The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 192: Before and after the saddle
"His Majesty."

"Long time no see, are you well?"

Cao Mao sat in the West Hall with a very calm expression.

The three people from the Guo family sat in front of him, each with a different expression.

Guo Li looked pale and seriously ill. He sat weakly in front of Cao Mao without saying a word. Guo Zhi, who was standing next to him, had a gentle smile on his face and looked at Cao Mao with such kind eyes.

Guo Jian felt a little embarrassed. He sat on the other side and looked at Cao Mao with a silly smile.

Looking at the three people in front of him, Cao Mao's face was very calm.

"Your Majesty, when I first supported you, I knew that Your Majesty would be able to turn the tide and save the country from disaster! Sima Shi is not a filial son. He did not follow the instructions of Duke Xuanwen and became increasingly arrogant and even looked down on Your Majesty!"

"We have long been dissatisfied with Sima Shi and want to assist His Majesty and support the country!"

"God bless our Great Wei! Today, our wise men have achieved their wish. The old villain Sima Shi is about to die!"

"Although Your Majesty is young, your merits and virtues far surpass those of our great ancestors. You are truly admirable."

Guo Zhi looked at Cao Mao with eager eyes, and these shameless words came out of her mouth.

Cao Mao sneered in his heart.

The original Guo family has always been centered around Guo De. Guo De rose to the rank of General of the Zhenjun Army, and his son Guo Xi even became the General of the Fuguo Army.

Without him, the Guo family would only have three idiots left.

Among these three idiots, although Guo Li appears to be the most arrogant and domineering, in fact, Guo Zhi is the worst one.

When Sima Shi was about to depose and enthrone the emperor, Guo Zhi almost went crazy and worked hard to run around for him. When the empress dowager was dissatisfied, she even helped Sima Shi to scold the empress dowager loudly and not allow her to interfere.

This person has almost no bottom line.

Cao Mao did not reply.

Guo Zhi did not feel embarrassed and looked directly at Guo Jian beside her.

Guo Jian hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Your Majesty, we did do some wrong things in the past. Please forgive us."

"Uncle, how dare you talk about forgiveness?"

"If it weren't for you, how could I sit here?"

Cao Mao's attitude towards Guo Jian changed again. Unlike the two old guys Guo Li and Guo Zhi, Guo Jian could be used barely, even though his abilities were terrible. However, there are no useless people in the world, only kings who don't know how to use people.

Putting different people in different positions can often produce amazing results.

Just like Guo Jian, although he can't accomplish anything, he can definitely cause failure.

It is not easy to find such a talent from a noble family.

Hearing Cao Mao's call, Guo Jian became even more uneasy.

Cao Mao then looked at Guo Li, "But why did General Xuande come here?"

Guo Li's expression was extremely complicated.

After being scolded by his own son, Guo Li was almost angry to death. But after waking up after rescue, he let go of the so-called pride of the Xiping Guo family.

There are many aristocratic families in the world, but even among them, there are still different levels of distinction.

Among them are old families like Xun Yi, rising families like Wang Xiang, new families like Chen Qian and Guanqiu Jian, declining families like Guo Li and Zhang Hua, and small families like Wei Shu and Wang Jing that are preparing to transform from powerful families.

Of course, although the Guo family is in decline, it is still much better than Zhang Hua's.

Zhang Hua had fallen to the point of being forced to herd sheep, while the Guo family was still officially the imperial family.

But in fact, the Guo family's foundation and strength are completely based on the Queen Mother. Without the status of relatives by marriage, they are nothing.

Because of the previous rebellion, they lost their heritage, so they chose Guo Ze to continue studying the classics, to inherit academic knowledge, and to build up their foundation.

But at this point, Guo Li still couldn't see the fact clearly. He always felt that his old and powerful family could be on par with Xun, Yang, Zhong, Chen and Sima, which is why he repeatedly dug his own grave.

He was probably awakened by his son's scolding and realized how poor the Guo family had become.

He lowered his head and said softly, "This old minister has come to Your Majesty to apologize."

"Ah? What crime have you committed?"

Cao Mao looked bewildered.

Guo Li gritted his teeth, suppressing his grief and anger, and said, "I didn't know right from wrong. I mistakenly trusted Sima Shi, was disrespectful to the Queen Mother, and disrespected Your Majesty. My crimes are extremely serious. I hope Your Majesty can forgive me."

Cao Mao shook his head. "I am young to begin with, not a child. If you truly feel you have done something wrong, why don't you go to the Queen Mother and confess your guilt, but come to me instead?"

Guo Li was speechless. Guo Jian added, "We went to look for her, but the Queen Mother was missing. Old Guo chased us away and refused to deliver any message for us."

Cao Mao asked again, "That's not right. Even if you don't see General Xuande, you shouldn't see General Hujun either. You are the commander of the central army."

Guo Zhi said somewhat embarrassedly: "He has been dismissed."

Cao Mao almost couldn't help laughing out loud.

I let you act arrogant again, but now you can’t act arrogant anymore?
Without the Queen Mother's protection, who are you?
Originally Sima Shi needed you to kill me, but now he is too busy to take care of himself and has given up the idea of killing me. What use are you to me?

Cao Mao shook his head and said, "After all, we are of the same clan. Let me ask the Queen Mother for mercy. But I cannot guarantee that the Queen Mother will listen to me." "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Guo Zhi hurriedly bowed to Cao Mao and said, "From now on, the Guo family will serve you wholeheartedly and will never let you down."

Cao Mao smiled and replied a few times, finally saying, "Then you can go back first. Uncle, please don't leave yet. I have something to tell you."

The two men glanced at Guo Jian, said nothing more, and left in shame.

Guo Jian finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, I don't have the nerve to ask you for help again, but the clan is in danger. Even if I don't care about them, I still have to care about my children. I..."

"Uncle, no need to say more."

"I understand all of this. Since I arrived at the palace, only my uncle has treated me like his own son. Don't worry, uncle. Even if I can't accomplish the task of General Xuande, I will definitely beg the Queen Mother to allow her to see you."

Guo Jian was really touched at this moment.

Looking at the adopted son in front of him who had no blood relationship with him at all, Guo Jian's expression became particularly sincere.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Cao Mao exchanged pleasantries with him for a while before sending him away.

When he left, Cao Mao discovered that Gao Dan had been observing the situation here.

Cao Mao gave him a kind smile. Gao Dan was stunned for a moment, then returned a rather awkward smile.

Gao Dan handed over the affairs here to the deputy general, and then hurried towards his own mansion.

Unlike Lu Yu's place which was bustling with people, Gao Rou's place was relatively quiet and not many ministers came.

It is normal that the two sides have different routes.

Situ Gao was sitting in the study, and the people arranged by Sima Shi had already been driven out by him.

Gao Situ showed his prowess and once again became the upright and incorruptible warrior he used to be.

"Father!"

Gao Dan frowned, and Gao Rou glanced at him, "Why are you so flustered? Didn't I tell you to guard Zhaoyang Palace? Why are you out again?"

"The Guo family couldn't see the Queen Mother, so they went to see the Emperor!"

"They talked for a long time and even bowed to the emperor several times."

Gao Dan hurriedly told Gao Rou the truth about what had just happened.

Gao Rou frowned.

He originally got along very well with the empress dowager and almost became her important minister. However, because he said a few words to the emperor in front of the empress dowager that day, he became very unhappy.

Although the empress dowager would still summon him, Gao Rou did not dare to mention anything about the emperor anymore.

Not long ago, Gao Dan sent someone to inform that the Guo family was looking for the Queen Mother. Gao Rou didn't care and thought that the Queen Mother would not see them. But now that she knew that they had gone to see the Emperor again, Gao Rou felt a little panicked.

The emperor's relationship with the empress dowager is obviously closer than his own. If Lu Yu and the Guo family take advantage of this relationship, wouldn't his plan be in vain?

Gao Rou has already begun paving the way for his future.

As soon as Sima Shi died, he would ask the Queen Mother to appoint him as the general, so that he could become the leader of all the ministers, succeed Sima Shi, and become the new leader of the world.

But now, Gao Rou thought that he had paid enough attention to His Majesty, but unexpectedly, it was still not enough.

Having this person in the palace is not good for me. Maybe one day he will instigate the Queen Mother to stop being close to me.

Gao Dan had obviously considered this as well. He frowned and said worriedly, "If the Guo family relies on the emperor to get in touch with the empress dowager again, will the empress dowager still appoint people from my family first in the future?"

"Father, the little emperor is against us at every turn. What should we do?"

"shut up!"

"How dare you be disrespectful to His Majesty?"

Gao Rou asked seriously, "Do you want to be like Sima Zhao?!"

Gao Dan quickly lowered his head and said, "I am not."

Gao Rou then said, "Your Majesty is still young. We should find a way to make him focus on his studies and not get involved in these things."

"I'll figure out a solution for this matter, but remember this: never be disrespectful to His Majesty again. Never say such things at any time! We are here to govern the Wei Dynasty and lead the court, not to control the government and commit acts of treason!"

Gao Dan lowered his head and quickly accepted the order.

Gao Rou waved his hand and let his son leave. He didn't care too much about this matter. Although the emperor was powerful, the empress dowager was really too bad. The relationship between the emperor and the empress dowager was not as close as outsiders thought. With the empress dowager around, there was no need to worry about the emperor doing bad things.

He didn't need to take action against him at all. He only needed a few words to make the empress dowager afraid to get close to the emperor and isolate him again.

What gives me a headache now is Lu Yu.

Taking advantage of Sima Shi's inability to govern the country, Lu Yu took the initiative to handle the affairs of the Secretariat in his capacity as Shangshu Pushe.

Is the next step to seize the position of Shangshu Ling?
Then the three ministers will be in charge of recording the affairs of the Secretariat, and then they will have nothing to do in the temple.

Humph, you don’t know that to be in charge of the Secretariat, an imperial edict is still needed. If the imperial edict is under my jurisdiction, what’s the use of you infiltrating deeply?

(End of this chapter)