The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 12: Even though the tiger is young, it is born with fangs

"Lord Cao! Liu Lu is missing!"

The next day, as soon as Cao Mao opened his eyes, he saw Guo Ze standing in front of him with an anxious look on his face.

Cao Mao rubbed his eyes and then sat up.

"Oh, Liu Lu, something happened at home and he went back to take care of it. It's nothing serious, you don't have to worry about it."

Cao Mao said this and calmly put on his clothes.

"Have you sent out that letter?"

"It was sent out yesterday. Please rest assured that it will reach the Queen Mother within five days."

"Ah That's good."

Cao Mao and Guo Ze walked out of the inner room together. The weather was very nice and refreshing. The heroes probably drank too much yesterday, and few of them were sober at the moment.

"Please prepare yourself. The weather is so nice today. I guess we'll have guests coming."

Hearing Cao Mao's words, Guo Ze was thoughtful. "Are you saying that Wang Su is coming?"

"He hasn't left Yuancheng, so naturally he will come again, either today or tomorrow."

"So what are you going to do?"

"The general has absolute power over the world. If I, a member of the royal family, want to save my life, I must obey Yang Gong's advice and serve the general like a dog. What else can I do?"

"My Lord?! What are you doing?"

"Hahaha, don't worry. This time, I still can't agree to him, because I have one more thing to do. I have to stabilize Wang Su and others first. I have my own considerations, just do as I'm told!"

Guo Ze nodded heavily, "Yes!"

After washing up, Cao Mao started exercising in the front yard again. He persisted in this for more than a year and never slacked off.

Practicing martial arts can even be said to be the thing that Cao Mao paid the most attention to this year.

The outcome of being pierced by Cheng Ji's spear was his biggest motivation for practicing martial arts. He must have the strength to fight back, right?

The wooden stick was in his hand with great force and power, and it made a series of sounds of breaking through the air.

This naturally attracted many guests to come and watch.

One of the retainers was so excited that he couldn't help but want to fight with Cao Mao.

The mansion was very lively.

Cao Mao fought against three people alone and was not at a disadvantage. His retainers cheered for him.

The sudden visit of the distinguished guest interrupted the lively atmosphere in the mansion.

Wang Su led the crowd and appeared outside the Gaoguixiang Mansion again.

This time, they did not send people to impose martial law along the road. In fact, there was no need to do so. When people along the road saw this situation, they were all scared and hid away.

Even the children who were out playing were frightened and burst into tears, and were taken away by their parents.

The people ran into their homes in panic and closed the doors.

In just a moment, there were no pedestrians on the street, and it was empty, like a ghost town.

This was a completely different scene from Cao Mao's usual outings.

When the knight leading the way saw this scene, he was very proud. He raised his head high and was proud of his extraordinary momentum.

This time, they were finally able to enter Gaogui Township Mansion.

Guo Ze had already made preparations. He led the old soldiers in the mansion to open the gate. He stood on the left side of the gate, maintaining a salutation posture.

The person standing on the right was Yang Zong. For some reason, his face was red today. He stood there in a trance, just humming something.

Wang Su nodded in satisfaction, looked around, and ordered, "Everyone stay outside the mansion. Mr. Zheng, you can come in with me."

Although Huabiao was somewhat dissatisfied with being left outside, he did not dare to show it.

Wang Su, holding a staff, strode into the mansion. He looked straight ahead, showing no curiosity about the mansion at all, and did not look around. Zheng Mao was even more so. He lowered his head and followed Wang Su in small steps without even raising his head.

Cao Mao stood alone in the front yard and saluted Wang Su and the other man.

Wang Su was about to speak when Cao Mao hurried forward, grabbed Wang Su's hand, his eyes full of sincerity.

"My Lord, may I come into the inner room and talk?"

Wang Su frowned but did not refuse.

The three of them walked into the inner room, and Cao Mao respectfully invited them to sit down. Wang Su naturally didn't dare to do so. Cao Mao sat in the upper seat and spoke in fear and trepidation.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I am truly unable to take on such a heavy responsibility."

"There are some things I dare not say directly to you in public, so I can only tell you in private."

Wang Su interrupted him immediately, not giving him a chance to continue, and asked directly, "Do you really intend to disobey the Empress Dowager's order?"

"This matter has nothing to do with the Queen Mother. Even a child like me knows that all the affairs of the world are under the control of the General."

Wang Su immediately replied, "The affairs of the world do not depend on the Queen Mother, nor on the General. They depend on Your Majesty! How can Your Majesty speak in such a way? Will it not chill the hearts of loyal and honest people?" Cao Mao became even more terrified. He hurriedly said, "I have always had great respect for the General."

"I don't have any talent in the royal family. I'm a concubine's son, and I'm not as noble as the others. I heard that Pengcheng Wang Ju is a famous sage in the royal family!"

"He is kind, gentle, modest, benevolent, philanthropic, brave, and resolute. As the head of the royal family, he is held in high esteem by the entire clan. Even the villagers know his virtuous name!"

"The wise men say he is more talented than Chen Si, and as brave as Taizu!"

"He is respectful to the wise and humble, loves the people like his own children, is diligent and frugal, generous and sincere, and truly has the qualities of a Yao or Shun!"

"With such a wise and virtuous royal family, how could a young boy like me inherit the throne?"

"Please inform the General that I am willing to hand over the great cause to the King of Pengcheng! Let him complete the great task of restoring the Wei Dynasty and stabilizing the world!"

"With a wise king like him and a loyal general like him, why should we worry about the prosperity of the Wei Dynasty?!"

Wang Su was dumbfounded.

How come I didn't know that King Pengcheng was so wise?

It is common knowledge that Sima Shi advocated the enthronement of King Pengcheng, while Empress Dowager Guo advocated the enthronement of Cao Mao.

In the end, Sima Shi had no choice but to make concessions and let Cao Mao inherit.

But now Cao Mao said he would give it to King Pengcheng.

Wang Su suddenly didn't know what to say.

Wang Su valued his reputation very much. He would not get involved in some dirty matters if he could avoid it. He originally thought that there would not be too many unexpected changes in supporting the emperor, so he accepted the order.

I didn't expect this matter to become so complicated.

Why don't you just agree? Why do you have to make trouble?!
Wang Su was losing his patience at this moment.

How about just changing people?
But Wang Su only thought so. As a senior official, he knew that Cao Mao's succession to the throne was the result of negotiations between the Guo and Sima families.

The Guo and Sima families were close allies.

But one thing is that neither side can violate each other's bottom line, and the position of empress dowager is obviously Guo's bottom line.

Cao Mao, who was younger, had no father or mother, no relatives, and was close to Guo (Guo Ze), was the perfect candidate for Guo.

When Cao Mao succeeded to the throne, the palace and the government were still ruled by the Guo family.

This is not something that can be changed just because you want to. Even if it really needs to be changed, it is not up to Wang Su to decide.

Moreover, Wang Su could not make a choice for Sima Shi. Who knew what Sima Shi was thinking? Perhaps he really wanted to let the Prince of Pengcheng take the throne?

After all, the Sima family also had their own ideas about the power within the palace, and over the years they had replaced many people from the Guo family with their own family members.

King Pengcheng Cao Ju was the younger brother of King Deng Ai Cao Chong. As a member of the royal family, he had a surprisingly good relationship with the Sima family. After the Sima family came to power, his fiefdom increased to 4,600 households.

He loved to enjoy life and luxury goods. During the time of Cao Rui, he was stripped of two thousand households for secretly producing luxury goods. This man had no courage and was always timid and submissive, with none of the demeanor of Emperor Wu.

If he became emperor, the Sima family's control over the palace and the province would be strengthened.

Because his seniority was higher than that of Emperor Ming, Empress Dowager Guo lost her status, and Guo could naturally leave the palace, and Sima Shi could manage it directly.

No matter how close an ally is, he or she cannot compare to one’s own family.

Wang Su then tried to persuade Cao Mao a lot, but no matter what he said, Cao Mao kept praising King Pengcheng and asked him to inherit the throne.

Wang Su’s second visit ended in failure again.

When Wang Su walked out of the inner room with a stern face and without looking back, Zheng Mao was a little slow.

He turned around and looked at the terrified young man behind him.

"Your Majesty, the general is certainly respectable, but Empress Dowager Guo is not someone to be trifled with. Your words may offend the Empress Dowager. I hope Your Majesty will consider this carefully."

After saying that, he followed him out.

His words sounded like a warning, but also like a reminder.

Cao Mao narrowed his eyes. He certainly knew the consequences, so the letter to the empress dowager had been sent out yesterday.

This Zheng Mao doesn't seem to be a die-hard Sima faction member.

When Wang Su walked out of the door with an unhappy look on his face, no one dared to ask more questions. He led everyone away again.

The wise men in Yuancheng soon learned of this explosive news.

The wise men of the whole city were excited!
Rejected!!

Rejected again!!
The Duke truly has the demeanor of Emperor Wen!
How come I didn't realize that the noble Duke was such a humble gentleman?!

Cao Mao sat in the inner room, thinking about the situation before him again.

This time he followed Yang Zong's plan to be a dog, not to save his life, but to pave the way for his ultimate plan.

The key lies in Wang Su’s third visit.

When that day comes, I can fight without any worries!
We must let everyone in the world know that although a tiger cub is young, it is born with fangs!
(End of this chapter)