In two days it will be June 15th, the day of the grand court session. All the middle and senior civil and military officials in Beijing will go to the Jinxiang Hall to pay homage.
After all the civil and military officials had arrived in the hall, Chai Rong, wearing a royal robe, slowly walked to the throne to the sound of the majestic and slow drums and music. A eunuch from the Ministry of Internal Affairs stood behind him, and all the attendants followed him. The emperor walked through the hall alone with his head held high and walked slowly, which highlighted his aura of looking down on the world.
Chai Rong was a military man who usually did not pay much attention to etiquette and was more casual in doing things. Perhaps he himself did not even understand some of the etiquette. Because for the civil servants in the court, if they could answer most of the etiquette fluently, it would be enough to be promoted immediately. It can be seen that to understand the many rituals since the Zhou Dynasty, even the aristocratic bureaucrats who specialized in studying classics found it difficult to understand.
However, on occasions, Chai Rong still had to put on a show, and was very particular about it, such as during the Grand Court. Amid the sound of bells and drums, he held the sash at his waist with one hand and walked steadily. His steps were so slow that it seemed as if he was performing a play or enjoying the process of being noticed.
Every time he walked to a place, the ministers on both sides knelt on the ground and shouted: "Your Majesty, may you live forever."
Everyone cooperated with this scene. The emperor's majesty and his subjects' loyalty were displayed over and over again. I guess, just like MLM, everyone gradually got used to the mentality of worship.
Chai Rong finally sat on the throne. The eunuchs at the side of the throne sang: "If you have something to say, please report it."
Chai Rong looked down with great interest. Everyone faced him respectfully, but no one dared to look up due to etiquette. On the contrary, the emperor could look down from his high place and observe everyone.
While listening to the ministers' reports, he scanned several important people with his eyes. When he came to Guo Shao, who had just married Fu Ermei, Chai Rong suddenly stopped.
It was unclear why, but Chai Rong suddenly felt hostile and disliked Guo Shao.
Guo Shao was completely different from Zhao Kuangyin, he was tall and strong, and he was not even 21 years old. Chai Rong could tell from his standing posture and body outline that Guo Shao must be muscular but not thick-waisted. Because Chai Rong was very experienced, when selecting the personal guards of the Palace Guards, he specifically selected men with well-developed muscles and thin waists, and there were too many people who saw him.
That guy was as thick-skinned and tough as other generals, but he was young after all. Unlike Zhao Kuangyin, who had a dark face and skin color, his facial features were very regular and inconspicuous at first glance. He seemed to be an ordinary guy, but in fact, the more you looked at him, the more you felt that he was a handsome guy, because there were no obvious flaws in his appearance and figure, and his symmetry in every part was unusually handsome. For example, some people have good looks but bad figures, some are tall but have crooked or dark faces, which are all inferior.
Chai Rong made a special observation of Guo Shao and thought that he was indeed good-looking. In the emperor's sharp eyes, he did not regard men like Guo Shao in the same light as those dandy young men from aristocratic families.
An inexplicable hostility arose in his heart, and he couldn't tell where this intuition came from. Chai Rong pondered it calmly and finally tasted it: rivalry in love. This feeling was very similar to the feeling of admiring a girl in his youth and then having a competitor.
But this is too funny. Does the emperor have a love rival? The concubines in his harem are selected from all over the country, who cares whether anyone likes those women or not.
Perhaps, it was because Guo Shao married his sister-in-law, and when he rescued Queen Fu in Huainan, Guo Shao behaved better than Queen Fu's husband. These planted clues of intuition in Chai Rong's heart.
Chai Rong calmed down and thought about everything rationally, and decided not to make a fuss about it. Because those intuitions were all groundless and had no actual evidence. If he arbitrarily rewarded or punished people based on his personal feelings, he would not be able to achieve his current achievements, and it would be very disadvantageous to his future great achievements.
Guo Shao remained silent at the court as usual. He didn't want to show up at all, but because of his high position, he had to stand in the front position.
It's mainly civil servants talking about this and that, but it's not boring. In fact, it can broaden your horizons, and you can see the thinking mode of senior bureaucrats from the ministers' words and deeds. Even if the ancients' thoughts and knowledge are somewhat limited, these people are after all a small group at the top of the pyramid, and they are the elites who have exerted their wisdom to the extreme within their limitations.
When the court was dismissed, Guo Shao left Jinxiang Hall as usual with his colleagues from the Imperial Guard.
He first went to the Guards Office with everyone to handle some daily affairs. There was nothing important in the morning, but he still had to wait until noon. Even if he did nothing, it was different from not being there. When he arrived at the place, even if he didn't care, at least he could follow everyone. If he was not there at all, everyone would treat him as if he didn't exist, and he would gradually lose his sense of existence.
However, once it was noon, several senior generals left on the pretext of going home for lunch. According to Guo Shao's experience, except for a few people, they would not come to the government office in the afternoon.
Guo Shao didn't plan to continue to endure it, so he went home early. He was still in the honeymoon period after getting married, and even if he didn't take leave for the honeymoon, there was no need to work so hard at this time.
He took a carriage after leaving the government office, and now it has become a habit. There seems to be nothing wrong with riding a carriage. The key is that it is less troublesome. When riding a horse, you still have to look at the road. When sitting in a carriage, it is okay to take a nap.
It was a boring time, waiting to reach the destination amid the swaying and creaking noise of the wheels. This was a good time to think, because there was basically nothing to do except thinking.
Guo Shao recalled the scene in the hall just now, and vaguely felt that the emperor seemed to pay extra attention to him. At that time, everyone buried their heads and dared not look up, but the eyes have a vague range of vision, and even if you don't look closely, you can still perceive many things in your peripheral vision. Guo Shao probably had such a feeling, which made him a little uneasy. There has been no war for six consecutive months, and he has not made any achievements. Why does the emperor pay attention to him
It could also be an illusion. He had done something to offend the emperor, and he was obviously a little guilty when facing Chai Rong. Sometimes Guo Shao also felt that he was actually a very sensitive person. As long as it was someone he cared about, his sensitive heart would be able to detect the slightest move. The heart of an archer can even feel the slightest change in the breeze.
Moreover, Guo Shao trusts his intuition more, because his intuition has always been very accurate. Archery depends entirely on that intuition and there is no reliable basis at all to hit the target.
So he was a little uneasy, but there was nothing he could do. If the emperor really wanted to deal with him, what could he do? There was no room for resistance. It is true that living with the emperor is like living with a tiger. Life and death are all controlled by the power-grabbing person. This feeling is not very pleasant. No wonder people spare no effort to curse the tyrants in history. If the emperor behaves unkindly, it will really make everyone very nervous.
However, considering what Chai Rong had done in the three years since he ascended the throne, the emperor was relatively wise. Perhaps Guo Shao's overthinking was just his own psychological problem and he could not blame others because he could not have a clear conscience. But Guo Shao asked himself if he had done anything that was against his conscience, and everything came from his heart.
Some things really can't be explained. Empress Fu was Chai Rong's wife. Chai Rong was Guo Shao's monarch. He was simply disloyal and unfilial no matter how he thought about it. Can the emperor be blamed for this
Who should be blamed then
A series of rapid sounds of "pa pa pa" awakened Guo Shao from his wild thoughts. He lifted a corner of the bamboo curtain and looked out. It was indeed raining heavily.
Two days ago, the old blacksmith Huang said that it was going to rain heavily, and his prediction was really accurate. Huang was old and had rheumatism all over his body. When the weather changed, he would feel pain in advance.
The carriage roof was made of felt, so it was not afraid of rain. But the guards on horseback would get soaked. Guo Shao opened the curtain and saw Luo Mengzi, so he shouted: "Third brother, tell the team to hurry up, so that we can take shelter when we get home."
Luo Mengzi said: Brother, just go around this street and you will arrive.