"Lord He! For the sake of all the time we've spent running at your beck and call, please save us!"
Guo Zhi knelt before He Zeng, looking more miserable than ever.
He had barely managed to escape so many purges and regain the emperor's trust.
Never had he imagined that his own clan would deal him such a crushing blow.
Just yesterday, officials from the Ministry of Justice had stormed into their residence and searched everywhere. According to them, his family was implicated in a rebellion case.
Guo Zhi had been stunned. After repeated questions, he learned what had happened.
The clansmen who had remained in Xiping had recruited Hu people, purchased iron implements, and stolen warhorses.
Regardless of whether they intended to rebel, those three offenses alone were enough to land them in a world of trouble.
Apart from Guo Ze, who was away, the other members of the Guo Family had all been interrogated and only released today.
As soon as Guo Zhi got out, he hurried to the Censorate.
He Zeng, the Minister of Works, sat in the seat of honor, listening to Guo Zhi's loud, tearful appeals.
Previously, he had treated the members of the Guo Family very well. Wherever he saw them, he would greet them with a smile, putting on none of the airs of a superior.
It was probably precisely because of this attitude that Guo Zhi had come to him first for help after trouble struck.
He Zeng asked in some surprise, "How could the Empress Dowager's relatives possibly rebel?"
"Does the Empress Dowager know about this?"
Guo Zhi shook his head and said, his face full of despair, "When they first came to search the residence, I sent someone to seek out the Empress Dowager, but they couldn't even see her..."