Yu Lian was silent for several seconds before saying with some embarrassment, "Sir, I don't think this is something I should be discussing, is it? Isn't that the General Staff's job?"
"Hm? Aren't you a member of the General Staff?"
Yu Lian paused, then remembered that in addition to being a military affairs aide in the Presidential Palace, his "official position" was deputy director of the General Staff's Operations Bureau.
All right, thinking about it more carefully, he hadn't officially reported for duty yet, but he'd already been drawing a salary from the Presidential Palace and the General Staff for over half a year...
Who would've thought I'd turn out to be a salary thief!
"I asked you, so hurry up and say something. If that boy Yang Xiyi weren't unreachable, do you think you'd even be in the running?" the old marshal said irritably. "Besides, someone will be coming to ask you the same thing soon. I'm giving you a chance to rehearse in advance."
Yu Lian shivered, and goosebumps instantly rose all over his skin.
"It's too early to discuss any of this. We can't even be sure whether the Empire intends to launch a second war of conquest against us, or whether it's simply after the enormous gains to be made from the Ring of Miracles."
"From the current situation, it should be the latter, shouldn't it? We haven't expelled each other's ambassadors. The embassies are only under house arrest with their movements restricted; we haven't cut their water, power, or communications. The Empire has also proposed a peace agreement. The Foreign Ministry says that compared to the Empire's usual ruthlessness, its attitude this time has been quite mild—so mild it barely seems like something the Empire would do.
"Indeed, although most of the terms they've offered