Summary of the previous chapter: The conversation between Ma Xiaoquan and Li Qinghan in the study was eavesdropped...
On the way to the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Ma Xiaoquan met several acquaintances, all of whom were members of the Donglin Party.
The Donglin Party and Ma Xiaoquan have always had a harmonious relationship. Firstly, Ma Xiaoquan is a person that the Donglin Party members like. Secondly, because he disappeared for two years to "support" Liaodong, the Donglin Party members will also dislike Ma Xiaoquan.
Much friendlier.
Yang Lian was walking at the front. When he saw Ma Xiaoquan, Yang Lian took the initiative to say hello to him.
Ma Xiaoquan admired Yang Lian very much. He was upright and upright, and Ma Xiaoquan was happy to become friends with him.
Yang Lian cupped his hands and said: "Deacon, living in Liaodong for more than two years has been really hard. Deacon, you have worked really hard for the Ming Dynasty and the emperor, haven't you?"
Ma Xiaoquan sighed secretly in his heart. Fortunately, in the last year of his life, running around with the Hua family in busy business, he had transformed himself into a man with a vicissitudes of life. Otherwise, he would have really been unable to fool him.
"What the hell, Master Yang is so ridiculous." Ma Xiaoquan smiled awkwardly and said, "I've been away for such a long time, how are you doing, sir?"
Yang Lian nodded: "It's naturally fine, but there are always some people in the court who are afraid that the world will not be in chaos, hey."
As soon as Yang Lian finished speaking, a sinister voice sounded behind him: "Mr. Yang, you must speak conscientiously. Don't talk nonsense. Be careful of flashing your tongue."
Yang Lian and Ma Xiaoquan frowned together. They looked back and frowned even more tightly.
Yang Lian sneered and said: "Eunuch Wei, I, Yang Lian, didn't talk about you. You are so self-absorbed that you are probably a bit of an old peacock showing off your emotions, right?"
After listening to Yang Lian's words, several members of the Donglin Party echoed in unison: "Yes, Eunuch Wei, are you being sentimental?"
The person who is so yin and yang is none other than Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian met Ma Xiaoquan once yesterday, but because he had something to do and the emperor was anxious to talk to Ma Xiaoquan, he did not dare to say anything.
Last night, the spies who had been lurking in the Ma family for a long time came to report that Ma Xiaoquan's identity was suspicious. More importantly, Li Qinghan had given birth to a son for him. Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian was extremely excited. He spent the whole night last night
I didn't sleep, just thinking about how to abduct Ma Xiaoquan's son, and then... hum.
Wei Zhongxian smiled sinisterly and said: "Mr. Yang, you stinking pedants from the Donglin Party have no ability. You can talk nonsense in just one day. I am too lazy to tell you. Well, Ma Xiaoquan, congratulations on your promotion."
Everyone could tell that Wei Zhongxian was hurting Ma Xiaoquan, but Ma Xiaoquan was not angry, but responded politely: "Oh, thank you Eunuch Wei. Oh, by the way, Eunuch Wei, why do I see you growing a beard?
"
Wei Zhongxian was stunned and quickly covered his chin, looking at Ma Xiaoquan in horror.
That's what Ma Xiaoquan said. In fact, he didn't see anything. On the contrary, it was Wei Zhongxian's actions that aroused the suspicion of everyone present.
In fact, Wei Zhongxian did grow some beard, but it was still very small.
In the more than two years since Ma Xiaoquan was away, Wei Zhongxian has been actively taking care of his body. Finally, after taking a bunch of tonics and using a lot of miraculous medicines, his words finally recovered. For this reason, Wei Zhongxian is always very happy.
Be careful, no matter how hot it is, he will always wear high-collared clothes because he is afraid that others will see that he has developed an Adam's apple again.
Yang Lian looked at Wei Zhongxian and mocked: "Eunuch Wei, I heard that you have been taking some jade stem rebirth medicine. Could it be that you are really reborn?"
Wei Zhongxian became angry with shame, but he did not dare to put down his hand. He could only say angrily: "You bastards, huh." After that, Wei Zhongxian led his men away in despair.
"Haha..." Seeing Wei Zhongxian leaving in embarrassment, Yang Lian and Ma Xiaoquan burst into laughter.
Ma Xiaoquan patted Yang Lian on the shoulder, approached him and said, "Master Yang, no matter what, be careful about Wei Zhongxian."
Yang Lian nodded, but said disapprovingly: "I'm just a eunuch, what kind of trouble can I cause? Haha, the deacon is thinking too much."
Ma Xiaoquan sighed. History is the best proof of how capable Wei Zhongxian is. In any case, this eunuch was the main culprit that led to the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. But unfortunately, even if Ma Xiaoquan knew the history, he couldn't say,
Because history is history.
Arriving at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony with Yang Lian and other members of the Donglin Party, Ma Xiaoquan was shocked to find that many people had gathered at the entrance of the hall. Many of these people he did not recognize. To be precise, many of them were strangers.
Ma Xiaoquan took a sip and asked Yang Lian in a low voice: "Mr. Yang, who are these strange faces?"
Yang Lian frowned and said, "They are all Wei Zhongxian's people."
"What?" Ma Xiaoquan was stunned for a moment. He did not expect that Wei Zhongxian's power would expand so much. In just over two years, he had replaced a large number of officials in the court.
"Then Mr. Yang, not only you, but your Donglin Party must also be careful."
Yang Lian nodded: "Yang Lian will bear in mind the reminder from the deacon, but if the emperor goes to Zhu Youxiao and wants me to die, I will have to die."
"Hey" Ma Xiaoquan sighed. It's not that he despised Yang Lian's stubbornness. On the contrary, such an upright man was the most worthy of his respect.
But... Yang Lian will eventually become a martyr and a person respected by thousands of people. Although he will suffer a lot, if a person's death becomes valuable and respected
, Ma Xiaoquan thought, this might also be the best destination for the value of this person’s life.
Thinking of this, Ma Xiaoquan nodded slightly.
...
As usual, the emperor did not come to attend the morning court. As usual, the officials waited outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony for an hour before going home.
Since Ma Xiaoquan is the deacon of the Jinyiwei, he has other internal affairs of the Jinyiwei that need to be done after the morning court.
Ma Xiaoquan wanted to pick up all the affairs that he had accumulated for more than two years as soon as possible, not for anything else but for defense.
Wei Zhongxian's power becomes more and more powerful, and Tian Ergeng, who is collaborating with him, will become more and more difficult to deal with.
Although he was the deacon of Jinyiwei, sitting in the office, Ma Xiaoquan felt that there was no one available to him.
Sighing softly, Ma Xiaoquan confidently put down the roster of Jinyiwei personnel. He couldn't put down the family business, and he couldn't slack off on the power in his hands.
Thinking of this, Ma Xiaoquan decided to call Fang Yun from the Cao Gang to serve him.
Fang Yun was also a Jinyiwei before, so he knew the routines of Jinyiwei very well. Although he was a deserter, Ma Xiaoquan used his status as a deacon to arrange a "foreign mission" for him. It must be impossible even for Tian Ergen.
How about taking Fang Yun.
There are still about twenty days until the New Year's Eve. Ma Xiaoquan made a rough calculation. Even if he waits for Fang Yun to come, it will be the third day of the New Year anyway. Well...it seems that he still has to wait.
After thinking about it all morning, Ma Xiaoquan couldn't think of the best way. In desperation, he could only give up for now and go home.
...
In the rest room of Eunuch Bingbi...
Wei Zhongxian was sitting on the Grand Master's chair, with a maid sitting on his lap. Standing respectfully in front of him was a short man. This short man was the one who overheard the conversation between Ma Xiaoquan and Li Qinghan.
"What? Did you hear clearly?" Wei Zhongxian pushed away the maid sitting on his lap, stood up and asked the short man in front of him.
"Back to my father-in-law, I was so young that I heard it clearly. That Ma Xiaoquan is not the real Fourth Master Ma at all, and Li Qinghan is not the real God of Fire either..."
"Yes." Wei Zhongxian waved his hand, signaling the maid to go out first, leaving only him and the short man in the room.
"In fact, I have suspected this for a long time. It's just that the fire spirit is not something that ordinary people can possess. Then Ma Xiaoquan must have mastered some evil magic, so he can control the fire spirit...
."
"Father, I heard about something. A few years ago, the concubine of Master Liu Yijing, a cabinet scholar, seemed to have died inexplicably. It was said that she had committed adultery with a man and was beaten to death by Liu Yijing's son.
"
"Oh? Is this the case?"
"Well, yes, father-in-law, after a small and detailed investigation, I finally found out the truth of the matter... It turns out that the adulterer who was beaten to death by Liu Yijing's son
, that’s Ma Xiaoquan, the Fourth Young Master of the Ma family.”
"What? Black Dog, is everything you asked about true?" Wei Zhongxian asked in surprise.
"Father, it's absolutely true. I just didn't understand why a fourth young master suddenly appeared."
Wei Zhongxian thought for a while and said: "There are two possibilities, either, the one who was beaten to death was fake, but... you overheard the conversation between Ma Xiaoquan and his woman, well, so this kind of thing,
If Bu Li Shi... the current Ma Xiaoquan is fake."
Wei Zhongxian hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "But even if we know that he is fake, I'm afraid we can't do anything to him."
"Hehe" the short man smiled sinisterly, "father-in-law, you don't know something, that Li Qinghan has actually given birth to an evil son of Ma Xiaoquan."
Wei Zhongxian didn't seem surprised: "So what?"
"Father, why don't we think of a way to kidnap that little bastard and threaten Ma Xiaoquan with it? Hum, with his son in hand, are we still afraid that Ma Xiaoquan won't listen to us?"
Wei Zhongxian snorted, nodded with satisfaction, and laughed and said: "Black dog, it's not in vain that I raised you. Okay, then I'll leave this matter to you. How to do it specifically, I just want to see
to the result.”
"Don't worry, father-in-law, I will definitely handle this matter beautifully, hehe."