"You're here!"
Empress Dowager Guo beamed at the three clansmen walking in, a hint of relief finally appearing on her face.
These days, the emperor had been treating her with less and less regard.
His visits had grown fewer and fewer. He came only once a day, spoke for less than an hour, then made some excuse about important business and hurried out of Zhaoyang Hall.
It was not as though she had never seen Emperor Ming and the King of Qi govern the realm. How could he be as busy as he claimed?
He plainly no longer wanted to stay by her side.
She had defeated Sima Shi for him and brought the ministers to heel. Now that he ruled in person, he had begun to neglect her. If this continued, would he have any regard for her in the future?
Empress Dowager Guo disliked these clansmen as well. After all, when she had tried to enlist them against Sima Shi, they had stood on his side.
But now, to keep the emperor from slighting her, she could only summon them to Zhaoyang Hall.
She knew Cao Mao disliked these people. She wanted to show the emperor that if he kept slighting her, she would give them important posts and send him back to the way things had been. Then he might not even be able to see her when he wanted to!
The three men who entered Zhaoyang Hall, however, wore different expressions.
Guo Li and Guo Zhi exchanged a glance.
As members of an outstanding great clan of the Wei-Jin era, they had always excelled at reading the times and weighing the situation.
Their allegiances were flexible, ready to shift at any moment for their own benefit.
At the same time, they would wholeheartedly follow the Sage