about you and I act a play beside the Grand Elder to hold him back?"
If they could distract the Grand Elder now and make him not so eager to look for Xiaojiu and hold on for these two days, then Xiaojiu could appear in her identity as the Holy Maiden and be out of danger.
"Don't even think about it. You didn't see the state of his palace today. Even if you told him that the sky was falling, he wouldn't stop. " As if there was an understanding between men, Si Junlin now understood the Grand Elder very well. He was just like an angry lion now. Asking him to stop looking for Long Xiaojiu was simply impossible.