My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 319 Cutting the Trouble with a Quick Sword

Yuan Ziyou was not looking down on the heroes of the world.

But Erzhu Rong was not alone; behind him stood the entire Erzhu clan and... the Daibei Group, which had been abandoned by the Yuan imperial family in the land of their rise.

When Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, he took a group of his trusted followers from the Dai region with him, but he also left behind a group of people.

As the birthplace of the Great Wei Dynasty, this place had already severed ties with the Yuan imperial family in just a few decades after the capital was moved. They were no longer part of the same interest group, and even harbored resentment towards the Yuan imperial family, since they believed that the Yuan family had abandoned them.

Therefore, as the birthplace of the Great Wei, the people of Dai did not help quell the rebellion after the Six Garrisons broke out. Instead, they turned around and joined Erzhu Rong.

Such a large interest group is difficult for others to confront.

After much deliberation, Yuan Ziyou concluded that only Gao Yu, who came from one of the Six Garrisons and was now married into a prominent Han Chinese family, could rival Erzhu Rong.

"Will Tianbao really take action?"

"What do you think?"

Gao Huan chuckled lightly, "If the Prime Minister truly intended to ease relations with His Majesty and emulate the Duke of Zhou in supporting the Great Wei, why would he remain in Jinyang's Bafu (a government office) instead of residing in Luoyang?"

The reason for staying away from Luoyang and hiding in Jinyang is precisely to avoid any unexpected events.

A power struggle.

No.

This has even become a struggle for the throne. With the world's ruler and the fate of the nation at stake, who can resist the temptation of the throne?

Erzhu Rong is now standing before the throne, with a knife to Yuan Ziyou's neck. He only needs to swing the knife to take his place.

No one could persuade him, and he had no way out.

Behind him, the descendants of the Erzhu clan and the confidants of the Dai region were all waiting for him to ascend to the throne so that they could receive the benefits they deserved for their service in supporting the emperor.

Even if Erzhu Rong wanted to stop, his brothers behind him would push him forward.

Not to mention that Erzhu Rong had no intention of stopping at all.

"The Prime Minister is already making preparations."

"How to say?"

"Didn't His Majesty instruct Ao Cao to train the Imperial Guards?"

Gao Yu nodded. After the Battle of Luoyang, Gao Ang was promoted to infantry captain.

At that time, Yuan Ziyou used the prestige he gained from the Battle of Luoyang to forcibly intervene in the affairs of the Imperial Guards. Erzhu Rong had no choice but to avoid his sharp edge and reluctantly agree.

"This batch of imperial guards was disbanded by the Prime Minister, and most of them were transferred away under the guise of promotion."

Isn't this just a common tactic?

When Erzhu Rong first supported Yuan Ziyou, he was also aware that there was a group of people within the Imperial Guard who supported Yuan Ziyou, led by Fei Mu and Yang Jin.

Erzhu Rong was transferred out of Luoyang through a "promotion" process.

This is a conspiracy.

Yuan Ziyou had no reason to refuse; others were getting promoted and making money, yet you were stopping them.

Blocking someone's path to wealth is tantamount to murdering their parents.
"Although Emperor Tianbao was not in Luoyang, his control over Luoyang did not diminish in the slightest."

Gao Yu couldn't help but sigh.

After the Battle of Luoyang, Yuan Ziyou became increasingly aggressive, interfering with the Imperial Guards and forcibly elevating Gao Yu to the same status as Erzhu Rong to compete in the arena.

Erzhu Rong was appointed General of the Heavenly Pillar, and he then appointed Gao Yu as General of the Heavenly Strategy.

But in fact……

That is, he showed off his power for a while when he was at the height of his fame.

Erzhu Rong was also very good at hiding his 'ambition'. For example, when Yuan Ziyou wanted to promote Gao Gongzhi, Gao Qian and others, he would not stop them at all. The Court of Justice was not a place that would affect the overall situation and was insignificant.

But the truly important positions.

The Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, the Attendant-in-Ordinary, the General of the Army, the General of the Palace Guard... all were firmly under Erzhu Rong's control.

He allowed Yuan Ziyou to extend his influence into the Ministry of Personnel and the Secretariat because the decisions made by the Ministry of Personnel in Luoyang still needed to be reported to the Jinyang Bafu.

As for control over local areas?

In the early days of the Great Wei Dynasty, each prefecture had three governors, and one of them would always be a member of the Yuan clan.

Erzhu Rong did not break this rule.

He even set an example by appointing members of the Yuan clan as governors in his strongholds of Bingzhou and Sizhou. However, these relatives were distant relatives beyond the fifth degree of kinship and had no connection with the imperial family in Luoyang. On the contrary, they were grateful to Erzhu Rong for his important appointment.

Even if we appoint relatives who are loyal to Yuan Ziyou as governors of Bing and Si prefectures, what difference would it make?
What could they possibly do under Erzhu Rong's nose?

On the contrary, in places where Erzhu Rong's control was insufficient, such as Guanzhong, which he had just conquered, or Hebei, none of the governors were from the Yuan clan.

Meanwhile, in Shandong...

Erzhu Rong had no intention of reaching out; his goal was very clear.

After forcing Yuan Ziyou to abdicate, he controlled Guanzhong, Shanxi, Hebei, Henan and other places, while Gao Yu was confined to a corner of Shandong. With such a disparity in strength, Gao Yu could not cause any trouble, and he could also recruit Gao Yu again.

As things stand, Yuan Ziyou has almost no chance of winning unless Erzhu Rong suddenly dies.

"Brother, His Majesty has appointed you as the prefect of Hengzhou. Could it be that..."

"Correct."

Before he could finish speaking, Gao Huan smiled mysteriously, and the two brothers exchanged a knowing glance.

"His Majesty really goes to great lengths."

Gao Yu chuckled, but then felt that he was being a bit presumptuous in speaking from a position of privilege.

Yuan Ziyou's current predicament is that all his struggles are simply for self-preservation and survival.

The imperial power was tied to his life; it didn't mean that by cooperating with Erzhu Rong in abdicating the throne, he could still live a comfortable life as a prince.

Yuan Ziyou was the one Erzhu Rong personally placed on the throne. Erzhu Rong himself acknowledged his legitimacy. How could Erzhu Rong possibly sit idly by and watch him live a good life?

Even after the abdication, as long as Yuan Ziyou is alive, he will be the greatest threat to Erzhu Rong's throne.

The two brothers were discussing the matter.

The Xuanjia soldiers have completed their hunt.

Gao Yue and Duan Shao rode their horses into the encirclement and began hunting wild animals.

From afar, Duan Shao, despite his young age, was skilled in archery and horsemanship, in no way inferior to the slightly older Gao Yue. He could draw his bow with both hands, and his archery skills were precise.

"Tiefa is skilled in martial arts at such a young age; he will surely become a brave warrior in the future."

Gao Yu couldn't help but praise.

Looking around, Gao Yang seemed to be doing quite well, but Gao Cheng... he wasn't in a hurry to chase the prey. Instead, he rode his horse to the side, and soon Bilugu and the others followed on horseback and began to draw their bows and shoot arrows.

It doesn't take a while.

They all came forward with their hunted prey, checked it over, and then went to Gao Yu to claim their rewards.

Gao Yue and Duan Shao had both hunted quite a few, and Gao Yang had also hunted some wild animals on his own, but none of them could compare to Gao Cheng. Gao Cheng was extremely proud and looked at Gao Yu, saying, "Uncle! I hunted the most wild animals, so the reward should be given to me!"

The prey laid out before her was indeed the most plentiful. Lou Zhaojun, who had been chatting with Gao Ying and Yang Changchu, came over immediately upon seeing this, her face beaming with delight, and exclaimed, "Ahui is truly amazing!"

Duan Shao and Gao Yue didn't say anything; they were mature enough not to care much about the so-called reward.

On the contrary, Gao Yang clenched his fists in resentment, looked at Gao Yu, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Mother is biased! Brother's prey was clearly hunted by Bilugu and others, not by himself. How can it be attributed to him!"

Lou Zhaojun frowned, about to speak, but Gao Huan stopped her with a gesture.

Gao Cheng glared angrily at Gao Yang with a gloomy face before speaking up to defend himself, "Uncle only asked us to hunt wild animals. He didn't say beforehand that we couldn't use other people's hands. A-Yang, you're just stupid."

Gao Yu looked at the two brothers with great interest.

He immediately raised his hand, and the servant took the reward he had prepared in advance.

A fine horse, along with some jewelry and other trinkets, is just for good luck.

He glanced at Gao Yang, then smiled and said, "Ah Hui is right. I didn't say beforehand that all the horses and money were yours."

"Thank you, Uncle!!"

Gao Cheng was overjoyed, but then glanced at Gao Yang with a smug look.

He quickly got up and took the money and valuables. Under the watchful eyes of Gao Yu, Gao Huan and the others, he took the money and valuables and came to Bilugu and the others. "Uncle, the credit is on my head. How dare I greedily keep the reward for myself? But I really can't bear to part with the fine horse that you gave me. You can share these money and valuables with me."

Despite Bilugu and the others' refusal, they couldn't resist Gao Cheng's persistent pleading.

Lou Zhaojun was all smiles, and Gao Huan was also very happy. Clearly, they were both very satisfied with Gao Cheng's handling of the situation.

Despite his young age, he understands the art of managing people and winning their hearts.

If he was merely using his status as Gao Huan's son to get Bilugu and others to hunt for him, it could only be described as a bit of quick thinking, exploiting a loophole in the rules.

But then the reward is distributed, which is the real way to win people's hearts. It is rare for someone so young to understand this principle.

If my nephew hadn't been killed by the cook in history, with his methods... if he had actually ascended the throne as Gao Huan's eldest son and Lou Zhaojun's most beloved son, he might not have been much worse than Gao Yang.
Everyone's attention was on Gao Cheng, but Gao Yu squatted down next to Gao Yang and asked, "Yang, are you feeling wronged?"

"I...I don't dare."

Gao Yang looked aggrieved, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Your brother was indeed quick-witted in this matter, and his actions in winning people’s hearts were something you should learn from. You will be in charge of the army, managing your subordinates, and winning people’s hearts in the future, and you will need to master all of these skills.”

Gao Yang might not understand, but he nodded.

Gao Yu then reached out and patted his head encouragingly, "It is quite remarkable that you are so brave at such a young age. When your uncle was your age, he couldn't even ride a horse, let alone hunt. You are already quite outstanding."

"really?"

“Of course it is true. So, Ah Yang will surely be as brave and valiant as his uncle in the future. Don’t underestimate yourself.”

Gao Yang then stopped crying and started laughing.

Gao Huan had also noticed this, and exchanged a glance with Gao Yu.

"Erlang."

“Brother, you and sister-in-law are indeed a bit biased.”

Gao Huan opened his mouth but didn't know how to refute it.

Gao Yu didn't continue to criticize, but instead advised, "Ahui has her strengths, and Ayang also has his strengths."

talking.

Gao Yu summoned a servant and ordered him to bring a hemp rope, which he then hastily twisted into a knot.

“Honglue, Tiefa, Ahui, Ayang, come here.”

Calling everyone over to him, Gao Yu said with a smile, "Let's play a little game. Let's agree beforehand that this time you can only rely on yourselves and can't ask anyone for help."

“Each of you take a tangled mess of yarn. Whoever untangles it first wins.”

Gao Huan stood beside him, not understanding what Gao Yu was up to, but just watched patiently.

Each person took a handful of tangled threads and began to think about how to deal with them.

Gao Yu urged them on, saying, "I'll only give you a quarter of an hour."

He then patiently watched them.

Gao Yue picked up one end of the hemp rope and tried to untangle it slowly, but found that it was tangled together and there was no way to make a dent.

Gao Cheng looked around, seemingly wanting to see how others would handle it so he could learn from them. However, he found that no one had any clue, so he could only grimace and try to slowly untangle the rope little by little.

Time passed little by little.

Gao Yu reminded him from time to time, "Time's almost up. Isn't anyone able to finish?"

Under constant urging, Gao Cheng began to scratch his head, unable to come up with a perfect solution. Instead, as his anxiety grew, his mind became even more confused.

On the contrary, Gao Yang's little tricks were noticed by Gao Yu.

Gao Yu looked regretful and said, "It seems no one's here..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

But then, the young Gao Yang suddenly stood up, ran to the soldier beside him, and said, "I need to borrow your knife."

He drew his precious sword and swung it fiercely at the hemp rope on the ground, cutting it into pieces with several strokes. He then threw away his weapon and began to quickly process the rope.

"Uncle! Father! I'm all ready!"

He looked at Gao Yu and Gao Huan with anticipation.

Although it was cut into pieces, it was indeed sorted out.

Lou Zhaojun also walked over, her brows slightly furrowed, and said coldly, "When have I ever tried to cheat or be cunning..."

Faced with his mother's scolding, Gao Yang's hopeful eyes dimmed instantly, while Gao Cheng was extremely smug.

Gao Huan's expression was somewhat complicated, but he reached out and grabbed Lou Zhaojun, taking a step forward, "Ayang, you did very well. You are the winner this time."

"really?"

Gao Yang's mood plummeted from the peak to the bottom and then surged back to the peak in an instant.

He cautiously asked in return, "Is what Father said true?"

He glanced at Gao Yu again, who smiled and nodded. "Of course, someone come here!"

He then ordered a servant to bring a strong and sturdy horse, and personally handed the reins to him, saying, "This time the winner is Ah Yang, and this horse is your reward from your uncle."

Gao Yang was overjoyed!

He happily took the reins, then leaped onto the horse and galloped away, laughing loudly as if he wanted to vent all his pent-up frustrations!
"Husband, Erlang, you spoil me so much."

"Zhaojun, is this still spoiling? Have you and I really taken Ayang seriously before?"

"........."

Lou Zhaojun also opened her mouth.

But he couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

She knew better than anyone how harsh she was on her second son and how much she doted on and favored her eldest son.

(End of this chapter)