Summary of the previous chapter: A woman's heart is at the bottom of her heart. Ma Xiaoquan once again misunderstood Li Qinghan's kindness. Hey, he is such a blockhead...
Tomorrow, on the first day of the first year of Qi, 1621 AD, hundreds of officials will enter the palace to pay New Year's greetings to the emperor.
Because there were too many people paying New Year's greetings, the emperor could only receive some officials. Therefore, being able to see the emperor and leave an impression on him on this day meant that his future career was guaranteed.
Ma Xiaoquan entered the palace very early. Today, he will be the first shift's errand. His main job is very simple. To put it bluntly, he is "blocking the door."
This gate is not any other gate, but the gate of Qianqing Palace.
Standing at the gate of Qianqing Palace, Ma Xiaoquan and several colleagues carefully inspected the gifts of officials coming and going to pay New Year greetings. Among them, some officials secretly stuffed large silver notes into the arms of Ma Xiaoquan and several others.
Ma Xiaoquan originally didn't want to take it, after all, it was a business matter, but looking at the familiar faces of several colleagues, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: No wonder the Ming Dynasty will perish. Emotions are greedy from top to bottom.
After his colleagues took the money, they all turned their attention to Ma Xiaoquan. Ma Xiaoquan understood that if he did not take the money, he would be alienated from these colleagues.
If Ma Xiaoquan were a person, he would not be afraid of any estrangement, but... he now has the entire Ma family behind him. For the sake of the Ma family, Ma Xiaoquan can only accept it like everyone else!
"Guard Ma... Hehe, this is a little bit of my thoughts... Guard Ma, please let me go quickly... Otherwise, the emperor is tired, and we won't be able to see you." ..." A fat official with a fat head and big ears winked at Ma Xiaoquan, and quietly gave Ma Xiaoquan a banknote with one hand.
Ma Xiaoquan pretended not to see and ignored him. The fat official looked anxious and cruel, gritted his teeth, took out two more banknotes from his arms, and stuffed them into Ma Xiaoquan's arms.
Ma Xiaoquan felt quite helpless. He ignored the fat official's meaning, but who would have thought that this guy understood it as "two more." Well, since you are so generous, I won't be polite to you, Mr. Ma. .
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly and made room for the fat official. Since the fat official was too fat, he could only squeeze past him while sucking his big belly.
When a colleague saw Ma Xiaoquan accepting three banknotes in one go, he envied him and said, "Brother Ma, you have to treat me to a drink no matter what I say today!"
Ma Xiaoquan laughed: "Needless to say, it's a must, and we drink the best wine. Well, Fenglailou recently had a group of girls who were very popular. My brothers have finished their work, so let's go together. !”
When my colleagues heard this, they burst into laughter. Ma Xiaoquan is so fucking smart. Everyone knows that Feng Lai Restaurant is expensive. I thought I would just find a restaurant for a meal, but who would have thought that I would go to Feng Lailou? It's so cool to come upstairs.
...
While several people were laughing, brothers Wei Jinzhong and Wei Zhao arrived.
Ma Xiaoquan has the same official rank as Wei Zhao, so he doesn't need to pay attention to Wei Zhao, but Wei Jinzhong... It seems that this old guy has been promoted again recently.
"Eunuch, Master Qianhu!" Several Jin Yiwei half-bowed to say hello to Wei Jinzhong and Wei Zhao.
The two snorted coldly and walked over arrogantly. Due to the viewing angle, they did not notice that Ma Xiaoquan was also there.
"Stop!" Ma Xiaoquan pulled out the Xiuchun knife from his waist and stopped the two of them unceremoniously.
Wei Jinzhong looked unhappy, raised his head and was about to curse, when he saw it was Ma Xiaoquan and hurriedly hid behind his brother Wei Zhao.
Wei Zhao was more afraid of Ma Xiaoquan than his younger brother Wei Jinzhong. Without saying a word, he pulled Wei Jinzhong back several steps.
Ma Xiaoquan said unceremoniously: "Wei Zhao, old eunuch Wei... The emperor has issued a decree today. Anyone who wants to enter the Qianqing Palace must be inspected. What? You two want to make an exception?"
The Wei brothers looked at each other and agreed that Ma Xiaoquan could not be offended. Wei Zhao said with a smile: "Oh, Ma Guard, how dare we forget the emperor's words."
"You haven't forgotten, have you? Stretch out your arm. I want to check it. And you, Old Eunuch Wei, what are you hiding from? Is there any murder weapon hidden on your body?"
Ma Xiaoquan just said it casually, but in full view of everyone, he hid a murder weapon...and it was the first day of the new year. If it was found out, he would lose his head.
Wei Jinzhong gritted his teeth and secretly resented it, but he did not dare to get angry. He could only follow the example of his brother Wei Zhao and said with a smile: "No, no, how could it be possible? How could it be possible?"
Ma Xiaoquan stared at the Wei brothers and reached out to search them from top to bottom.
There is definitely no murder weapon, but there is a lot of money and banknotes.
Ma Xiaoquan found more than a dozen banknotes from the Wei brothers and took them for themselves without ceremony. Wei Zhao and Wei Jinzhong watched helplessly as Ma Xiaoquan put the banknotes into his arms, daring to be angry but not daring to speak.
"Okay, let's go in!" Ma Xiaoquan clapped his hands and said.
"Huh!" The Wei brothers shook their sleeves, glared at Ma Xiaoquan with blazing eyes, and walked quickly into the Qianqing Palace.
...
The door guarding is still going on, but at this time, it is no longer Ma Xiaoquan's turn to be on duty.
Squatting in the small wooden room at the door, Ma Xiaoquan counted the banknotes in his hand while spitting.
At this time, several Jinyi guards who were on duty with Ma Xiaoquan came over, and one of them said: "Brother Ma, you dare to offend Master Qianhu and Eunuch Wei, are you willing to die?"
Ma Xiaoquan stood up and chuckled: "You don't want your life? It's not that exaggerated. Why, I, Ma Xiaoquan, am also a deputy fifth grade, the same level as Wei Zhao. As for the old eunuch Wei, don't pay attention to him. Come on, brothers, let's Let’s go to Feng Lai Tower for a drink..."
Several people shook their heads in unison: "Let's forget it, Brother Ma, you made a mess yourself, you can clean it up yourself."
Looking at the backs of several people walking away, Ma Xiaoquan had a look of contempt on his face, but then he understood their actions. Having said that, those Jin Yiwei were also ordinary people, just making a living, unlike him, Ma Xiaoquan, who had people behind his back. A horse family...
After leaving the small wooden house, Ma's father and two brothers happened to arrive. Ma Xiaoquan hurriedly greeted them and secretly handed a 100-tael silver note to each of his colleagues guarding the door.
Several colleagues were very wise, and everyone knew what Ma Xiaoquan meant by doing this.
"Oh, it turns out to be General Ma. Please come quickly." The leading guard in Jinyi pushed aside the officials lining up in front and let the Ma family father and son in.
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled and followed Ma's father and two brothers into the Qianqing Palace.
...
In the Qianqing Palace, Wei Jinzhong and Wei Zhao were complaining with tears and runny noses about the evil deeds Ma Xiaoquan had just committed against them. However, they did not dare to say that Ma Xiaoquan had taken their banknotes. Good guy, They were all fished out. If the emperor found out, would he be slapped with a slap in the butt?
"Your Majesty..." Wei Jinzhong knelt on the ground and cried bitterly, "You have to make the decision for me, Ma Xiaoquan... He is simply bullying others too much... ..”
Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao frowned slightly. Although he didn't quite believe Wei Jinzhong's words, looking at Wei Jinzhong's crying look, Zhu Youxiao, who was not experienced enough, became a little convinced.
At the critical moment when the emperor began to waver, Ma Xiaoquan suddenly appeared.
Wei Jinzhong was crying so much that when he saw Ma Xiaoquan walking in, he immediately stopped and hid behind Zhu Youxiao with lightning speed.
This scene was seen by Ma's father and the two brothers of the Ma family, and they were both surprised and curious.
Ma Cheng asked Ma Xiaoquan secretly: "Quanzi, what's wrong with Wei Jinzhong? Why do you think he sees us like a mouse sees a cat?"
Ma Xiaoquan pretended to be innocent, waved his hand and said, "I don't know either."
"Uh-huh." Father Ma glared at the two of them and signaled them to stop talking.
The four father and son walked up to Zhu Youxiao, knelt down together, and shouted, "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor."
Ma Xiaoquan supported his knees with his hands. It looked like he was kneeling, but in fact he was not. Moreover, what he shouted out was "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep."
Zhu Youxiao liked talking to Ma Xiaoquan very much, and naturally he also loved the rest of the Ma family.
"Get flat," Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.
Ma and his son stood up.
Zhu Youxiao asked: "Ma Xiaoquan, Wei Jinzhong and Wei Zhao just said that you bullied them? Is it true?"
Ma Xiaoquan had expected this and stood silently.
Father Ma couldn't bear it any longer, but with the emperor present, he didn't dare to have another attack.
"Is it true?" Zhu Youxiao asked again.
Ma Xiaoquan glanced at Zhu Youxiao, stepped forward confidently, took out a handful of banknotes from his arms, tremblingly said: "Let me tell you, Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei is joking with you."
"Huh?" Emperor Weather looked displeased upon hearing this.
Wei Jinzhong was so frightened that he kowtowed like a chicken pecking at rice: "Your Majesty, I am wronged. Your Majesty, you must not listen to Ma Xiaoquan's nonsense. Even if I give this old slave 10,000 courages, I would not dare to joke with you, Your Majesty."
Ma Xiaoquan chuckled and answered: "Your Majesty, actually this is what Eunuch Wei and I have discussed. After the Chinese New Year, I plan to go out to find the best woodworking classics for the Emperor, but I don't have much money, so I will leave this matter to you. Eunuch Wei said that Eunuch Wei was very generous and gave Wei Chen such a large amount of banknotes..."
When Zhu Youxiao heard that Ma Xiaoquan wanted to find woodworking classics for him, he smiled and said: "So that's it, oh, then you are all my good heroes! Okay, Wei Jinzhong, get up, stop pretending, I understand what you mean." Got it!"
Wei Jinzhong didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but he couldn't disobey the emperor's order, so he could only stand up obediently.
Zhu Youxiao stepped forward and patted Ma's father on the shoulder: "General Ma, you are a loyal member of the Ma family. You are a tiger general, and your sons are all good, all good!"
Father Ma also had a look of surprise on his face. He had looked very displeased at the emperor's face just now. Why did he immediately make a 180-degree turn when he heard that Quan'er wanted to find him a carpentry classic?