Guo Shao raised his right arm slightly, letting the loose yellow robe sleeves slide down naturally, and then stretched out his hand to unfold the memorial. Li Chuyun's handwriting praised Empress Duanci Fu Jinzhan for her virtue and benevolence, and said that Your Majesty should not work too hard, and letting Empress Duanci govern in the West Palace was a move that would win the hearts of the army and the people.
This is interesting. Li Chuyun and the Fu family should not be on the same page. Guo Shao took another look and found that it was indeed Li Chuyun's handwriting.
Guo Shao immediately understood: Li Chuyun had already sensed the risk.
He put down the memorial, looked up at Zuo You, and asked: "What do you think of Li Chuyun's memorial, Zuo Shaoqing?"
Zuo You seemed to have already thought of what to say, because he was the one who took the initiative to send the memorial to Guo Shao. Zuo You immediately replied: In reply to your Majesty, Li Du Dianjian is still unaware that General Zhishi has written to accuse him.
Guo Shao nodded thoughtfully, reached out and picked up a black piece, and dropped it on the chessboard.
The two fell silent for a moment.
Guo Shao felt that Zuo You's words were more reliable. In fact, when ministers spoke to the emperor, unless they had no choice, they were not willing to lie about specific matters and commit the crime of deceiving the emperor. It was a kind of pressure in their hearts.
Things that have happened in the past few days are a bit complicated, but it has only been three days, and only four things have come to light: the day before yesterday, Fan Zhi wrote a letter to impeach Fu Jinzhan for being in power; yesterday morning, Guo Shao brought Fan Zhi's memorial to the ministers; today Shi Yanchao wrote a letter, and Li Chuyun's memorial just arrived in Guo Shao's hands.
Guo Shao pondered the time difference for a moment. Li Chuyun's memorial had just been written not long ago. Since they were in the central government, the memorial could go directly to the Privy Council in the Imperial City with minimal twists and turns.
So when Li Chuyun was thinking about things and writing the memorial, he didn't know that what Shi Yanchao had accused him of was almost certainly true.
The windows on both sides of the Yangde Hall were open, and the silent cool breeze blew on Guo Shao's face. His thoughts were slightly withdrawn from the chaos, and two thoughts that had nothing to do with the clues of the incident came to his mind: first, Li Chuyun's objective strength was far from enough; second, Li Chuyun was very respectful and cautious, and showed no signs of challenging the emperor's authority.
Just as I thought of this, the fat eunuch Wang Zhong walked in and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, Li Du Dianjian has been ordered to see you, and is waiting outside the study."
Guo Shaodao: Ask him to come in.
Guo Shao remembered that the eunuch on duty here not long ago seemed to be Cao Tai, and now it has become Wang Zhong. It must be the time for them to change shifts.
After a while, Li Chuyun walked into the Yangde Hall, clasped his fists and bowed, saying: "I pay my respects to Your Majesty."
Lord Li, come and sit over here. Guo Shao said casually, I am playing chess with Zuo Shaoqing.
Your Majesty is in a good mood. I thank you for letting me sit down. Li Chuyun answered carefully. He walked over and sat on the couch at one side, with his buttocks just touching the cushion. He looked much more nervous than usual.
Li Chuyun had a thick black beard covering half of his face. His complexion was red with a hint of black, and the color had not changed much, but there was a certain fear in his expression.
Guo Shao could fully imagine the fear in Li Chuyun's heart when he learned that he was summoned. He could sense the risk of this matter, so he submitted that memorial, and that's why he was worried.
Guo Shao took out Shi Yanchao's memorial from his arms and handed it to Li Chuyun.
Li Chuyun flipped through it and his eyes immediately widened. His beard trembled. He looked very surprised.
After a while, Li Chuyun jumped forward from the couch, knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said: Your Majesty, please understand, this is to sow discord between me and Shi Yanchao. I have always been at odds with him, but I respect him as a man. I didn't expect him to be so mean.
Li Chuyun's fear was not pretended.
Guo Shao had to feel the destructive power of power. He and Li Chuyun were not father-in-law and son-in-law, but they were relatives; they had been through life and death together for so long, and it was needless to say that they had a deep friendship; and Li Chuyun was also a military commander who had killed many people in battle and had seen all kinds of scenes, but he was so scared in front of the imperial power.
It's not his fault. Throughout history, many good generals did not die on the battlefield, but died at the hands of their own people.
Mr. Li, please stand up and sit down to talk. Don't be anxious. Guo Shao said gently.
Li Chuyun then calmed down, got up and sat on the couch beside the chessboard.
Guo Shao thought: Things have become like this because almost all men value power and career too much. That thing is indeed the foundation of a man's life.
He immediately said: This memorial was not Shi Yanchao's idea.
Li Chuyun said: Your Majesty, the handwriting is his, I can recognize it.
Guo Shao nodded: But he must have been instigated by others. Shi Yanchao definitely doesn’t have the mind to think about these things.
After hearing this, Li Chuyun and Zuo You thought about it for a while and nodded slightly.
Guo Shao glanced at the big beard on Li Chuyun's mouth and said: I just learned a few moves from Zuo Shaoqing. Lord Li, please play a game with me.
Li Chuyun clasped his fists and said: I will respectfully obey your command.
With the topic changed, Guo Shao's expression and tone became calmer, and the atmosphere gradually eased.
Guo Shao stopped talking about business for a long time, looking like he was concentrating on playing chess, so the other two naturally didn't mention it. Guo Shao soon discovered that Li Chuyun's chess moves were good, and he just gave in to him in some places.
Guo Shao could not help but say: We who practice martial arts are not forbidden to play music, chess, calligraphy and painting. Mr. Li is very familiar with chess, even better than me.
Li Chuyun hurriedly said: I dare not, I dare not. I learned a little bit in my spare time, but it is just a little bit. I am not interested in this.
Then there was silence for a long while, with only the sound of chess pieces falling. Li Chuyun enjoyed playing chess very much and started to play as soon as he picked up the chess piece.
Guo Shao turned to look at Zuo You: Not long ago, I was talking with Zuo Shaoqing and I said that China’s biggest problems have always been internal.
Zuo You hurriedly said: “Yes, I will keep your Majesty’s teachings in mind.”
Guo Shao said: You tell me, what is there to worry about these few days
The two of them lowered their heads in silence.
When Guo Shao got down to business, he simply dropped the chess piece, took his hand out of the porcelain jar, and said quickly: “It’s nothing more than teasing the issue of the crown prince.
Li Chuyun and Zuo You were both slightly startled, and sat there holding their breath. Guo Shao simply put it on the table, causing tension for a while.
He said slowly: I am 25 years old this year, I am healthy and pain-free, and it will be a long time before I have to consider a successor. By then, will Lord Li still be able to take care of this matter
Li Chuyun said hurriedly: Your Majesty's age is like the sun in the east. By the time Your Majesty's birthday comes, I will have already been buried.
Long live is just an auspicious phrase. Guo Shao smiled and said, "But I still have another thirty or forty years before I dare to say I am old, which is true."
Guo Shao picked up the memorial on the table, the one from Shi Yanchao, and tore it in two. Then he folded it together and tore it again. He threw it aside, and the pieces of paper fell to the floor in a mess.
Li Chuyun and Zuo You looked at each other.
Guo Shaodao: I called Mr. Li here today not only to play chess, but also to say one thing: Don't bother with Shi Yanchao. Don't you and I know what kind of person he is
Li Chuyun bowed hurriedly and said: "I obey your order."
After playing chess, Zuo You and Li Chuyun left the Yangde Hall one after another. Li Chuyun left the Jinxiang Hall, while Zuo You stayed in the East Hall to work.
It was almost evening when Zuo You walked out of Jinxiang Hall. On the brick road outside the hall, he bumped into an unfamiliar civil servant. The civil servant said: "Envoy Wang invites Zuo Fuzheng to the Privy Council for a talk."
Zuo You was unable to refuse, so he followed the civil servant to the Privy Council.
Wang Pu had already sent away most of the officials of the Privy Council. He met Zuo You in his study and asked directly about the ins and outs of the emperor's summons to Li Chuyun.
Zuo You did not elaborate on the relationship, but just told about his conversation with Guo Shao.
Wang Pu listened carefully, his facial expression changing constantly, and he let out a long sigh after listening.
At this moment, a bell suddenly rang outside, and it was the hour of You. Zuo You was attracted by the loud sound and turned to look out the window.
Wang Pu also walked to the window and looked outside for a long time.
From this position, you can just see the tall and magnificent double eaves of the Jinxiang Hall. The majestic palace is built on a high platform, and now it looks even taller under the glow of the setting sun.
Wang Pu could not help but whisper: Your Majesty is not comparable to the previous dynasties where warriors ruled the country. The world has been in turmoil for so many years, the population has declined and the world is bleak. It is definitely time for this dynasty to revive.
Zuo You also hurriedly said: "What Envoy Wang said is absolutely right. If Your Majesty did not have a broad mind and sit on the throne, this matter might not be a big deal, but it would continue for who knows how long."
At this time, in the west hall of Jinxiang Palace, Fu Jinzhan had not left there yet.
Cao Tai stood aside, not daring to say a word. He had come here a long time ago; before Guo Shao discovered that the eunuch beside him had been replaced, Cao Tai came here at that time.
When Fu Jinzhan was still in Yecheng and even before the previous emperor Chai Rong ascended the throne, Cao Tai was Fu Jinzhan's confidant. Almost the entire palace knew about it, so Cao Tai went straight from the emperor in the East Palace to Fu Jinzhan without even having to cover up.
Fu Jinzhan knew everything about the recent events, mainly because she was able to get in touch with Cao Tai in a timely manner. Guo Shao also trusted Cao Tai very much and did not criticize him.
Seeing that Fu Jinzhan hadn't said a word for a long time and looked unhappy, Cao Tai said carefully: "Fan Zhi dared to go against the queen. Let's record this account first and settle it with him later."
Fu Jinzhan rebuked: Shut up! What did Fan Zhi do wrong
Cao Tai had a look of deep sorrow on his face, and whispered: We all respect the Queen's kindness, but the Queen cannot be too lenient to those who do not know what is good for them, otherwise they will think that the Queen is easy to bully.
Fu Jinzhan shook her head but smiled: Why would anyone bully you
Empress Cao Tai observed Fu Jinzhan's smile suspiciously.
Fu Jinzhan said: "It doesn't matter what the ministers do. Without Fan Zhi, there is still Li Zhi. I am pleased that Your Majesty has gone a step further than before."
Cao Tai said: Madam, what should we do now