In any case, it would be inappropriate for the Grand Elder to know that he had too much contact with Long Xiaojiu at this moment. Long Xiaojiu had her own plans, and it would be bad if they messed things up for her.
However, what Su Wan'er didn't know was that things had already been messed up. The Grand Elder had come this time just to see what kind of relationship the Queen of the Jin Kingdom had with Long Xiaojiu that she could win over the Holy Maiden.
"Since the Queen has nothing urgent, I wonder if it would be convenient for you to have a talk with me?"
"Sure, it's definitely convenient. Please come in, Grand Elder." Si Junlin was naturally delighted at this moment. He quickly turned around and invited the Grand Elder in.
Seeing this, Su Wan'er naturally wanted to slip away and meet Long Xiaojiu alone. He was extremely anxious. Long Xiaojiu must have something important to discuss with him.
"Guard Si, where are you going? Weren't you supposed to protect me at all times? Hurry up and follow me." Si Junlin saw that he was about to leave and immediately called him back.
Su Wan'er was so anxious that he wanted to stamp his feet. But with the Grand Elder present, he had to obediently follow.
"Guard Si?" the Grand Elder asked in confusion. "I wonder what this gentleman's status is in the Jin Kingdom? As far as I know, 'Si' is the royal surname in the Jin Kingdom. Since this gentleman will be stationed in our Southern Border from now on, if his status is noble, I'd better assign him an appropriate official position to avoid any rudeness." Although the Grand Elder sounded polite, he was already suspicious in his heart.
"Grand Elder, you may have misheard. This guard's surname is Su. He's from my Su family. He was just an ordinary commoner before and changed his surname after entering my family. 'Si' is indeed the royal surname in the Jin Kingdom, so only members of the royal family can have this surname."
"Oh, it was just a misunderstanding. Please come in, Queen."
Si Junlin looked at the Grand Elder. Although he didn't seem to suspect anything on the surface, he still wasn't sure if the Grand Elder had started to doubt Su Wan'er. In the past, when the two countries weren't at war yet, there were quite a few people from the Southern Border who had been to the Jing Kingdom. If Tai Shichen came to recognize them, he would surely recognize his face soon. Now they tried their best to hide in the deep palace and avoid people from the previous dynasty. During the Queen - crowning ceremony that day, Su Wan'er tried not to show up, and Si Junlin wore a veil, so they managed to avoid being recognized by the previous dynasty's officials.
"Now that our marriage is settled, the Queen - crowning ceremony is over, and the Holy Maiden has returned to our country. I wonder if the Queen should write a letter to the Emperor of the Jin Kingdom to ask him to fulfill his promise and ensure peace between our two countries for a hundred years?" the Grand Elder said straightforwardly.
"Elder, what do you mean by that? Aren't our two countries already on good terms? The war has been over for many days. Since I'm here, Grand Elder, do you still worry that the war will break out again?" Si Junlin deliberately evaded the question.
"Of course, now that the Queen has married into our Southern Border, I'm sure you care about our people. But the spies from the front line reported in the past few days that the Jin Kingdom's army hasn't withdrawn a single soldier. I don't mean to doubt the Jin Kingdom or the Emperor. It's just that the two armies are still in a stand - off. The Jin Kingdom is a vast country with abundant resources and inexhaustible supplies, but our 100,000 troops in the Southern Border are consuming a lot of supplies every day. I feel really sorry for them. What's your opinion, Queen?" The Grand Elder threw the question at her. If she answered it badly, she would be labeled as a queen who didn't care about the people.
"I don't really know the details as a woman. But I seem to know that... the army remains on the border because there's a small city in the Jin Kingdom, Liancheng. The city walls and moats are damaged in several places, and there's a flood and waterlogging disaster, so the soldiers are needed there for repairs."
The Grand Elder clearly knew that this was a lie, and his face showed signs of annoyance.
"However, I can guarantee that the city will be repaired within a month, and then the army will surely return to the capital. The Grand Elder is right. Our 100,000 soldiers in the Southern Border do consume a lot of supplies every day. Why don't we withdraw our troops first?"
It was a good move of using the enemy's own tactics against them. Su Wan'er almost burst out laughing while listening. Si Junlin was really sharp - tongued. If the Grand Elder had a smaller heart, he might have been so angry that he would have died on the spot. It was originally a trap set by the Jin Kingdom, so they naturally couldn't withdraw their troops first. The Southern Border had long been worried about the threat of the Jin Kingdom launching another attack at any time, so they didn't dare to withdraw and had to guard there every day. Now Si Junlin didn't even mention the Jin Kingdom's troop withdrawal but instead encouraged the Grand Elder to withdraw the Southern Border's troops first.
If the Grand Elder was not shrewd enough and withdrew the troops after being deceived by her words today, they wouldn't have to set a trap for him here, and they wouldn't have to go through all the trouble with Long Xiaojiu to seize power. They could just lead the army across the border river.
"Queen, don't go too far. Although the Southern Border is the biggest beneficiary of the truce between our two countries, it was the Jin Kingdom that proposed the marriage alliance first. Now the Queen is avoiding the topic of the Jin Kingdom's troop withdrawal. Where do you put the safety of our Southern Border?" Sure enough, the Grand Elder was so angry that he slapped the table.
"Hey, Grand Elder, there's no use getting angry with me about this. I'm just a woman and I've married into your Southern Border. I have to listen to you. Since I'm now a part of the Southern Border, I naturally wish that the Jin Kingdom would withdraw its troops as soon as possible. But how could our Emperor listen to me?"
"You..." The Grand Elder was even more angry and almost stood up. Listening to Si Junlin's serious nonsense was really infuriating. Su Wan'er began to admire her. Not only did she, a woman who had only been married for three days, refer to 'our Southern Border' and 'their Jin Kingdom', but the words 'a woman' were also enough to make people angry. Even if the Grand Elder didn't know that they had swapped identities and she was originally a man, even with the identity of General Su of the Su family, it would be embarrassing to call herself 'a woman'. A person who had been on the battlefield all day was now pretending to be weak.
"You're a general, but now you're acting like this. Isn't it just being unreasonable?"
"Hey, how could it be unreasonable? As the saying goes, all's fair in war. I've already married in. Does the Grand Elder really want to send me back to fight? Now my heart is filled with the Grand Elder and the Southern Border. If the Grand Elder really sends me back, I don't know whether I should lead the army to attack the Southern Border or turn around and attack the Jin Kingdom instead?" Si Junlin seemed to be extremely loyal. The palace servants who didn't know the truth were really touched by her and all looked at the Grand Elder.
"You! Shameless." The Grand Elder finally couldn't bear it anymore and left in a huff.
Only then did Su Wan'er burst out laughing. He laughed heartily without any worries. "Si Junlin, you're so shameless. I'm ashamed for you even if you're not."