Summary of the previous chapter: Tian Ergeng passed the information he found to Wei Zhongxian by spreading gossip...
As soon as Hua Yue finished speaking, one of his subordinates walked into the study and reported to Ma Xiaoquan: "Sir, Wang Wenyan has been arrested."
"Huh?" Ma Xiaoquan was stunned and shook his head repeatedly, "Sure enough, he is here. Was he arrested by the people from Dongchang?"
"Yes sir"
Ma Xiaoquan nodded, waved his hand, and ordered: "Settle down. Without my instructions in the past few days, you must not say anything to outsiders. Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy."
"yes"
...
Hua Yue looked surprised. After his men left, he asked Ma Xiaoquan: "What's wrong? Wang Wenyan was arrested, why do you feel like you are facing a powerful enemy?"
Ma Xiaoquan smacked his lips and said: "Wang Wenyan came to borrow money from me. Whether I borrowed it or not, people must have known about it. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, someone will definitely check my book..."
"So serious?" Hua Yue was shocked. The top...
Ma Xiaoquan smiled bitterly and said: "This is an official struggle. In fact, I have not participated in anything from beginning to end, but one Wang Wenyan just dragged me into the whirlpool of the storm, eh."
...
Ma Xiaoquan's prediction was very accurate. Two days later, some officials came to join him. Of course, except for a few eunuchs, most of these so-called officials were just trying to fish in troubled waters.
Ma Xiaoquan was also in the court at that time. He knew that no matter how he tried to explain, the picture would become darker and darker, so Ma Xiaoquan simply said nothing and allowed these people to criticize him. The emperor was not here anyway.
Since the emperor did not go to court and there were only a few ministers in the court, everyone was quarreling about Ma Xiaoquan.
Ma Xiaoquan knew very well that there were not many people in the court who really spoke for him. The reason why everyone was quarreling so fiercely was actually because of Wang Wenyan.
It is said that after Wei Zhongxian captured Wang Wenyan, he was afraid of having too many dreams at night and wanted to kill him secretly. However, Wang Wenyan was so cunning that he somehow got in touch with his colleagues from the Donglin Party. Before Wei Zhongxian could take action, the Donglin Party members When Wei Zhongxian ran to the front door of his house and made a fuss to demand his release, Wei Zhongxian had no choice but to give up the idea of killing Wang Wenyan.
Wang Tiqian suggested that Wang Wenyan be arrested and imprisoned in Dongchang Prison, but his new henchman Ruan Dayue vetoed it.
Ruan Dajue said that Wang Wenyan was very cunning. If he were to be imprisoned in Dongchang, it would be very troublesome if the guys from the Donglin Party fought back.
Prisoner Ruan Dajue used to be a member of the Donglin Party. He knew the Donglin Party's style of conduct better than anyone else. After hearing Ruan Dajue's words, Wei Zhongxian naturally believed in his judgment. After some discussion, Wei Zhongxian decided to send Wang Wenyan to jail. Enter the imperial edict.
The imperial prison is actually a prison under the jurisdiction of Jin Yiwei. It has all kinds of punishments and detentions. Under normal circumstances, even if those who enter the imperial prison can come out alive, they will probably be disabled.
Wei Zhongxian was very naive. He thought that by putting Wang Wenyan in prison and then giving Tian Ergen a place to live, Wang Wenyan would live a miserable life even if he did not die. However, Wei Zhongxian ignored one person, and this person was Liu Qiao.
Liu Qiao is the commander of Jinyiwei Town Fusi. Although he and Tian Ergeng belong to the same "unit", they are in different departments. Tian Ergeng's main responsibility is to investigate assassinations and spy on intelligence, etc., while Liu Qiao's main responsibility is criminal interrogation. In addition, the two of them reported their work to the emperor separately, so they didn't have much interaction with each other.
On the first day that Wang Wenyan was imprisoned in the imperial edict, Liu Qiao received a letter from Tian Ergen. The meaning was very clear, asking him to "serve and serve" Mr. Wang well.
If this matter had been done before, Liu Qiao would have really given Tian Ergen this face, but unfortunately, Huang Zunsu from the Donglin Party had just come to him before Tian Ergen's letter and told him some reasons.
Although Liu Qiao was not a member of the Donglin Party, seeing that the Donglin Party worked hard for the emperor and the Ming Dynasty, Liu Qiao decided to help the Donglin Party. Of course, this was just Liu Qiao's explicit reply to Huang Zunsu.
Actually... Ma Xiaoquan came before Huang Zunsu came. When he saw Liu Qiao, Ma Xiaoquan didn't say much. He stretched out his hand and handed Liu Qiao 20,000 taels of silver notes.
The relationship between Liu Qiao and Ma Xiaoquan is pretty good. Although like Tian Ergeng, they are in the same "work unit" and in different departments, Liu Qiao is still very considerate to his colleague and "rich man" Ma Xiaoquan, and he accepts money to help others solve their problems.
What's more, when Ma Xiaoquan gave him 20,000 taels of silver, the reason he gave was because the Donglin Party asked him to come and tell Mr. Liu that Wang Wenyan was innocent.
Liu Qiao naturally understood the meaning of Ma Xiaoquan's words. After the two said goodbye, he immediately issued an order to serve Master Wang well.
...
A few days later, Wei Zhongxian sent someone secretly to Zhenfusi to inquire about the situation. The news he received was that Wang Wenyan was living a good life in the imperial prison. Apart from having no women to sleep with, he had plenty of food and wine every day, and he could also watch erotic events.
When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood. Among the people who entered Zhenfusi's prison, were there any who "lived very well"?
Wei Zhongxian was very reluctant, okay! Since you can't touch Wang Wenyan, let's put this old guy aside first. I, Wei Zhongxian, don't believe it. I can't deal with Wang Wenyan. Can't I make Ma Xiaoquan a stumbling block?
It is normal for Wei Zhongxian to have such an idea. Behind Wang Wenyan, there is a group of people from the Donglin Party who are organizing activities, and as for Ma Xiaoquan, looking at the whole court, it is said that he is a deacon of Jinyiwei, but in fact he does not have many friends. Wei Zhongxian is so
Thought
Unfortunately... Wei Zhongxian was wrong.
Although Ma Xiaoquan didn't have many friends in the court, he didn't have many enemies either. Except for the eunuchs, Wei Zhongxian ordered his men to impeach Ma Xiaoquan for no other reason than to stick to the fact that Ma Xiaoquan lent money to Wang Wenyan.
Although Ma Xiaoquan would not be nervous about the eunuchs impeaching him, he was not afraid that he would lose his reputation because he had never lent money to Wang Wenyan.
But... because he wanted to resolve this matter early, Ma Xiaoquan still spent a lot of money to settle the matter.
As the saying goes, money can make the world go round, and things that money can solve are often not problems at all.
After Ma Xiaoquan paid those talkative people enough money, everyone changed the subject and stated that Ma Xiaoquan was fine. They "mistaken and misunderstood the deacon."
Ma Xiaoquan was very helpless, but he had to go through it all with a smile on his face. Things and people in the officialdom were so complicated.
...
At this time, the chief minister Ye Xianggao suddenly resigned from the emperor, on the grounds that he was old and it was time to retire and return home.