Fuzhou, Jiangxi
In 909 — by which time Tang had fallen, and Ma was ruling his own domain as the Prince of Chu, as a vassal to Tang's successor state Later Liang — there was a time when forces of Chu's northeastern neighbor Wu were battling the forces of the warlord Wei Quanfeng, who controlled four prefectures centered around Fu Prefecture (撫州, in modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi). The Wu general Zhou Ben was able to defeat and capture Wei, and when Wu forces then approached one of Wei's four prefectures, Ji Prefecture (吉州, in modern Ji'an, Jiangxi), Ji's prefect Peng Gan () fled to Chu and submitted to Ma. Ma made Peng the prefect of one of his own prefectures, Chen Prefecture (郴州, in modern Chenzhou, Hunan), and, either at that time or later, had Ma Xifan marry Peng's daughter as his wife.