Fangfang looked at Ma Xiaoquan's confident look. She knew that the man in front of her would always give her an infinite sense of security. She asked no more questions because she believed in this man unconditionally, the man she was willing to give everything to love. man.
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled, scratched his head, and whispered: "Fangfang, are you homesick?"
Fangfang shook her head: "Wherever you are, my family is."
"Well, as I said just now, we may have to leave the capital in the future. Maybe for a while, maybe for a long time, we will live in poverty."
Fangfang shook her head: "Sir, Fangfang has suffered a lot since she was a child. It was you who saved Fangfang, so no matter where she goes, Fangfang will never leave you."
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and took Fangfang into his arms. Just when he was about to do something, Xiao Zhifeng started crying inappropriately.
"Uh~~" Ma Xiaoquan rolled his eyes regretfully, while Fangfang lowered her head with a flushed face.
"Okay, let's go see our son~" Ma Xiaoquan said helplessly.
"Hmm~~"
...
In the next few days, Ma Xiaoquan rarely left the inn. Huang Taiji sent Dai Shan to invite him to visit Shenyang City, but Ma Xiaoquan declined on the grounds that the child was too young and the woman was sick.
In this way, after Ma Xiaoquan stayed in Shenyang City for nearly ten days, Huang Taiji finally couldn't bear it anymore.
The Jurchens were not very wealthy to begin with, and it should be said that for now, they are not wealthy.
Although Shenyang City is considered the Jurchen base camp, to be honest, its prosperity is not even one-tenth of that of the capital city.
The inn where Ma Xiaoquan stayed was the best in Shenyang City, and Ma Xiaoquan was particularly good at cooking. Although he didn't go out much, he would ask the chef to cook something for him in different ways every day.
The tastes of the Jurchens are different from those of the Han people, and their eating methods are not so particular.
Ma Xiaoquan originally thought that the Jurchens would have a feast full of dishes like the movies and TV shows they had seen before, but now after experiencing it firsthand, he realized that it was all deceptive, and it was just a film and television effect.
It is considered the early stage of the Qing Dynasty. Most of the Jurchens have not yet adapted to the Han lifestyle, or in other words, they have not yet had good contact with the Han culture. Generally speaking, the degree of Chineseization is not enough, but... ...Whether they are Han Chinese or Jurchens, our roots are still Chinese people.
The cook in this inn was specially "invited" by Huang Taiji from Guan Nei for the purpose of cooking for Ma Xiaoquan.
The cook didn't have any complaints. After all, he was willing to cook for his own people, but not all of the cook's assistants were Han Chinese.
Ma Xiaoquan told many names of dishes, which the cook knew, but the cook did not have much education, so it would be too difficult for him to describe them to his subordinates.
In the past ten days, the entire kitchen in the inn has been busy, and Ma Xiaoquan is not stingy. After preparing a table of meals, both Han Chinese and Jurchens will pull up to the table to eat together, eating and giving Everyone tells jokes.
Not all Jurchens are eager for war and want to fight. In their hearts, they still want to have a stable life. If life outside the customs were not difficult, who would have nothing to do and ride horses and carry sabers to the interior of the customs every day. Running to grab something?
In a short period of ten days, Ma Xiaoquan created an atmosphere in the inn, a harmonious atmosphere where no matter you are Han or Jurchen, as long as you come in, we are a family.
After Huang Taiji learned about this incident, he specially ordered someone to secretly go to the inn to investigate.
How could Ma Xiaoquan not know about the spy sent by Huang Taiji?
When he saw the spy, Ma Xiaoquan enthusiastically pressed him to his seat and without saying a word, he immediately had several plates of delicious food brought to him.
This Jurchen spy has also eaten a lot of Chinese food, but when he saw the Chinese food in front of him, which was very strange and beautiful in shape and color, he was suddenly confused.
"Haha... This little brother, Dahan asked you to come and take a look, right? Haha... Actually, it's nothing. Come and eat. This is authentic Chinese food. It tastes very good.
Yes, come and eat~" Ma Xiaoquan enthusiastically pushed the plate of food in front of the Jurchen spy.
"This...Master Ma, I..."
"Eh? Don't say anything, just eat. Don't talk about it until you finish~"
...
In the evening, the Jurchen spy went back to restore Huang Taiji's life. Since he was given a few glasses of wine by Ma Xiaoquan, and Ma Xiaoquan instilled in him the idea that the emperor's crimes were the same as those of the common people, the Jurchen spy's tone was not very respectful when he saw Huang Taiji.
He reported the news of the day's investigation to Huang Taiji. During this period, he also praised Ma Xiaoquan, saying that Mr. Ma from the Ming Dynasty was different and a very good person. He treated Jurchens and Han Chinese equally.
good.
Huang Taiji was very angry. He wanted to pull out his knife and chop the boy in front of him to death. However, when he remembered that this boy was a disciple of the Yellow Flag, Huang Taiji could only hold back and say nothing.
"Then what else did Ma Xiaoquan say?" Huang Taiji said impatiently.
"Oh, what else did you say? Uh~~~" The Jurchen spy burped, and the unpleasant smell of alcohol rushed towards Huang Taiji.
Huang Taiji slapped him, and almost rushed forward and slapped the boy to the ground. He exhaled and looked at him with straight eyes.
"Ma Xiaoquan, oh no, it's Mr. Ma. Mr. Ma said that in their Ming Dynasty, there is not such a strong... uh, sense of class, yes, it's called a sense of class..."
"A sense of class? What is it?" Huang Taiji asked.
"Well, Mr. Ma explained that it is, that everyone is treated equally. Except for the emperor, in the past, officials and common people did not have to kneel on the ground when they met..."
"What? There is such a thing in the Ming Dynasty?" Huang Taiji didn't believe it.
"Yes, Master Ma said so..."
Huang Taiji frowned, waved his hand and said, "Go down."
"Yes~" The Jurchen spy shook his body and retreated slowly. Before this, he had not really saluted Huang Taiji.
There was a "crash", and at the moment when the Jurchen spies went down, Huang Taiji pulled over the ever-burning lamp at his hand, and the lamp oil spread all over the floor. Sparks splashed on the lamp oil, and the underground area was instantly ignited.
The two Jurchen soldiers guarding the door heard the noise and rushed in. When they saw the burning lamp oil on the ground, the two Jurchen soldiers did not hesitate. They immediately took off their leather armors and put out the fire underground in two or two strokes.
Huang Taiji said with a livid face, "You guys go out first~"
"Profusely sweating, there is still lamp oil on the ground."
"Get out!" Huang Taiji roared angrily.
The two Jurchen soldiers were startled, looked at each other, and retreated respectfully.
Huang Taiji breathed out and sat down on the chair.
"Ma Xiaoquan, Ma Xiaoquan, I underestimated you a little..."
...
The next day, Huang Taiji sent spies to the inn again.
This time, the spy was not as ostentatious as the previous spy. He sneaked into the inn very carefully and blended in with the helping cooks.
Except for a few chefs who were in charge of cooking, all the chefs in this inn were recruited temporarily, so he sneaked in without attracting anyone's attention.
Compared to yesterday's spy, this spy was much more cautious. In addition, before coming, the Great Khan (Huang Taiji) had specifically ordered to ask others first to see if Ma Xiaoquan had bribed those people.
While picking up the dishes, he asked the cook next to him who was also helping: "I said... the high-ranking official from the Ming Dynasty came to our inn recently. Isn't it very annoying?"
Cook Ding was cutting meat. When he heard what he said, he stopped the knife in his hand, shook his head and said, "You are wrong. Although Master Ma is not very easy to serve, he never complains about others. Moreover, when he is eating,
He also asked us to eat together. During the meal, he would tell us jokes from time to time, telling us about things in Beijing... Oh, it's just different. Coming from Beijing, it's just different...
.”
"Oh? Doesn't he hate feelings?"
"No, no, no, I'm not annoying at all. I'm not annoying at all. That Mr. Ma is a very nice person."
"Oh, let's have dinner today, can I come with you?"
"Of course, Master Ma doesn't mind... Master Ma also said that we should sit together and have a good meal~"
...
In the afternoon, the second Jurchen spy sat with everyone to eat. During the meal, he did meet Ma Xiaoquan.
As the cook Ding agreed, Ma Xiaoquan ate with everyone, telling everyone about the latest news in Beijing while eating.
The Jurchen spy listened with great fascination. If it were not for the time limit for eating, he would have dragged Ma Xiaoquan and begged him to talk about it for three days and three nights.
When he went back to report in the evening, the Jurchen spy was more thoughtful. Although he admired Ma Xiaoquan deeply, in front of Huang Taiji, he still said that Ma Xiaoquan was worthless, saying that he was a Han liar and that he was a liar.
Come here to eat and drink...
After hearing the spy's report, Huang Taiji felt much better, but he did not intend to give up monitoring Ma Xiaoquan, so at night, Huang Taiji sent dozens of people to monitor Ma Xiaoquan at different times.
...
How could Ma Xiaoquan, who was the deacon of the Jinyi Guards of the Ming Dynasty, not guess Huang Taiji's tricks? Although he was very anxious in his heart and desperately hoped that Huang Taiji would let him go, but now that people don't talk about it, Ma Xiaoquan can't mention it too much.
After Fangfang finished feeding Zhifeng, the child fell asleep. She turned her head and looked at the man she loved deeply sitting at the table and meditating. Fangfang stepped over carefully and asked softly: "Sir,
It’s getting late, it’s time to rest.”
Ma Xiaoquan came back to his senses, looked at Fangfang, and suddenly asked: "Fangfang, if you want to leave a place, what would you do?"