The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"Idiot! You can't even do the little things I ask you to do!"

"My lord, have mercy on me, my lord, have mercy on me!"

The dark room was lit by a faint candle. The windows were closed and a man wrapped tightly in a black robe was sitting on them. Ma Guo knelt on the ground, even more panicked than when he faced the rebuke of the Emperor of Chu in the court.

"Sir, you spared me once, but next time! I will definitely not let Duan Bofu go."

Ma Guo's face was full of panic. Even though there were only two of them in the room, he was trembling all over.

He knew that if he was worthless tonight, then today would be his death day, or maybe tomorrow.

After waiting for a long time, the mysterious man in black robe did not speak. Ma Guo's heart sank gradually, and the fear in his heart was infinitely magnified. If the door was open, he would want to escape immediately.

"Cough cough!"

The huge black robe covered the man tightly. Even Ma Guo, who was kneeling on the ground, could not see the man's face clearly, but he did not dare to look.

"I didn't expect that the master's great cause would be interrupted at the last step by the small Duan Bofu. Damn it! It seems that the Duan Bofu is not as simple as we thought."

Ma Guo felt that he had heard something he shouldn't have heard, and his heart was completely chilled. Before, he was just following orders.

He now wished he could go back to that night and slap himself twice in the face for being so mean!

If he had not said during a social event that he wanted to teach Duan Jing'an a lesson for stealing his son-in-law's position as the leader, he would not have been found by this person.

Poor him, he is already fifty-three years old, and his old bones are kneeling on the ground. The weather in October is chilly, and the cold air from the ground penetrates directly into his bones and stings his nerves.

"Sir, although Duan Bofu is an earl, it is just an empty title. There is only a small official of the sixth rank in his family."

Ma Guo also felt aggrieved. It was not an easy task for him, a fourth-rank official, to strike down a sixth-rank minor official.

When he was asked to deal with Duan Jing'an, he didn't take the matter seriously at all. He never thought that he would fall into such a simple matter.

Yes, he had heard before that the old woman of the Duan family was favored by the imperial concubine, and the only legitimate grandson of the Duan family was on good terms with the Sixth Prince.

In the eyes of the Malaysians, this was nothing at all. It was just a woman and a prince who would not live long. What could cause any trouble?

Ma Guo looks down on women from the bottom of his heart, and he doesn't think women are of any use, even if they are imperial concubines.

"Stupid pig, stupid pig, you refuse to admit it. The Duan family only has Duan Jing'an in the court, but their network of connections is much larger. You can't even shake this old man with all that."

Ma Guo pouted inwardly, but still had a respectful look on his face as he sought advice.

"But the Duanbo family has been in decline for two generations. How could those in-laws still lend a hand?"

"Do you think those who spoke for him at court that day were simply friends with Duan Jing'an? Besides the people arranged by the Left Prime Minister and his wife's family, many of them were children of established noble families. You must understand that the interests of these established nobles are united. The Emperor of Chu will not forget them. They are the founding supporters of the Great Chu. The Emperor of Chu used the nobles and the humble to check and balance each other. This is why you are safe and sound."

No wonder!

Ma Guo finally understood. No wonder His Majesty was obviously very angry that day, but did not punish him severely.

"Your Majesty is truly formidable," Ma Guo sighed inwardly. If it weren't for today's incident, he wouldn't have felt the checks and balances between the new and old factions within the court.

Ma Guo doesn't like the terms "nobles" and "poor families". In his heart, he prefers to call them "new school" and "old school".

"Your Excellency is wise, and it is I who am confused. Thank you for clearing up my confusion."

The man in black robe seemed to be getting impatient, his tone filled with annoyance.

"Alright, don't act rashly during this period. Don't cause trouble to Duan Bo's Mansion from time to time. If there is any problem, I will send someone to find you."

Ma Guo breathed a sigh of relief and left tremblingly.

When he was blindfolded and sent back to the mansion, Ma Guo sat down in the study as if relieved, his chest heaving violently.

He almost lost his life just now, and he didn't know who this man in black was or what his purpose was.

Ma Guo wiped the sweat from his neck and struggled to get up from the ground, but failed after trying several times.

"Why did it have to be me? What bad luck!"

Ma Guo muttered something, but no one heard him. He didn't dare say it out loud, as there might be spies in the mansion.

Otherwise, how could coming to his house feel like being at home? He was clearly sleeping in his concubine's bed at night, but as soon as he opened his eyes, she was brought to him.

"Someone! Someone! Where are all the dead people?!"

The servant who lived in the small side room next door heard the noise and was so scared that he crawled over.

"Master? Master, why are you here? Aren't you staying at Aunt Ying's place tonight?"

As he said this, he stepped forward and helped the old man who was sitting on the ground up. Ma Guo slowly stood up with the help of the servant.

"Shut up and stop talking nonsense! Help me onto the couch."

The servant helped Ma Guo to the soft couch behind the screen in the study, which was the resting place in the study.

Ma Guo decided to stay here for one night.

After helping Ma Guo lie down, the servant prepared to go to the small couch outside.

Ma Guo called him

"Hey, you're sleeping here tonight."

The servant was a little confused, but he just followed his master's orders.

"Okay sir."

The servant brought two simple quilts, spread them at the foot of the couch, and slept in his clothes.

Ma Guo fell asleep peacefully only after seeing someone watching over him.

When Ma Guo fell asleep, a dark shadow flashed by the bed.

A year passed in a flash. The weather was good and the crops were harvested in good condition. The King of Chu was overjoyed and wrote "The Grace of Heaven" and summoned all officials to recite it in the Dengtian Tower.

A lot of things happened this year. Xunlu Girls' School was built and the first batch of female students from Zhuangzi had already started school.

The first batch of female students recruited consisted of 563 people, far exceeding Song Shengfu's expectations.

This time, all the girls recruited were over ten years old. There was no other way. We originally planned to enroll all those over seven years old, but there were more than seven hundred girls aged seven to ten in the village.

One third of these children were originally from the farmers, and the rest were children who were taken in at that time.

In times of famine, children and women are the most likely to be abandoned.

That’s not all. There are more than two thousand girls in all the farms of Duan Bofu. Of course, this is the number including farms in various places.

This enrollment was a mandatory requirement of Song Shengfu, and all villages had to send girls over the age of ten to attend the school.

No one dared to object. Even for girls who were old enough to be married, servants sent by the village head and Duan Bo's mansion would verify the situation.

Except for those who have already arranged marriage, the rest are required to enroll, and those who have already arranged marriage and want to enroll can also go.

As for the fact that the family did not allow girls to go to school, it simply did not exist. Firstly, the farmers were all slaves of Duan Bo's mansion, and they were not allowed to resist whatever their master said; secondly, the indentures of those who were rescued were all in the hands of Duan Bo's mansion, and even beating or killing them was permitted by law.