The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"Mother, this is unreasonable."

The Sixth Prince wanted to study, and he was in this incompetent group. Lu always felt like a phoenix had landed in her humble home, which was a bit embarrassing.

"Is it right for the prince to stay at my minister's house? He's already here. Besides, as long as there's no murder or arson, the Sixth Prince won't say anything. Do you dare to disobey the prince?"

Song Shengfu also knew that this was somewhat against etiquette, but after all, she was not a native of the ancient times, so she was more open-minded about such things.

Although she said so, Lu always felt uneasy.

But I just don't care. She just has to listen to whatever he says. There's no point in thinking too much.

It would be better to use this time to build good relationships with Zhiyu and Zangfeng who are around the Sixth Prince. Even if something happens later, you can say a few good words for them.

So, the three little ones in the family started going to and from school together.

He thought studying with his good brother would be very interesting, but it turned out to be the beginning of his nightmare.

In the past, Duan Chengkang had mostly muddled through his schoolwork, like memorizing articles. He discovered that even if he had memorized them the night before, he would still forget them the next day.

In order to maximize the use of time, the clever Duan Chengkang waited until the next day to memorize it.

Anyway, if I can't memorize it, I will be punished by the teacher. I can memorize it later, so I almost never do this kind of homework.

But when Chu Qinling came to the school, Duan Chengkang found that everything had changed.

Every evening, after finishing their daily homework, they both had to memorize another article.

As usual, Duan Chengkang was about to pack up and go to bed, but unexpectedly a hand grabbed the corner of his clothes.

Duan Chengkang turned around and found that it was Chu Qinling who held him back. Duan Chengkang was a little puzzled.

"Brother, why are you holding me?"

"You haven't memorized the book yet." Chu Qinling said seriously.

Duan Chengkang suddenly realized, pulled out his clothes, waved his hand and said disapprovingly:

"I'll talk about that thing tomorrow when I go to the Master."

Chu Qinling grabbed Duan Chengkang's clothes again.

"No, Brother Kang, you can't do this. You have to recite it tonight, otherwise you will be punished again tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm used to it. It's okay."

Chu Qinling felt anxious when he saw that Duan Chengkang still didn't want to endorse the book.

He had always known that his brother didn't like reading, especially when he accidentally discovered that he couldn't even recognize all the words, which really shocked him a little.

But it's not possible. Chu Qinling is a little worried. Kang Ge'er is the future heir of Duan Bo's Mansion and will have to take responsibility for the entire family when he grows up.

If he continues to have difficulty studying, what will happen to Brother Kang’s future?

Unfortunately, he has no brothers, so he is not even qualified to be a rich and idle person.

"Please accompany me. I can't recite it anymore. I'm afraid the teacher will punish me tomorrow."

Duan Chengkang was about to say that it was okay and that they would be punished together, but suddenly he realized that his brother was not in good health, unlike him.

This is a bit troublesome. Duan Chengkang keeps struggling between going to bed and memorizing.

In the end, emotion defeated reason. Your brother is his best brother. As the saying goes, a man would go through fire and water for his brother.

How could I abandon your brother for such a small matter? This is not the way of a gentleman as the Master said.

Forget it, Duan Chengkang sat back down with a dejected look.

Chu Qinling was secretly delighted when he saw this, and the two of them began to recite the article together.

Whenever Duan Chengkang was about to give up, Chu Qinling would start asking what the next sentence of a certain sentence was, and Duan Chengkang would have to cheer up and continue.

Normally, Duan Chengkang would chat with Chu Qinling for a while before going to sleep every night, but tonight he was so tired that he couldn't even open his eyelids and fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.

Chu Qinling: I’m a little envious of your ability to fall asleep immediately.

Kang Ge'er woke up early after a good night's sleep. Chu Qinling was already practicing Tai Chi in the yard, his daily morning exercise.

After Duan Chengkang finished packing, he also started practicing. After they finished, they had breakfast and went to the study.

Cheng Xi was a little surprised today. Although Kang Ge'er still hadn't successfully memorized the article assigned yesterday, it was obvious that he had memorized it.

Could it be that the sun rose from the west today, and this kid finally got it?

Every day after that, Cheng Xi found that Kang Ge'er was getting better day by day. Although he still didn't understand the meaning of the article, at least he remembered it.

It was only later when we were chatting by chance that I learned from Duan Jing'an that there was a golden hoop curse around him.

The heavy rain continued for more than ten days, and just when Song Shengfu was extremely worried, the sky finally cleared up.

After dinner that day, the entire Duan family, including Chu Qinling, were digesting the food in the courtyard. When the weather finally cleared up, everyone came out to get some fresh air.

I've been staying in the house for more than ten days and I'm almost bored.

"Look at the dragon sucking water!"

Suddenly someone shouted outside, and Song Shengfu and her group walked out of the village.

They saw a huge rainbow spanning two ridges in the opposite valley, which was extremely spectacular from their point of view.

At this time, the people on the farm picked up the gong and started to beat it. Duan Chengkang was a little curious.

"Mother, what are they doing?"

Sister Wei and Chu Qinling were also curious and looked at Lu.

Being stared at by the Sixth Prince, Mrs. Lu still felt a little embarrassed, but she still smiled and said:

"This is a water-sucking dragon. Whenever people see one, they use gongs to drive it away. I'm not sure why, but there's a legend that says it sucks up all the water it appears, so people want to drive it away."

Sister Wei said with some regret: "What a pity, I think this scenery is extremely beautiful."

Chu Qinling nodded in agreement. Duan Chengkang looked at his grandmother's strange expression and asked curiously, "Grandma, what's wrong with you?"

Song Shengfu thought about it and didn't know how to explain to them that this was a natural phenomenon, but she really couldn't bear to see these children continue to be misled by rumors.

In her previous life, Song Shengfu had visited a place specifically where the rainbow appeared in a complete circle, which was extremely spectacular.

Such a beautiful scenery is an ominous sign here. Song Shengfu felt a little regretful.

"Grandma has lived for so many years and discovered a pattern: the phenomenon of water dragons usually occurs when the sky clears after rain. So..."

"So this isn't actually a monster, just like there's no moon on a rainy night?"

Duan Chengkang quickly responded, and Song Shengfu touched Kang Ge'er's head and smiled.

"Kang Ge'er is right."

Duan Jingzong nodded thoughtfully, "I've thought about it carefully and it's true. How come I never noticed it before?"

Duan Jing'an laughed out loud and said, "My mother is indeed very wise. Anyway, I think that legend is false. I don't believe that this water dragon can really suck up all the water here. I will go down there and take a look tomorrow and I will know."

"That's not quite right. Celestial phenomena like these are all customs and principles passed down by our ancestors based on myths or experience. Just like driving away the Nian beast during the New Year, this is a form of spiritual sustenance for them."

"Actually, there are similar things in our daily lives. For example, when you write poetry, do you usually use willow trees? In what context do you use them?"

Chu Qinling thought for a moment and replied, "Usually it's when we say goodbye."

"Yes, we use willow trees as a symbol of our parting feelings. There are many other examples, such as peonies, which represent elegance and grace, and plum blossoms, which represent strength and purity. It's all the same principle."

Song Shengfu continued chattering:

"There are many other astronomical phenomena like dragons sucking water, such as fish-scale clouds, which appear in the sky like patches of fish scales. When these clouds appear, it means a sunny day is coming. Hence the saying: 'When there are fish-scale patterns in the sky, there's no need to turn the grain over when drying it.'"

"These are all our awe of celestial phenomena and our summary of experience. These are things passed down to us by our ancestors."

"Of course, sometimes we need to be respectful and thoughtful about the things passed down by our ancestors. For example, although the dragon-sucking water appears after rain, you can still see similar rays of light when the weather is clear and water is sprayed into the sky, or at waterfalls."

"So, my final point is that while we adhere to tradition, we must also look at it rationally. The most important thing is to learn some lessons from it."

"I hope that when you look at something, you will look at it with an honest eye, have your own thoughts and ideas, and not be blindly swayed by dogmatic ideas."

Song Shengfu said a lot in one breath, and she felt that her words were a little incoherent, especially the last few sentences which seemed to be extremely treasonous and against the will of the Heavenly Gang.

But let it be, she is old, who would beat her to death just because she said something wrong? Song Shengfu is thick-skinned. Now she is the oldest here, so even if they disagree, she can only hold it in.

I just hope they can understand something from it, so that her disrespectful words will not be in vain.

Don’t blame me, ancestors. Don’t blame me, ancestors.

Song Shengfu could naturally ignore all this and just educate her children and grandchildren well and let them complete their tasks so that she could retire peacefully. However, selfishly, she still wanted to do something in this world.

But when people get old, they are unable to do many things even though they may be willing to do so. So let it be and just do what is within your ability.

After hearing what was said, everyone had different expressions. There was Lu who didn't take it seriously, and there was Duan Jing'an who suddenly understood something. Of course, the children all looked confused, as if they understood it but also as if they didn't understand anything.

There was also a boy named Xuan next to them who just laughed foolishly. The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the group of people, making the scene particularly warm.