20demayo Chapter 53: He drew his knife on Ma Xiuying.
Chapter 53: He drew his knife on Ma Xiuying.
Ma Xiuying felt much more comfortable as her grip loosened. Then, her thoughts changed slightly, and she decided against taking such a radical approach, opting instead for a more moderate one.
"Father, take the valuable gifts brought home from the carriage. It would be best to also take out the land deeds and other relevant documents."
Ma Xiuying spoke slowly.
Ma Xiulin subconsciously obeyed, but halfway there he suddenly remembered something and looked in the direction of Grandpa Ma.
Grandpa Ma nodded secretly, and Ma Xiulin then proceeded to the next step.
He was quick and efficient, and in a few breaths he had taken out all the items and placed them on the small vermilion box on the square table, next to the hundred taels of silver inside.
"So that the Deputy Commander-in-Chief knows that a mere hundred taels of silver is hardly enough to cover this visit fee."
"Deputy Commander, you are a figure of immense importance in Qingfeng County. Today, the entire savings of the Ma family have been gathered here to offer our respects to you alone."
"I don't know who you are, sir..."
Ma Xiuying smiled, but a sharp knife was hidden in her smile.
Facing the complex gazes of everyone, she remained seated, but then forcefully pushed all the valuable items on the table forward, and said in a sharp, low voice, "Dare you accept them?"
"What, what grudge could there be? It's all just a joke, a joke."
At this moment, the commander of the first unit intervened, standing between the two. While speaking to Ma Xiuying, he kept winking and glaring at the deputy commander beside him.
The commander pursed his lips and stepped aside, but he still seemed unconvinced.
"Now that things have come to this, young sir, why don't you give this roughneck some face and stop arguing with this fellow? He must have lost his mind to say something so unrealistic."
"What kind of person is this young master? There's really no need to argue with him. If we were to get into a fight, it would only make us look foolish."
This commander was indeed eloquent. His words made it seem as if Ma Xiuying's refusal to forgive him was a mistake, just like Zhao Gao who called a deer a horse, turning the dead into the living and white into black.
It must be said that this skill is truly commendable.
"My lord, this isn't because I'm a young man who doesn't know any better, but because the people around you don't know any better. To come and visit, they actually want to charge me a visit fee! Do you think that's appropriate?"
Ma Xiuying continued speaking.
"Hurry up and apologize to the young master properly. Look at the state you've become. Has the prison been lax in disciplining you and spoiled you rotten?"
Lord Qianhu shouted loudly.
Immediately, the commander, pouting and looking down, walked over with a face full of resentment: "Young sir, I know I was wrong. You know I'm just a roughneck, I don't understand the etiquette among you scholars, I didn't expect to forget to prepare a visit fee."
"If someone like this were in our garrison, we'd definitely teach him a lesson."
This commander is really bold. He didn't appreciate being saved by the commander, and now he's acting all sarcastic and making it seem like it's Ma Xiuying's fault.
Ma Xiuying laughed in anger, her gaze turning cold. It was truly unimaginable that in the current Ming Dynasty, there were still people who were so ignorant of the consequences and only cared about their own lives.
"Lord Commander, what do you suggest we do?"
Ma Xiuying now realizes that if she wants to deal with this deputy commander, the commander in front of her is an insurmountable obstacle.
Since that's the case, let's take it one step at a time. If all else fails, we'll bring Ma Jin here and turn this small Qingfeng County upside down.
Ma Xiuying simply didn't believe it.
Did the Ming Dynasty not even have this much justice?
Ma Xiuying snorted coldly, her expression darkening slightly.
"What, what, what does this all mean? I asked you to apologize to the young master, and you can't even speak a coherent sentence?"
Qianhu shouted again.
The commander reluctantly stepped forward, bowed, and greeted the officer, but even a fool could see the resentment in his expression.
Seeing this, Commander Sun wanted to say something to persuade them, but Ma Wenxiang suddenly spoke up: "There's no need. Today, the Ma family's reputation has been diminished, and we really cannot serve you gentlemen. Let's stop here for today."
"Sir, what do you say?"
Ma Wenxiang eventually handed the matter over to Old Master Ma.
Ma Tianlu swallowed hard, steeled his heart, and finally decided to stand on his grandson's side: "I'm sorry, Commander."
Old Master Ma cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, indicating his stance.
The commander nodded and was about to leave when he did something that baffled everyone once again.
There was a loud clang.
He then forcefully drew the knife he had been concealing at his waist, revealing it. The gleaming white light was truly terrifying.
"Is the Deputy Commander planning to kill someone?"
Ma Wenxiang said coldly, then looked to his left and right.
Sun Baihu and his grandfather Ma Tianlu were also fully prepared and stood guard around the Ma family members.
Suddenly, within the Ma family courtyard, the positions of both sides became extremely clear. The next step was to see what the commander in front of them would do, whether he would stand on the Ma family's side or on the other commander's side.
Ma Xiuying smiled, her clear, calm eyes watching the commander quietly. She wanted to see how the highest commander of the Qingfeng County Garrison Command would act.
Can't even control his own subordinates?
At that time, it will probably not just be this one small troublemaker that needs to be dealt with, but the entire garrison.
Everyone was focused on what was happening before them.
"Lord Commander, what are you waiting for?"
"Let's chop off all the members of the Ma family, cut off their braids, and carry their heads. We'll still get the reward. Instead of putting up with their wrath here, we might as well just go for it. Anyway, we'll bury them in the ground, and not many people will know."
"The deputy commander said coldly."
The moment he uttered those words, he had already made his stance clear.
The deputy commander did this on purpose. He had obviously realized that something was wrong on the field, so he took drastic measures as a precaution.
"Second brother, you..."
The thousand-household commander was furious and glared at him, shouting.
The deputy commander grinned and chuckled, but then began to play dumb.
Seeing this, Qianhu was truly helpless. He sighed softly and looked at Ma Xiuying in front of him with a complicated and unreadable expression.
Originally, I came here today to make some positive connections.
He even took out the hundred taels of silver, but who could have imagined that it would end like this?