"General!!"
Cao Mao rushed excitedly toward Guanqiu Jian.
This was their first meeting.
Guanqiu Jian was about to bow when Cao Mao caught him, helped him up, and gripped his hands tightly.
As Cao Mao clasped Guanqiu Jian's hands, he inexplicably felt as though a great weight had lifted from his shoulders.
No one else could give Cao Mao this sense of security. He was so excited that, for a moment, he did not know what to say.
Guanqiu Jian studied the young emperor before him. When Cao Mao held his hands so tightly, his whole body trembling slightly, Guanqiu Jian felt a pang of sorrow.
With me absent from the imperial court, those treacherous villains have actually driven His Majesty to this point.
Cao Mao had always been a talkative man.
Especially when facing these generals, he had plenty of routines at his disposal, and all manner of flattery rolled straight off his tongue.
Yet when facing Guanqiu Jian, Cao Mao was different.
He had not even arranged the grand reception he usually did to welcome this general. He had brought only a few trusted ministers out of Luoyang and traveled far to await Guanqiu Jian's arrival.
Guanqiu Jian had never imagined that the emperor would travel so far to wait for him.
Cao Mao studied Guanqiu Jian for a long while before finally saying with a smile, "General, you look different from what I imagined."
"It must be because Dian is ugly, which led Your Majesty to assume that your old servant was the same."
Cao Mao had not expected Guanqiu Jian to crack a joke, and he immediately burst into laughter.
"Not at all. I imagined you as a bold, fierce warrior."
"Like General Hu or General Xiahou."
Guanqiu Jian had always struck Cao Mao as someone