Chapter 269 First Steps

Gu Renjie remained silent after hearing this, his gaze shifting between Yun Yichen's face and his own.

Yun Yichen has no relation to the Gu family. During the last trip to Ganzhou, he recommended Gu Renjie, which already made people misunderstand that Gu Renjie had climbed up to him. If Yun Yichen recommends him again, wouldn't Gu Renjie be labeled as part of Yun Yichen's faction?

"I appreciate your kind offer, Your Excellency, but I am new to officialdom and have little influence. I am afraid I am not up to the task."

After thinking it over, Gu Renjie clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yun Yichen, which was a way of rejecting Yun Yichen's offer.

Yun Yichen had anticipated Gu Renjie's answer long ago. If Gu Renjie had agreed immediately, he wouldn't have dared to push Gu Renjie into that position.

"Is Lord Gu worried about getting involved with me?" Yun Yichen smiled. Although he was the Grand Secretary and held a high position of power, in reality, no one in the entire court dared to befriend him closely.

The reason the emperor trusted him so much was precisely because, although he had power, he had no allies.

Looking into Yun Yichen's dark eyes, Gu Shuyan felt a pang of heartache. Having been reborn, she could understand the loneliness in Yun Yichen's heart the most.

This loneliness was something he couldn't share with anyone, or even let anyone see it; it was truly awful.

"Brother Yun, do you have something on your mind?"

Gu Shuyan didn't want to interrupt their conversation, but somehow she asked the question anyway.

Yun Yichen was surprised that Gu Shuyan trusted him so much, and a glimmer of light slowly appeared in the darkness in his eyes.

"That's right, but the prerequisite is that Lord Gu is willing to join the cabinet."

Gu Renjie rolled his eyes inwardly as he listened to Yun Yichen's words. Entering the cabinet was such a wonderful thing; of course, he wanted it. In fact, his initial goal in entering officialdom was to join the cabinet. But did Yun Yichen really think that entering the cabinet was as easy as eating, for a greenhorn like him?

Back then, Yun Yichen, who was considered a genius, also took two years to enter the cabinet. He didn't think he could be stronger than Yun Yichen.

"Brother Yun, please tell me your method!"

Gu Yingjie remained silent, so Gu Shuyan coughed and suggested that Yun Yichen offer his solution first.

Yun Yichen naturally wouldn't refuse Gu Shuyan's request, so he nodded and directly stated his plan.

Hearing Yun Yichen's thorough plan, Gu Renjie finally wavered.

The cabinet was very tempting to him, and if Yun Yichen's plan were followed, his gains would obviously be far greater than expected. However, this would undoubtedly drag the entire Marquis's mansion into a dangerous situation. Was it really worthwhile to drag the Gu family into this mess?

Gu Shuyan fell silent after hearing this. According to Yun Yichen's plan, the Marquis's mansion would undoubtedly be dragged into the struggle.

Everything from her past life felt like yesterday. Now, in this new life, she thought she could protect the Marquis's mansion, but clearly, no one wanted to leave the mansion uninvolved, including Yun Yichen.

Her gaze fell on Yun Yichen's half-mask. Could it really be as she had guessed? If Yun Yichen was not just Yun Yichen, would she still be involved in this mess?

Gu Shuyan was filled with mixed feelings and didn't know what to do.

"Lord Gu, you should go back and think carefully about whether you really want to miss this opportunity! However, there is one thing I must remind you: the Gu family has been impossible to completely remove from the picture since more than 20 years ago."

As soon as Yun Yichen finished speaking, Gu Renjie and Gu Shuyan both turned to look at him.