With the Director of the Secretariat backing him, Guo Zhi went straight to Taiji Hall to plead guilty.
Just as Wang Chang had said, Cao Mao had never had any intention of putting them all to death.
Cao Mao first reprimanded Guo Zhi furiously, then said that he would have the Ministry of Justice deal with him leniently.
When Guo Zhi walked out of Taiji Hall, his feelings were immensely complicated. He could not say whether it was sorrow or relief.
Cao Mao, however, had no time to spare for these people. After sending Guo Zhi away, he went to Changqiu Hall, where Zheng Xian now lived. By rights, Zheng Xian should already have moved into Zhaoyang Hall, since that was where the empress belonged, but Cao Mao did not want to provoke Empress Dowager Guo.
So he had her live in Changqiu Hall instead. Where she lived was unimportant; what mattered was the status of the person who moved in.
When Cao Mao arrived, Changqiu Hall had shed its usual desolation and silence and become extraordinarily lively. The palace maids serving here alone numbered in the hundreds. This was not because Zheng Xian craved luxury; everything was being arranged according to regulations.
The empress's prescribed treatment was second only to the emperor's. Before, when she had not yet been made empress, things could be kept simple. Now that was no longer possible. Her distinction from everyone else had to be made clear.
Zheng Xian had already received word that Cao Mao was coming and had specially brought people out to welcome him.
For some reason, ever since being made empress, Zheng Xian had become somewhat different from before.
Perhaps status really could lend a person something extra.
She looked a little more regal. She had always been fair-skinned, and