The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"What's that noise outside?"

"Master Cheng, today is the day the results are announced, and our Fourth Master has passed. Here are some wedding cakes, Master Cheng, and I'm glad you did."

A servant happily stuffed a piece of wedding cake into Cheng Xi's arms, and then hurriedly ran to other places to announce the good news.

Cheng Xi looked at the wedding cake in his arms, ignoring the bitterness in his heart. However, he was somewhat puzzled. He had been hearing rumors about Duan Bo's mansion outside these days, intentionally or unintentionally.

Rumor has it that Duan Bo's family is small and he is a typical old nobleman in decline, but his style of doing things is arrogant and extravagant.

From what I have observed in the past few days, it is true that the family is not prosperous. Rich families believe in having many sons and many ordinary families have three or more sons, while the Duan Bo family has only a single-digit number of sons including concubines and proper masters.

It’s not that he is in dire straits, Cheng Xi thought to himself.

Although Lord Duan didn't hold real power, he was still an earl. The eldest grandson of Lord Duan was favored by the imperial concubine and the Sixth Prince. Fourth Lord Duan had also passed the imperial examination and, as expected, would rank high in the palace examination.

Looking at it this way, as long as my descendants work harder, they can continue to carry forward the business. Now that I am standing here, it is a good way forward.

At least... Cheng Xi thought of County Magistrate Chen. With a backer behind him, things were naturally different from before.

Thinking of Duan Si and Young Master Duan, Cheng Xi's eyes flickered...

Fuhua Hall of the Imperial Palace

Concubine Ning personally picked out a piece of goose breast for the Emperor of Chu and served him the meal.

The Emperor of Chu patted Concubine Ning's hand and asked her to sit down and eat with him.

Looking at Chu Qinling who was eating in a gloomy mood, he asked puzzledly: "What's wrong with you these days? You always look gloomy."

Concubine Ning's thoughts flashed through her mind. She pretended to glare at Chu Qinling and said with a look of disappointment, "It's that Duan family kid all over again. Old Madam Duan recently found him a tutor, and he's been confined to study these days. He only comes to the palace once every three days, and even though I only have one day off, I'm here to accompany him, and he's still not happy about it."

Emperor Chu looked at Xiaoliu, who no longer had a dull expression like before, and felt that he was now more lively and stronger.

Seeing Xiaoliu's gloomy expression, he said directly without any concern, "If your son is really bored, then the emperor can directly order that young Kang to accompany you in the palace all day. That way, he won't dare to disobey. How about that?"

Chu Qinling was immediately anxious when he heard this: "Father, this won't work. Kang Ge'er is not good at studying. If he is allowed to play with me all day, he will become illiterate."

The King of Chu became curious upon hearing this, and his expression was a little suspicious: "How did you know that he was not good at studying? Did that old lady Duan tell you that?"

The Emperor of Chu thought that Song Shengfu had made up an excuse to deceive Xiaoliu in order to let her grandson study.

Hearing this question, Chu Qinling looked a little strange. After a moment of hesitation, he whispered, "No one said it, not even Kang Ge'er. I discovered it myself."

He wasn't going to say any more after saying this, but the Emperor of Chu was intrigued.

Is this book good? How did you find out? Can these seven-year-old children write poems and read articles privately?

The King of Chu felt somewhat relieved when he thought of this. He had not expected that the two children were so motivated in private and had started studying when they were only seven years old.

Chu Qinling was indeed embarrassed to reveal his good brother's little secret, but he could not resist his father's constant questioning.

He could only whisper in the ears of Emperor Chu and Concubine Ning.

When the King of Chu heard this, he was stunned at first, and then his expression became a little strange.

Who would have thought that an eight-year-old child could not even recognize all the characters? In his memory, he had already followed his father to read memorials when he was seven years old.

The boy from the Duan family really doesn't like reading as the previous investigation said. He originally thought it was an exaggeration. After all, when he saw the old lady Duan that day, she didn't seem like someone who doted on her children. He didn't expect that you can't judge a person by his appearance.

Song Shengfu: The old woman’s reputation has been damaged!

This was the first time that Concubine Ning knew about this matter. In the past, she had seen Kang Ge'er tell stories very well and thought that he was also well-educated.

I never thought...but it seemed that every time Xiaoliu invited him to read a book, he would make jokes and get away with it.

Thinking of what the Emperor of Chu had just said, Concubine Ning chuckled and tried to smooth things over, "Then Your Majesty must not issue an order to allow Kang Ge'er to come to the palace all day. People say the Duan family has few children, but this is their only legitimate grandson. If he spends all day playing with Xiao Liu, won't Old Madam Duan cry to death in front of me?"

"And I heard..."

"What did you hear?" asked the Emperor of Chu after taking a sip of the lily and lotus seed soup. The meal was indeed delicious.

"I shouldn't have said this in the first place, but you know Ling'er is close to Kang'er, so I naturally favor the Duan family. A few days ago, when I was admiring flowers with the other sisters in the harem, Concubine Shu directly ridiculed the Duan family as a poor family, saying they were clinging to Ling'er and wouldn't let go. I was so angry that I argued with Concubine Shu for a few words."

The Emperor of Chu still remembered this incident. Eunuch Xiao had mentioned it to him the day before yesterday, but he didn't take it to heart. There was another incident like this.

Concubine Ning continued

"She also said that the Duan family had no successors and ordered her grandson to do such servile things to please his master. These words were really hard to hear. So a few days ago, Madam Duan discussed with me that Kang Ge'er should come to the palace every three days, and I agreed. It's really unbearable for such a good boy to be slandered like this..."

The King of Chu put down his chopsticks immediately after hearing this, his face livid.

"How could a little boy be such an eyesore to her? This woman is so narrow-minded that she can't even tolerate a seven-year-old boy."

"Not only that, I've heard privately from the palace that if I'm gone one day, the Duan family's plans will be in vain. Their useless descendants will eventually..."

Before he could finish his words, Chu Qinling started coughing due to being too excited, which frightened the people around him. Fortunately, he stopped coughing after drinking a few sips of warm tea, but his face looked very defeated.

Concubine Ning didn't know about this yet, no wonder Xiaoliu was depressed these days. She thought it was because Kang Ge'er had not entered the palace.

So he shouted loudly and ordered his men to take away the people around Xiaoliu and interrogate them strictly to find out who was gossiping about the Sixth Prince.

The palace maids immediately knelt down to apologize, and Chu Qinling quickly stopped them:

"Mother, it wasn't someone close to me who said that. It was two young palace maids I hadn't seen before who were saying that in a corner of the Imperial Garden. I happened to overhear them, and I got angry at them right then."

Concubine Ning sneered in her heart. It was not just a coincidence that her silly son heard what he said. It was obvious that someone said it in front of him on purpose. Someone could not sit still when he saw that Xiaoliu's health was getting better and better.

The King of Chu also thought of the lawsuit and became even more angry. Some people are greedy and want to swallow an elephant. He slammed the table heavily, and the palace maids and eunuchs knelt down one after another.

"What a concubine! She doesn't even look down on the Marquise, who was personally appointed by me. How come the Earl's Mansion is now considered a ruined family in the eyes of outsiders? How high an official is this? Is it possible that the Right Prime Minister is so powerful that he can cover the court with one hand?"

The more he talked, the angrier he became. The Emperor of Chu suddenly lost the mood to eat and stood up and walked towards the east room.

Concubine Ning stood up and followed Xiaoliu. When they arrived at the east room, they saw Emperor Chu sitting on a soft couch with beads in his hand.

The Emperor of Chu showed no emotion on his face, but the Buddhist beads swirling in his hand revealed his inner unrest.

Concubine Ning quickly stepped forward to apologize.

"It's all my fault. Saying this has disturbed your Majesty's mood."

The Emperor of Chu looked at the imperial concubine whom he had doted on for so many years and could not bear to blame her. He raised his hand and helped her up.

Concubine Ning sat aside with a curious look on her face. Chu Qinling saw this and stepped forward to admit his mistake.

As the Emperor of Chu looked at the sensible mother and son in front of him, he felt that some people were going too far.

"Is it true that the Duan family has no successors? Why did I hear that the fourth son of the Duan family passed the imperial examination?"

Don't ask how the Emperor of Chu knew this. The memorial impeaching Duan Bofu for his extravagant spending and arrogance was still on his desk.

Concubine Ning didn't know this and was wondering how His Majesty knew about it. After all, the Duan family was indeed not very eye-catching.

I could only agree: "I have heard that too. The fourth son of Duan is quite diligent. But I can't blame outsiders for saying that. Now, the fourth son of the Duan family is the only one who has passed the imperial examination."

Concubine Ning calmly applied eye drops.

The Emperor of Chu was thinking. Although the eldest son of the Duan family was a noble, he only held an idle position, which was requested for him by the old Marquis Duan.

Thinking of this, the Emperor of Chu recalled that Lord Duan was one of the heroes who secretly supported him in ascending the throne.

The eldest one is not good, let's see how the fourth one is, as long as he is not too bad...

"The palace examination will be held soon. No matter how good the Duan family's fourth son is, he should be taken out for a walk. We'll talk about it then."

Concubine Ning was secretly delighted. This section of the four men had left an impression on His Majesty. She hoped that man would do better. This was all she could do.