Chapter 286: Ma Han Appears

Leisurely time passes easily.

After meeting with the coal merchants, the days in Yancheng suddenly became relaxed.

Since everything was arranged properly, Zhao Xu spent his days lecturing and teasing Feng'er and Luan'er.

Occasionally, he would go to the Nanfang District and the South Camp to look around, waiting for the flintlocks to be fully delivered, and then march the troops to Yanzhou.

Xie Lan returned to Jinling, but not long after, he returned again.

This time, he brought good news.

Xie Duan accepted his request, and he also returned the favor by sending gifts and a memorial.

Not long after, news sent by the Flame Guard arrived, regarding when he sent gifts to Xie Huanghou and the Deposed Crown Prince.

Xie Huanghou intentionally let the word out, and all of Jinling now knows that he is on good terms with the Crown Prince.

And from the news obtained from Liang Cheng, Zhao Heng was quite happy after receiving his memorial praising the Deposed Crown Prince, saying, "Yan Wang is still the one who understands the situation," and later even specifically had Liang Cheng read the memorial at the morning court.

After the Third Prince and the Second Prince had their moment of glory, the influence of the Deposed Crown Prince suddenly surged.

Mi Yan even put forward a remonstrance to have the Deposed Crown Prince re-enter the Eastern Palace.

Of course, this was definitely secretly instructed by Zhao Heng.

He had always doted on this eldest legitimate son.

Now, with the support of his ninth son, Yan Wang, his desire to have Zhao Gang reinstated became even stronger.

However, the factions of the Third Prince and the Second Prince naturally disagreed.

The imperial court was now once again plunged into a dispute over the succession, arguing endlessly every day.

Zhao Xu had always been too lazy to care about these messy affairs in the imperial court.

Maintaining Yanzhou, his base of operations, was the foundation of his survival.

And ten days after the capital was plunged into the succession dispute.

The massive Xie Family fleet arrived at Fanyang Wharf.

Upon learning the news, Zhao Xu and Liu Fu immediately rushed to Fanyang Wharf.

"Your Highness,

This is great, now Yanzhou won't have to worry about a lack of grain." Liu Fu stroked the grain bags piled up on the wharf, as if stroking his own children.

Zhao Xu looked at the endless line of grain transport ships in the river and smiled.

With all this back and forth, another month had passed by now.

There was less than a month left before he led his troops to Xiliang.

It could be said that the grain from the Xie Family had arrived just in time.

"Don't just be happy, check the grain to see if there are any problems," Zhao Xu said to Liu Fu.

The conscience of the powerful clans is like the celestial dog that eats the moon; it does not exist.

He did not want sand, rotten rice, or similar things mixed into this grain.

In his view, they were absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

Upon hearing this, Liu Fu's face immediately turned cold. He called over the official in charge of inspecting the grain, who held a grain probe with a sharp tip and a concave side, and pointed to the grain bag in front of him, saying, "This one."

The official heard this and thrust the grain probe into the bag, and snow-white rice flowed out from inside.

Liu Fu was slightly satisfied and walked to the next pile of grain to inspect it.

Zhao Xu stood with his hands behind his back, watching the laborers carrying rice bags back and forth on the wharf.

Although carrying grain bags was hard labor.

But with so much grain arriving at once, they could earn a sum of silver.

Although the expressions on their faces were pained from the exertion, their eyes held smiles.

He was looking around.

At this moment, a laborer passed in front of him, suddenly threw down the grain bag on his back, and pressed toward him.

"Clang!" Xu Lie reacted immediately; he drew his sword, sidestepped to block in front of Zhao Xu, and the sword in his hand was about to strike.

The other guards also drew their blades and surged over.

"Your Highness, it's me, Ma Han!"

The dark-skinned laborer knelt down with a "thud" two meters away from Zhao Xu and said in a low voice.

Zhao Xu was stunned by these two words, and Xu Lie's sword stopped abruptly one centimeter from the man's neck.

"Raise your head." Zhao Xu was startled upon hearing this.

At this moment, the laborer lifted his face; although his complexion was a bit dark and he had lost some weight.

It was indeed Ma Han.

Zhao Xu opened his mouth, unable to recover for a long while.

For these past two months, there had been no news of Ma Han anywhere.

He thought Ma Han must be dead.

But who could have imagined that he would actually appear in Fanyang.

"You laborer, why are you so careless? Hurry up and deliver the grain," Zhao Xu looked around and said loudly on purpose.

Ma Han understood, nodded repeatedly to apologize, and carried the rice bag to be stacked to one side.

At this time, Zhao Xu gave Xu Lie a look, telling him to keep an eye on Ma Han and protect him in secret.

He himself returned to Fanyang City.

Night fell, and Zhao Xu rested at his residence in Fanyang City.

Xu Lie returned, bringing Ma Han with him.

"Your Highness, please help me take back the Ma Family!"

Upon seeing Zhao Xu, Ma Han knelt down once again, his voice sorrowful, even carrying the sound of weeping.

Zhao Xu sighed and helped Ma Han up, saying, "What on earth is going on? Although I suspected that you and your father were harmed by treacherous people, I never dared to be certain."

"Your Highness need not doubt; my father and I were indeed plotted against by treacherous people." Ma Han then recounted the incident with the men in black that night, telling the whole story from beginning to end.

"According to what Young Master Ma says, these men in black were clearly looking for him," Xu Lie said.

Zhao Xu nodded, "Your life is truly tenacious; to be struck by several arrows and then fall into the Jin River, yet still manage to survive."

Ma Han sighed, "Speaking of that, it was truly a stroke of fate."

At this point, Ma Han's expression suddenly softened.

He spoke of being rescued by a young woman named Qingwen, and how the two of them had developed feelings for each other.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu secretly thought it was truly melodramatic.

Ma Han then changed the subject, "It is just that my father's great vengeance remains unavenged, and the Ma Family has been usurped by Ma Chong. The hatred for killing one's father is irreconcilable, so I took leave of Miss Qingwen and came to Yanzhou to seek Your Highness."

Mentioning his father, he shed tears once again.

Zhao Xu nodded; the ins and outs of the Ma Family's affairs were now clear.

The Ma Family's affairs were indeed a conspiracy.

Then the affairs in Jincheng were likely also a link in that conspiracy.

How sinister!

After pondering for a moment, he said to Ma Han, "I will not hide it from you: your cousin Ma Jin has come to see me, and even proposed a plan that is very beneficial to me for attacking Jinzhou together. When he left, he asked me to inform him if I had any news of you."

Having said this, he wore a smile that was not quite a smile.

Ma Han's expression did not change as he looked directly into Zhao Xu's eyes, "Your Highness will not hand me over to him."

"You are that confident?" Zhao Xu smiled.

Ma Han's expression was firm, "From the moment I saw Your Highness, I knew that Your Highness acts uprightly, behaves correctly, and is exceptionally intelligent; you would not wallow in the mire with the likes of Ma Chong and Ma Jin."

After a pause, he continued, "If I have misjudged you, I can only blame my own poor judgment and will submit to Your Highness's disposal."

Zhao Xu and Xu Lie exchanged a glance, and both laughed.

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That Ma Han would praise him so highly was quite unexpected.

Zhao Xu said, "Very well, you guessed correctly; I indeed do not trust Ma Chong and Ma Jin."

Ma Han was overjoyed and continued, "In that case, I ask Your Highness to lend me a hand in reclaiming the Ma Family. If this can be accomplished, I, Ma Han, swear that from now on, the Ma Family will follow Your Highness's lead in all things."

Zhao Xu looked at Ma Han upon hearing this; for him, this was indeed a tempting condition.