Ma Yuantong kicked the boy closest to him and ordered in rapid succession, “Get out, get out, get out! Quickly go find Mister Ma! Bring Mister Ma here!”
He had been counting on the Grand Prince dying so that Commander Zhou and his group would be leaderless, allowing him to make a comeback. If the Grand Prince lived, what kind of emperor could he possibly be?! Back then, it had been Mister Ma who suggested they must kill the Grand Prince first, saying the imperial decree the Grand Prince read was too persuasive. Once he died, the court would surely refuse to recognize that decree and might even order punishment for the people of Yangquan County. Then they would naturally be able to rally Yangquan County’s forces again, perhaps even win over the common folk from the two neighboring counties—after all, being close by, everyone was related.
Mister Ma arrived quickly. His hair was combed slick with oil. Stroking his head as he looked at Ma Yuantong, after hearing Ma Yuantong frantically explain the cause and effect, he seized upon the key point and asked, “You’re saying Cui Yu might truly have the antidote?!”
This was the crux of the matter—everything else was grasping at straws. If there was an antidote, the Grand Prince’s poison would be cured. If the Grand Prince’s poison was cured, how would he answer to his benefactor? The benefactor could even buy off people close to the Grand Prince. As for him, a tiny ant among ants, he was still counting on clinging to his benefactor’s coattails to realize his grand ambitions. If he botched this task, he probably couldn’t even keep his own life.
Ma Yuantong boredly kicked a basket in the corner beside him, grabbing his hair in frustration. “That son of a bitch helped us with so many things back then. The copper mine business was also under his management. There’s nothing going on here that he doesn’t know about. It’s quite possible—this bastard saw I was finished and immediately turned to side with the court!”
Outside the window, miners struggled to carry bamboo baskets down the mountain one by one. Ma Yuantong’s gaze focused on them for a moment before immediately shifting away at lightning speed. Actually, from the day the army besieged the city, he had already developed thoughts of retreat—though he was stupid, he could still barely calculate the most basic accounts. They had mobilized a total of thirty to forty thousand troops from various parts of Shanxi. Those were real soldiers who fought on battlefields, a world apart from the foolish mob under his command.
It was all Mister Ma’s fault. Mister Ma had persuaded him there was still hope, saying that as long as the Grand Prince died, they could rely on the people of Yangquan County and the two neighboring counties to hold out for at least two or three years. Only then had he mustered the courage to persist until now.
But looking at the situation now, where were these two or three years? If the Grand Prince recovered, would their group hide in these mountains for a lifetime? Never mind the pervasive Imperial Guards—even these common people eager to curry favor would compete to betray them for those percentage dividends. Hadn’t their own people started fighting each other uncontrollably over these dividends before?
Oil was still dripping from Mister Ma’s hair. He anxiously circled the room several times, then circled several more times. Finally, he gritted his teeth. “No! Absolutely cannot let the Grand Prince live!”
If the Grand Prince lived, it would mean he had failed in his duty. By then, forget about the benefactor’s favor—he’d probably lose his life. He gripped the bed rail and stood for a while, a myriad of thoughts floating through his mind. Should he go find the benefactor’s people? But immediately he rejected this idea himself. No, no—the benefactor had said that he shouldn’t seek him out unless summoned. Otherwise, if he leaked the benefactor’s whereabouts and identity and angered him, he would surely die miserably.
Then should he first go to the county office to scout out information? After all, they had occupied the county office for a year or two and were thoroughly familiar with it.
Ma Yuantong asked him with both fear and a hint of expectation, “Mister, do you have a plan? That Grand Prince or whatever is seriously injured and poisoned. He’s definitely surrounded by ring after ring of Imperial Guards. What can we possibly do?”
Mister Ma sat in his chair, thinking hard. His entire face wrinkled up like a twisted dumpling, looking ridiculous and laughable. After sitting for quite a while, he finally grinned sinisterly, showing his teeth. “Back when we needed to escape easily, we dug secret passages in the county office. Now they’ve only occupied the county office for three or four days—no matter how capable they are, they won’t have discovered them this quickly.”
Right! The feeling of having one’s head constantly hanging from one’s belt wasn’t pleasant, so they had always kept backup plans. A cunning rabbit has three burrows—this was just basic preparation. They had dug tunnels and secret passages everywhere for hiding and escaping. He had only gone to live in that godforsaken county office to establish authority and rally the people’s hearts. Naturally, from the first day he moved in, he started digging secret passages. He scratched his head and asked Mister Ma, “You mean we emerge from the secret passage…” He made a throat-slitting gesture.
But his courage was actually quite limited. In his heart, he wanted Zhou Weizhao dead, but when it came to actually doing it, he began hesitating again. “But there are so many Imperial Guards and so many soldiers around. If we’re discovered, we’ll be the ones who die.”
He made it sound as if they’d have a way out if Zhou Weizhao didn’t die. Mister Ma shook his whiskers. Since he had encountered his benefactor, he had actually looked down on this timid, pig-headed, cowardly local tyrant. After coughing a few times, he asked him, “But if the Grand Prince doesn’t die, at most in a few days, once he recovers, he’ll lead the Imperial Guards and Commander Zhou’s soldiers to suppress us everywhere. By then we’ll have no way out either.”
Yes, going meant death, not going also meant death. If they went and could actually kill Zhou Weizhao, perhaps they could eke out a few more years of comfort. Ma Yuantong touched his somewhat shrunken belly, gritted his teeth, and steeled his heart. “Fine! Go! Who should we send?!”
Mister Ma’s eyes rolled around. After thinking for a moment, he hardened his resolve. “I’ll take them.”
This matter was personally entrusted by the benefactor—it couldn’t go wrong. Whether the Ma family could rise to prominence in the future depended on him. This risk had to be taken.
Ma Yuantong was somewhat surprised that Mister Ma would go personally. He had never been so actively at the forefront before. Unable to suppress a mix of worry and joy, he asked, “But Mister, you don’t know martial arts, and there are Imperial Guards everywhere…”
Why fear the Imperial Guards? They had secret passages. They’d wait in the passages and strike when no one was around—wouldn’t that be enough? Mister Ma made up his mind. Waving his hand to indicate to Ma Yuantong that he was fine, he immediately went out to deploy his forces. He couldn’t wait. If he waited any longer, the Cui family would deliver the antidote. Once Prince Consort Ye Jingkuan returned, the defenses there would strengthen again.