Ming Dynasty: Empress Ma and I swapped clothes!

Chapter 100 A Distinguished Young Master, Li Jinglong!!!

Sun An did have some political acumen; in the blink of an eye, he figured out all the key points.

Ma Wenxiang simply nodded slightly in agreement.

Anyway, these are just minor matters; even if they cause a huge uproar, the damage won't be too great.

Look around.

They were currently in the exclusive resting area for the sons of noble families.

A group of privileged second-generation nobles surrounded him. Some were drinking tea and chatting around the tea table, looking quite content; others ran to the martial arts arena in front of them to wrestle and fight, holding wooden swords or blunt, unsharpened knives. Although they might injure people, they were unlikely to cause any deaths.

In ordinary society, such horseplay would certainly not be allowed.

But now it is the founding year of the Ming Dynasty. Those nobles who have fought their way up from the battlefield see the younger generation's playfulness as child's play and don't take it to heart at all, so they let them be.

Just then, a group of privileged young men escorted a young man in brocade robes over, each with an air of superiority. The young man at the head of the group stared at Ma Wenxiang and asked condescendingly, "Who are you?"

"I've never heard of this before. What makes them qualified to enter this school for the sons of noble families?"

Upon seeing this, Sun An quickly stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and gave a polite smile: "So it's Brother Li. I've come in a hurry today and haven't had a chance to pay my respects beforehand. I'm truly sorry for being so presumptuous."

As he spoke, Sun An revealed his family's wealth.

Upon hearing this, the young man in brocade robes, Li Jinglong, curled his lip in disdain.

Ma Wenxiang sized up the other person, silently evaluating him: He is quite good-looking, and his waist and horsemanship are well-coordinated, and his footwork looks pretty good too. No wonder he was able to stand out among this group of noble second-generation people.

He glanced around again and found similar small circles in other places as well.

I only found out after asking around.

It turns out that even among the second generation of noble families, there are different levels, with Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong leading the two major factions, which are somewhat similar to the "compound children" circle in later generations.

That's basically it.

Ma Wenxiang's mind raced, and he immediately decided to blend in. In the blink of an eye, he joined Sun An in chatting warmly with this group of privileged second-generation nobles and took the initiative to make friends.

These people are all descendants of noble families in the capital, and they will definitely be of great use in the imperial court in the future.

Being in the same circle, even without currying favor with them, simply mentioning their names is enough to scare away many petty scoundrels.

Although Ma Wenxiang had the Empress as his backer in the capital, he couldn't always invoke her name whenever something happened.

Using a cannon to kill a mosquito is a true waste of resources.

Even if we bring up the name of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, it's really unnecessary.

The reputations of these privileged second-generation nobles were just right, exactly what Ma Wenxiang wanted.

"Not bad, Ma family lad."

After hearing about Ma Wenxiang's family background, Li Jinglong's eyes lit up instantly.

In this court and among the common people, who is unaware of the Ma family's special status?

Although they were weak and powerless, they were genuine members of the imperial family.

Moreover, the Ma family is small in number and has never been granted a title. Although they have no real power, anyone in the capital with a bit of influence would never want to offend them easily.

They don't even have power and glory to pass down. If someone continues to bully and humiliate them, they've really lost all face and are utterly disgraced.

As a result, Ma Wenxiang easily became friends with this group of privileged second-generation elites.

This day has come to an end.

He not only met Li Jinglong, son of Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong, but also Xu Huizu, son of Wei Guogong Xu Da, Tang Ding, son of Zhongshan Hou Tang He, and Feng Cheng, son of Song Guogong Feng Sheng. They were all newly rich second-generation nobles, and they quickly became sworn brothers and good friends.

These spoiled rich kids weren't actually incompetent in either academics or martial arts.

When attending classes at the Imperial College, they were all quite attentive, as if they were living up to the saying "like father, like son".

After all, even if they themselves were incompetent, the family rules of each noble family were still extremely strict, and those nobles who had fought their way up from the battlefield had a lot of experience in educating their children.

With both courage and ability, he naturally wouldn't let his juniors go too far.

Just as everyone was chatting happily, someone from the second generation of the nobility suddenly spoke up and questioned, "Haven't we ever heard of the Ma family having a son before? Didn't Her Majesty's relatives previously only have one elder and one daughter?"

The speaker was Chang Sen, the third son of the late Prince Chang Yuchun of Kaiping.

Since the investiture ceremony, the Chang family can now be considered part of the Zheng State Duke's lineage.

Chang Sen asked this question.

The scene immediately fell silent, and several pairs of eyes turned to Ma Wenxiang, their eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty, hidden anger, and a lingering resentment at being deceived.

Ma Wenxiang remained calm and unhurried, simply taking out the phoenix-patterned jade pendant bestowed upon him by the palace from his pocket, and then explaining, "I only recently arrived in the capital. If I had come earlier, I probably would have already met with you brothers."

This explanation is flawless.

Furthermore, these sons of nobles in the imperial court did indeed know that the current emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, and the people of the Imperial Guard had been secretly searching for the collateral branches of the Ma family for years, but to no avail.

The sudden appearance of such a distant relative is quite a blessing for this young man.

Therefore, the lively scene of the various people that had just unfolded quickly returned to its usual bustling state, and no one wanted to dwell on it.

After all, no one likes to associate with a "liar," and Ma Wenxiang's explanation dispelled everyone's doubts.

In fact, Ma Wenxiang did not think he had deceived them.

After half a day of classes at the Imperial College, around noon, Sun An and Ma Wenxiang left the Imperial College first.

Sun An looked at Ma Wenxiang with a puzzled expression, his eyes full of doubt.

Ma Wenxiang shrugged and spoke up, "Did no one in the family inform Brother Sun? Actually, I am already engaged to a woman from the Empress's family, and the Ma family has now been included in the Empress's family genealogy."

"no."

Sun An shook his head blankly, looking exactly like a bewildered fool.

"oh."

Ma Wenxiang gave him a knowing look and said nothing more.

Since no one informed him, his reaction was perfectly normal.

Sun An's surprise was both unexpected and understandable.

"Brother Wenxiang, are you truly a relative of the Empress?"

At this moment, Sun An was completely stunned and kept asking questions.

"And who can say otherwise?"

Ma Wenxiang immediately threw out a counter-question, instantly fooling Sun An in front of him.

For Ma Wenxiang, deceiving a naive young man was a piece of cake, incredibly easy.

Many things, if said in a vague and ambiguous way, will never be discovered by these people no matter how hard they try to investigate.

Since everything was basically true, nine parts true and one part false, and with the cover-up by people in the palace, anyone who dared to investigate further would be asking for trouble.

If someone truly possesses this kind of relentless spirit, even if they ultimately uncover something, Ma Wenxiang would accept it.

They've already risked their lives, so what's wrong with letting them win once?

Young man, you are very brave.

But you're going to die soon.

Ma Wenxiang silently grumbled to himself, praying for Sun An's curiosity for a second.