"Second Father!!"
Cao Mao threw himself at Sima Fu, clutching his hands tightly, his face brimming with excitement.
Sima Fu stood before the hall looking utterly bewildered, stunned by the sudden embrace.
With Cao Mao neither leaving his quarters nor receiving the Yellow Gate attendants or Attendant Cavalry, the rumors in Luoyang had grown increasingly outrageous. There were even rumors that Sima Shi had poisoned the emperor, leaving the Sima Family unable to sit still and prompting them to conduct a purge in Luoyang.
It took little thought to realize that the emergence of these rumors was surely inextricably linked to Guanqiu Jian.
During this period, Du Yu had arrested quite a few people. All spoke with accents from Youzhou or Huainan and had disguised themselves as merchants to mingle in Luoyang, bribe its officials, and secretly carry out various rumor-spreading activities.
Although he had caught them, Du Yu had failed to obtain any useful intelligence from them.
Once these people discovered that their activities had been exposed, they all chose suicide.
These matters should have been Sima Shi's responsibility, but his eye condition had required surgery.
The physician had cut away his tumor, but he dared not guarantee that Sima Shi would come through unharmed.
At present, Sima Shi was still unconscious and had not come to.
Probably only Sima Zhao and a handful of others knew his precise condition.
The Imperial Court's major affairs had fallen to Sima Zhao. With a sudden increase in the matters he had to handle, he was struggling to keep up. At such a time, Sima Fu volunteered to help him resolve matters in the imperial palace, comfort the emperor, and publicly dispel the rumors. Naturally, Sima Zhao would not refuse.
Among the current Three Excellencies, Zheng Chong was a recluse who sought