Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 196

Chapter 196 Breakthrough (1)

Brocade Guard, North Town Commander.

Inside Xu Gong’s hall, Ma Shun was casually leaning back in his chair, staring at the hesitant boss in front of him. “Commander Xu, it’s not like our brocade guards haven’t done this before. Why are you always so grumpy? I repeat, this is what Eunuch Wang meant. Do you want to go against him?”

“I” Xu Gong stammered for a moment, but he finally mustered his courage and said, “But after all, they are important officials in the court. If they take them down for no reason, someone will surely criticize and impeach our Brocade Guards. What should we do then? Furthermore, we don’t have any evidence.”

“Since when did our Royal Guards not be underestimated by those arrogant officials? They don’t care about this again. As for the evidence, as long as we bring them in, we will naturally have it.” Ma Shun said, his tone becoming more and more aggressive. “Of course, if you, Commander Xu, really refuse to do so, I can’t force you. At most, I can be a subduer. However, if Eunuch Wang blames you, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance.” After saying that, he stood up and was about to leave.

Xu Gong’s face turned pale. He was both worried and angry. At any rate, he was still the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Guards, but this person in front of him did not treat him as his superior at all. He said that he was being light-hearted in his arbitrary actions, and that he was completely going to take his place!

But even if he was angry, Xu Gong had no way to deal with Ma Shun. The other party was Wang Zhen’s trusted subordinate, so he didn’t dare to offend Eunuch Wang, who was becoming more and more powerful. Therefore, after a moment of hesitation, Xu Gong finally said, “Ma Zhen Fu, please wait a moment. Let’s discuss this matter again.”

Ma Shun stopped in his tracks but did not return to his seat. He turned around and said, “It’s urgent. I don’t have time to dawdle here with you anymore. Commander Xu, don’t do what you just need to say.”

“Alright, I’ll give the order to arrest him now. However, I hope Ma Zhen doesn’t want to hurt you, or else things will only get more troublesome.” Xu Gong was forced to submit.

“Of course I don’t have to.” The corner of Ma Shun’s mouth curled up, as if he had agreed, and then he hurriedly left, leaving Xu Gong stunned.

When Ma Shun returned to his public house, There was a smug smile on his face. This time, he had achieved his goal. He could do what Wang Zhen had instructed without personally appearing. At that time, after dealing with the officials who specifically opposed Eunuch Wang, the people in the court would only concentrate their artillery fire on Xu Gong, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Guard.

This kind of merit was his, but it was someone else’s doing. It really made people feel happy. Unfortunately, this kind of day shouldn’t be too long, because Eunuch Wang will soon replace Xu Gong as the new Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Guards. However, this wasn’t a bad thing. At the very least, the Royal Guards would be their own world.

Just as Ma Shun was thinking about everything proudly, one of his subordinates quickly walked to the door. When he saw him, he said, “You came at the right time. Pass down the order. Go and capture Wang Cui, Shanxi Dao Imperial Scholar Liu Fen and the others. Then, pry their mouths open and convict them of some crimes.”

This kind of arrest and conviction was something that the Royal Guards were familiar with, so the person immediately lowered his head and answered, but he did not accept the order. Instead, he looked at Ma Shun with some hesitation.

Only then did Ma Shun realize that he had something else to report, so he picked up his teacup and asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Something happened to Qu Ping and the others.” The man hesitated for a moment before speaking the truth.

“What can happen to them? Are they drunk and injured again?”

“That’s true. Didn’t they take some things when they were doing things on Shangyuan Festival? Today, they went to the Ji Clan pawnshop to pawn them. As a result …”

Before he could finish his sentence, Ma Shun interrupted him angrily, “I told them not to move these things for the time being. Why didn’t they listen?”

The subordinate abruptly shrank his neck and continued, “Recently, they were a little short of money, so they came up with these things. However, they were blocked by the people from Daxing County guarding the Ji Clan pawnshop and taken away. Sir, this matter can be big or small …”

Ma Shun’s complacent smile was instantly replaced by anger. With a gloomy face, Ma Shun said, “A bunch of trash. My brocade guards were actually taken away by a person from the county government. What did they do for food? Wait, Daxing County? Is that Lu Zhen’s county government?” He suddenly remembered something and asked anxiously.

“Exactly … Exactly.”

“Hmph” Ma Shun immediately began to ponder. He was still somewhat afraid of the county magistrate of Daxing, who had ruined Wang Zhen’s good fortune but was able to safely serve as an official in the capital. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Do you know why they are waiting at the Ji Clan pawnshop? Did those merchants report the case to the county government?”

“I heard that the merchants were invited by the Daxing County Government two days ago …” The Brocade Guards were actually the Brocade Guards. In Beijing City, there was nothing they could hide from them.

“These merchants are really courageous. The Shuntian Prefecture dares to report the case to Daxing County without paying attention. This is really against them. Sooner or later, I will make them suffer!” Ma Shun ruthlessly said, “People can’t stay there. Bring a few people over and get them back! Daxing County actually dares to take our brocade guards’ people, it’s really against them!”

“Yes!” The man hurriedly agreed and left in a hurry.

It wasn’t until this subordinate left that Ma Shun remembered something. He knew that his subordinates could handle this matter, so why did he report it to him on purpose? I’m afraid he’s deliberately lowering his face! However, this wasn’t a big deal. The people below would only obey orders if there was a fight. As long as they grasped this degree, they would be fine.

@ @ @ @

Daxing county government, second hall.

At this time, Qu Ping and the others had already been escorted to Lu Zhen for questioning. However, they did not kneel on the ground like ordinary criminals to reply. After all, they were all officers of the Royal Guards. In truth, Qu Ping’s position in the Thousand Households was even higher than Lu Zhen’s.

“Do you all know what kind of crime you have committed?” Lu Zhen didn’t care about the other party’s identity and just asked with a cold face.

Qu Ping looked straight into Lu Zhen’s eyes and said disapprovingly, “To be honest, I really don’t know what kind of crime I have committed. We just went to pawnshop to pawn something, and the people from your county government suddenly made a move. However, the people from your county government are the ones who committed the following crimes and have no respect for their elders.”

Lu Zhen wasn’t annoyed. He smiled and said, “Your Excellency is really eloquent. However, it’s not like you can pretend to be stupid to get stolen goods. I’m sure you know the origins of these things. There’s no need for me to say anything else, right?”

“Are you talking about this?” Qu Ping took a glance at the box beside him and said with a relaxed expression, “This is the matter of our brocade guards, so there is no need to tell you a small county magistrate of Daxing, right?”

“How dare you!” Lu Zhen slapped his head in shock, “You can’t be so impudent in front of this official! Do you know the origin of these treasures? They were stolen after someone set them on fire that night! Tell me, did you work with the arsonists to steal them from those shops?”

Knowing that the Royal Guards would soon come to ask for help, Lu Zhen didn’t have the mood to waste time with them, so he directly spoke up.

The expressions of Qu Ping and the others obviously changed, but they still shook their heads forcefully, “County Magistrate Lu, we don’t understand a word you say.” What arson, what theft, you don’t falsely accuse us. We only seized some treasures from some thieves before, so we can go to the pawnshop to have a look today so that we can convict them. “What? Does my Brocade Guard have to report to you first?”

These words were so clever that they pushed the blame clean. Zeng Guang, Yue Liqiu, and the other servants who were watching the trial felt their hearts tighten. They didn’t know how Lu Zhen would react to such denial.

Lu Zhen laughed instead of being angry. “You really have the ability to tell lies. Then let me ask you, where are those thieves you intercepted now?”

“This, of course, is in the imperial edict prison. As for life and death, I’m not sure.” Qu Ping grinned and said, “If County Magistrate Lu doesn’t believe me, when will I invite you to the imperial edict prison? You will understand after staying in the imperial edict prison for two days.”

“You … How dare you!” Hearing the threat from the other party, one of the servants immediately berated him angrily.

Lu Zhen, on the other hand, was still smiling and not moved at all by his words, “There’s no need for that. I will only invite you to my county government’s cell to experience what it feels like. You know what you’ve done, I know it, and the heavens know it. Don’t think that just saying a few words like that will make you want to get away with it.”

“County Magistrate Lu, don’t think that you can accuse us of something like this. If you can’t prove it, it’s better to let us go as soon as possible, otherwise you will suffer.” Qu Ping said tit for tat.

When everyone heard this, their hearts also started to rise. This case really couldn’t be continued. But what was good about this?

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhen laughed, “Looks like you won’t cry until you see the coffin? Alright, then this official will give you a piece of evidence. Quping, what is that in your hand?”

“Huh?” Hearing this, Qu Ping saw the big finger ring on his finger, which caused his expression to change slightly. This jade ring was also obtained on the night of Shangyuan Festival. Because it looked good, it was directly worn by him. He didn’t really care about it before, but Lu Zhen saw through it at a glance.

Lu Zhen said solemnly, “This official has a list here, but he has completely recorded all the stolen items. Among them is a finger ring. You said that you were just going to take it to the pawnshop for examination, then let me ask you, what is the explanation for wearing it like this?”