My aunt is Queen Ma

Chapter 97 The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory

Empress Ma didn't sleep well all night, her mind filled with memories of everything that had happened since she met Ma Yu.

At first, she was puzzled, since her family had treated Ma Yu very well.

He usually behaves normally, so why would he have thoughts of suicide?

If it were someone else, like Zhu Yuanzhang, they certainly wouldn't have been able to understand it.

But Empress Ma was different; she lost both her parents at a young age and lived a life of dependence on others.

The Guo family treated her like their own daughter, and she received all the same things that biological children should have.

But she herself remained fearful and uneasy.

Fear of the future, longing for her parents... all sorts of negative emotions plagued her for a long time.

She often hid in her room and cried secretly.

But in front of outsiders, she dared not express her emotions and could only force a smile.

Fortunately, Guo Zixing and his wife proved through their actions that they did not discriminate against her in any way.

With time healing her wounds, she slowly recovered.

Later, she met Zhu Yuanzhang and formed a family. The couple lived harmoniously, and she finally found a good home.

Even so, recalling the period immediately following the loss of her parents still brings her heartache.

So she naturally adopted Ma Yu's perspective.

Although Ma Yu is shrouded in mystery, his experiences cannot be faked.

In her opinion, Ma Yu's experience was many times more difficult than her own.

After all, she hadn't experienced many hardships, nor had she witnessed the deaths of her parents and relatives.

Although living under someone else's roof, I had no worries about food and clothing and was able to study.

Aside from inner confusion and loneliness, their lives are actually much better than most people's.

What about Ma Yu?

He witnessed his loved ones leave one by one, and he himself became an orphan, begging in Xuzhou for more than four years.

Just thinking about the pain during that period made Empress Ma feel suffocated.

Looking back at Ma Yu's composure when he impersonated a member of the royal family, it's likely that he was already tired of living at that time.

She had recognized him as her nephew, thinking it was a way of taking care of him and giving him preferential treatment, but he probably didn't see it that way.

He is still immersed in the pain of the past.

Sleeping very late and having light sleep are also signs of inner turmoil.

He too will miss his deceased parents, just as he once did.

Recalling Ma Yu's occasional antics, she couldn't help but think of her own experience of forcing a smile while living with her adoptive parents.

A resonance was immediately felt.

Tears welled up in my eyes without my noticing.

Once a person empathizes with the situation, their way of thinking changes.

What did she most want back then?
I need it myself, and Ma Yu definitely needs it too.

Now that you've become his aunt, have you paid attention to his needs in this regard?

The answer is, almost none.

She never cared what Ma Yu was thinking or what he wanted.

Carefully reflect on your past experiences.

It was less of a family reunion and more of a transaction between the two parties.

He knew perfectly well that he had recognized him as his nephew because of the knowledge he possessed.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have said the day before yesterday, "You are the ones who want to learn my knowledge, so why should I have to beg you?"
Shouldn't you be the ones begging me?

Does this mean that he has always viewed the relationship between the two parties as a transaction?
If that's the case, how could he possibly feel at ease?

Looking back now, I realize that the genuine care and love his aunt gave him was almost nonexistent.

Ma Yu's accusation that Chongba forgot his roots is also a accusation against me.

If my adoptive father and biological parents knew this, they would surely be very disappointed.

Thinking of this, Empress Ma felt even more distressed and unconsciously began to toss and turn in bed.

Consort Chang, who slept in the small cubicle, also suffered from insomnia. Although she had never experienced hunger, she did not know what it was like to go two days without food or water.

But it must have been extremely painful.

Moreover, she had specifically asked the imperial physician, who said that a healthy person could survive for five to seven days without food and only by drinking water.

But if you don't eat or drink, you'll be gone in three or four days.

In other words, Ma Yu was now on the verge of life and death.

That was their family's savior, and she had already accepted this relative in her heart.

Naturally, this is a very worrying time.

She was also looking for an opportunity to persuade him, but she hadn't found a suitable opportunity yet.

When Consort Chang heard Empress Ma's commotion, she had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

So he got up and went to the master bedroom, deliberately making some noise.

Empress Ma was indeed drawn to the attention, and sat up to look at her, saying:

Why haven't you rested yet?

Consort Chang pretended not to know and said with concern, "I heard some noise from your side, so I came to check."

"It's so late, why aren't you resting yet?"

This was originally the duty of the maids; Consort Chang would often come over to check on things in the middle of the night when she was on duty.

Therefore, Empress Ma didn't think much of it, and when facing Consort Chang, she didn't hide her feelings, and sighed:

"I can't sleep because I have something on my mind."

Consort Chang asked naturally, "Is it because of my cousin?"

Empress Ma patted the edge of the bed and said, "Yes, come sit here and chat with me."

After thanking her, Consort Chang sat down by the bedside.

Empress Ma looked at her somewhat haggard face and said, "You've been worried a lot these past two days, haven't you?"

Consort Chang smiled wryly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Empress Ma comforted him, saying, "He saved your family's life and has a very close relationship with Chang Sheng. You should care about him both morally and logically."

"But... in your heart, what kind of person is Yu'er?"

Consort Chang made a hesitant expression, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Empress Ma said, "He is also my nephew, so you don't need to worry, just say what you want to say."

Consort Chang then said, "My cousin gives me a very... strange feeling."

"Many of his behaviors seem very deliberate, a bit... a bit... like he's deliberately trying to curry favor."

Empress Ma recalled Ma Yu's antics, which, to those unaware of the situation, indeed appeared as a deliberate attempt to stand out and curry favor.

Consort Chang continued, "During this trip to the estate, I also discovered something unusual."

"He is very cheerful in front of others and even organizes games for everyone, but he often sits alone in a daze."

"If someone approaches him, he'll put on a smile and play with everyone as if nothing's wrong."

"At the time, I didn't think much of it; I just assumed that was his personality."

"Thinking back on it now, it doesn't seem quite right."

Empress Ma felt even more remorseful. At the time, she only saw Ma Yu's glamorous public image and completely failed to notice this side of him.

I thought I cared about him a lot, but it turns out it was just my own perception of care.

The two then talked for a long time, and Consort Chang took the opportunity to plead for Ma Yu.

Empress Ma finally confirmed her true feelings and made her decision.

Regardless of whether he continues his hunger strike or not, he must visit Ma Yu in prison first thing tomorrow morning and have a good talk with him.

Regardless of how things end, she wants to make things clear.

After making up her mind, she calmed down, and then a wave of drowsiness washed over her.

After offering a few words of comfort to Consort Chang, the two went to rest.

The two didn't sleep for long, waking up just as dawn was breaking.

After getting ready and having a quick breakfast, Empress Ma led her entourage to the Qianqing Palace.

After all, this is her husband, so it's necessary to communicate with him properly.

Even if he ultimately disagrees and you choose to force your way in, you must make things clear to him.

Instead of completely ignoring him, she went over herself. When she arrived at the Qianqing Palace, she found Zhu Shuang there as well, and Zhu Yuanzhang seemed very angry.

She subconsciously thought that Zhu Shuang had come to plead for Ma Yu, which angered Zhu Yuanzhang.

He quickly came over to ease the tension.

Before she could even speak, Zhu Yuanzhang roared angrily:
"This is outrageous! Do these people really think we're fools?"

“From the Ministry of Revenue to the Provincial Administration Commission, from the prefectures to the counties, so many officials did not submit a report on this matter.”

“Ma Yu said that their targeting of mathematics was to destroy the court’s ability to train accounting officials, thereby disrupting the fiscal and tax system.”

"We still think he's exaggerating."

"With so many officials, how could they possibly be of one mind?"

"Now it seems that we were indeed ignorant."

"They are truly of one mind when it comes to abusing their power for personal gain."

Empress Ma was taken aback at first, but then she understood what had happened and what Zhu Shuang had done.

She felt not only happy for her son's growth, but also even more guilty towards Ma Yu.

So she changed her question accordingly, asking, "What happened?"

Zhu Yuanzhang handed her the compiled intelligence report and said, "You'll understand once you take a look."

"Now we finally understand why so many reforms in history have failed."

"Even we were kept in the dark, as if we were blind and deaf, let alone the emperors who would inherit our fathers' and grandfathers' legacy."

Empress Ma took the book and quickly flipped through it, finally understanding why Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry.

Besides blank printing, local authorities also devised various pretexts to levy all sorts of exorbitant taxes and levies.

There were various taxes, such as water fees, food fees, and storage fees. In one county, taxes were even levied on each head of livestock.

These exorbitant taxes and levies vary in number, from five or six in some places to more than thirty in others, with a dozen or so being the most common.

Even in the least visible areas, the total amount of exorbitant taxes and levies exceeded the regular taxes stipulated by the imperial court.

The money collected was nominally for the government's operating expenses, but in reality, it all ended up in the hands of officials at all levels.

Some of them ended up in the pockets of high-ranking officials at the central level.

This is a giant net hanging over the Ming Dynasty.

I wouldn't say everyone was involved, but if we really investigated, half of them would be implicated.

Seeing this, Empress Ma was also furious.

But along with anger, there was also a sense of unease.

Such a big matter, with such a wide reach, yet they were completely unaware of it.

If Ma Yu hadn't reminded them, the couple might not have realized it for who knows how long.

The key point is that this means that the royal family and those officials are on opposite sides in this matter.

If not handled properly, the fledgling Ming Dynasty could face serious problems.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma were really overthinking things.

If you had a different emperor of higher birth, you would know that some things actually happen spontaneously.

There was no such thing as so many officials working together against the imperial court.

For example, the issue of levying exorbitant taxes and levies.

There has never been a case of not using clever pretexts.

Local officials who embezzled money were afraid of being investigated by higher authorities, so they would give a portion of it to powerful figures above them, so that if something went wrong, someone would help them out.

This large network actually formed more naturally.

But once this vast network is formed, it will be very difficult for anyone to shake it.

At least for now, the vast network of the Ming Dynasty is partly a legacy of history and partly spontaneous.

However, the couple was unaware of these things.

Secondly, Ma Yu's words had a preconceived notion that someone had deliberately orchestrated this.

Thirdly, they were also frightened by this large net.

As emperors and empresses, they naturally had to protect their power, preferring to believe it rather than deny it.

It turns out that those people's attacks on mathematics were not what they seemed, but rather an attempt to sabotage the training of accounting officials and thus disrupt the fiscal and tax system.

This allows them to manipulate and drain the country's finances.

Just thinking about it sent chills down their spines.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of more. As Ma Yu once said, Confucianism was becoming a religion.

They were trying to seize the power to legitimize the emperor.

How is the legitimacy of the emperor verified? By words?

Zhu Yuanzhang, who seized power on horseback, naturally did not believe in such things.

To become the emperor, you must rely on your fists.

If Confucianism controlled the national finances and taxes, it could then use the imperial examination system to monopolize the power to become an official.

At that point, the emperor would truly become a tool in the hands of the Confucianists.

Therefore, attacking mathematics is not a subconscious act by a few people; there must be a big conspiracy behind it.

They're all connected now.

At this moment, all the lessons Ma Yu had taught him, plus this spontaneously formed network of corruption, were on his mind.

Add to that Zhu Yuanzhang's own imagination, and it became a huge conspiracy.

There are individuals or groups that are hollowing out the country and undermining imperial power.

Thinking about this, a huge sense of crisis arose spontaneously.

Another thought involuntarily surfaced.

Fortunately, Ma Yu gave them a timely warning; otherwise, if their plan had succeeded, the Ming Dynasty would have been in grave danger.

Although Zhu Shuang didn't know what his father had imagined, he still had the ability to assess the situation.

Noticing the change in his father's attitude, he pointed to the large box on the ground and interjected:
"This is concrete evidence."

"Just to maintain secrecy, the Embroidered Uniform Guards were extremely careful during their investigations."

"Most of the evidence is insufficient and lacks detail; much of it is unverified..."

Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and said, "It's right to be careful. Have your men continue the investigation."

"Remember not to alert them. It's better to find nothing than to alarm them."

Zhu Shuang nodded and said, "Yes, I have already told my subordinates that secrecy is the most important thing in everything."

Zhu Yuanzhang said with satisfaction, "This time it was handled well. Shuang'er has grown up and can now share the burden with his father."

Zhu Shuang paused for a moment, then suddenly said, "If it weren't for my cousin, I'd probably still be that rebellious teenager."

Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent.

In the past, he would have been furious.

You traitor, whose son are you anyway?
But now, with a grand conspiracy looming over him, he is forced to reconsider Ma Yu's role.

Now, apart from his few old comrades, he dares not trust anyone in the entire court.

But those he trusted were not as politically capable as he was.

In the past, when similar incidents occurred, he could still rely on Li Shanchang.

But now it seems that Li Shanchang is completely unaware of this grand conspiracy, so we can't count on him at all.

Moreover, this matter also involves Confucianism.

Now that Confucianism is dominant, even if he gains power, he will still have to rely on Confucianism to govern the country.

However, Confucianism can no longer be trusted and must be reformed.

Only Ma Yu has this understanding and this ability.

Therefore, after considering all the options, the only person he could rely on to break the deadlock was Ma Yu.

Under these circumstances, even if he valued his reputation highly, he wouldn't dare to easily suggest that Ma Yu should die.

Empress Ma naturally noticed his hesitation and guessed his thoughts, and immediately said:
"This matter still needs further verification, but in any case, saving Ma Yu's life is the most important thing."

"If it's false, then we can deal with him later."

"If it's true..."

She didn't say what came next, but everyone understood what she meant.

If this is true, and the only person who could help is gone, how can we break this deadlock?

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang finally spoke:
“It’s not that easy for him to die. We’ll pry his mouth open and force-feed him.”

At this point, he added, "If he dies, everyone in the prison will be buried with him."

(End of this chapter)