The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

Faced with an unfamiliar place, her childish instinct made her somewhat resistant.

and……

I don’t know what this girls’ school is. Is it really as good as the village head said, or is it just a den of tricks that deceives people?

On the way to escape, she met all kinds of people, was cheated and kidnapped, and finally was sold to a Salesian church, where she was able to settle down.

"I'm going to the girls' school and I probably won't be back until the New Year. Most of the people in the village are good people. Mom will take good care of my sister at home."

Fan Niang nodded silently with tears in her eyes, hugged Xuan Yu in her arms, and patted her back gently.

"Go to sleep. You have to get up early tomorrow."

The second round of school for female students has started, which is a rare event in every village near the Bofu Mansion.

The farmers around looked on with envy as teams of horse-drawn carriages emerged from their farms and drove along the official road towards the capital.

There were many busy children in the fields, all staring at the people in the carriage, especially some girls. The envy in their eyes made the people in the carriage feel proud.

The girls in the carriage gathered together and chattered non-stop, and especially when they saw the envious eyes of others, they couldn't help but puff out their chests.

"Bah, what a thing! Those officials must be crazy. They don't give such a good thing to boys, but insist on making them learn something that costs money. What's the use of learning it? It's still someone else's."

Suddenly, a lump of yellow mud hit the mouth of the aunt who had just spoken.

"Ahhh, Liang Xiumei, what are you talking about!"

Aunt Zhao wiped the mud off her mouth with her hand and made a "paah" sound.

Just now when she opened her mouth to speak, a lot of mud went into her mouth.

"Oh, Aunt Zhao, please stop talking. I'm doing this for your own good. Even though you're a bad mouth, you should be more careful. That's the Bo's Mansion's convoy. What you just said was referring to the master of the Bo's Mansion, right?"

As he spoke, he covered his mouth with his hand, looking a little panicked.

Aunt Zhao choked on the curse words she was about to say and became a little anxious when she saw the people around her silently distancing themselves from her.

"I was just talking nonsense. That's not what I meant. Xiumei, you must have heard it wrong."

"Okay, okay, if you say yes then it is yes."

Liang Xiumei nodded with an affirmative look on her face, her tone extremely sincere.

But Aunt Zhao always felt that something was unclear.

"No, I really am not..."

"I know I know."

There was still mud in Aunt Zhao's mouth, and her mouth was full of the fishy smell of mud when she spoke.

There was no other way, so she went to the nearby river to wash her mouth first.

"This Zhao family's daughter-in-law is becoming more and more outspoken. Let's stay away from her. Don't offend the adults and get ourselves into trouble."

The manor of Duan Bofu was a place of considerable authority in the local area. They did not understand the meaning of being down and out, they only knew that the owner of the manor was the Bofu.

In an era when even the dog in front of the county magistrate's door was an official, the existence of the Bo Mansion was something they dared not even imagine.

Everyone keeps their little thoughts to themselves, and no one dares to speak them out. At most, they go back and complain behind closed doors.

For farmers like them, what does it matter whether their children go to school or not?

The Great Chu had a rule that anyone who had not attended school or held an official position within three generations was considered a "cold class" and was ineligible for the imperial examinations. (This borrowed from the Qing Dynasty's rule that five categories of people were excluded from official positions.)

They are all farmers from generation to generation, and have never seen what a pen looks like since they were born. Their children will only inherit their land and continue to be illiterate farmers.

Because of this regulation, even if a family has some money, they are unwilling to send their children to school.

Of course I envy them, but it is simply impossible to ask them to pay for their children's education.

With this money, they might as well buy two more chickens for their family so that they can have more food to eat during the Chinese New Year.

"Dean, this year's students total one hundred and ninety-three, all girls who have just turned seven."

"Ah."

The dean is a woman of about 27 or 28 named Qiu Zhuo. It is said that she came here because of the fame of Xunlu Girls' School after it was built. After being received by the old lady Hou of Duan Bo's Mansion, she was directly appointed as the dean of Xunlu Girls' School.

Qiu Zhuo flipped through the roster. The biggest advantage of this year's students is that they are in the same age group, which makes it easier to manage and divide them into classes.

Most of these girls were born in farmers' and poor families, so they can dress and eat independently.

"Have all the dormitories and daily necessities been distributed? Is there anything missing? Also, has the doctor checked everyone's health to see if anyone is sick? All sick students will be sent to the clinic for centralized recuperation."

"The dormitories have been arranged, and we'll just have to wait until the next class division to arrange them. Daily necessities have been distributed, and they're all complete. However, there are less than a hundred sets left in the warehouse, so we'll have to ask the purchasing department to restock them later. Twenty-eight students, from various locations, are suffering from diarrhea and acclimatization issues. They've all been given medicine and are now staying at the infirmary."

Qiu Zhuo put down the manual and stood up.

"Let's go see the students at the medical school first, and we can talk about the rest while we're walking."

She wore an elegant white robe embroidered with the unique pattern of the Xunlu Girls' School—a triple-layered lotus flower shaped like the sun. Her hair was tied in two buns at the back of her head, secured with silver beads and with a few tassels hanging down.

She had a little makeup on her face, and her eyes were cold. Even when she was not speaking, she had an intimidating aura just standing there.

The person in charge next to him was Mei, the one in charge of admissions. She was one of the three persons in charge of Xunlu Girls' School, and this time she was mainly responsible for the admission of new students.

Master Mei also wore an elegant white academic robe with patterns. The difference from the dean's robe was that the patterns on the head teacher's robe were simpler, and the petals of the lotus flower were only two layers.

The robes of the five great masters below are even simpler, with only one layer of petals on them.

"Are there any students who are sick and are in a more serious condition?"

Manager Mei immediately replied, "There's one person who can't get up. The doctor said it's due to malnutrition and the bumpy ride, but it's nothing serious."

"That's good. There will be a ten-day deadline for class division. You should cooperate with Pu Zhangshi and the five teachers to make preparations. By the way..."

Qiu Zhuo remembered what an old lady had said and urged, "You must give students loving care and give them the warmth of home at the academy."

The college is my home, and we all need to protect it together.

"Yes, Dean. One more thing..."

"explain."

The two were talking about something, and soon they walked across the covered bridge and could see the clinic.

"The dean is here, the dean is here! And Aunt Mei too!"

Two students who were about to come out of the clinic shouted excitedly when they saw someone coming from the opposite direction.

After hearing this, many people inside came out.

The students who were shouting were from the word-finding class in the catering department, and some of the students who were looking at them curiously were from the new students in the Mongolian word-finding class.

There was no opening ceremony yet, and it was the first time they met the dean of the girls' school.

The female nurse in charge of the clinic heard the noise and came out to greet the director.

"What are you doing here?"