The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 407 The Great General's True Teachings

"Meet the Queen Mother!"

The second idiot of the Guo family appeared in Zhaoyang Palace again.

The Guo family can no longer find three idiots. Guo Li is seriously ill and I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on for a few more days.

Guo Jian and Guo Zhi no longer seem to have the same sharp edge as before.

The Guo family of Xiping was once prominent, but because they were involved in treason, they were dismissed one after another. The men were slaughtered and the women were taken as slaves.

The appearance of Queen Mother Guo saved them from the risk of genocide, but it was still incomparable to the big families with profound roots.

After losing the protection of the Queen Mother, they became a piece of fat meat and were ruthlessly devoured by the other big families.

Today, they are no different from those poor families. They have no official titles, let alone any wealth. They have simply fallen from the clouds to the ground.

If the Empress Dowager summoned them privately, they probably wouldn't dare to come again.

Although Guo Zhi is shameless, he knows what is good and what is bad and knows who has the final say.

But this time it was different. The ones who came to convey the imperial edict were the empress dowager and the eunuchs around the emperor. Naturally, the two idiots from the Guo family would not resist and came to pay their respects in a hurry.

Looking at the two clansmen in front of her whom she had not seen for a long time, Queen Mother Guo was silent for a long time.

Time really flies. She still remembers that not long ago, these relatives were her support and they were united as one, but now, everyone has become different.

Empress Dowager Guo examined the two people in front of her and said, "I heard that you have been doing well recently?"

Guo Zhi knew the Queen Mother very well and immediately replied, "It's all because of the Queen Mother's kindness."

Empress Dowager Guo finally felt like continuing the conversation. She said, "I asked you to come here because I remember your contributions in the past few years, and I don't want the Guo family to fall into ruin."

"The ministers today are quite disrespectful to Your Majesty. Every time I think of this, I feel extremely angry. I wish I could take action on Your Majesty's behalf and deal with these people."

"Your Majesty was young, and after he took power, he suffered a lot of hardships, endured a lot of injustices, and was even bullied by villains!"

The corners of Guo Zhi's eyes began to twitch wildly.

Wronged??
Bullying?!
Okay, if you say there is one, then there is one.

The Queen Mother looked at them again and said, "I want you to help His Majesty deal with those traitors. Your Majesty is my own son. This is definitely not something that the likes of the King of Qi can compare to."

"The King of Qi is incompetent and cruel. He plotted rebellion in Qingzhou this time, yet he still had the nerve to live in Luoyang. He's truly shameless to the extreme!"

Queen Mother Guo scolded the King of Qi.

The King of Qi did not like Queen Mother Guo, but the two of them did not have any deep hatred in essence. It could not be blamed on Queen Mother Guo for ordering the King of Qi to be punished. After all, she was just a puppet, and she had no need to take action against the King of Qi.

However, the empress dowager disliked Cao Fang and felt that the emperor should not pardon Cao Fang.

This is probably because she failed to protect Cao Fang at the beginning. Therefore, Cao Fang must be cruel, stupid, and incompetent. She failed to protect him not because she was incompetent, but because she was unwilling to do so.

Ever since Cao Fang returned to Luoyang, the Queen Mother has been very angry and often insulted the King of Qi to her attendants.

Guo Zhi had no objection to this. You can curse anyone you want, Cao Fang, Cao Ju, or anyone else as long as it's not Cao Mao.

Empress Dowager Guo scolded them for a moment before she said, "You may go to the Emperor now. You must serve him wholeheartedly and not disobey his edicts. Otherwise, I will not forgive you!"

Guo Zhi and Guo Jian hurriedly thanked him.

When the two of them carefully walked out of here, Guo Jian couldn't help but ask: "Zhongfu, what does the Queen Mother mean?"

"This shows that His Majesty intends to use us."

Guo Zhi whispered, "Don't say too much. When you see His Majesty later, act according to my expression."

Only then did Guo Jian nod.

Considering what was happening now, Guo Zhi probably understood what the emperor was thinking, but he did not intend to miss such an opportunity.

When the two men appeared before the emperor, Cao Mao was flipping through something and ignored them.

They stayed like this for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, Cao Mao finally put down what he was doing.

"Oh? General Guo has arrived."

Guo Zhi was no longer a general, so Cao Mao's words were full of mockery.

"His Majesty!!"

But Guo Zhi did not dare to show any dissatisfaction.

Cao Mao gestured for them to sit aside and asked, "Did mother ask you to come?"

"Exactly!"

Cao Mao nodded again, "Okay, since it's Mother's order, I won't say much."

"This time, I have entrusted you with a great task. If you can accomplish it, the Guo family will be as prosperous as it was in the past."

Cao Mao did not say what would happen if the plan failed, but both of them knew what would happen.

Guo Jian did not take the initiative to speak from beginning to end, even though he had gotten along well with Cao Mao in the past. He remembered Zhongfu's instructions and always followed him in bowing or shouting.

Cao Mao assigned the two men to He Zeng and asked them to help He Zeng. The emperor did not specify what they were to do. Obviously, this was to send a few thugs to He Zeng so that they could flourish in more areas.

The two fools from the Guo family thanked the emperor for his kindness, and then left the place in fear and trepidation.

In the Secretariat, Zheng Mao frowned and looked at Wang Rong in front of him with some disappointment.

"I asked you to do something three days ago, why haven't you done it yet?"

Wang Rong did not speak, looking somewhat dazed.

Even though Zheng Mao had a good temper, he couldn't help it at this moment and slapped the wooden table in front of him.

Wang Rong was startled and quickly came to his senses.

"Mr. Zheng!"

Wang Rong said sincerely, "I hope you will forgive me. I have been feeling a little unwell these past few days."

Zheng Mao suddenly understood, and the anger on his face disappeared. He said seriously, "I see. That's right. I've indeed given you quite a few things to do these days."

"The Ministry of Personnel has more and more things to do, but this is only temporary. It will definitely get easier in the future."

"You are young and talented. I'm entrusting this important task to you because I want you to hone your skills. If you can accomplish what you have accomplished now, your future will surely be limitless."

Zheng Mao praised him several times before saying, "Since you're not feeling well, go back home early to rest. Put your work here aside for now. You can continue when you're better. Don't let government work ruin your health. There will always be opportunities to make great achievements."

Zheng Mao immediately asked Wang Rong to return home.

Wang Rong walked out of the Secretariat in a daze. He had been restless these past few days, but it was certainly not because of any illness.

He was a little scared at the moment.

Your Majesty is going to conduct a thorough investigation of the temple.

When Wang Rong became a Huangmen Lang, many guests came to his mansion, and these people brought various gifts.

Wang Rong could not resist their courtesy and accepted the things. They came more and more often and occasionally asked Wang Rong for help with something.

These were all small things, such as writing a poem or writing a calligraphy, and Wang Rong naturally would not refuse.

As time went by, the gifts became more and more numerous, and things became bigger and bigger.

Wang Rong was finally blinded by those glittering gold things, and spent the whole day with his wife calculating their wealth, counting it over and over again.

Then, he began to use the money and his own power to buy farmland, purchase property, and build mansions. His life became richer and richer. The Wang Rong who used to not care about money died within a few months.

He was replaced by Wang Rong, who was stingy, selfish and greedy to the extreme.

When Wang Rong learned the news about the Censorate, he suddenly felt a little scared, because many officials of the Censorate were promoted through his recommendation.

He actually didn't do anything. He just put them in the front of the list and praised Zheng Mao a few words.

He is now very afraid that these things will be exposed.

There was a lot of work to do in the Ministry of Personnel, and Wang Rong was busy until very late every day.

We left a little early today. The sky wasn't too dark, but it was still a little gloomy and covered with dark clouds.

Wang Rong was sitting in the carriage. The sun was blocked by dark clouds, making the whole world look dull and a little cold.

There were few people on the road, and the wind was blowing. The wind could not blow into the carriage, but the howling of the wind was quite disturbing.

Wang Rong could feel the swaying force even while sitting in the carriage.

Wang Rong took a deep breath and began to think about how to deal with the situation.

Your Majesty still values these famous scholars very much, and I have a good relationship with Zhong Hui. If I can confess my crime in time and tell Your Majesty everything, will I be forgiven?
But if His Majesty has no intention of punishing me at all, or has not discovered me, and I rashly confess my guilt, will I bring myself trouble for no reason?
Or should I tell my father about this first?
Thinking of this, Wang Rong felt even worse.

His father had been an official for many years. Although he could not say that he had made many political achievements, he had never done such a thing as giving gifts. When he wrote to him and told him that he wanted to be an official, he also told himself that he must not ruin the family's reputation and should not do anything that is immoral.

What would he think if he knew what happened here?

Wang Rong suddenly lost the courage to tell his father.

He then gave up the idea of confessing his guilt to the emperor. It seemed that he had to try his best to conceal the matter. Perhaps he could find a few good friends to vouch for him. His Majesty's favorites were Ji Kang and Ruan Ji. If they could come forward to vouch for him, His Majesty might not touch him.

Yes, I have to send people to prepare in advance. If His Majesty really wants to arrest me, I can let the scholars come out and speak for me. Then His Majesty will not dare to take action against me easily.
But, just hope that none of this will happen.

Before he knew it, Wang Rong finally arrived at his own mansion.

The coachman drove the carriage into the mansion, and Wang Rong got off the carriage tiredly.

At this moment, Wang Rong was horrified.

His mansion was filled with armored soldiers who were guarding the main roads, holding powerful crossbows and staring at him fiercely.

In the very middle of the courtyard, there was a person standing, staring straight ahead with a gloomy and extremely terrifying expression.

Wang Rong felt his legs go weak and he fell to the ground.

The person standing opposite him.

It was the Emperor of Wei, Cao Mao.

(End of this chapter)