The Guo Family

"Master Shu, correct?"

"Come, please sit."

County Magistrate Shu Wan stood before Wang Su without a trace of his usual imposing air. He forced a smile onto his face, looking deeply uneasy.

Wang Su noticed his unease and asked, seemingly casually:

"What relation is Shu Hun, the Governor of Longxi, to you?"

At these words, Shu Wan's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly replied, "He is my elder clansman!"

Wang Su smiled. "Master Shu and I are close friends. When he was still studying in Xuchang, it was my father who recommended him to the Imperial Court."

"Since you are a member of his clan, come sit beside me."

Overjoyed, Shu Wan hastily bowed to Wang Su. "To think we share such a connection! All this time, I failed to come pay my respects promptly. Please forgive me!"

Wang Su had him sit beside him, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

Only after they had chatted for quite some time did Wang Su say with a smile, "I summoned you today mainly because of the Noble Rural Duke."

"The empress dowager wishes to enthrone him as emperor, but from what I have seen, the Noble Rural Duke seems to have many reservations."

"What do you think of this gentleman, Master Shu?"

Shu Wan pressed his lips together and lowered his head, not daring to answer.

He no longer dared slander this Lord Cao. Even a young emperor without power could dispose of a county magistrate as easily as turning his hand.

He would only need to say a few words to the Grand General, who would certainly be happy to settle such a minor matter for him.

For the past few days, Shu Wan had been feigning illness and had not dared go outside. He had written overnight to his elder clansman, hoping to retire from office on grounds of illness and simply hide away.

Wang Su pointed to the men beside him. "Lord Zheng and Master Hua are both loyal, worthy servants of the Imperial Court. That stalwart warrior at the door is a cavalry commander under the Grand General. They are all trustworthy."

"Besides, I am not questioning you in my capacity as Grand Minister of Ceremonies, but as a close friend of your elder kinsman. There is no need to be afraid."

Wang Su behaved with great affability.

Yet Shu Wan no longer dared remain silent. The young emperor was frightening, but was Wang Su any less so?

He could afford to offend neither of them.

He could only steel himself and say, "Actually, the Noble Rural Duke is intelligent. He is simply a little headstrong, as young men tend to be..."

Hua Biao could not help saying, "That is not what you told us when we first arrived."

"Just tell us the truth. There is no need to be afraid!"

Shu Wan took a deep breath and said solemnly, "The Noble Rural Duke previously had quite a bad reputation in the county."

"He frequently went out to amuse himself and indulged in pleasures, often visiting Gao Family Restaurant. Somehow, he colluded with the local merchants to obtain their money."

"The Duke of the Village is exceedingly greedy. The merchants he bullied dared not refuse and could only hand over their money, which he then used to continue his pleasures."

"Besides colluding with merchants and coercing honest people, he also sheltered many criminals."

"He used that money to aid criminals from various places, took them into his residence, helped them evade pursuit by the county authorities, and then made them his hawks and hounds, his hired thugs."

"He bullied decent commoners yet loved befriending those disreputable riffraff, gathering a pack of them to swagger about, fight viciously, and commit every sort of evil!"

"Everyone in the county feared him and dared not report him."

Wang Su asked doubtfully, "Did his Director of Guidance and Supervising Envoy do nothing to restrain him?"

"Guo Ze, the Director of Guidance, is rigid and cowardly. He repeatedly remonstrated with the Duke of the Village, but the duke paid him no heed."

"As for that envoy, he was either drinking or taking medicinal powder. Every day, he wandered about outside in a stupor with his clothes in disarray. How could he keep anyone in check?"

Shu Wan's face was full of grievance. "Lord Wang, you have no idea. He even barged into the county offices! He has no regard whatsoever for officials of the Imperial Court. He acts with utter abandon, arrogant and defiant. I truly cannot understand why the empress dowager would choose him to inherit the throne."

Wang Su fell silent and said nothing.

The cavalryman standing at the door gave a cold laugh. "I have been wondering that myself."

"These past few days, the merchants of Yuan City have acted as though possessed, trying to win people over everywhere and claiming they received the Duke of the Village's instruction."

"In my view, this Duke of the Village has gone mad with his hunger for reputation, resorting to such vulgar methods to seek fame."

"Only those lowly merchants would serve him, and only those despicable commoners and riffraff would let him buy them over. Truly worthy men would not spare him a glance."

"The Duke of the Village debases himself, trying to win over Wanderers, merchants, and riffraff. How laughable!"

As the cavalryman spoke, his face was full of mockery.

Clearly, what these men understood as the hearts of the people was not quite what Cao Mao understood by it.

They regarded Cao Mao's conduct with contempt.

They considered it a base tactic that degraded him. To honor worthies and humble oneself before scholars, one first needed to be dealing with scholars.

Cao Mao's behavior, by contrast, was simply a case of stopping at nothing to seek fame, like a starving man who would swallow anything.

Zheng Mao and Hua Biao both remained silent, saying nothing.

Wang Su nodded, then patted Shu Wan on the shoulder. "You have an excellent reputation in the county. You are a man of great talent who deserves important responsibilities. Apply yourself diligently, and do not neglect your official duties."

Overjoyed, Shu Wan hurriedly accepted his instructions.

Only then did Wang Su dismiss him.

After Shu Wan left, Wang Su let out a long sigh.

"Send someone to Luoyang. Report all of this exactly as it is."

"Yes!"

Luoyang, the imperial palace.

Zhaoyang Hall stood north of Taiji Hall, beside the emperor's Shiqian Hall.

Before the hall stood a bronze dragon and a bronze phoenix, each four zhang tall. The two sculptures faced one another, proclaiming the extraordinary nature of this place.

The hall had four gates, galleries, and tiger sculptures, all surrounding Zhaoyang Hall and making it an immense palace compound.

Zhaoyang Hall was the empress's residence, but at present, it housed the empress dowager.

Inside the hall sat four people.

The empress dowager sat in the seat of honor. She was no longer young, yet her face bore no trace of the passing years, and her beauty remained unchanged. She looked kind and gentle, inspiring an involuntary desire to protect her in anyone who saw her. Perhaps that was also why Cao Rui had taken a liking to her back then.

At this moment, she displayed none of an empress dowager's imposing presence and seemed very approachable.

Seated before her were her uncle Guo Li, her father's cousin Guo Zhi, and her younger cousins Guo De and Guo Jian.

At present, power within the imperial palace was essentially divided among these four men.

This was also the foundation of the Guo Family's confidence.

Empress Dowager Guo picked up a letter and handed it to Guo Li before her.

"This is a letter Zishou had delivered by a swift rider. All of you, take a look."

Guo Li read it hastily, his expression changing drastically, then passed it to the others beside him.

"Absurd!"

Guo Jian immediately lost his restraint and flung the letter to the floor.

"Utterly absurd! Has Guo Ze addled his brains with all that reading? If we enthrone Cao Ju, where does that leave our Guo Family? Where does that leave him?!"

Empress Dowager Guo remained perfectly calm and looked at Guo De beside her.

"Yansun, what do you think?"

Guo De said calmly, "Now I know why the emperor refused to succeed to the throne."

"What? He refused?"

Guo Jian looked utterly bewildered.

Ignoring his younger brother, Guo De continued, "Either the emperor fears offending my father-in-law, or he truly worries that he might cause discord between us and the Sima Family."

"Judging by the descriptions in Guo Zishou's previous letters, it should be the latter."

Guo Jian could not help asking, "Perhaps they deliberately want us to think that?"

"Impossible. Guo Ze would not lie. He is a gentleman through and through and would never resort to schemes."

"It seems he has performed his duties as Director of Guidance even better than we imagined. He actually managed to teach the emperor to be just like himself."

Guo De looked at the empress dowager.

"We cannot replace the emperor. It seems he is even better suited to the throne than he was a year ago. An emperor like Guo Ze-how wonderful."

"A truly virtuous sovereign... exactly what the people of the realm need."

Their eyes met, sharp gleams flashing within them.

"Brother, what should we do, then? Now that Cao Mao has refused the throne, what if the Sima Family simply pushes the boat along with the current..."

Guo Jian asked again.

Guo De still did not answer his younger brother. He merely looked at the empress dowager and said earnestly, "You must not relent. Hold firmly to your position: you must personally place the emperor's Imperial Seal in his hands..."

"Father, please go find those friends of yours now. Back then, Emperor Wen was asked three times and declined three times. The present Son of Heaven has his grandfather's bearing. Is that not a good thing?"

"Uncle, please strengthen security at the imperial palace. Do not allow outsiders to stray inside."

"I must go out for a while and have a heart-to-heart with the General Who Conquers the West."

Guo Jian hurriedly asked, "Brother? What about me? What should I do?"

Guo De looked at his younger brother with a complicated expression.

"You... go back to the study and read a few more books."