Summary of the previous chapter: Ma Xiaoquan alone took the responsibility for the tragic death of his son. For this reason, Li Qinghan vowed not to forgive him again...
Wei Zhongxian came to Ma's house several times in a row, and did not stop until he felt that the looting was almost done.
Subsequently, Wei Zhongxian wrote to Ma Xiaoquan again, accusing him of corruption.
Zhu Youxiao never went to court. Apart from being concerned about the war in Liaodong, he knew very little about other matters.
Zhu Youxiao was naturally very angry because Wei Zhongxian was so involved. He ordered Ma Xiaoquan to be demoted by three ranks and his salary be deducted for two years.
...
Ma Xiaoquan had expected this, and in order to preserve his family, he approached Xin Wang Zhu Youjian for help.
Zhu Youjian had always wanted to take Ma Xiaoquan for his own use. At this time, Ma Xiaoquan came to him and he put forward certain conditions.
Ma Xiaoquan knew Zhu Youjian's purpose of recruiting him. He also knew that Zhu Youjian was much stronger than Zhu Youxiao. Although Zhu Youjian was the later Emperor Chongzhen, he was headstrong and self-willed and was more difficult to deal with than Zhu Youxiao.
Wait, and besides, Chen Xiaoxiao’s death...
Ma Xiaoquan did not immediately accept the olive branch offered by Zhu Youjian, and Zhu Youjian naturally did not go to force Ma Xiaoquan to surrender to him on the spot.
Two days later, Wei Zhongxian led a group of factory guards to Ma Xiaoquan's family again, intending to steal some money again, and by the way, Wei Zhongxian also planned to kidnap several of Ma Xiaoquan's team members.
It's a pity that Wei Zhongxian's idea failed this time because... King Xin came.
Wei Zhongxian has always been afraid of King Xin. Although King Xin has never been malicious to him, Wei Zhongxian always feels that King Xin is dangerous.
When he saw King Xin's bodyguard, Wei Zhongxian immediately turned into a coward. After being polite, Wei Zhongxian led the factory guard back angrily.
In the Ma family's mansion, King Xin Zhu Youjian was proudly holding a cup of tea and sipping it. A guard came in and whispered a few words in his ear.
Zhu Youjian put down his tea cup and said with a smile: "Ma Xiaoquan, Wei Zhongxian came and then left. Ma Xiaoquan, how can you thank me?"
Ma Xiaoquan stood up and cupped his hands to Zhu Youjian and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I'm afraid just thanking you won't work, right?" Zhu Youjian said something else.
Ma Xiaoquan half-knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "I am willing to listen to the prince's instructions!"
"Haha...Okay!" Zhu Youjian was extremely happy, then he took out a pill and handed it to Ma Xiaoquan.
"Your Majesty, this is..."
Zhu Youjian said: "Ma Xiaoquan, don't be afraid, this pill is just for you to strengthen your body! Haha, swallow it and you will be my good subordinate!"
Ma Xiaoquan sneered in his heart, "Fuck you, these red pills are clearly poison, okay? You idiot, you want to use poison to control me, Ma Xiaoquan? Humph!"
Zhu Youjian didn't know that Ma Xiaoquan was invulnerable to all poisons, and of course Ma Xiaoquan couldn't tell him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Ma Xiaoquan pretended to take the pill happily, opened his mouth, and swallowed it.
With a "Gulu" sound, Ma Xiaoquan swallowed the pill.
Zhu Youjian laughed, reached out and patted Ma Xiaoquan's shoulder heavily, and praised: "Okay, very good." After that, Zhu Youjian left with his hands behind his back.
As soon as Zhu Youjian left with his front foot, Li Qinghan appeared with his back foot.
"Qinghan!" Ma Xiaoquan stepped forward with a smile.
Li Qinghan's expression was stiff and his eyes were empty, and he ignored Ma Xiaoquan.
"Qinghan!" Ma Xiaoquan called again.
Li Qinghan still ignored Ma Xiaoquan. She stretched out her hand to summon two believers to follow her, and then went out.
Ma Xiaoquan sighed secretly in his heart. He knew that Li Qinghan would definitely not forgive him because of his son's death.
Ma Xiaoquan sighed, called Miao Xiaomiao, and said: "Xiao Miao, follow me out and see if something is wrong elsewhere!"
"Um"
An hour later...
Miao Xiaomiao ran back, panting.
Ma Xiaoquan was making a spiritual tablet for his son. When he saw Miao Xiaomiao panting, he put down the wood and file in his hands and asked, "What's wrong?"
Miao Xiaomiao shook her head, calmed down her mood, and said: "Captain, Sister Qinghan...Sister Qinghan..."
"Don't be anxious, speak slowly"
Miao Xiaomiao nodded, calmed down again, and said, "I heard... I heard that Sister Qinghan burned down Huang Da's house!"
"What?" Ma Xiaoquan was shocked, "What about Huang Da?"
Miao Xiaomiao cried: "Huang Dayi's family is all at home..."
"This... hurry up, take me there!" Ma Xiaoquan grabbed Miao Xiaomiao's hand and said.
...
The two rushed to Huang Da's home.
The door of Huang Da's house was crowded with people. Ma Xiaoquan managed to get through the crowd, but nothing unusual happened.
"What's going on?" Ma Xiaoquan asked a bystander with some confusion.
"Oh, it's Lord Ma, don't you know? I don't know what happened today. I heard that the God of Fire suddenly burned down Lord Huang's house in a rage. All the children of Lord Huang's family were at home. Oh, how miserable.
It’s so miserable!”
Ma Xiaoquan was shocked and looked towards Huang Da's courtyard.
"I heard, didn't anyone see it?"
The common people shook their heads: "I didn't see it, but someone saw it and said it was the fire spirit who was with the Vulcan Empress, rushing into Mr. Huang's house..."
There was a wall outside the courtyard, and it was not possible to see what was going on inside. However, the courtyard door was ajar, and a strong burning smell emanated from the courtyard... Ma Xiaoquan felt something strange.
No one dared to enter Huang Da's home for fear that there was still a fire inside.
Ma Xiaoquan ran forward, pushed open the ajar door and took a look, he was dumbfounded.
All the houses in the courtyard were burned to the ground. From where the main hall was, Ma Xiaoquan could vaguely see several corpses that had been burned to charcoal.
At this time, a group of officers and soldiers finally arrived, rushed into the courtyard, and saw Ma Xiaoquan standing at the front. A small leader came forward respectfully and said: "Isn't this... uh, isn't this Mr. Ma?"
....."
Ma Xiaoquan turned his head and took a look, nodded and said: "Hello, Zhang Captou!"
The relationship between Zhang Captou and Ma Xiaoquan is quite harmonious, and there is usually no conflict of interest.
"Master Ma, I heard that the fire was started by the God of Fire..."
Ma Xiaoquan smiled and said: "Zhang Captou, you just heard about it. Everything must be provided with evidence. The Vulcan Empress is not at the scene now and there is no evidence, so I hope Zhang Captou will make a decision after seeing it clearly."
"That's that, that's that." Captain Zhang nodded, waved his hand, and several agents carried the guy up to fiddle with the burnt corpse.