"My lord, I would like to pay my respects to Her Majesty the Queen. May Her Majesty the Queen be kind and peaceful."
At this moment, His Royal Highness King Pingyuan of the Prison Kingdom, who was respectful and gentle, kneeling on the Yongshi Platform, came to the temporary residence of his "respected" "mother queen" as usual every morning, and waited for greetings in the morning. .
When Queen Guo saw Cao Rui kneeling on the green bricks that were cold in the rain and dew, she hurriedly wanted to reach out to help him, but she hesitated and retracted her hand.
"Rui'er, the ground is cold. You have the important responsibility of supervising the country now. You must take care of yourself and don't dare to be negligent. Qingluan, help His Royal Highness Prince Pingyuan get up quickly."
Qingluan who was waiting on the side had not said the word "WEI" before Cao Rui waved his sleeves and stood up on his own. The rainwater accumulated on the blue bricks wetted his crimson gauze robe, making the maroon prince's crown robe even darker in color.
Cao Rui waved his hand to shake his robe, touching a piece of ice.
"Mother, Your Majesty is about to return to Luan today. I, sir, go and prepare first."
"Okay, in that case, Rui'er will go and get busy. Your Majesty's dragon boat will arrive in Xuchang around noon."
Cao Rui didn't answer, just said "Yeah" coldly, then waved his sleeves and left the stage.
At this time, a man from Huangmen came up the stairs, knelt down behind Guo and reported:
"Her Royal Highness the Queen, I am requesting an audience with Captain Che."
When Empress Guo heard this, she smiled and said, "My brother is here. Please invite him quickly."
Huangmen heard the words and immediately reported the matter. Not long after, a young general wearing a wubian crown and two armors came to Yongshi Terrace. This person is Guo Houcong's brother, Guo Biao, the captain of Fengche who is responsible for guarding the Queen Luanjia this time.
"I see Her Majesty the Queen!"
Although Guo Biao was the elder brother of Empress Guo, the etiquette of the monarch and his ministers came first at this moment, so he first knelt down respectfully and performed the ceremony of worship.
"Brother, there is no need to be polite, please get up quickly."
"My lord, thank you, Her Majesty the Queen."
Guo Biao stood up, raised his hands and continued to report:
"Your Highness, I have led a large number of people to patrol and inspect the various streets, residences, and government offices inside and outside Xuchang Palace, as well as the Yuxiu Terrace, the Former Prime Minister's Mansion, and the Yongshi Terrace in the palace. Everything is as usual, and there is no abnormality."
Queen Guo saw that Guo Biao's official armor and clothes were all wet, so she hurriedly ordered someone to take him into the back hall and change into dry clothes.
After debriefing, the brother and sister sat down to talk to each other.
"Brother, Your Majesty is driving back to Luan. The dragon boat will arrive at Xuchang Palace about today. Please be sure to make arrangements carefully as soon as possible."
Empress Guo knew in her heart that her cousin was not a smart and upright person, and was afraid that he would be careless and make mistakes, so he often warned him.
Guo Biao took the hot towel from the servant, wiped his cheeks and hands that were slightly cold from the rain, and threw the hot towel into the lacquered wooden plate held by the servant's hands, and then replied with a smile:
"Your Highness, please rest assured. I can handle these little things, brother."
After hearing this, Empress Guo was about to speak out to persuade, but Guo Biao hurriedly interrupted. When he saw his sister Feng's eyebrows furrowed, he knew what she was going to say: "There are no small things in heaven. Don't be so absent-minded and careless." Words like "I'm so arrogant" came out. He didn't want to be reprimanded for no reason, so he started to talk about him:
"Your Highness, I have two big and small family matters here. I don't dare to make any decisions at the moment. I want you to come up with an idea."
Empress Guo shook her head helplessly and said:
"Since it's my brother's family matter, how can I comment on it?"
Guo Biao smiled and said:
"Your Highness is wrong. This is not a family matter for me alone."
When Empress Guo heard this, she already guessed that it must be her dissatisfied cousins.
Guo Biao smiled and said:
"Actually, they are all good things to be happy about. First of all, your highness's cousin Liu Fei recently had a concubine who returned to her parents' home out of anger. Brother Liu heard that Sun Huan, the son of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, and Sun Shuwu's family had a waiting girl in the boudoir. , wanting to intermarry with you, this matter can be big or small. Brother, I have lost my mind and dare not arrange it at will for the moment, so I came to ask His Highness if there is any way to accomplish this matter..."
When Queen Guo heard this, she frowned. She knew that Sun Shuwu was a noble son of the Eastern Wu clan, and he also held an important position in Jiangdong. How could he sincerely marry his beloved daughter to her unsatisfactory cousin? If it doesn't work out, it's okay. If it does work out, it's hard to predict whether it will be a blessing or a disaster. She shook her head and warned:
"When it comes to marriage, every relative should marry someone from the opposite family. How can you use your power to marry into other families? This is absolutely not allowed. My brother must advise Liu Fei and teach him not to think wildly, otherwise he will fall into the pit of fire. I’m afraid I still don’t know it!”
Although Guo Biao was usually careless, he still respected the words of his cousin, the queen. Seeing Queen Guo's objection, Guo Biao hurriedly agreed.
Guo Biao also talked about Queen Guo's nephew Meng Wu asking for a concubine after returning home. Queen Guo sternly refused, saying that there were not many women in the current war, so they should be given to the soldiers at the front as wives, and they should never take concubines at will based on their power. Guo Biao did not dare to disobey.
The brother and sister didn't agree with each other and were speechless for a moment.
After a long while, Empress Guo said seriously again:
"Brother, during the Han Dynasty, most of the relatives could not protect themselves. Do you know why?"
Guo Biao seldom read poetry and history, so he shook his head to show his ignorance.
Empress Guo sighed, shook her head and said:
"Nothing but arrogance and luxury. Brother, you and your relatives must think twice before anything happens!"
Guo Biao nodded in agreement, but felt dissatisfied because he had been reprimanded for no reason today. The brother and sister sat around for a while and exchanged casual greetings before Guo Biao resigned and left the palace.
[Note 1: In the sixth year of Huangchu, Cao Pi was supervising the Eastern Expedition. Guo Biao stayed at the palace to take charge of the guard. He wanted to block the water to catch fish. The queen stopped him and said: "This river is connected to the river for transporting military supplies. You build a dam to block the water. He also needed wood, but his slaves were not in sight, so he had to secretly use bamboo and wood from the public property to build a dam. Could it be that what Captain Fengche lacks now is fish?" This case can be inferred that Guo Biao was greedy for small profits and had nothing to do with it. Vision and wisdom. 】
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After arranging the defense inside and outside the imperial city, King Cao Rui and Queen Guo of the Pingyuan Kingdom, together with the civil and military officials who stayed in Beijing and the concubines of the Sixth Palace, went to the eastern suburbs of Xuchang to welcome the Emperor Luanjia.
The emperor personally marched on the expedition, and the king of Pingyuan stayed behind to supervise the country.
One quietly calmed down the civil strife in Qingxu, while the other experienced the bloody storm in the palace.
In just a few months, both father and son felt as if they were worlds apart.
After Xia Houxuan followed the kings, he had a lot of thoughts in his heart at this moment.
In the past few months, some people have worked hard to support themselves, fearing that their arrangements may be too tight and others may take advantage of them; some people have worked hard and tried their best to win the share that they did not originally belong to. own dignity and glory; some people seem to be outside the circle, but in fact they are adding fuel to the fire all the time.
And today, the son who broke the situation has fallen, so maybe all this will be settled.
Cao Pi slowly stepped off the dragon boat surrounded by the accompanying officials. Empress Guo and Cao Rui led the officials to greet them and shouted long live the dragon boat.
A shocking change happened just when it least should have happened.
Cao Jian, King of Dongwuyang, who was originally following his brother An Ansheng, seemed to be going crazy at the moment. Blue veins popped up on his forehead, and his originally clear eyes were now bloodshot, as if there was some poison in his body. He was scurrying around, scratching at the skin of his body frantically, so that all the beautiful king's clothes were in ruins.
Cao Jian, King of Dongwuyang, died horribly and strangely in front of the emperor, queen, kings and officials.
The emperor, who had been working hard for months on horseback and on horseback, suddenly felt dizzy when he encountered such a big change.
"Your Majesty! Someone come quickly and help your Majesty back to the palace!"
When Queen Guo, Cao Rui, and all the ministers saw that the emperor suddenly fainted, they became anxious and hurriedly arranged for the imperial guards to help him.
The two brothers Li Feng and Li Yi who witnessed this change with their own eyes, as well as the two brothers Yuan Kan and Yuan Liang who were ordered by Li Feng, were extremely horrified at this moment.
Especially Li Feng, who was deeply trusted by Cao Rui and treated him like a distinguished guest, was even more frightened at this moment. I thought that I had taken the initiative to apply for the imperial examination and promised His Highness King Pingyuan that I would do this for His Highness. However, I didn't expect that Cao Hong and Cao Lin would take advantage of the opportunity.
You know, if His Highness King Dongwuyang is safe and sound this time, then His Highness King Pingyuan will be unstoppable from becoming the crown prince. However, who knows whether it will be sooner or later, but His Majesty has just returned to Xuchang Palace. On this occasion, His Royal Highness King Dongwuyang died suddenly in front of His Majesty!
In this way, not to mention that His Majesty's crown prince position is in vain, I am afraid that His Majesty will also be suspicious of him.
It was the banquet at the Hussar Mansion that night!
Xia Houxuan's mind was full of thoughts at the moment. His little thought bypassed these thousands of thoughts, and what he could finally think of was the Hussar Mansion night banquet that shocked the entire Luoyang City that night.
He should have thought of it a long time ago. Although Cao Hong was greedy, he was also a famous general who had fought for half his life. It seemed that he had planned such an extravagant banquet with great fanfare that went against the frugal national customs of this dynasty.
Cao Hong seems to be a powerful person, but in fact, he has spent most of his life on the battlefield and in officialdom, and has become an old loach. This time, he almost handed his tail to His Majesty. Such a wasteful arrangement, It seemed that he had already sensed that His Majesty wanted to touch him, so he used this banquet to deceive others and divert everyone's attention, so that he could carry out this most sinister and vicious act at the most lively banquet. strategy.
Xia Houxuan also did not expect that Li Feng and Li Anguo took over this battle, but failed to take on this huge relationship. If I had known this, I might as well have taken the initiative to protect King Dong Wuyang, but now, it was too late.
At this time, when the former star was supposed to be at its peak, it turned into a situation where the former star was on the verge of collapse.
It seems that of the four major events of overthrowing Cao Huiqi, seizing the vassal of Hedong, rescuing Cui Sanlang, and supporting His Royal Highness Prince Pingyuan as the crown prince, we can only do the first two this time.
If Cui Sanlang wants to survive, he can only rescue him secretly and cannot ask His Majesty to express his mercy.
Xia Houxuan let out a long sigh and hurriedly led all the young men from aristocratic families to help rescue him.
