During this time, he and his colleagues Lu Zhi, Cai Yong, Yang Biao (楊彪) and others proofread, edited and annotated the official copies of the Four Books and Five Classics and Dongguan Han Ji (東觀漢記) stored in the imperial library.
He was proven right: Later in 192, Dong Zhuo's followers, led by Li Jue and Guo Si, seized power from Wang Yun, killed him, and subsequently took control of the central government with Emperor Xian as a puppet ruler.
Li Jue and Guo Si appointed Ma Midi as Grand Tutor (太傅) and Manager of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing (錄尚書事).
Ma Midi was also tasked with conferring the appointment "General of the Left" (左將軍) and the noble title "Marquis of Yangzhai" (陽翟侯) on the warlord Yuan Shu in Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui).
When Ma Midi visited Yuan Shu, the latter treated him rudely, seized the fu from him and used it to consolidate his own power base in the Huai River region.