Yuan City.
The clatter of hooves shattered the little county town's peace.
On the official road, a band of tall, powerfully built horsemen rode arrogantly at the head of the procession, armed to the teeth. Their armor clanged as they moved, radiating an oppressive menace that sent passersby scrambling aside.
Armored soldiers followed behind them, moving at a brisk jog.
In the middle of the procession was a carriage. An elegant old man stood upon it, solemnly holding a bamboo staff aloft, his expression reverent.
County Magistrate Shu Wan showed none of his former aloofness or disdain. A warm smile filled his face as he walked beside the carriage, leading a group of officials behind him.
The town gates stood wide open. The soldiers who normally slept soundly with their spears in their arms now stood ramrod straight.
The streets, still rather filthy that morning, had been swept spotless.
The beggars and poor folk along the roads had vanished somewhere.
Behind the soldiers stood the town's respected elders, dressed in embroidered finery and smiling at the carriage.
Some locally renowned young talents were there too, standing on tiptoe to peer toward it.
The old man on the carriage paid them no attention whatsoever, his gaze fixed straight ahead.
To his left rode another man on a fine horse, also dressed as an official. His expression was every bit as solemn as the old man's.
Only the man following on his right was engaged in a lively conversation with the county magistrate.
"This Yuan City of yours, hahaha! Things will be different from now on! It'll soar straight into the heavens!"
"Indeed, indeed! The imperial envoys' arrival is a blessing for Yuan City. With Lord Wang, Lord Zheng, and Lord Hua visiting us, Yuan City is certain to soar straight into the heavens..."
"That has nothing to do with us."
The man astride the fine horse seemed anything but dignified, and he was quite rude to the magistrate.
Yet the magistrate dared not protest.
It was not merely because this man was an imperial envoy who held the office of palace attendant. More importantly, his father was Hua Xin!
This rather undignified scholar was Hua Biao, son of Hua Xin, the Minister of the Masses of Great Wei.
Shu Wan could not help asking, "I truly cannot understand what could bring the three of you to this tiny Yuan City of mine... and why even the commandery governor was forbidden to come welcome you..."
Hua Biao was about to speak when he noticed the old man on the carriage glance his way. He promptly rubbed his nose and dared say no more.
"You'll find out shortly. Just lead the way. It isn't anything bad, in any case."
Shu Wan said nothing, but an ominous feeling kept nagging at him.
He asked quietly, "When the town's worthies learned that imperial envoys were coming, they came of their own accord to welcome you. Might they exchange a few words with Lord Wang?"
Hua Biao hastily shook his head.
"We mustn't delay our official business. We can discuss that once it's done."
"Speaking of which, what sort of man is this Duke of Gaogui Township of yours?"
Shu Wan narrowed his eyes. Whatever business the imperial envoys had with Cao Mao, he absolutely could not let Cao Mao get his way.
If it's bad news, I'll throw more fuel on the fire. If it's good news, I'll make sure it comes to nothing!
Keeping his expression neutral, he said, "The Noble Rural Duke is intelligent, but his reputation locally is not particularly good. People often say he shelters criminals..."
Hua Biao froze, then hurriedly said, "It seems the Noble Rural Duke is a kindhearted man. He cannot bear to see others punished, so he often gives relief and assistance to those subjected to penal laws."
Shu Wan continued, "The town's merchants know the particulars best. I hear the Noble Rural Duke makes profits with them, and they frequently send him money."
"That shows how lofty and indifferent to worldly gain the Noble Rural Duke is. He cares nothing for money! Otherwise, why would he pass ways of making money on to those merchants? And the merchants know their manners too-they remember to thank him. Excellent, excellent."
Shu Wan could no longer contain himself.
"In fact, he often leads a gang of Wanderers around town, stirring up trouble and getting into fights!"
Hua Biao clapped his hands. "Wonderful! The Noble Rural Duke has exceptional prowess! Such superb martial skill!"
Shu Wan stared, dumbstruck. Is there something wrong with your understanding, or with what I'm saying?
The procession continued in grand formation toward Cao Mao's residence. The worthies and scholars did not leave either, following the imperial envoys at a distance with excitement written all over their faces.
When they arrived, the Noble Rural Duke's residence gates were shut tight.
A horseman dismounted and knocked on the gates.
Soon, someone opened them.
It was Guo Ze. He stood openly before the assembled crowd, without the slightest trace of panic on his face.
The horseman looked straight past him toward the inner hall and demanded coldly, "Where is the Noble Rural Duke?"
A flash of anger crossed Guo Ze's face. He blocked the horseman's prying gaze and looked him straight in the eye. "I am Guo Ze, Director of Guidance to the Noble Rural Duke. Who are you?!"
The horseman faltered and was about to fly into a rage when the old man on the carriage finally ceased posing like a clay statue.
"Do not be rude."
He lowered his head to look at the young man before him, a glimmer of approval in his eyes.
"I am Wang Su, serving concurrently as Minister of Ceremonies and bearing the Son of Heaven's Processional Standard. I have come on the empress dowager's orders to see the Noble Rural Duke. Is he within?"
At these words, everyone around them was stunned.
Serving concurrently as Minister of Ceremonies, bearing the staff of authority, and carrying the empress dowager's decree? Good heavens, what had they come to do?
Guo Ze was clearly shaken as well, but he quickly regained his composure.
"My respects, Lord Wang. Lord Cao is within."
"However, as propriety requires, I ask you gentlemen to leave your carriage and horses before entering!"
The horseman flew into a rage, but Wang Su smiled and said, "Quite right."
"There is no need for such trouble."
A voice came from within the residence, and a youth emerged with his chest out and his head held high.
At the sight, Guo Ze was about to speak, but Cao Mao spoke first. "It is all right. How could we show disrespect toward the Son of Heaven's Processional Standard and the empress dowager's decree?"
He bowed to Wang Su. "Cao Mao, the Noble Rural Duke, pays his respects to the Minister of Ceremonies."
Wang Su paused. Without returning the greeting, he raised the Ceremonial Staff high.
"An order from the empress dowager!"
Everyone dropped to their knees at once, horsemen and onlooking worthies alike.
Even Cao Mao was no exception.
Hua Biao, the man from earlier, strode forward, produced the empress dowager's decree, lifted his head, and read aloud:
"Emperor Fang is no longer young, yet he neglects affairs of government and lavishes favor upon the petty men around him. He indulges in women and spends every day consorting with singers and entertainers!"
"Emperor Fang permits their every disgraceful act. He even summoned the families of the consorts of the six palaces to live in the inner chambers, destroying the order of human relations and corrupting propriety between men and women!"
"Emperor Fang's respect and filial devotion toward his elders have steadily fallen into neglect, while his wild defiance and arrogance have grown ever more severe!"
"Such an emperor cannot receive Heaven's mandate or reverently serve the ancestral temples. I therefore deem it fitting to dispatch Lord Gao with the document of Fang's accession and an ox as a sacrificial offering to the Cao Ancestral Temple and the former emperors, and to send Fang to Qi as its king, relinquishing the throne to a worthy successor."
"Cao Lin, King of Donghai, was the legitimate son of Emperor Wen, the High Ancestor! Cao Lin's sons are all close descendants of Emperor Wen. I have heard that among them, Cao Mao, the Noble Rural Duke, possesses the capacity to accomplish great deeds and bears the spirit of his forebears. I now command him to succeed Emperor Ming and ascend the imperial throne!"
Hua Biao finished reading the decree.
Its words rang in everyone's ears like a thunderclap.
What? The emperor had been deposed?
Apart from the imperial envoys, who already knew the news, every onlooker was dumbstruck. Several even collapsed to the ground.
Guo Ze's eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
The latter half of the decree was an even greater thunderclap.
Cao Mao, the Noble Rural Duke, was to become emperor.
Upon hearing those words, Shu Wan slumped straight to the ground, his expression vacant and his eyes all but hopeless.
It's over. This time, it really is over.
The retainers eavesdropping inside the residence stood frozen like wooden chickens. What was going on?
Our Lord Cao was going to become emperor?
The only person present who could remain calm was probably Cao Mao.
He had imagined this day countless times and even considered all sorts of ways to respond.
Yet when it truly arrived, his heart was utterly calm, without the slightest excitement.
The imperial envoys had known all along why they were coming to Yuan City.
But that horseman's attitude earlier-was that how one treated a future emperor?
No, that was how one treated a puppet!
Cao Mao could almost see his future life unfolding before him, a life of stifled resentment and helplessness.
Besides, welcoming a new emperor should have required the dispatch of a high minister of the rank of the Three Excellencies. One did not simply appoint a temporary Minister of Ceremonies and send him with a Minister Steward and a palace attendant to read the decree.
That alone showed enormous contempt for him.
Cao Mao knew the reason too. He had not been the court's first choice to inherit the throne.
In fact, the court-or rather, the Sima family-had preferred to enthrone Cao Ju, Prince of Pengcheng. He was Cao Mao's grandfather's brother, a son of Emperor Wu, Cao Cao himself.
But Empress Dowager Guo had refused at all costs. If Cao Ju became emperor, the generational hierarchy would fall into disorder, Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, would be left without an heir, and, most importantly, Empress Dowager Guo's position would lose its legitimacy.
Cao Mao could also roughly guess why they had chosen him.
His bloodline was relatively close to Emperor Ming's. He had no father, and his mother had died young, leaving him without a maternal clan. His brothers were not close to him either. He was young and unmarried, with no wife's clan behind him. He truly stood alone in the world.
That might well have been part of the reason Sima Shi had chosen to yield after his dispute with Empress Dowager Guo.
Cao Mao slowly rose to his feet and looked at the decree in Hua Biao's hands.
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