Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1110 Retreating to Advance
When everyone heard this voice, their faces changed drastically.

Wang Yun looked horrified and slowly stood up from his seat, his eyes wide open, staring outside the hall.

The housekeeper came over with an embarrassed look on his face: "Master, His Majesty does not allow us to inform you, I..."

Immediately afterwards, Liu He, dressed in plain clothes, strode to the lobby door, followed by Gong Saner and Zhang He.

Everyone was extremely shocked by Liu He's sudden appearance, and their emotions were surging. They stood up straight, staring at Liu He in a daze, and it took them a long time to recover.

Liu He looked at them with interest and said with a smile, "Why, you gentlemen don't seem to welcome me?"

Wang Yun was the first to react. He stumbled forward hurriedly, then fell to his knees and crawled to the ground.

"Your old minister...your old minister Wang Yun, I respectfully welcome your Majesty. Your Majesty has come to my humble home, and I, your old minister, have failed to welcome you from afar. I shall be punished by death, by death!"

The other ministers and family heads were also awakened instantly, and they knelt down tremblingly and apologized.

"Hahaha..." Liu He raised his head and laughed, holding up his hands with his right hand: "You all think I'm a tyrant, don't you? You want to sentence me to death for such a small matter? Stand up."

As he spoke, he walked straight to the center of the hall, then lifted his skirt and sat down on the main seat that originally belonged to Wang Yun.

Wang Yun's heart was already filled with fear at this moment, and the sweat on his forehead dripped directly onto the precious plush carpet.

He remained kneeling, turned around and kowtowed before Liu He.

He knew very well that the mere shout from His Majesty just now, saying that Liu Zheng had gone to the Supreme Court to plead guilty, proved that he had been planning carefully for a long time. He thought that he had won the victory without anyone noticing, but in fact, His Majesty had already grasped everything.

Thinking of this, Wang Yun, who had been full of ambition not long ago, felt dizzy.

But he was, after all, an old minister who had been in power in the court for many years. He soon calmed down and quickly thought of a way to escape the crime.

He opened his mouth to greet her and said, "Your Majesty is busy with state affairs and is in mourning for the Queen Mother. Today, you suddenly have time to come to my humble residence. I am extremely terrified. I wonder what your Majesty wants me to do. I will respectfully listen to your command and will never dare to disobey."

Liu He glanced at him and laughed secretly in his heart: "The old man is really cunning. He secretly said that I broke my oath and left the palace at will during the mourning period, and I was wearing casual clothes. Of course, it was not a serious official business, and there was no imperial decree. What a good old minister, just two sentences, and you said it in a way that was airtight, just to shut me up."

Once upon a time, Liu He was still young and had just ascended the throne. Although he had both civil and military skills and was full of strategies, he was not proficient in political tactics. But now he is different. He has been on the throne for more than ten years and is familiar with the ways of the emperor. Naturally, he will not be stumped by Wang Yun's tricks.

He smiled lightly, calm and composed: "I defeated the Cao thief, unified the northern border, and conquered Yizhou. I think within a few years, I can stabilize the world and revive the Han Dynasty. Today, Xun Wenruo advised me to follow the example of Emperor Guangwu and set up the Qilin Pavilion to enshrine the portraits of the civil and military officials who have made contributions. I thought about it over and over again. If it weren't for the Grand Tutor and Taiwei Yang who opposed all the opinions and welcomed me to Luoyang together with all the ministers, I would definitely not be where I am today. Thinking of this, and considering that the Grand Tutor is the father-in-law of the current emperor, I have come to the Grand Tutor's mansion to discuss my merits and to talk about our family relationship." Wang Yun was shocked. He knew that the more Liu He talked about his merits at this time, the greater the disaster and punishment he would face in the future. He felt something was wrong.

While he was still in a dilemma and thinking about countermeasures, Liu He said again: "Why is the Grand Tutor still kneeling? Gong San'er, help the Grand Tutor up on my behalf. My dear ministers, please stand up too. Do you want me to say it for the third time?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yun's heart trembled, and he stood up hurriedly. As he stood up, he said, "I dare not trouble you, sir. Gong Changshi is your majesty's personal seal holder. How dare I trouble you?"

When they saw him stand up, the trembling ministers and family heads dared to stand up together, but their faces were still pale and their legs were trembling.

Liu He glanced at everyone and sneered in his heart, but said in a nonchalant tone: "I think that the Grand Tutor should be the first of the meritorious officials of the Qilin Pavilion, setting an example for all ages and forever recording his achievements in history. In addition, the Grand Tutor's grandson, my third son Liu Tai, is smart and handsome, and this is the result of the Grand Tutor's teaching. I have decided to confer the title of Prince of Donghai on Liu Tai. What do you think, Grand Tutor?"

Many ministers and family heads present were a little confused at this time. They all thought that His Majesty came here to bring troops to punish them, but in the end he wanted to reward Wang Yun and Prince Liu Tai in such a way. This made some of them seem to see hope.

However, after hearing this, Wang Yun became even more frightened.

He knew very well that His Majesty had always said that he wanted to emulate Emperor Guangwu. After Emperor Guangwu's death, Crown Prince Liu Zhuang succeeded to the throne. Liu Zhuang, also known as Emperor Xiaoming, was conferred the title of Prince of Donghai when he was a teenager.

If it were in the past, when His Majesty formally proposed it in the court, Wang Yun would definitely be ecstatic, but the situation was different now.

Your Majesty came incognito, and the first thing he said was talk about family ties and household matters. He also asked Wang Yun in a "discussing" tone. His intention was obvious, and it was clearly a test.

Wang Yun secretly glanced at Zhang He behind His Majesty, and saw that he had his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist and glared angrily. He had no doubt that if he agreed now and knelt down to express his gratitude, Zhang He would rush forward and kill him with a sword.

Thinking of this, Wang Yun knelt down hurriedly and said, "How can I be worthy of this old minister? I have done nothing for the country, and I have brought no blessings to the people. Your Majesty has ascended the throne by destiny, so how dare I take credit for it? Although Prince Tai is known to be intelligent, he is still young and is still learning from his teacher. Your Majesty has such a great favor from heaven, and it is an honor for the prince. However, I dare not presumptuously interfere in your Majesty's family affairs. Your Majesty has the full power to decide everything, and I fully support you."

Liu He raised his eyebrows, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or disappointed.

"Ah, Grand Master, you are too modest. I have always admired your abilities."

Wang Yun is now only concerned with protecting himself. The more the emperor praises him, the more anxious he becomes. As long as he can give up all his merits and honors, with the reputation of the Wang family of Taiyuan, his contributions as a loyal minister, and his status as the father-in-law of the emperor, the emperor will at most punish him or even remove him from office, but will not kill him.

As long as he was not dead, the prestige of the Wang family of Taiyuan would not be undermined. He could find a good opportunity in the future and support his grandson Liu Tai to become the crown prince again, and he would be able to make a comeback sooner or later.

He was very confident about this. After all, His Majesty did not openly punish him, which might be because he cared about the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, and the father-in-law and son-in-law, and did not want to tear his face apart. In this case, he was absolutely sure to escape this disaster.

(End of this chapter)