The Marquise: I Earn My Own Worship

These days everyone in the capital is in danger. Many officials have been implicated in the Nanyang flood and corruption incident. Some officials have had their homes confiscated, and some have been exiled.

The prison in the Ministry of Justice was packed, and Duan Jing'an was so busy all day that he even slept in the Ministry of Justice for several days.

After taking a half-day off today, Duan Jing'an returned home and washed up. He had been so busy these days that he fell asleep as soon as he lay down, and he felt that he smelled.

Duan Jing'an has had a hard time these days. Due to the shortage of staff in the Criminal Enforcement Department, Duan Jing'an was transferred there.

As luck would have it, he was assigned to work as a clerk in the prison. Sounds easy, doesn't it? In reality, Duan Jing'an was responsible for supervising the interrogation of prisoners, primarily reviewing the prison warden's records of the criminal process and words and deeds for errors.

Only then did Duan Jing'an realize how cruel the prison was. No matter how high your official position was, once you arrived here you would be put on the rack and slaughtered like a pig in a pork stall.

Some people who have connections are in a better situation, but others are not so lucky. Anyone who is put on the rack, regardless of gender, age or status, will be skinned alive if not killed.

It only took five or six days from the initial nausea to the calmness of the situation.

When Duan Jing'an talked about this with Song Shengfu, he jokingly said that he had developed a heart of stone. But at dinner that night, he seemed to inadvertently glance over some red and white dishes, and Song Shengfu saw through it but didn't say anything.

"Mother, now I have truly seen what the human world is like."

"Oh? What do you say?"

Duan Jingzong and others were also looking at Duan Jingan. At this time, after dinner, their family was gathered together.

There was a hint of melancholy in Duan Jing'an's tone.

"Even though they're all in prison, some families have people taking care of them and their lives are much easier. Others, on the other hand, have no one to visit them and are tortured by the jailers for fun. Some even take advantage of others' misfortunes and bribe the jailers to make their lives miserable."

Hearing this, everyone sighed that the world is unpredictable and people's hearts are fickle.

Song Shengfu looked at Duan Jing'an. The boy was only eighteen years old, but he had to go through such cruel realities. Perhaps the shock was too great, and he felt a little confused.

“People’s hearts are fickle, but interests are eternal.”

Song Shengfu said.

"Jing'an, you have to remember that in this world, all relationships are based on interests first and feelings second. Maybe what mother said is a bit cruel, but it is the truth."

Song Shengfu thought back to the end of her previous life. Even though she had no children, her nephews and nieces in the family all rushed to honor her for the shares she had.

What is the reason? Maybe there is emotion, but more of it is driven by interests.

Duan Jing'an was young and inexperienced, and he knew there were many things he didn't understand, so he humbly asked his mother for advice.

"Please teach me, mother."

Song Shengfu sighed, looked around, and then said:

"Let me ask you, if something happens to our family, will there be anyone to help us?"

While the others were still pondering, Mrs. Lu answered without even thinking, "Of course, Mother. Apart from anything else, my family will definitely lend a hand."

Song Shengfu nodded. It was true. In her previous life, after the Duan family got into trouble, although the Lu family did not help openly, they secretly gave the Lu family a lot of money.

"What are you talking about, mother? Nothing will happen to our family."

Duan Jingzong was afraid that his mother would worry too much, so he hurried to comfort her.

Song Shengfu smiled and said, "I'm just giving an example. If our family were to commit a crime now, as long as it wasn't a crime that would confiscate the property and exterminate the clan, the in-laws would help if they could. But what about our family last year?"

Everyone was silent at this time. Everyone knew what happened in Duan Bo's mansion last year.

In just one year, they hooked up with Concubine Ning and the Sixth Prince, married into the Ding family, and even started interacting with the Robert Mansion and the Bai family, with whom they hadn't interacted for many years.

I can't say how capable he is, but at least he is not the unknown person that people used to say he was.

If it were them last year, it would be hard to say. The Lu family was okay, as they really loved their married daughter, but their abilities were limited.

Among these relatives, the Huang family of Zuo Xiang was the most powerful. However, the Duan family had no one in the court, so Duan Jingyi had lived a miserable life these years and could not even lift her head.

After finally getting pregnant, the entire Huang family worshipped her. A few days ago, I heard that Yu had said a few sour words to Duan Jingyi and was punished by being forced to kneel in the ancestral hall.

This was something he had never dared to think of before. Mr. Huang doesn't say much now. After all, his eldest daughter-in-law might be pregnant with his future grandson.

Although he doted on his concubines, they were just playthings after all, and could not compare to his promising legitimate sons and grandsons.

So, Mr. Huang kept quiet, and the two concubines and illegitimate children immediately became obedient. It's not that they didn't think about making trouble, but Mrs. Huang was still there. Nothing could escape her eyes, and she protected the main courtyard tightly.

Whenever Duan Jingyi had a headache or fever, Old Lady Huang would find an excuse to punish her two illegitimate sons and their wives, thereby venting all her resentment from previous years.

In this courtyard, either the east wind prevails over the west wind, or the west wind prevails over the east wind. If the legitimate son has no offspring, a child must be adopted from one of his brothers' sons. With seven legitimate sons and three illegitimate sons, Old Lady Huang would never give up such a huge family fortune.

Back then, she didn't care how many illegitimate sons she had, and was content to keep Jing Tong with her. However, seeing that Jing Tong had no children, these illegitimate sons became evil and rampant. Now that she had caught them, she had to put a good curb on this evil trend.

So if Duan Jingyi gave birth to a son, she would be able to gain a foothold in the Left Prime Minister's Mansion. This would also be a good thing for the Duan Bo Mansion, as it would strengthen the relationship with the Left Prime Minister's family.

"In future relationships, the first thing to consider is profit. As long as there are sufficient benefits, coupled with the maintenance of feelings, it is enough to maintain a good and stable relationship. Mother is not saying that you should become a person who drives people for profit, but you should understand the key points involved."

"Now that you've become an official, you must develop your own network of relationships. When you have enough connections, things will become much easier. Whether they are princes and nobles or clerks and peddlers, they can all become your connections.

"Although we don't expect them to get promoted or make a fortune, as you just said, if our family were ever in trouble, a simple gesture from them might make things easier for us."

After listening to this, Duan Jing'an nodded thoughtfully. There must be interests and feelings.

Duan Jing'an has spent these days in prison and has experienced what it means to "see the King of Hell easily but deal with the little devils hard."

Those jailers usually bowed and scraped to the highest officials, but when faced with the criminals in the prison, especially those without connections, the evil of human nature was fully revealed.

Although you can't say you have to make friends with a kid like this, you can't offend him either. Duan Jing'an kept this in mind.

Song Shengfu talked with Duan Jingan and others for a while, and then sent him back to rest, as he had to go back to work tomorrow.

The next day, Duan Jing'an passed by a breakfast shop on his way to the prison. He asked his servants to buy more than a dozen breakfasts and send them to the prison.

The jailers who had been on guard all night were sitting together in groups of three or four, yawning. One of the jailers angrily put the porridge in his hand on the table.

"What a lousy porridge! There's not even a shred of pork in it. What a miserable life we've been living these days."

"That's right. I have to serve these masters and ladies. It's a physically demanding job. How can I have the strength without meat?"

"Hahahahahahahaha, you grandson, you are still speaking decent words, and your words are better than your singing."

This group of people were joking and joking here, and those who were beaten and covered with bruises in the prison shuddered when they heard their voices.

Duan Jing'an also arrived at this time, and naturally heard the conversation between several people. There was an unclear look in his eyes, but he still smiled and ordered people to distribute the food.

"This is some food I bought while passing by. You've been working hard in the prison day and night these days, so I need something to fill my stomach."

"No, no, sir, you are too kind to us. Thank you for the reward, sir."

A prison boss came forward with a smile and signaled the people next to him to pass the things down.

Duan Jingan saw it, smiled and said a little thing, no problem. Then he walked to the case and sorted out yesterday's transcripts.