Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 189

Chapter 189 True Murderer in the Case

February 16, Reform Movement.

With the darkness completely enveloping the earth, the entire city of Beijing once again fell into silence.

Because of Daxing County’s iron-wrist renovation, the number of people who violated the night ban in the capital was greatly reduced, and there were practically no figures in the streets.

However, in front of an extremely large mansion not far from the Forbidden City, there were still dozens of carriages and carriage carriages. Many carriagers and carriage carriages were also gathered there, eating the supper brought over by the people from all over the mansion.

Inside the manor, there was even more noise. All of the high-ranking people were holding wine glasses and congratulating the host of the high-ranking seat on the auspicious words. However, if someone looked carefully, they would find that half of the people in this group were slightly feminine. Their faces were smooth and tender to the point that they did not look like men. They were surprisingly a group of eunuchs who had their bodies cleaned up.

They were none other than the eunuchs and stewards of the inner palace divisions of the Forbidden City. As for the person who could be treated so respectfully and flattered so hard by them, he was naturally the famous person in front of Emperor. Eunuch Wang Zhen, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, was today his birthday.

As the ancestor of these castrated people, his birthday was naturally a token of his gratitude. Of course, not all eunuchs could sit in this hall. Right now, they were sitting at the farthest end of the hall. They were also the eunuchs with functions in the palace. Others were officials of the court who had long since joined Eunuch Wang, as well as his trusted aides who had operated for many years.

After flattering Wang Zhen, someone close to him took out all the birthday gifts he had carefully prepared and presented them to Wang Zhen.

If it was an ordinary official, no matter how greedy they were, in order not to provoke criticism, they would do this kind of thing secretly, afraid that others would know what they had accepted. However, Eunuch Wang clearly did not have any worries in this regard. Not only did he accept gifts in public, he also liked to have people show off their gifts to prove the value of the gifts.

After an official sent a famous painting he had painstakingly obtained to Wang Zhen, many people turned their gazes to the main table and sat on the two brocade-clothed men on both sides of Wang Zhen.

Both of them were around thirty years old, and their appearances were somewhat similar, except that one was slightly taller and skinnier, while the other was sturdier. The reason why they were able to sit on both sides of Wang Zhen was because their identities were different. They were the two brothers that Eunuch Wang trusted the most, Ma Shun and Ma Shuo.

Both of them had malicious intentions and were ruthless in their attacks. Wang Zhenan had already been sent to the Royal Guards to be a chess piece to control the Royal Guards. Nowadays, with its increasing power in Zhen Fu Si, it had the intention of replacing Xu Gong as the commanding envoy.

The other one had a fierce and fierce temperament and was sent to the army by Wang Zhen. It was said that Eunuch Wang also had the intention to promote him further recently, but it was not clear how far he would go.

The birthday gifts given by these two Wang Zhen confidants a few years ago were extremely precious, so this time, they naturally wouldn’t be lacking. Even because they had won the favor of Eunuch Wang, in order not to make them look ugly, no one else dared to offer a better birthday present than them.

However, in the past, they would hand over their birthday gifts first, so that everyone would be prepared. However, this year, they had been keeping a secret, which made everyone even more curious about the birthday gift.

Wang Zhen’s gaze also fell on the Ma brothers, “What? Didn’t you prepare any congratulatory gifts for our family today?”

“How dare you?” Ma Shun smiled flatteringly and winked at his brother, “However, this treasure may not satisfy your father-in-law.”

“My family doesn’t believe this. No matter what the two of you do, you are deeply rooted in our hearts. Naturally, this congratulatory gift is most suited to our family’s wishes. Don’t hide it, just take it out.” Eunuch Wang laughed.

As he said this, Ma Shuo, who was standing at the side, had already arrived outside the hall and made a gesture to the people from the upper and lower levels of the mansion who were waiting outside. The servants who had received the signal hurriedly lifted up a heavy and tall thing that had been hiding by the side.

Seeing this, everyone’s curiosity grew even more intense. Generally speaking, gifts are always smaller and more expensive. Can such a clumsy thing really enter Eunuch Wang’s eyes? However, because this thing was covered with a layer of red cloth to hide its true appearance, no one could tell what was going on.

On the other hand, Wang Zhen revealed a thoughtful expression after looking at it from afar, and then a satisfied smile appeared on his face. When Ma Shun saw his appearance, he knew that he had already seen the face of the object, so he nodded to his brother.

Without delay, Ma Shuo immediately reached out and pulled away the red cloth, revealing the true appearance of the item. In a flash, the entire hall was shining with red light, and the guests let out a burst of admiration.

Those who were able to sit here and attend Wang Zhen’s birthday banquet were all people with extraordinary status and rich family background. Naturally, their horizons were also high. Ordinary treasures would hardly surprise them, but this one in front of them was clearly extraordinary.

This stalk was tall enough for one person, and its entire body was crimson red. Looking at the coral that was like a clump of raging flames, it could hardly see any traces of artificial carving or collision. In other words, this coral was naturally formed in such a manner!

Coral was originally a precious item, so it was even rarer to see such a complete item. In addition, its color and shape were also so rare that it was enough to take away everyone’s eyeballs. Even Wang Zhen’s eyes were fixed on the coral, filled with greed and joy.

This single coral stalk was much more convincing than everyone else’s birthday present. No wonder the Ma brothers were so doted on by Eunuch Wang. Just this currying favor was something no one else could compare to.

Wang Zhen’s face was covered with wrinkles of laughter. He even picked up his wine glass and took a sip of wine. He then laughed and said, “Alright, you two little bastards have some thoughts. Our family is very satisfied with this birthday gift.”

Hearing his words, the Ma brothers smiled and quickly knelt down on one knee to congratulate Wang Zhen. Afterwards, Ma Shun said, “Eunuch, in addition to this birthday gift, the little brother has prepared another small gift for you. However, I’ll have to wait until the banquet is over before reporting it to you.”

Wang Zhen scolded with a smile, “The two cubs have quite a lot of tricks. Forget it, I’ll give them to our family later when we get back to the study.”

Looking at the crowd praising Wang Zhen and the Ma brothers at the banquet and praising the value of the coral, a few sensible people frowned, because they had already seen the origin of the coral. However, they didn’t dare to tell anyone about this, so they could only rot in their stomachs.

It was almost three o’clock before the banquet ended. Everyone bid farewell and left. Only the Ma brothers accompanied Wang Zhen back to the study room.

After drinking a mouthful of strong tea to relieve the drunkenness, Wang Zhen casually asked the two of them to sit down below. Only then did he look at them with a faint smile, “You guys really put in a lot of effort to find out that our family took a fancy to this coral last year and delivered it to us today.”

“Eunuch, what you need is that we must try our best to do it. Otherwise, how can we do the work beside you?” Ma Shun replied with a smile.

However, this time, Wang Zhen no longer laughed. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and said, “On the day of the Upper Yuan Festival, there was a sudden fire on the street of the Dingyuan Pavilion. There were many people who died. I’m afraid you guys set this fire, right? You took advantage of that time to take this coral from the Dingyuan Pavilion. Am I right?”

The two brothers’ bodies trembled when he asked with such a stern face. Then, the two of them quickly got up and knelt down again. “Eunuch’s eyes are as bright as torches. That’s exactly the case.” However, he didn’t have the slightest intention of denying it.

“You guys … are really troubling. To do such a thing for my own good, you dare to set fire to the capital at will!” Wang Zhen leaned back against the chair and said in a serious tone.

‘”Eunuch, the two of them are just trying to relieve your worries. You took a fancy to this item that day, but the owner of the Dingyuan Pavilion actually refused to make a move. How can we allow him to do so?” “This time, sending him a fire and taking away the coral is just a lesson to him.” Ma Shuo, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more resolute as he explained.

“Hmph, what if the matter is exposed?” Wang Zhen said unhappily, “Although our family enjoys His Majesty’s favor, we can’t do anything in the capital. Otherwise, there will definitely be trouble.”

“Don’t worry, father-in-law. We’ve already settled everything. Furthermore, this is a small second birthday present for you. It’s just a little too small.” Ma Shun saw that his expression was slightly shining, so he hurriedly approached him and said.

“Tell me.” As Wang Zhen spoke, he picked up another teacup and took a sip.

“Didn’t father-in-law have been dissatisfied with what had helped Lu Zhen Green Bamboo Gang? However, because his status wasn’t good, he directly attacked them, so this time, Xiao Zi took the opportunity to give them a push. The name of the murderer who set the streets on fire, causing many casualties, was hung on them. Therefore, even if the people from the Ding Yuan Pavilion wanted to find something, they would only find trouble with them. Ma Shunyin smiled sinisterly. “There will naturally be no problem killing two birds with one stone.”

After Wang Zhen heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then revealed a satisfied smile, “So that’s how it is. You guys really took the trouble. Good, this birthday gift is well received in our family. But when it comes to this matter, Lu Zhen still calls our family unpleasant again.”

“Don’t worry, father-in-law. Didn’t it say that he was leaving the capital for another assignment? When the time comes, the younger ones will naturally help father-in-law resolve his worries.” Ma Shuo hurriedly said.

“Very good. Our family has always trusted you. Here, this is the waist token of the Commander of the Royal Guards. Ma Shun, you will be able to replace Xu Gong from next month onwards.” As he spoke, Wang Zhen took out an oval waist token made of ivory from the drawer and tossed it to Ma Shunhand.

Ma Shun caught it in surprise and hurriedly thanked him loudly, “Thank you so much for the kindness of my father-in-law’s promotion. From now on, I will definitely do my best to do my job …”

“Forget it!” Wang Zhen smiled and waved his hand. He then looked at Ma Shuo, who was looking at him anxiously, “You don’t need to be so anxious. Earlier, Uncle Guang Ning was taken down by Lu Zhen. His position in the Qian Army Governor’s Mansion has always been empty. Our family has already asked His Majesty for grace. By next month, the imperial edict will come down.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Eunuch!” Hearing this, Ma Shuo was ecstatic and quickly knelt down and kowtowed.