"Then I'll have to trouble Marshal Yuan to ride side by side with me. It'll be good to receive the welcome of our Great Jin's numerous subjects," Si Junlin said, seemingly helpless and reluctant.
Su Wan'er frowned. "Yes, Your Majesty." She had been annoyed about being forced to participate in the draft. She had been planning to talk to Brother Jingtian and ask for his advice but didn't know how to start, so some time had passed. Who would have thought that these two culprits would start talking about her.
The national preceptor was the most perceptive person in the Great Jin. Having served two emperors for decades, didn't he understand the principle that serving a king was like being with a tiger? As soon as Su Wan'er came over, he consciously stayed far away.
Si Junlin didn't know whether to speak or not. He walked beside Su Wan'er, looking straight ahead, seemingly not planning to talk to her. He also felt that it was not appropriate to start a conversation.
"May I ask the national preceptor, is there really such a rule?" Gu Jingtian looked at the national preceptor walking beside him. He felt that something was wrong with this matter and was still unhappy.
"Of course there is. I read these etiquette and legal codes every day. Naturally, I won't remember wrongly," the national preceptor prayed that Gu Jingtian, a military general, usually didn't pay much attention to these etiquette matters.
Gu Jingtian frowned and sized him up. What on earth was he up to? A year ago, when he left everything in the court and went traveling in the mountains and rivers, his attitude was completely different. And wasn't it said that those who indulged in the mountains and rivers were already used to the natural state of inaction? How could he read etiquette and legal codes every day?
"If the national preceptor says there is, then there is. I, a junior, dare not question it. I heard that the national preceptor is going to take the position of prime minister again. When this news spread, it really surprised us juniors. Didn't the national preceptor claim that he was tired of the hard work of official documents? Why are you so willing to come back today? Moreover, the court is quite stable now. It's really not necessary to ask you, such an old man, to come back and work hard." Gu Jingtian always felt that this matter was not simple. The national preceptor, a man who lacked nothing, was taking the position of prime minister. I'm afraid all the officials in the court would be surprised. Moreover, just after the recovery of the Southern Border, it was a time of national peace and prosperity. Why did the national preceptor come back?
"Alas, General Gu doesn't know. Just after the recovery of the Southern Border, it's exactly the time when the Turks and the Khitans are jealous. In terms of experience, I can still take on this responsibility. How can I go traveling in the mountains and rivers again?" The national preceptor seemed determined to portray himself as a loyal and patriotic old official, regardless of his face. He didn't know how different this was from his previous image of a carefree and lazy man.
"The national preceptor's awareness of caring for the country and the people and worrying about the country really makes us juniors admire. However, does the national preceptor know that the Turks and the Khitans are thousands of miles away from our Great Jin? Not to mention that there are several small countries between us and the Turks. There is just an inland lake thousands of miles away from the Khitans... The Khitans will never attack us, right?" Gu Jingtian sized up the unreliable old man in front of him more and more. What kind of nonsense was this? Although he knew that this man had served as the prime minister for thirty years in the previous dynasty, how could he say such things now? Was he just getting old and senile? Although the relationship between the Turks, the Khitans, and the Great Jin had never been good, there had never been a war since the founding of the Great Jin. Moreover, if a war broke out from such a long distance, it would be a waste of manpower and resources and gain no benefits at all. Anyone who had seen the map would understand this truth.
"It's hard to say. General Gu must not take it lightly. Moreover..." The national preceptor seemed to rack his brains to find an excuse for himself. "Moreover, the Southern Border has just been recovered. Which of the emperor and the generals knows the inside story of the Southern Border? And I happen to know something about the Southern Border. Isn't it just the right time for me to stand up and appease the people of the Southern Border and make them convinced?"
The national preceptor thought that it was better to cover it up like this than to let people know that he had made a wrong medicine and caused the emperor and the marshal, two extremely important people to the Jin State, to lose their memories.
Gu Jingtian didn't plan to ask about this matter anymore. He felt that it was meaningless to expose his lies now.
"One more thing. Now that I, a junior, and the national preceptor have returned from the battlefield together, we can be said to have a bond of sharing the battlefield. I wonder if the national preceptor can agree to this unkind request of mine?"
The national preceptor naturally agreed readily, full of joy, thinking that he had finally managed to muddle through the matter of taking the position of prime minister again seamlessly.
But who would have thought that when Gu Jingtian opened his mouth, he almost fell off his horse in shock.
"I plan to go to the Su Mansion to propose marriage three days after returning to the capital. But the rules of three matchmakers and six betrothal gifts in our Great Jin cannot be violated. So can I ask the national preceptor to be the matchmaker?"
The national preceptor asked with trembling teeth, "Propose marriage to the Su Mansion in three days? Whose marriage are you proposing?"
Gu Jingtian seemed a little embarrassed. "I'm afraid the national preceptor hasn't been back to the capital for some time and doesn't know the current situation in the capital. The Su Mansion naturally refers to the mansion of the old general Su. There is only one marriageable girl in the mansion. Can't the national preceptor guess whose marriage I'm going to propose?"
The national preceptor was completely confused. He rubbed his forehead to make himself a little more sober. Of course, he knew. And it was he who asked about it personally yesterday. There was only one marriageable girl in the Su Mansion. He couldn't be more clear. That marriageable girl was the marshal who was now riding side by side with the emperor. During the draft yesterday, he was still secretly glad that there was really only Su Wan'er, a marriageable girl, in the Su Mansion. Su Wan'er couldn't escape.
Yesterday evening, he still thought that his plan was very clever. In the draft of the Great Jin, if a girl was of marriageable age and unmarried, she must participate, unless she had a betrothal or was already married. And Su Wan'er had just returned from the battlefield. He could start preparing as soon as he returned to the capital. In less than ten days, he could let her enter the palace to participate in the draft. Who would make a betrothal with her in such a short time?
Who would have thought that such a seamless plan yesterday would become a flaw today.
"General Gu, do you know that the marshal has a noble status and is the eldest daughter of the Su family. If you're not sure, the old general Su may not marry her to you," the national preceptor seemed to be comforting himself. Although Gu Jingtian was also a capable general and was now the deputy marshal, it was said that he had just been promoted to this position. It was not certain that the old general Su would take a fancy to him.
"How can I not be sure? The national preceptor doesn't need to worry. If I'm not sure, I won't be so reckless and make you lose face," Gu Jingtian paused, looked at Su Wan'er, and said with a smile, "Wan'er and I have been childhood sweethearts. I'm not afraid to tell the national preceptor that the Gu family and the Su family are family friends."