Ming Dynasty: Empress Ma and I swapped clothes!

Chapter 106 The Duke's Scheme

"Brother Jinglong, are you not afraid that your uncle will find out about this?"

Or is it that my uncle doesn't really care about this matter? Is he truly enlightened and righteous?

As soon as Ma Xiuying finished speaking, Li Jinglong burst into laughter: "It's nothing more than taking advantage of a small margin. Didn't Brother Wenxiang already see that before?"

Have you already forgotten so quickly?

Besides, the old man is currently busy with the war, so how could he have the mind to care about such trivial matters?

Besides, if this is how a lowly nobleman like myself is, then what about the Emperor in the palace? I've heard he visited such places in his youth. What's so special about it?

At this moment, Li Jinglong's comparison with Zhu Yuanzhang is truly speechless, and even makes sense.

However, the smile on Ma Xiuying's face became meaningful.

As expected, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too; if the old ones don't learn good habits, the young ones won't learn good habits either.

But Ma Xiuying's questioning was clearly not over yet. She changed the subject and continued, "Could it be that the current emperor also occasionally indulges in this practice?"

Upon hearing Ma Xiuying's sudden words, Li Jinglong burst into laughter once again: "Brother Wenxiang, you've only just joined Xun Gui's faction, you're still a bit lacking in experience. As the saying goes, a real man has nothing to worry about when he doesn't have a wife."

This trivial matter of seeking pleasure is probably something the Emperor wouldn't truly punish even if he knew about it.

Ma Xiuying's smile naturally became even brighter because of Li Jinglong's words.

Li Jinglong then laughed and left first, probably forgetting everything after waking up. Little did he know that Ma Xiuying, his elder, would always remember him and would never let him forget.

Afterwards, Ma Xiuying asked a few questions about Marquis Tang He of Zhongshan, Duke Xu Da of Wei, Feng Sheng, and the others.

This revealed a different side of these once-powerful generals, a side that was little known to others, giving her a deeper understanding of them.

In the past, although she and Xu Da and other older people got along with her, their sister-in-law, there was still a certain distance between them, and many things were still inconvenient to say to her.

Women have their own topics of conversation, and men naturally have theirs. When they meet, they have to be careful what they say, otherwise it could be a matter of life and death, and it's not something worth talking about.

Just when Ma Xiuying thought it was about to end, several figures suddenly appeared in this inconspicuous corner, arm in arm, following her.

"But is it just that simple method of refining salt?"

"Don't worry, Old Feng has already sent people to find out who came up with this idea. When the time comes, won't we be able to get a share of the profits and reap some benefits?"

"This matter must have been conceived on the spur of the moment by one of the officials in the Ministry of Works. Otherwise, how could I, Tang He, not know how desperately short of money our Great Ming Dynasty was back when it was still the Great Yuan Dynasty, and how much effort we put into securing those funds?"

Tang He patted his chest and laughed heartily.

Feng Sheng was truly relieved to hear this.

After all, the relationship between Tang He, Xu Da, and Zhu Yuanzhang was known throughout the court; they were all from the same village and grew up together as brothers who had shared life and death.

Compared to Feng Sheng and his followers, they were on a completely different level.

The other party's words naturally become more persuasive.

Feng Sheng cupped his hands in greeting and spoke again, "Then I'll leave it to Brother Dingchen."

"I have faith in Brother Dingchen's abilities. By the way, there's also Brother Tiande. Almost everyone in Xun Gui's faction is watching this matter closely. After all, it's of great importance."

As the group chatted, they were completely unaware that Ma Xiuying, who was hiding in the shadows, had overheard everything they said.

Ma Xiuying narrowed her eyes slightly.

She had long suspected that someone would have designs on Snowflake Salt, but she never expected that these people would include Tang He and Xu Da.

Tang He was fine, but he was granted the title of Marquis of Zhongshan, and the benefits from the Snowflake Salt could be considered as compensation for him.

But Xu Da is now the head of the Dukes, holding the highest position among officials. Why would he still want to resort to these unorthodox methods?

He always considers the interests of his family, but who considers the interests of the nation?

The Ming Dynasty has now been established.

This does not mean that every member of the Zhu family royal family made a fortune; these are two completely different things.

However, it is clear that to others, this is the same thing.

The empire they conquered belonged to the royal family, to the Zhu family. So, the fact that they were only eating scraps was already quite good, and it was already a great show of respect to their elder brother, Zhu Yuanzhang.

Just as Ma Xiuying was secretly making plans, Li Jinglong, Tang Ding, Xu Huizu, and a few others arrived in front of her at lightning speed. Without saying a word, they grabbed Ma Xiuying and ran straight out.

As he ran, he said, "This is a huge problem! Who would have thought that all those old guys would show up? Today is absolutely the worst day ever."

Li Jinglong rolled his eyes, his face full of resentment.

Upon hearing this, almost all of the other privileged young masters felt the same way and began to sigh in unison.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have changed the date and the place. I must never go to Fuchun Courtyard or Qingpingfang Sixteenth Floor again. I can always go to a smaller place."

"That way we can have fun, and everyone can play with peace of mind."

"Not bad, not bad."

A group of spoiled rich kids started exchanging their opinions, and to be fair, they seemed quite reasonable. At least Ma Xiuying found them reliable, and it was less awkward than when the father and son came to the sixteenth floor together. Otherwise, what would have become of the nobles and dukes of the Ming Dynasty?

The fighting is still ongoing on the front lines.

Instead, they all rushed back to enjoy this peaceful and prosperous era, which is really inappropriate.

Gradually.

The group of people disappeared without a trace and reached a suitable place.

They then began to disperse, each going back to their own home to find their own mother.

Ma Xiuying temporarily returned to the Ma family. The Ma family members calculated the time and knew that she was the Empress. They were all extremely respectful.

Seeing this, Ma Xiuying could only sigh deeply, wondering when things would return to their original state.

Although she was willing to accept them, the Ma family members simply didn't have the courage.

Boom boom boom! ! !

Ma Xiuying had just finished washing up in her bedroom and was about to rest when a knock sounded on the door.

A hint of doubt appeared on Ma Xiuying's face.

Under normal circumstances, no one should bother her at this hour, and the Ma family members are all very well-behaved, so they would never disturb her rest.

Could it be someone else?

Ma Xiuying was puzzled. She got out of bed and opened the door, only to find that it was Wang Shiyun.