Wei and Jin did not submit to Zhou

Chapter 8 Prologue 8 After this battle, I'll go back to my hometown and get married.
Late at night, torches were still lit in the main hall of Li Yin's house.

A young man who bore a striking resemblance to Li Wan was chatting with her. This man was Li Gu, the eldest son of Li Yin, who had just returned to Luoyang from Xingyang County that day.

His return to Luoyang was also due to certain matters related to the General's Mansion.

Since Sima Zhao had already decided to take action and push forward the change of dynasty, he naturally arranged for his trusted confidants to control key government offices. Li Yin and his descendants were thus able to move from the local level to the central government.

"Is Father being held at the General's Mansion tonight?"

Li Gu was somewhat anxious. He looked at the absent-minded Li Wan and asked her. His younger sister was usually very opinionated, no less so than a man, and she was not easily swayed by either soft or hard approaches.

Upon returning home, he learned that his father, Li Yin, had been at the General's Mansion for two days without returning home, only sending a messenger to deliver a message. At this moment, Li Gu was far less composed than his sister, Li Wan.

“Brother, calling it detention is too harsh. It’s just some trivial matter of a change of dynasty. The general is being cautious to prevent leaks. Right now, he doesn’t trust anyone and has to keep something in reserve.”

My father said there would be a court assembly tomorrow, so it must be tomorrow. My father will definitely be home tomorrow.

Li Wan answered casually, seemingly unconcerned, while inwardly she grumbled about why Shi Gandang hadn't come to see her these past two days.

Didn't they say they were going to propose marriage? Why haven't we heard anything about it?

Li Wan only cared about her own life's important matters and didn't care at all about the turbulent events outside. She was so bored these past two days that even if Shi Gandang came to her door for a chat, it would be nice.

"The imperial decree was indeed not without reason. This world is about to undergo another dramatic change, alas!"

Upon hearing what Li Wan said, Li Gu's expression turned solemn, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

He didn't seem to care like his younger sister.

Li Gu was transferred back to Luoyang by the imperial court not because of his outstanding achievements in local governance, but because... his father, Li Yin, was a confidant of Sima Zhao! And a very influential one at that!

Li Wan will not serve as an official; she doesn't need to worry about politics, and it would be pointless anyway. Li Gu, on the other hand, is truly navigating the officialdom, always prioritizing caution.
Different identities lead to different ways of thinking.

As the two were chatting casually about interesting things in Luoyang, several of Li Gu's servants escorted a young man in a gray cloth robe into the main hall.

"Ah Lang, this man was loitering at the gate and even tried to climb over the wall. We caught him and he awaits your judgment."

A servant bowed to Li Gu and said.

Just as Li Gu was about to speak, Li Wan quickly stopped everyone, saying, "He's not a thief, he's not a thief. Brother, don't worry about it, leave this person to me."

"Young lady, we need to explain who he is."

Li Gu was greatly surprised and blurted out the question.

Li Wan caught a suspicious man loitering outside the courtyard late at night, but she didn't take it seriously at all, which was simply outrageous.

He's your future brother-in-law!

Li Wan impatiently yelled at Li Gu, then grabbed the seemingly harmless Shi Gandang and left.

After the two men left, Li Gu and his servants looked at each other in the main hall. Li Gu impatiently yelled at them, "What are you looking at? Are you planning to catch mice instead of going to sleep so late?!"

Upon hearing their master's roar, his servants scattered like birds and beasts.

Li Gu rested his chin on his hand, looking puzzled. He had no idea when he had acquired a prospective brother-in-law, and his father, Li Yin, had never mentioned it.

Meanwhile, Li Wan led Shi Gandang to the woodshed. Inside, only a torch was lit, making the light very dim.

In the firelight, Li Wan's pretty face looked exceptionally charming. She closed the door and complained in a low voice, "Couldn't you just walk in through the gate during the day? Climbing over the wall at night, you're practically a thief!"

Li Wan complained, but she was actually very happy inside, and she couldn't stop smiling.

Without wasting words, Shi Gandang took out a yellow silk cloth from his sleeve and handed it to Li Wan.

Looking at the girl before him, as radiant as a spring flower, he smiled and said, "These past two days I went to the Emperor and obtained an imperial edict bestowing marriage upon me. Is this enough to propose?"

Li Wan accepted the imperial edict and, by the dim light, read its contents. A complex mix of emotions welled up within her; a thousand words stuck in her throat, and she didn't know how to utter them.

How could anyone in the world be so foolish? They've only met once, yet they're already asking the emperor for a marriage decree?

Li Wan's heart was filled with sweetness and excitement. At this moment, she was just like Shi Gandang, completely losing her usual composure. Her mind was like mush, and she had no judgment whatsoever.

Seeing Li Wan keep her head down and remain silent, Shi Gandang continued, "Uh, if I don't come back, you should hide this imperial edict and become Sima Yan's concubine. Don't ask, just tell me I have something important to do right now!"

Li Wan remained silent, simply holding Shi Gandang's hand in quiet contemplation.

She, a woman from an official family, naturally understood what an imperial decree meant. And what it took to obtain it was self-evident.

The so-called "big event" must be very big.

"I must return to Luoyang Palace tonight, the sooner the better. Take care and do as I say."

Shi Gandang sighed, and the two clasped hands tightly, gazing deeply into each other's eyes, neither of them uttering a word.

In truth, Shi Gandang felt that Li Wan wouldn't resist kissing his lips at this moment, but he still refrained. Since they were aiming for marriage, there was no need to follow Sima Yan's example.

If he's not mine, he can't escape; if he's not mine, a kiss won't solve anything.

Li Gu stood outside the woodshed, peering through the crack in the door to see what was happening inside. He felt a surge of anxiety for his sister: "Why don't you two just kiss already? What's there to hesitate about?"

Much later, Shi Gandang and Li Wan gave each other a very restrained hug, and then quickly separated.

Li Wan sighed, her face full of reluctance, and said:
"Then you... go and come back as soon as possible. I will show this imperial decree of marriage to my father tomorrow. Then we will proceed according to the rules."

"Yes, don't worry, I'm not going to my death."

Shi Gandang solemnly assured him.

The two pushed open the door and saw Li Gu, who had been peeking at them from outside.

Shi Gandang bowed to him, then strode away and disappeared into the night.

"Little sister, this..."

Li Gu didn't know how to comment. He couldn't very well ask why the two of them hadn't kissed when the atmosphere had clearly reached that point.
Li Wan glanced at him, said nothing, and handed the imperial decree of marriage, hidden in her sleeve, to Li Gu for inspection.

Even if there were a million reasons, none would be as convincing as this piece of silk.

Li Wan isn't a three-year-old child; how could she not tell who's sincere and who's not?

After carefully reading the contents of the imperial edict, Li Gu gasped. He returned the edict to Li Wan, completely convinced of its power.

These days, no woman can resist such advances. It's normal that Li Wan couldn't resist; any other woman would have been just as unable to resist.

This imperial edict was incredibly powerful.

"Brother, would you go to such lengths for a woman? What about your wife? How much effort did you put into marrying her?"

Li Wan tidied her long hair and looked at Li Gu, asking him a question.

Li Gu unconsciously avoided the other person's burning gaze, and after a long pause, he finally let out a sigh.

To be honest, he really couldn't do it. His future brother-in-law had indeed gone to great lengths for this marriage.

It's truly rare to find a man who pursues a woman to this extent.

In other words, with this favor, getting an official position would be a piece of cake, right? Why waste it on a woman? Once you've secured a high-ranking position and a generous salary, what kind of woman can't you find?
Even though Cao Mao was now a puppet emperor, an imperial edict granting a marriage was not something easily obtained. In Li Gu's view, Shi Gandang was wasting his political resources! He was using them for something pointless!
"What a fucking idiot! If he can't use his connections, then use them on me!" Li Gu cursed inwardly, thinking Shi Gandang had been bewitched by a woman.

"It seems my brother-in-law is no ordinary man; he's truly been very devoted to you."

With a hint of admiration, Li Gu sighed, sensing that he probably couldn't keep his younger sister. Even if she were still alive, her heart would have been stolen away.

And their family suffered a huge loss!

He could obtain the emperor's favor to grant him a marriage, and using that favor casually would be of immense help to his family! However, to be fair, Li Wan's charm was indeed astonishing.

There was actually a fool who managed to get an imperial decree to grant her marriage! Although it seemed strange, Li Gu felt that Li Wan and Shi Gandang were a kind of...unconventional match.

They are the kind of people who act recklessly without considering the consequences, and only care about their own mood.

"That's right, you don't even know what kind of taste I have! Would I even look at an ordinary person?"
He obtained an imperial decree for my marriage; if I don't marry him, I will never marry again!

As she said this, Li Wan's face lit up, and her braids on her head almost seemed to be dancing.

Sima Yan was relentlessly pursuing her, so why wouldn't he ask for an imperial decree to grant them marriage? So-called sincerity is always relative.

At this moment, Li Wan was absolutely certain that she had not chosen the wrong person.

……

"You smell like a woman."

In a house near the simple gate of the book room, Shi Chong sniffed at Shi Gandang with a puzzled look on his face and said with great certainty.

Shi Gandang glanced at him, too lazy to explain how he and Li Wan had been embracing not long ago, and simply asked helplessly, "Sixth Brother, do you still have the mind to care about this now?"

"I'm not that nervous, I'm just trying to make conversation."

I have something important to do tomorrow, how can I sleep?

If I had known it would be this tense, I would have gone to find a woman to have some fun.

They regret it terribly now.

Shi Chong explained with a wry smile, raising his hand to show Shi Gandang that his two forearms were trembling uncontrollably.

Many people are not afraid of death; they won't even blink if their heads are chopped off.

However, if they know a specific date of death that is quite close to this moment, then as time slowly ticks away, that fear often completely crushes a person's spirit.

On the day before their execution, those who usually boasted that they could take on ten men were now crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang themselves – there were far too many of them.

Shi Chong was already incredibly thick-skinned! Anyone else would probably have broken down and cried.

According to the plan, after dawn, Cao Mao would ride in the emperor's imperial carriage, leading the hundreds of cannon fodder, to the gate of the Imperial Household Department. Then Shi Chong and his companion would board the emperor's carriage, standing beside the coachman, holding ceremonial staffs and banners.

Then, it's up to fate to decide.

All their strategies had been exhausted at this moment; what remained was so-called "fate." Neither Shi Chong nor his companion intended to wear armor. In fact, if someone was being attacked by dozens of people, even wearing an iron shell wouldn't help; it was better not to wear any. They would just have to play it by ear.

"I should go home these next couple of days and find a few beautiful concubines to have children with. What if they die? Wouldn't that mean the family line will end?"

Shi Chong patted his head in frustration and sighed deeply.

Shi Gandang recalled that he had settled his marriage a few hours earlier, and his heart couldn't help but flutter.

If my brother-in-law hadn't come, he might have really been passionately entangled with Li Wan in the woodshed tonight, making love to her.

Shi Gandang was a human being, not a machine. Faced with imminent disaster, his wild and unrestrained thoughts surged like a tidal wave, assaulting his reason.

I suspect Li Wan had the same thought.

Because if he doesn't make it through this ordeal, then tonight's indulgence might be the last sweet memory of their lives.

Why not just let loose and indulge yourself?

Do we have to wait until we die to regret not having a passionate love affair back then?

If they hadn't known that Li Gu was peeping outside the woodshed, the two of them probably would have already started doing it.

"Whether we can get through this or not."

Our names—no, your name, Shi Jia Liu Lang's name—will be firmly engraved in the annals of history.

When future generations read this part of history, they will surely know that there were people who dared to draw their swords for the emperor when the Sima clan held absolute power!

When all the ministers dared not speak of loyalty and righteousness, some had already taken up their swords and stood guard by the emperor's side!

"At this moment, everyone else in the world is a coward, only you, Sixth Brother, are a hero!"

Shi Gandang pressed down on Shi Chong's shoulder, looked him in the eye, and said with a serious expression.

He then thought to himself: This move may seem impressive, but it's actually useless.

Because this is just a play performed on the street, everyone is an actor and everyone is an audience member.

Seemingly infected by Shi Gandang's emotions, Shi Chong stopped shaking his arms.

He took a deep breath, nodded, and said, "Yes, the worst that can happen is death!"

"Yes! Death is inevitable for everyone, but its weight can be as light as a feather or as heavy as Mount Tai!"

Shi Gandang clenched his fists and continued, "If one can be heavier than Mount Tai, what does it matter if one dies? A true man should live a life of glory and honor!"

"Well said! We're going to make a big splash!"

Shi Chong clenched his fists, too excited to contain himself! At this moment, he was like someone who had been injected with chicken blood, and was in an invincible state.

But after a while, Shi Chong became listless again.

He tugged at Shi Gandang's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Gandang, can you be honest with me? How confident are you about this? It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this is... a pretty big gamble."

You're only realizing your mistake now? I thought you were so brave!

Shi Gandang inwardly scorned him, but outwardly continued to offer Shi Chong platitudes:
"No pain, no gain! Striving always involves sacrifice!"
"Even Cao Mao, the emperor, wasn't afraid, so what do we have to fear?"

"No! I'm afraid of dying!"

Shi Chong lay on his side on the narrow couch like a dead dog, intending to think of nothing and wait for Cao Mao's army to arrive, then he would take the emperor's banner and board the imperial carriage.

Anyway, whether you stick your neck out or not, you'll get stabbed anyway. If you're tired, just destroy it.

When Shi Chong closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, Shi Gandang almost burst out laughing.

"You were much more vigorous in your past life than you are now."

Shi Gandang muttered to himself from the side.

(End of this chapter)