The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

"Your Majesty, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Concubine Ning was playing with the Ruyi handle in her hand. The Emperor of Chu looked at her, stood up and walked over to take the thing from Concubine Ning's hand.

"Why is it true? Why is it false?"

A dark glint flickered in Concubine Ning's eyes as she spoke, "Everyone in the capital knows that the eldest grandson of the Duan family dislikes studying and has no one to discipline him. The Duan family is narrow-minded, disrespectful to teachers, and regards respecting teachers as nothing. This shows that their family traditions are not right. Has Your Majesty ever heard of this?"

"Well, I heard from Concubine Dou that the Duan family had driven the teacher who had taught them out of the capital?"

Listening to the calm tone of the Emperor of Chu, Concubine Ning felt a little uneasy. His Majesty attaches great importance to ethics. If this matter is not explained clearly, His Majesty might offend the Duan family.

Concubine Dou has always been trying to curry favor with Concubine Shu and can't stand seeing her son getting along well. She even has to show off such a small matter in front of Your Majesty. It's really disgusting.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember what Ling'er said about the young master not being able to recognize all the characters when he first came to the palace?"

Concubine Ning did not give a direct answer, but instead talked about the incident in which Chu Qinling exposed Duan Chengkang's pseudonym.

The King of Chu recalled that this was indeed the case. Seeing that the boy was quite eloquent, he was still a little skeptical and secretly sent someone to investigate.

At that time, he joked with Xiao Degui that this was a big strange story in the capital. He had heard of people who didn't like studying being forced to go to school, but he had never heard of a family that hired a storyteller because they didn't like studying.

At that time, he had the impression that the Duan family doted on their children. Later, when he saw that Duan Si's writing was not outstanding, he was down-to-earth and realistic, he felt a bit of a contrast.

This is a bit like the story of good bamboo shoots coming out of bad bamboo. I originally thought that since the Duan family had made great contributions, I would give Duan Si a better ranking and then find him an official position of some size.

Unexpectedly, this kid was quite competitive and caught his eye.

"This half-grown boy can't even recognize all the characters. It's really embarrassing for his ancestors."

In the past, when Duan Chengkang was in the palace, the Emperor of Chu would always meet this kid. Duan Chengkang was good-looking and had a sweet mouth. The Emperor of Chu didn't like him very much, but he didn't hate him either.

Concubine Ning naturally knew this, so although the Emperor of Chu's words seemed serious, they were actually meant as a joke.

"There is a reason for this. Your Majesty, please listen to me as I explain in detail."

Concubine Ning told the Emperor of Chu a different version of what Lu had said to the outside world at that time. One has to explain why Concubine Ning could become a favorite concubine.

Whenever she opened or closed her mouth, she would secretly describe Master Chen as a vain, deceitful and evil person, while the Duan family was a fat sheep with a lot of money who were simply gullible and were fooled by a scholar.

After hearing this, the Emperor of Chu was speechless. Le Rou said that the Duan family was simple-minded, but he thought the Duan family was stupid. The whole family was fooled by a teacher and a good child was wasted.

Except for Old Madam Duan and Duan Silang, no one else in the Duan family is decent.

He is not a smart person, but not being smart has its advantages. If he is too smart, he will have too many thoughts.

"So, the Duan family has become the victim?"

The Emperor of Chu looked at Concubine Ning with a half-smile. Concubine Ning flung her handkerchief and said with a broken jar-like look:

"Who is the victim and who is not is none of my business. I just want your daughter to be well. If your daughter is happy, I am happy too."

"You, you, are just a woman. If the Duan family committed a crime, would you let Xiaoliu have any dealings with them?"

"That's definitely not possible. My daughter is so innocent. I just want him to be safe and sound. Don't let these dirty things get to him."

Concubine Ning's eyes widened as she looked at Emperor Chu with an expression that said, "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"

The King of Chu understood that this was the good thing about Le Rou: she knew her limits but also protected her shortcomings, unlike some people who were greedy and would never swallow an elephant.

"I was just joking, look at you, you're so angry."

Concubine Ning was unhappy

"Your Majesty knows that I care about Ling'er the most, yet you still tease me. Anyway, the Duan family has taken good care of Ling'er this time, and he is in good health, so I am happy. Just decide whether to reward him or not. This is your youngest child. If you don't care about him, I do."

Seeing that Concubine Ning was becoming more and more inappropriate, the Emperor of Chu put his arm around Concubine Ning and helped her sit on the imperial concubine couch beside him.

"How could I not feel sorry for Xiaoliu? Reward! I must reward him. But..."

"What?" Concubine Ning was a little confused.

"Are you sure you want to reward the Duan family so generously and then roast them on the rack? The rumors will be nothing."

The Emperor of Chu knew very well that Concubine Dou was trying to flatter him. He didn't care about the Duan family, the main thing was Xiaoliu.

Xiaoliu's mother's family is not presentable. It will be difficult for him to grow up without anyone useful around him.

Even if he left some manpower for him in the future, people's hearts are fickle, and the soldiers will rebel if the lord is weak.

Feelings should be cultivated from childhood, otherwise the people around you will rebel against you with just a little favor. The Emperor of Chu thought of Gao Yi and sneered in his heart.

Concubine Ning was a little tired. When she heard what the Emperor of Chu said, she replied casually, "Then your Majesty, please make the decision. I will obey you."

The Emperor of Chu looked at Concubine Ning, who was almost thirty years old, and felt a little soft in his heart. It was not that he favored any one of them, but the most obedient one would always be more lovable.

Duan family, just follow Xiaoliu from now on.

Thinking of Duan Chengkang, the King of Chu felt a bit of a headache. No matter how good Duan Si was, he was not a direct descendant. In the future, the Duan family would still inherit the title of nobility from that brat. If he was not good enough...

The Emperor of Chu was a little depressed, wondering if the Duan family had bad feng shui.

Forget it, it's really useless. I'll just get a title and learn from his father to be a rich and idle person.

The King of Chu was a little tired. Worrying about state affairs all day was bad enough, but when he got home he had to worry about a few debt collectors. And as if that wasn't enough, he also had to worry about a wild boy.

Duan Chengkang, who was dozing off, had no idea that so many people were worrying about his future. He was catching fish in his dream when he was awakened by a teaching from his teacher.

"Stand up and listen."

"Oh"

Duan Chengkang had no choice but to stand and watch the Master walk back. The Master was really good, much better than the previous Master Chen, but he just couldn't get anything into his head, and he let the Master down.

For the first time, the little Duan Chengkang felt melancholy, but it only lasted for a moment.

Duan Chengkang was fascinated by the scene of rain hitting lotus leaves outside the window, and soon his mind wandered into space again. Cheng Xi looked at him, shook his head, reminded him, and continued teaching as normal.

Sister Wei was very serious, and Cheng Xi felt a little relieved. He had to go and pay a visit to the old lady later.

Knowing that Cheng Xi had sent a message and was coming to pay a visit, Song Shengfu was unusually nervous. Is this what a home visit feels like?

In the past, it was always Song Shengfu who asked Cheng Xi. Now, when she heard that Cheng Xi came to visit her, Song Shengfu guessed that it was about Kang Ge'er's matter.

"Please ask him to come in."

The children were not at home at the moment, so Song Shengfu sent someone to invite Cheng Xi in.

Cheng Xi bowed to Song Shengfu as per the rules when he entered the room. Song Shengfu asked someone to lead Cheng Xi to sit aside before asking:

"Master Cheng, is it because of the two children that you made this trip?"

Cheng Xi nodded slightly, his tone gentle and polite.

"Madam, I'm here just for them."

Cheng Xi briefly talked about the recent status of the two children, what they learned, and told Song Shengfu how the two children were learning.

Song Shengfu nodded secretly, thinking that Master Cheng was thoughtful.

Finally, Cheng Xi spoke: "Old Madam, today I mainly want to talk to you about the young master."

Song Shengfu knew that the main topic was coming, so she straightened her back calmly and her expression became serious.

"You can say whatever you want"