Before long, word of Gao Rou's conversation with the Empress Dowager had reached Cao Mao.
When Old Eunuch Xu brought the news, Cao Mao had only just woken and had yet to wash.
Cao Mao ate while listening to Old Eunuch Xu recount what had happened in Zhaoyang Hall.
"Eunuch Guo told you this himself?"
"Indeed he did!"
Xu Sheng's face was covered in a fawning smile.
Eunuch Guo had quietly told him what had happened in Zhaoyang Hall and asked him to pass it on to Cao Mao.
Because Cao Mao had once proposed restoring the institution of the Ten Regular Attendants, he enjoyed the eunuchs' wholehearted support. Eunuch Guo also had a favorable impression of him, but that was not why Eunuch Guo would tell him such things.
The main reason lay with Gao Rou.
These past days, Gao Rou had been offering remonstrances on all sides to win the Empress Dowager's favor. His most frequent admonition concerned her trust in and extensive use of eunuchs: he asked her to draw close to scholars and keep her distance from these castrated lackeys.
Eunuch Guo had only just begun to raise his head with the Empress Dowager's rise, and Gao Rou already wanted to press him back down.
Of course, Gao Rou was not deliberately targeting Eunuch Guo. This was merely one pretext he used to win favor, yet that casually chosen pretext was enough to block many people's paths forward.
Eunuch Guo wanted Gao Rou gone, too.
Cao Mao unhurriedly finished the food before him, then rubbed his belly.
"I was so excited to see Lord Mouqiu yesterday that I forgot to discuss serious business with him."
He had intended to discuss their future strategy with Mouqiu Dian, but there was no hurry now.
The current situation was,