Summary of the previous chapter: The death of his beloved wife once made Ma Xiao heartbroken, but the current situation did not allow Ma Xiao to continue to grieve. After enduring the news of his wife's death, Ma Xiao regrouped... In Nanyang County, Ma Xiaoquan finally took control
The advanced Lan Ming Holy Fire...
On the third day of the eleventh month of the twenty-fourth year of Emperor Xian's reign of the Han Dynasty (AD 219), it was sunny in Nanyang County.
The weather today is particularly good. Although it has been winter for a long time, the temperature is not too cold.
Ma Xiaoquan stood in front of an inn not far from the Lu family's mansion, and glanced at the door of the Lu family's mansion from the corner of his eye.
At this time, the door of the Lu family's mansion was open. Long Er was standing at the door wearing a cotton shawl, and a subordinate was leaning next to his ear, saying something unknown.
Ma Xiaoquan casually grabbed the waiter who was passing by him, pursed his lips and said: "Waiter, why do I feel like there is no one in the Lu family mansion?"
After Ma Xiaoquan moved to Nanyang County as "Mao Gang", he often came to this inn to eat. After going back and forth, he became familiar with the waiter who owned the inn.
The waiter chuckled and said in a low voice: "Master Mao, you don't know something. Did a big event happen in the Lu family mansion some time ago?"
"Oh?" Ma Xiaoquan pretended to be surprised, "What's the big deal?"
The waiter raised his head and glanced at the door of the Lu family's mansion, and whispered: "According to reliable information, the Lu family's mansion was robbed a few days ago..."
"Huh? Stolen?" Ma Xiaoquan was worried. Although the number of shadow guards guarding the Lu family mansion was very small, they were all three strong men. If the Lu family was stolen, it would be impossible no matter what.
The waiter nodded: "Yes, it is said..." The waiter described the news he had obtained to Ma Xiaoquan in a dazzling manner.
Listening to the waiter's passionate description, Ma Xiaoquan murmured in his heart.
According to the waiter's dictation, the Lu family's mansion was indeed robbed a few days ago, and it seemed that some things were stolen.
"Who is he? So capable of sneaking into Lu's house and stealing things?" Ma Xiaoquan raised his head and looked at the door of Lu's house. It happened that Long Er also happened to look this way, and the two of them nodded in the air.
Down.
After closing the door of the house, Long Er was very confused. Just now, his subordinates reported some news to Long Er. The news mainly came from Ma Xiaoquan. Of course, to be precise, it should be Ma Xiaoquan pretending to be Mao Gang.
The Lu family's mansion was robbed a few days ago. Although nothing important was lost, the ability to steal items from the house without anyone noticing was enough to prove that the other party's stealth capabilities were very strong.
Long Er initially analyzed that the person who sneaked into the Lu family's mansion was Ma Xiaoquan. After all, Ma Xiaoquan had been here twice.
Then Long Er turned his attention to Ma Xiaoquan's disguise as "Mao Gang" and sent people to keep an eye on Ma Xiaoquan secretly.
Since Ma Xiaoquan had not taken any action in recent days, Long Er had to change his original intention after a round of investigation and found no results, and sent people out to investigate. As a result, the Lu family mansion, which originally had a small number of people, had one less person to deploy.
some.
...
At night, just as Ma Xiaoquan was about to change clothes and plan to raid Lu's house for the third time, the door suddenly rang.
"Who?" Ma Xiaoquan shouted subconsciously.
I heard a soft female voice coming from outside the door: "Please open the door, Lord Shangxian..."
Ma Xiaoquan's heart tightened. Although the other person said the four words "Master Shangxian" softly, the words were clear.
Ma Xiaoquan stepped forward and opened the door, and saw a woman looking at him with the corner of her mouth raised.
Ma Xiaoquan was stunned for a moment. The woman in front of him was very beautiful, but she didn't know him? How could such a woman know him and find him? Has his hidden identity been exposed?
"Come in..." Ma Xiaoquan made room for the woman and decided to close the door before talking.
The woman smiled slightly, entered the house, and took the initiative to close the door.
"Huh?" Ma Xiaoquan was shocked. Could this woman be prepared?
The woman walked to the table casually, poured herself a cup of tea "very unceremoniously", and drank it all.
"Ah, the tea is really good." The woman put down the teacup, turned to look at Ma Xiaoquan, her pretty face flushed slightly, "Sorry, I was really thirsty, that's why..."
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled and stepped forward to pour another drink for the woman: "It's okay. The girl came to me so late. She must have something to say. Don't worry, let's have another drink."
The woman nodded and picked up the tea cup. This time, the woman drank tea more gracefully than before. She drank it in small sips, and it took a while to finish the small cup of tea.
Ma Xiaoquan squinted at the woman's tea-drinking movements, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Looking at the girl's behavior, she must have been born in a wealthy family, right? I wonder what kind of virtue and ability I, Mao Gang, can allow a lady like me to visit home late at night?"
The woman smiled slightly and whispered: "Ma Xiaoquan, stop pretending. Others don't know it's you, but I know."
Ma Xiaoquan's expression stiffened, and he suddenly moved forward and grabbed the woman's neck.
Ma Xiaoquan's movements were too fast. Although the woman was already prepared to respond, she still had no time to react.
Ma Xiaoquan pressed the woman's throat with a cold expression. As long as the other party made more movements, he would definitely crush her throat bones.
"You...what are you doing?"
Ma Xiaoquan sneered and said: "What do I do? Tell me, who sent you here? In other words, what is the purpose of your coming?"
The woman did not feel nervous because her throat was being held by Ma Xiaoquan. Instead, she raised her hands and waved them to show that she meant no harm.
Ma Xiaoquan did not let go and still held the woman.
The woman looked at Ma Xiaoquan's cold expression and pursed her lips: "I am Zi Yuexin...have you forgotten?"
"Zi Yue Xin?" Ma Xiaoquan narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "No, the Zi Yue Xin in my impression doesn't look like you."
"That's me disguised, Ma Xiaoquan, oh no, dad"
"Ah?" Ma Xiaoquan was stunned for a moment, and his hand loosened slightly. Zi Yuexin took the opportunity to twist around and break away from Ma Xiaoquan.
Ma Xiaoquan did not step forward to continue the capture, but looked at the other party in surprise: "What did you call me just now?"
The woman pouted: "Of course it's daddy."
Ma Xiaoquan waved his hands and shook his head, refusing to say: "I don't remember having a daughter like you. Don't have any relationship with me...Okay, even if you are Zi Yuexin, why are you here?"
Zi Yuexin pursed her lips: "I don't care, anyway, if you don't agree to be my father, I won't tell you why I'm here."
"How outrageous!" Ma Xiaoquan looked at Zi Yuexin angrily, "If you don't say anything, I will strip you of your clothes and throw you out of this house."
"You!" Zi Yuexin's pretty face flushed instantly, she shook her little hands and bit her lip, "Ma Xiaoquan, you are really nasty, but it doesn't matter. I hope Ma Xiao won't be like this."
"What?" Ma Xiaoquan said in surprise, "Xiao'er? What is your relationship with me, Xiao'er?" Ma Xiaoquan said, poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip.
Zi Yuexin walked up to Ma Xiaoquan, raised her chest and looked at Ma Xiaoquan, "I want to marry him and be his wife!"
"Pfft" Ma Xiaoquan just took a sip of tea and choked on Zi Yuexin's words and spat it out.
"Is there a girl as shameless as you?"
Zi Yue said unhappily: "What's wrong? Anyway, Ma Xiao's wife is dead, can't I like him?"
"Wait a minute," Ma Xiaoquan raised his hand and said, "What did you just say, Xiao'er's wife is dead?"
Zi Yuexin nodded: "Yes, Ma Xiaoquan...oh no, a lot of things happened in Yecheng during the days when dad was away..."
Zi Yuexin briefly told Ma Xiaoquan what happened in Yecheng some time ago. Ma Xiaoquan was very sad when he heard the news that his daughter-in-law died of exhaustion because of delivering Guan Yu's funeral.
"Little girl, are you telling the truth?"
Zi Yuexin nodded: "It's true, I came to Nanyang County alone, and I'm going non-stop."
Ma Xiaoquan exhaled heavily, stood up and walked to the window.
In the late Han Dynasty, there were no telephones or carrier pigeons, and the transmission of messages relied entirely on people. If what Zi Yuexin said is true, then Ma Xiao would indeed have a hard time when he was away from Yecheng.
"Dad..." Seeing Ma Xiaoquan's silence, Ziyue couldn't help but call out again.
Ma Xiaoquan turned around and looked at Zi Yuexin and asked, "Do you really like Xiao'er?"
Zi Yuexin nodded: "I like it, I like it very much!"
Ma Xiaoquan shook his head helplessly and said, "How about I negotiate a condition with you?"
Zi Yuexin was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Ma Xiaoquan said: "My wife once said that there are some hidden wealthy families in this world, among which the Zi family is the most mysterious... In this case, I need the help of your Zi family."
Zi Yuexin curled her lips: "I can't make the decision."
Just as Ma Xiaoquan was about to speak, an old voice said: "I can make the decision in this matter!"
Ma Xiaoquan was startled and looked around quickly.
With a "creak" sound, the door was pushed open from the outside.
Under the dim candlelight, a tall and thin old man was standing at the door with a smile.
Ma Xiaoquan was not surprised to see the old man. He had already guessed that there was someone else when Zi Yuexin appeared.
The other party also entered the door directly, closed the door, sat down, and then poured himself tea, without treating Ma Xiaoquan as an outsider at all.
"You..." Ma Xiaoquan looked at the old man helplessly.
Zi Yuexin stepped forward and shook the old man's arm coquettishly: "Grandpa, why are you here in person?"
The old man raised his eyes and rolled Ziyue's heart, pretending to be angry and said: "My old man doesn't trust you, why are you coming to Nanyang County? Oh, you have been making trouble for a long time... You are here to recognize your father, hum.