The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

"This matter will naturally be handled by the imperial court; we don't need to worry about it!"

Xue Pan spoke indifferently, knowing the inside story, and felt a growing displeasure with the imperial court.

Xue Baochai's eyes lit up. How clever she was! She immediately sensed something different in Xue Pan's tone, but it wasn't appropriate for her mother to ask directly.

The family stood in the courtyard for a while, then returned together to the main hall of Pear Fragrance Courtyard.

With something like this happening, the entire capital city could be alarmed; how could they possibly sleep?

Aunt Xue seemed to be thinking about something, and kept looking towards Rongqing Hall. She clearly knew that Rongqing Hall must be quite lively at this time, but she didn't know what the old lady and the others were discussing.

Taking advantage of Aunt Xue's distraction, Xue Baochai asked in a low voice, "Brother, you seem to be reacting rather strangely to the fire at the official granary!"

Xue Pan smiled awkwardly. Having such a clever younger sister really put him under a lot of pressure.

"Sister, don't talk nonsense outside. This matter is probably not a small one!"

"It must have been some shady characters who came out and did this out of desperation!"

"It's going to be chaotic outside for a while, so I don't plan to go out for the next few days!"

"Really? That's great!"

Xue Baochai smiled gently, naturally able to tell that Xue Pan still had something to say, but she did not urge him to.

She is very tactful when it comes to interpersonal relationships.

This is where the benefits of the Xue family seeking refuge with the Rong family become apparent.

No matter what happens outside, the Rong family will always be at the forefront, ensuring that the Xue family can safely weather any potential disturbances or unfavorable circumstances.

"of course it's true!"

Xue Pan assured him, "Anyway, things aren't peaceful outside, so staying in the manor is quite nice!"

I'm just not sure if the arrangements made by the Huan brothers have been effective.

That night, almost no one in the capital slept well, as the fire at the official granary burned until dawn.

With the help of numerous government officials and conscripted able-bodied men, the fire was finally brought under control through various means, preventing it from spreading to other areas.

At the same time, the joint enforcement team of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Shuntian Prefecture, and the Dali Temple surrounded the residence of Ma Yuan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

No one answered the door when knocking, so they had to climb over the wall to get in.

Then, all three families were stunned by the horrific scene inside the mansion.

Upon entering Ma Yuan's residence, one finds the corpses of maids and servants lying dead everywhere.

Judging from their condition—blood flowing from all seven orifices and their bluish-purple faces—they had clearly died from poisoning.

As for Ma Yuan himself, along with his family and children, they all disappeared without a trace.

Also missing were the guards of Ma Yuan's residence; none of these men had been killed.

When the news reached the palace, the current emperor and the retired emperor were furious. They immediately ordered the three law enforcement teams to quickly find Ma Yuan and his family, to see them alive or dead.

At that moment, a confession from the Embroidered Uniform Guard was delivered to the Emperor's desk.

"Bastard, bastard!"

After reading the full confession, the Emperor was furious. If the men sent by the retired Emperor hadn't arrived in time, he would have immediately issued an order to arrest Ma Yuan and his entire family.

Then, the confession was immediately sent to the retired emperor, which enraged him.

The confession was very simple, but it revealed a piece of information, a shocking piece of information!

Ma Yuan was an important member of the White Lotus Sect, belonging to its core leadership!

Because he showed exceptional academic talent at a young age, the White Lotus Sect leadership nurtured him with all their might. Sure enough, hard work paid off, and Ma Yuan passed the imperial examination at a young age.

It's quite a coincidence that Ma Yuan and Lin Ruhai were both Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) in the same year!

The White Lotus Sect later spent a great deal of manpower and resources to help Ma Yuan rise to power, eventually reaching the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

If things continue to develop, Ma Yuan could become one of the six ministers, or even join the cabinet.

Who could blame him when the Grand Secretary Li, who was also from the same region, favored this fellow and kept promoting and giving him important positions?

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Grand Secretary Li clearly sees Ma Yuan as the successor to his faction.

During this period, the White Lotus Sect also relied on Ma Yuan's influence to develop rapidly in the local area, especially in Ma Yuan's hometown, where it became almost exclusively a sect.

All I can say is that Jia Huan's luck is truly remarkable!

Sending people over to investigate randomly not only avoided exposing them but also uncovered some things.

Otherwise, if the local White Lotus sect found out, his situation would be in danger.

Putting aside everything else, the group of experts trained by the White Lotus Sect was so formidable that even the Rongguo Mansion at its peak wouldn't dare to directly confront them head-on, as they had no chance of winning.

Taking advantage of Ma Yuan's official position, the White Lotus Sect not only developed rapidly among the common people of Shandong, but also gradually placed many people in officialdom.

In particular, the warehouse office, which was dominated by Ma Yuan, had many capable members of the White Lotus Sect planted in it, and they became officially ranked officials in the Great Qian Dynasty.

As mentioned earlier, it was easy to use back channels to place people with connections in government offices such as the granary and the canal transport offices.

It's a lucrative place, but promotions are extremely difficult, making it the perfect place for people with connections to settle down.

The White Lotus Sect planted many capable people in the granary government, not just for personal gain; they had greater ambitions and goals.

This is also the main reason why Master Zheng Er's attempt to secure an official position, which he targeted at the granary administration, was met with strong opposition from Ma Yuan, as outsiders were not allowed to enter the granary administration.

Ma Yuan never expected that the usually honest and law-abiding Second Master Zheng would be dissatisfied with his arrangements and would launch an impeachment campaign.

Ma Yuan was naturally not indifferent. Since entering officialdom, he had the support of the White Lotus Sect in secret and the favor of Grand Secretary Li in public. He could be said to have had a smooth life. How could he stand the trouble caused by the Ning and Rong mansions?

As a result, a mutual attack and impeachment mode was naturally initiated!

However, he did not expect that Jia Zhen of the Ning Mansion would be so shameless as to send his own son to cause trouble for his youngest son.

The outcome was predictable: Jia Rong, the heir to the Ning Mansion, was severely injured and nearly lost his life.

No way! The guards around Ma Yuan's youngest son are all experts from the White Lotus Sect. How could they possibly be defeated by a bunch of servants and guards from the Ning family?

Who knew that Jia Zhen would go mad and personally cause trouble?

What happened next was clear: Jia Zhen sent people to cause trouble, which seriously affected Ma Yuan's business and also implicated some of the White Lotus Sect's legitimate businesses.

What happened next caught Ma Yuan somewhat off guard.

Jia Zhen shamelessly launched a rumor campaign, but there were some things that Ma Yuan himself couldn't explain to the outside world, such as where did all those martial arts experts under his command come from.

To everyone's surprise, just as the rumors were getting out of hand, the Embroidered Uniform Guard stepped in to investigate.

Ma Yuan immediately realized that he might have been exposed, but the court had no clear evidence.

He was also a ruthless man. He immediately transferred a group of elite soldiers from the White Lotus Sect headquarters to the capital, preparing to carry out a major operation in the city.

But he didn't expect that a group of thugs on Ningrong Street would now target the White Lotus Sect's strongholds outside the capital.

Since the other party took the initiative to cause trouble, the skilled members of the White Lotus Sect at the stronghold naturally had to teach them a lesson, easily defeating and scaring them away.

Whether the other party sensed something was wrong or was still resentful, they came back to cause trouble again a few days later.

Although the number of people who came to cause trouble this time was not large, their strength was quite considerable. They were all considered to be skilled martial artists, and the ordinary White Lotus Cult members in the stronghold could not defeat them.

There was no other way but for the top White Lotus Sect experts stationed at the stronghold to take action personally.

But an unexpected event occurred again. Just as the two sides were fighting fiercely, a group of Jinyimen (Imperial Guards) suddenly appeared and captured the top expert of the White Lotus Sect who was stationed at the stronghold.

After receiving the news, Ma Yuan naturally knew that he would soon be exposed.

He had heard of and was quite wary of the methods used by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, knowing that even the captured top experts of the White Lotus Sect might not be able to withstand the various torture instruments.

With no other option, we had to evacuate quickly!

It is estimated that Ma Yuan's youngest son was unwilling to accept this, so he took advantage of the evacuation to lead his men to settle accounts with Jia Zhen.

If Jia Zhen hadn't caused so much trouble, how could so many unexpected changes have occurred, forcing him to leave in haste?

This was the complete confession. After reading it, the current emperor and the retired emperor were so angry that they trembled and almost exploded.

This is a huge slap in the face, a truly embarrassing slap in the face.

How could they possibly know that the higher-ups of the White Lotus Sect had actually risen to the high position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?

The court has truly lost face this time.

If this gets out, the imperial court and the emperor will become a laughing stock.

Chapter 102 Cold-blooded and Ruthless (Please Subscribe)

Ma Yuan's complete exposure sent chills down the spine of the current emperor.

If Ma Yuan were a little more reckless, he would have a great chance of assassinating the current emperor, and the success rate would be quite high.

This is what's truly infuriating; being proven wrong is secondary.

Ma Yuan's status had reached a point where he could not only directly participate in small court assemblies, but even private audiences were easy for him, so the emperor would not be on guard.

If this guy carries a volatile, potent poison, or a combination of potent poisons combined with modern dietary habits, then it's truly impossible to guard against. He probably wouldn't even know how he died.

Excuses are easy to find!

Didn't the north suffer from a drought some time ago? Ma Yuan could have used the drought as an excuse to have a private audience with the emperor, and the current emperor certainly wouldn't have refused to see him.