Since Long Xiaojiu was wanted by the Yuwen family last time, she had been moving between the folk areas of Southern Border and the Kingdom of Jin, which allowed her to have in - depth contact with the national conditions of the two countries.
"Xiaojiu, what do you mean by this?" Sure enough, the Grand Elder was extremely agitated.
"Actually, the Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin has already promised me some things. He won't treat Southern Border badly." Long Xiaojiu further explained. But unexpectedly, the Grand Elder flew into a rage.
"Don't say another word. If you keep talking, I'll arrest you immediately on the charge of treason." The Grand Elder seemed to find it extremely unbelievable that Long Xiaojiu had communicated with the Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin.
"Grand Elder, I'm telling you this today not to plead with you. Do you know that the Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin has long been eyeing us covetously? If you don't agree, then he'll simply wipe out the entire Yuwen family. By then, Southern Border will fall into the hands of any puppet the Kingdom of Jin sends at will."
"You're threatening me, Xiaojiu. I really didn't expect you, the Holy Maiden, to be so 'dutiful', acting as the Kingdom of Jin's lobbyist for Southern Border."
"Why can't you understand my words? The Kingdom of Jin has long been dissatisfied with the tyranny of the Yuwen family. Although I planned the conscription that day, now our people are also pointing their fingers at the Yuwen family. When you're besieged on both sides, do you think you still have the right to negotiate terms with the Kingdom of Jin?" Long Xiaojiu seemed anxious for him. It seemed that if the Grand Elder didn't agree with her today, he would really be harmed by Si Junlin. If this had happened before, she would have been happy to see someone avenge her family's destruction and happy to see Southern Border return to the rule of the Long family. But today, she didn't know why she was putting so much effort into persuading the Yuwen family. Maybe it was because the Grand Elder would really govern well in the future.
"What did you say? You planned the conscription? That day it wasn't... clearly the Second Brother?" No wonder, so that was the case. "Long Xiaojiu! Holy Maiden of the Long family, you're really good at scheming." The Grand Elder seemed extremely disappointed in her. "Fine. If the Kingdom of Jin really wants to destroy the Yuwen family and restore the Long family, I can't stop them. No matter how the people view the Yuwen family or me, the Grand Elder, at least for now, the sharp blades in the hands of our Southern Border soldiers are still pointed at the Kingdom of Jin. I think they won't turn around and point at my neck for a while. If he wants to fight, let him." After saying that, the Grand Elder flicked his sleeves and left.
He left Long Xiaojiu alone in the Holy Maiden's Hall.
At this moment, Long Xiaojiu wasn't annoyed because the Grand Elder refused to listen to her advice. Instead, she felt a bit of admiration for his innate pride and the backbone of guarding Southern Border. Unlike herself, although she was making compromises, she had already had contacts with the Emperor and Empress of Southern Border a year ago and even helped them. Since then, she couldn't be considered completely loyal to Southern Border.
"Come here! Go and invite the Queen here quickly." Long Xiaojiu hurriedly told the maidservants to invite Si Junlin over and specifically told them to invite the guard beside him as well.
"Holy Maiden, it's getting late now. Moreover, we don't know that guard. How about... how about the Holy Maiden go to the Queen's palace in person? What's the harm?" The maidservants beside her were in a dilemma.
"No. I'd better not go to the people from the Kingdom of Jin on my own initiative for now. You go quietly. He only brought that one guard. Explain it to him and he will surely come." For some reason, now she suddenly cared about what the people in the palace thought of her. She cared that if she went to the Queen in person, it would be bad if it reached the Grand Elder's ears.
When Si Junlin heard that Long Xiaojiu wanted to see them again, he was very impatient and wanted to dismiss the two maidservants casually. But unexpectedly, Su Wan'er in the side hall also heard the commotion and quickly urged him to go.
"What could possibly happen in such a short time? How about we go tomorrow?" Si Junlin was still angry, especially angry with Xiaojiu. How could he obediently go to see her at this moment?
"Si Junlin, this is not the time to act on impulse. If you don't go, if you don't go, I'll..." Su Wan'er was extremely anxious. Xiaojiu had always been a proper and obedient child. There must be something important now. Unlike him, who only knew how to play around all day.
"What will you do? What can you, a little guard, do?"
"You! I'll beat you up when no one is around." Su Wan'er whispered threateningly.
Si Junlin was amused by her coquettish and domineering appearance. It was rare to see her like this, so he was in a great mood. He obediently got up and said, "Change my clothes. I'll go now."
He originally thought that as a small country, Southern Border would have less of everything compared to the Kingdom of Jin. But unexpectedly, there were more rules in the palace here. One had to change clothes when going out and another set of clothes when coming back. Running around like this all day, weren't they afraid of catching a cold?
After Su Wan'er impatiently changed his clothes suitable for going out, Si Junlin went even further and asked her to braid his hair personally.
"Alright, alright. A quarter of an hour has passed. Xiaojiu must be very impatient by now. Are you going or not? Do you want a beating?" Su Wan'er finally lost her patience.
Si Junlin thought the time was right, so he calmly got up, straightened his sleeves and said, "I'm leaving now."
But unexpectedly, the two maidservants who came to invite them said, "The Holy Maiden specifically said that the guard should also go."
"Presumptuous!" How dare she be so specific? Didn't she think about her own status? Si Junlin blurted out this sentence. He thought that he and Su Wan'er were the two people with the highest status in the Kingdom of Jin. It was already good enough that a mere Holy Maiden invited him over, but she even dared to specifically ask Su Wan'er to go with him.
"Fine. Then please lead the way. I'll go with you." Su Wan'er glared at him.
"No, you don't need to go. I can go by myself." Si Junlin was already full of annoyance, and now he was even more stubborn.
"Can you stop me?" Su Wan'er walked in front of him. The two maidservants were sensible and quickly led the way in front.
Si Junlin was extremely angry all the way. He just wanted to scold Long Xiaojiu for being a vixen. Now that he was a woman, he inexplicably felt like a resentful wife blaming her husband for philandering outside, so he got even angrier.
"Your Majesty, the Queen, can't you walk faster?" Su Wan'er had walked a long way in front. Seeing that he was still dawdling behind, she impatiently urged him with a bad look on her face.
"Your Majesty, the Queen, where are you two in such a hurry to go?" Unexpectedly, at this time, the Grand Elder walked over from the front. It seemed as if he had come specifically to find the Queen.
"It's to..."
"Nothing. We just want to take a walk in the garden. I wonder what the Grand Elder wants to talk to the Queen about?" Si Junlin was about to answer when Su Wan'er answered the Grand Elder before him.