Inside the Donghua Gate, an eunuch outside the palace shouted: His Majesty has arrived!
Guo Shao and Zhao Kuangyin heard this and stood up from their stools in a hurry. After a while, they saw Chai Rong coming in from the palace gate, surrounded by people in front and behind. Chai Rong was not wearing a military uniform or a dragon robe, but a purple round-necked robe with large floral patterns and a black gauze hat on his head.
The two people in the hall knelt on the ground one after the other and shouted: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty live forever."
Chai Rong stepped forward, helped each of them up, and said, "My dear ministers, please stand up." He helped them up and sat down in the main seat. There was only a chair on the upper seat, not a regular throne, and it was not far away.
When Guo Shao got up from the ground, he looked down a little but observed Chai Rong's expression with his peripheral vision, but he didn't see anything strange. Instead, he felt that Chai Rong's face was really pale, and there were some strange dark spots on his cheeks.
As expected, Chai Rong first noticed Zhao Kuangyin, who was dressed in mourning. Zhao Kuangyin's face and neck were black and red, but his body was all white, which was really eye-catching. But the emperor still did not ask him about the funeral. He turned his eyes to Guo Shao and said: I ordered you to see those two files. I want to ask you about your recent affairs in person. You have all read the case investigated by the Left Office of Kaifeng Prefecture. What do you think
The emperor's eyes were on Guo Shao. Guo Shao could not be rude and ignore the emperor's question. He bowed and said nervously, "Your Majesty, I think Kaifeng Prefecture has conducted a relatively thorough investigation, and the testimony is also convincing. As recorded in the file, the murderer is the Zhao Mansion who entered the Guangshun year. This person has nothing to do with me. I am not the kind of person who will take revenge for the slightest grievance. Please understand, Your Majesty."
Guo Shao deliberately did not say whether Zhao San had plotted to assassinate him.
Only talking about Dong Er's murder was defending himself, which was defensive; saying that Zhao San planned to assassinate was attacking the other party, which was offensive. Since he let Guo Shao speak first, he was more conservative at first; he only excused himself, but did not bite the other party to attack.
Because before this, Guo Shao had already figured it out. Zhao Kuangyin didn't say anything bad to him when he first arrived, so there was no need for him to rush into an argument with him. It would be better to keep calm and see what his attitude and reaction would be.
No matter how complicated the process was, and no matter who was right or wrong, the result was that Guo Shao was alive and well, but two people from the Zhao family died. Zhao Kuangyin suffered the most serious loss. Even if Zhao San was at fault, he was dead and there was no need to give Guo Shao an explanation.
Guo Shao thought: It is meaningless to attack Zhao Kuangyin again. Even if it is an ironclad case, it is impossible to attack Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao San's crime was not a heinous crime that would implicate his entire clan, so it is difficult to implicate Zhao Kuangyin.
What's more, Chai Rong trusted and relied on Zhao Kuangyin very much, so he probably wouldn't do anything to Zhao Kuangyin because of this matter. Although Guo Shao had also made great contributions and performed very well in the wars launched by Chai Rong, he was still a little inferior to Zhao Kuangyin in terms of closeness to the emperor, otherwise he would not have been in the Imperial Guard Division.
At this moment, Chai Rong nodded slightly and turned to look at the black-faced man.
Zhao Kuangyin bowed and said: "I heard that General Guo encountered an assassin a few days ago, and all the clues were related to my third brother. After returning, I questioned my third brother, but he said it was not his fault. I also looked at the case file and found two things that were not credible. The first was the motive for the crime. It was a bit far-fetched to say that my third brother was jealous of a woman and wanted to murder the general. The second was whether Li Xiaer was instructed by my third brother. The case file was vague and could only rely on inference.
And from what I know about my brothers, Sanlang has been studying since he was young and has never experienced fighting in battles. He is gentle, polite and kind to others at home, and he is not even 18 years old. It is strange that someone like Sanlang could do something vicious.
Hearing that Zhao Kuangyin was still trying to defend him, Guo Shao felt a little unhappy, because he had already determined that the person who did it was Zhao San; however, Zhao Kuangyin did not seize the opportunity to blame Zhao San's death on Guo Shao, so he was actually very restrained.
Guo Shao found Zhao Kuangyin's restraint incredible, because from the results, Zhao Kuangyin was the victim, so it was understandable that he attacked Guo Shao. He could endure the death of his father and brother, so why should he endure it
Thinking of Zhao Kuangyin as the founding emperor in history, Guo Shaocai had to guess: only greater ambitions could allow him to endure the pain in front of him. Zhao Kuangyin was not the teenage Zhao San, he would not be dragged down for hatred and to eliminate his enemies. Only by thinking this way could Guo Shaocai understand why Zhao Kuangyin was so restrained today.
At this time, Chai Rong asked directly: Zhao Kuangyin, do you think that Sanlang's death was related to Guo Shao
Zhao Kuangyin bowed and said: I ask Your Majesty to make a wise decision.
Sure enough, even though he did not want to escalate the conflict, he was hostile to Guo Shao and kept something to himself. If the emperor wanted to help punish Guo Shao, Zhao Kuangyin's ambiguous attitude clearly showed that he was happy to see it happen.
Chai Rong nodded and said: I called both of you into the palace to discuss this matter face to face, just because I want to hear what you think about it.
Zhao Kuangyin and Guo Shao both listened to what the emperor said very carefully.
Chai Rong sighed again and said: "Now the great event has not been accomplished and the Northern Expedition is imminent. Although the Khitan leader is called the Sleeping Emperor, from my observation, this person has a bad reputation but is not completely incompetent; the Khitan civil strife is related to the past events of the previous dynasty, and cannot be entirely blamed on the current Khitan leader. Although the country is in turmoil, its strength has not been greatly damaged. It is still the biggest enemy of our country. Both of you are generals that I rely on. If the internal consumption only damages the military strength and even causes any turmoil and loss to the country, I will never forgive you easily."
After hearing this, Zhao Kuangyin and Guo Shao bowed hurriedly.
Chai Rong said again: "The performance of the Imperial Guards in the Huainan Campaign was excellent, which made me very happy. In the upcoming Northern Expedition against Khitan, I hope that General Guo can capture cities and towns in Hebei and make new achievements. The troops of the Palace Guards are the elite of our Great Zhou, and I have high hopes for them. It would be best if you two can resolve your grudges; otherwise, you should not let personal details affect the Northern Expedition. I will rely more on whoever contributed the most to my recovery of Youzhou, without any bias."
He went on to say earnestly: I hope you will put the overall situation first and don't disappoint me.
Zhao Kuangyin kowtowed and said: "I am the commander of the Palace Guards, and I bear the great responsibility entrusted by Your Majesty to the country. I will do my utmost to serve Your Majesty as a pioneer. I will never hinder Your Majesty's great ambitions because of personal grudges."
After hearing this, Chai Rong said with great satisfaction: "My dear Lord Zhao, you can always understand my heart and help me solve my problems. You will definitely not put me in a dilemma."
Seeing this, Guo Shao also quickly knelt down and expressed his position: I will definitely put national affairs first and will not care about trivial matters.
Seeing this, Chai Rong came up to help them up again, and the previous grudges were put aside. Moreover, I think that the discrepancies were not caused by the two of you who didn't know the general situation, and it was understandable. But from now on, I want you to stop complaining, and do not joke in front of the king, and swear in front of me that you will not care about it anymore.
Zhao Kuangyin raised his hand with a serious expression and said: "I swear before your majesty that I will never do anything unjust to General Guo because of personal grudges."
Swearing is really useful. However, what you say in front of the emperor may be more or less useful. Guo Shao also hurriedly raised his palm to the sky and swore: I am willing to put aside the past grudges and work together with Zhao Dushi to assist Your Majesty in attacking Khitan.
Chai Rong was very satisfied with this and nodded, saying: "Very good, very good! My right-hand man, a general, should be a man with a broad mind and tolerance."
The emperor comforted the two again, ordered some money to be rewarded, and sent palace servants to go to the mansion with Zhao Kuangyin to attend the funeral. The two thanked the emperor profusely, bid farewell to the emperor and walked out of the hall one after another.
Zhao Kuangyin walked in front and Guo Shao walked some distance behind. The two of them did not speak to each other along the way.
Guo Shao was quite satisfied with the result. When he went out and saw the sunlight, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He finally passed this hurdle because he never thought that the emperor would give up Zhao Kuangyin in order to give himself justice. That was absolutely impossible.
Zhao Kuangyin might be more depressed because two relatives of his family died and the matter ended up being left unresolved.
But Guo Shao also understood why Chai Rong wanted to be a peacemaker: the emperor was determined to recover Youyun and was unwilling to lose a general due to internal strife. His attitude towards Guo Shao, one of his words "conquer cities and capture important towns in Hebei, and make new achievements" inadvertently exposed his emperor's heart. Chai Rong was still thinking about Guo Shao's strong attack on cities, and wanted him to help attack cities when attacking Hebei. The cities in Hebei were larger and more stable, and they were very difficult to attack.
If Guo Shao had no value, it would be hard to say whether Chai Rong would still care about justice and truth today. And once he conquered Youzhou, would he put away his bow after all the birds were gone
Guo Shao found beads of sweat on his forehead and subconsciously wiped them away with his sleeve.
In short, this matter can come to an end for the time being. Guo Shao feels that he is not in much danger at the moment; but in the long run, the danger is greater.
Now the emperor is protecting him, and Zhao Kuangyin, who knows the times, is unlikely to rush into doing anything against the emperor's wishes, so Guo Shao should be worry-free. But there is no guarantee of what will happen in the future; Zhao Kuangyin's oath cannot guarantee anything, and there are a hundred ways to keep the oath and put the other party to death.
The two of them, led by the eunuch, went out of Donghua Gate. Zhao Kuangyin calmly asked the servant to bring the horse over. This guy was not afraid of any ambush with bows and crossbows in the streets and alleys, and behaved very calmly. When he took the reins, he actually turned around and gently clasped his fists to Guo Shao before getting on the horse.
Guo Shao also hurriedly bowed in return, and watched him climb onto the tall horse. Then he walked to his carriage. He was afraid of dying in obscurity, so it would be safer to ride in a carriage.