Chapter 30 Chapter VII

Let's say that Ma Rong took Di Gong's order, went back to the yamen, dressed himself as a vagrant, sneaked out from the corner gate of the state yamen's back garden to the street, mixed in the crowd, and picked the pickled meat of the beggars.The passers-by on the street saw him with a savage face and a ferocious approach, and many of them ran away one after another. The small vendors who peddled along the street all hid their goods aside when they saw him.Ma Rong couldn't help but secretly laugh. Ma Rong gradually felt a little disappointed. —he met only real beggars, idlers, and thieves, and he never saw a wandering monk or a suspected rogue trying to get out of his gold hairpin.

When it was getting dark, Ma Rong bought a bowl of sour wine at a small stall and drank it down. After chatting with the wine seller, he learned that the gangsters and scoundrels in the city often visited the "Red Temple". ".Ma Rong knew that street rogues and refugees and beggars generally liked to make their homes in deserted temples, but he didn't know what kind of temple this "Red Temple" was, because the gates of most temples were painted red.He changed his mind a bit, reached out and stopped a ragged little beggar on the street, and ordered him to take him to the "Red Temple".Without saying a word, the little beggar led him through the streets and alleys, winding to a Taoist temple.Seeing that the temple gate of the Taoist temple was painted blood red, Ma Rong let the little beggar go. The little beggar broke free and fled like flying.

The Taoist temple is very dilapidated, and weeds more than a foot high grow on the eaves of the mountain gate. There are a row of crooked wooden sheds on both sides of the front of the Taoist temple.In the past, it was a place for small merchants and fortune-tellers to set up stalls, but now it is occupied by idlers, rogues, beggars, and thieves.There was an unpleasant stench from inside and outside the wooden shed. Under the dark night sky, there was only a small stall selling deep-fried oil cakes. A torch was burning on the wall beside the stall. Squat in a circle and roll the dice. Ma Rong walked forward slowly, took out a copper coin and bought a cake of oil to eat, then stood aside to watch the gambling money.Only then did he discover a burly man with a hideous face sitting on a wine jar against the wall, his disheveled hair and beard covered with grease and dust.He was looking down at the gambling money with his eyes down, scratching his bulging belly with his hands.

Ma Rong was writing a draft in his belly, how to strike up a conversation, unexpectedly, the big man asked loudly: "Where did you come from? Is there any gift for the Jade Emperor of Shengming Temple? Oh, that robe is worth several copper coins." ,Ha ha……" All the gamblers looked back at Ma Rong all at once, with evil lights flashing in their eyes.One of them had pulled out a sharp knife with a bull's ear from his waist, testing the edge with his thumb.The big man in the head stood up from the wine jar, grinning with a "cracking" grin.Ma Rong knew in his heart that these gangsters wanted to strip off his ragged robe.He secretly set up a fighting posture, waiting for the first scoundrel who dared to step forward.

Sure enough, the big man came flying with a punch, Ma Rong dodged it, but stretched out his hand but pinched the big man's arm, pressed lightly with two fingers, the big man howled, and felt paralyzed all over his body, unable to move.The little rascal with a bull-eared sharp knife stabbed at Ma Rong's back, Ma Rong had already noticed it, he flew up and hit the wrist, the sharp knife flew three feet away and fell to the ground with a clang.Ma Rong stepped on the rogue's instep with one foot, and the little rogue screamed, crushing a few thin bones on the instep.On the one hand, he pushed the big man to the base of the wall, and the big man fell on the ground like a dog eating shit.

Ma Rong sneered, picked up the sharp knife with the tip of his toe, caught it, and played with it for a while, scaring the four gamblers to kneel down and kowtow for mercy. "Master, don't get angry, if you spare your life, you will die." Ma Rong threw the bull-eared sharp knife far away, and said: "Brothers, although I am a rough person, I also know a little bit about the righteousness of the world, and my fists will not hurt those who beg for mercy. Stand up with me quickly!" The four gamblers stood up, and the big man at the head also stood up, grumbling, and said in a hoarse voice: "The geese leave their voices, and the people leave their names. Dare to ask the hero's name so that the brothers can look up to them."

Ma Rong said with a smile: "My name is Yong Ma, and I specialize in small-cap business. Traveling all over the world, I am very carefree. This morning I met a rich man who was very fond of my goods. He left thirty taels of silver to buy all my goods. Buy it. For this reason, I came to this holy temple to worship some loose money and the Jade Emperor, to ward off disasters and pray for blessings." What he said made all the rascals laugh.The meaning of Ma Rong's jargon is: he is doing business with no capital, and today he was lucky enough to intercept a businessman and snatch thirty taels of silver, so he came here to enjoy himself.

The big man flattered and asked, "Did Brother Yong ever eat supper?" Ma Rong replied that he hadn't.The big man hurried to the small stall to grab a few pieces of fried oil cakes and a handful of scallions, and everyone crouched under the torch and chewed them with relish. The big man's name is Shen Ba, and he claims to be the leader of the Beggars' Guild in Puyang City.The Shengming Temple here was very popular at first, but later because one of the abbots in the temple committed the crime of adultery and theft, he was sealed off by the official Feng Shishi and drove away all the Taoists, so it suddenly fell into the cold, and the temple is still closed. Now, the temple is deserted and dilapidated.Before Shen Ba and his subordinates came to this temple two years ago, they built a comfortable nest.Shengming Temple was abandoned, and the stalls in the two rows of wooden sheds in front of the temple were scattered.Shen Ba said that the surroundings of Shengming Temple are very quiet, even though it is not far from the bustling city.

Ma Rong confided to Shen Ba that he was worried about the thirty taels of silver in his hand.The merchant who was robbed must have reported to the state government officials. If he was walking with a heavy burden, he would be easily arrested by the government officials and spotted by the government officials.So he decided to exchange the thirty taels of silver for gold jewelry so that it would be easy to carry and would not be caught by cannibals.He said it was worth it even if it lost some silver. Shen Ba nodded earnestly, and said: "Brother Yong, this is really a way to achieve both, but gold jewelry is not easy to come across. I am ashamed to say that I have lived for so many years, and I have not even seen a real gold ring. Over miles."

Ma Rong said: "Sometimes a noble lady will accidentally drop a small gold jewelry from the sedan chair, and it happens to be picked up by a little brother. Such things often happen. Once your brothers encounter gold jewelry , such as gold hairpins, gold bracelets, gold rings, etc. for sale, and I would like to ask my brother to pay attention to send a message for me, so that I can do my good deeds." Shen Ba scratched his big belly, and seemed to be in a bit of a dilemma. Ma Rong understood, quickly took out a tael of silver from his sleeve, put it in the palm of his hand, and said: "Your brother helped me do good things, and I will reward you with this tael of silver."

Shen Ba's eyes lit up, he grabbed the money from Ma Rong's hand and grinned loudly: "May God open his eyes. ——Brother will come here tomorrow night to listen to the letter."