Wei Ni

Meng Kang and Guo Biao arrived quickly.

Shortly after dawn the next day, the two of them, along with their entourage, arrived in front of the Luoyang Diannong Ministry's office in a mighty procession.

The reason why it was called a mighty procession was that the caravan loaded with wealth, food, fodder, mulberry, hemp and silk stretched for more than a hundred steps, and the noise of people and horses drowned out the joyful chirping of birds in the morning.

This also made Linghu Yu, who had to come out to greet them, feel a little helpless.

After being worried and frightened and unable to sleep for several days, he finally calmed down and had a good sleep yesterday. However, his sweet dream was disturbed at the hour of Mao.

"General Xiahou stayed at Xiaozhuangyuan in Henan City last night."

After washing his face hastily and greeting Linghu Yu, he was in no mood to chat and asked directly, "I wonder if Marquis Guanjin and Mr. Meng will wait here or take a detour to Henan City?"

Guo Biao, with a worried look on his brow and bloodshot eyes, did not say anything, but just fixed his gaze on his nephew Meng Kang.

Meng Kang also looked tired, but calm. He politely replied, "We were just about to go to Henan City. We came here first to return these properties to the Ministry of Agriculture." He paused and added, "These properties originally belonged to the Ministry of Agriculture. I wonder if General Linghu can count and confiscate them?"

"I'll let my assistants take care of this first."

Linghu Yu stretched his head and glanced behind them, and in his heart he said contemptuously, "Why were you doing this earlier?" Then he spread his hands and said in embarrassment, "The councilor should know. Now I am the scapegoat, so..."

"Oh, I was so abrupt! I am so ashamed."

After repeatedly apologizing, Meng Kang bowed and thanked him and said, "General, you can help take care of me, which is a favor to us. General, my uncle and nephew have a request to the Central Guard Army, so we can't stay here for long. We will leave first. When the matter is over, my uncle and nephew will host a banquet for you to thank you for your friendship today."

Wait till it's over?
Alas, I wish I could have another chance to visit noble houses by then~
Linghu Yu grinned, and with a fake smile, he bowed and said goodbye, "Okay, okay, I appreciate your kind words, Mr. Meng."

After a few words of greeting, Guo Biao and Meng Kang, accompanied by several followers, rode their horses again towards the small manor in Henan City.

After leaving Luoyang Dian Nong Department for two or three miles, Guo Biao, who was already too old to bear the bumps on the horse's back, yawned loudly and complained, "See, I told you when I came here that he didn't dare to put these resources into the treasury, but Gong Xiu insisted on coming here, which wasted his time and trouble."

"That's what my uncle said."

Hearing this, Meng Kang's eyes flashed with helplessness, but he did not refute it out loud. Instead, he persuaded in a very gentle tone, "I am also trying it out of luck. If by any chance he accepts it, then the Central Guard Army will not be able to embarrass my uncle."

As soon as Xiahou Hui was mentioned, Guo Biao's sleepiness disappeared, and his resentment turned into sorrow in an instant.

The nephew Meng Kang, who came to visit in a hurry yesterday afternoon, not only prompted him to rush here with a lot of money this morning, but also made him worry whether he would become the sinner of the family: he might be stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner.

He didn't think his nephew Meng Kang was exaggerating.

Because as soon as Meng Kang arrived, he asked him two questions.

The first one is, "The late emperor sentenced Empress Wen Zhao to death. Does my uncle know why?"

Guo Biao knew the answer.

Although the unanimous opinion of the court and the public was that Empress Zhen was resentful after she failed, the fundamental reason was that "Empress Zhen's death was due to Empress (Guo)'s favor."

It's because Queen Guo won the emperor's favor.

Another question was, "Since your majesty ascended the throne, Empress Zhen's brothers and nephews have been successively granted titles of nobility. When Empress Zhen's biological mother, Zhang, passed away, your majesty personally attended the funeral and ordered all the officials to accompany her. I would like to ask, uncle, why did it take until the third year of Qinglong to promote him to the title of Guanjin Marquis? Furthermore, since the previous emperor established the position of Sanqi, do you know of any people who have held this position for more than ten years like me who have been in a daze for more than ten years and are still serving in redundant positions?"

In response, Guo Biao remained silent.

Because the answer is well known -

The current emperor has no blood relationship with Queen Guo.

Moreover, the emperor's favor towards Empress Guo's family was only in accordance with the law. If Guo Biao broke the law, he would not be let off.

After raising two questions and making Guo Biao realize his situation, Meng Kang showed Xiahou Hui's letter and analyzed in detail the consequences of Guo Biao's sale of the small manor.

Let me first talk about Xiahou Xian’s original intention of sending his staff and brokers here.

To put it simply, Xiahou Xian was deliberately making things difficult for Xiahou Hui; to put it more broadly, the two Xiahous were competing for favor and power.

Xiahou Hui has been promoted too quickly in recent years and is highly regarded by Emperor Cao Rui, which has made Xiahou Xian, who was originally the most favored, feel a sense of crisis. He thinks that if he does not fight back, he will be ranked behind in the future.

But both of them were concerned about the reputation of their clan and worried about incurring the wrath of Emperor Cao Rui, so now they could only fight secretly instead of fighting openly.

At this time, Guo Biao's move to sell the small manor was actually to help Xiahou Xian become the first to stand out.

Xiahou Hui, who could not directly target Xiahou Xian for various reasons, would never let Guo Biao, who had interfered, have an easy time, whether out of the desire to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys or out of venting his anger on him.

Therefore, if Guo Biao did not want to take the blame for others, he had to find a way to clear himself.

Xiahou Hui's letter was an opportunity for him to express his opinion.

Then, Meng Kang talked about the brokers being executed in public and the tenants of the manor being incorporated into the register of scholars.

That was Xiahou Hui's warning to Guo Biao. To be more precise, it was a threat.

The investigation of the Luoyang Diannong Department was restarted by the emperor against all odds. It was related to the emperor's prestige and could not fail again, nor would he tolerate anyone obstructing it.

The power to submit a report and decide whether anyone would interfere lies in Xiahou Hui's hands.

The matter of Guo Biao selling the small manor can be briefly mentioned in the above table as an unintentional act, or it can be said to be a sinister act that incited the wounded soldiers to cause trouble and deliberately obstructed the investigation of the soldiers' families!

If it is the latter, then Guo Biao would inevitably be convicted and stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner.

As for whether Emperor Cao Rui would believe Xiahou Hui?
That was the purpose of Meng Kang's first two questions: Guo Biao was only a relative in name only! It was not worth it for the emperor to hurt his reputation and prestige by giving him a break!
Finally, after analyzing the fortune and misfortune, Meng Kang began to tell Guo Biao how to avoid Xiahou Hui's anger.

Bringing all the property from the sale of the small manor and confiscating it is the first step to show sincerity, and after meeting Xiahou Hui, the key is to meet his demands as much as possible.

Meng Kang had roughly guessed what Xiahou Hui would ask for.

It's nothing more than punishing Xiahou Xian.

Regardless of whether Guo Biao did it intentionally or unintentionally, he was used as a spear by Xiahou Xian, so he had to be the vanguard of Xiahou Hui to hurt Xiahou Xian.
As for this solution, it is bound to bring about Xiahou Xian's hatred.
What's the big deal?
There are priorities.

If Guo Biao had not passed the hurdle of Xiahou Hui first, he would not have had the chance to even face the difficulties posed by Xiahou Xian.

The most important thing is, even if Guo Biao went to find Xiahou Xian with a smug look on his face and asked him to help fight against Xiahou Hui's difficulties, he would not get what he wanted!
In Xiahou Xian's eyes, Guo Biao was just a chess piece. How could he possibly take action?

He even gave up the car to save the driver!

"Uncle, please be at ease. I have had many interactions with Fu Lanshi and Yu Shumao, and I also learned from them that the Central Guard General is not a harsh person. As long as uncle lowers his attitude, he should not be criticized."

It was just an explanation, and Meng Kang also gave some advice, which eventually led to Guo Biao's decision to come over.

Originally, he was planning to go to the palace to apologize.

After all, as long as he asked for forgiveness from Emperor Cao Rui, Xiahou Hui would have no way to hold anyone accountable.

But Meng Kang's words put an end to his wishful thinking: "Uncle, may I ask, how many times can the Central Guards make things difficult for you? And how many times can Your Majesty forgive you?"

Well, if Guo Biao hadn’t been too old to bear the early morning cold, he would have come here shirtless with a bundle of thorns tied around his waist.

Speechless all the way.

When they were young, the uncle and nephew came to the small manor.

By this time, the sky was already bright, and the soldiers camped outside the small manor were performing martial arts exercises.

The sound of drums and shouts of killing shook the sky.

Xiahou Hui, dressed in Yanfu and walking slowly among them, stood out from the crowd.

But the most eye-catching are the wounded soldiers.

They were also performing martial arts in the side array. Although they looked funny with missing limbs and their movements were uneven, there was a look of reminiscence on everyone's face, which made people feel deeply moved.

After all, although they have become useless people, some people still remember that they were once brave warriors who fought for the country and fought against rebellion.

Meng Kang was quite moved when he saw this scene, and felt even more at ease.

Since Xiahou Hui did not hold accountable the wounded and retreating soldiers who caused the trouble, he naturally would not make excessive demands on Guo Biao.

The truth was as he expected.

After Xiahou Hui learned of their purpose, he simply asked his subordinate Han Long to convey a message and then let them go.

"I am investigating the affairs of the Shi family, so it is not appropriate for me to meet with Guanjin Hou in private. Please forgive me. In addition, Guanjin Hou has brought money and property to return to the public, which shows his sincerity. If you can make the reason for this matter known to everyone, the misunderstanding will be resolved."

Although it seemed so rude that he didn't even bother to meet her, Guo Biao felt relieved.

Without Meng Kang's explanation, he could understand Xiahou Hui's request. He just wanted him to spread the whole story of how Xiahou Xian's staff tricked him into joining the game and obstructed the investigation of the Shi family in the capital.

Yes, the target was Xiahou Xian's staff, not him.

When Guo Biao left, he asked Meng Kang curiously why Xiahou Hui only attacked the secondary chariot?
In response, Meng Kang said he didn't understand what he meant.

He didn't dare say it clearly.

Because when Guo Biao spread the news, Xiahou Xian would have to give an explanation to the emperor.

If he put the blame on his staff in order to clear himself, he would chill the hearts of all those who depended on him; if he took the blame himself and submitted a petition to apologize, it would be like exposing the emperor's weak spot - the Xiahou clans were no different from the royal family, but they were fighting among themselves? Xiahou Xian's petition to apologize was no different from claiming that the Wei family was unpopular!
No matter what choice he makes, he is destined to have a hard time.

But what Meng Kang didn't know was that Xiahou Hui's "reciprocity" with Xiahou Xian also involved the wounded soldiers; and Xiahou Hui's letter to him was actually a test for him. (End of this chapter)