Chapter 71 Chapter 71 Beio/Don’t misunderstand her, don’t…
Following Miss Lauren, Mrs. Smith also raised her hand, blushing and saying nervously, "Me too."
Jieshia heard the sounds coming from behind, and her expression was calm.
Being able to realize your dreams without having to live in poverty is an opportunity so tempting that no one can resist it.
When the last person finished signing up, Audrey, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly asked, "Mrs. Jeshia, what about you? Are you willing to join?"
Jeshia looked at Isabel and shook her head, "I'm not very energetic. I'm afraid I'm not valuable to the Duchess."
Audrey's eyes darkened and she looked at Theresa again.
The latter caught her gaze, quickly turned his head away, and sneered, "If Jie Xiya doesn't go, why should I go? Besides, I'm fine spending my whole life cooped up in this little house."
Everyone was stunned and lowered their heads.
These words undoubtedly made their stance clear: if Jieshiya did not join, it would mean that they would leave Chengzhi Society and go to a new place.
We have all benefited from Jeshia. It can be said that without her, we would not be where we are today.
Several ladies had red eyes and their hearts began to waver. Just as they were about to regret, they saw Jeshia stand up.
She looked around at everyone and sighed. "Ladies, there's no need to feel guilty about leaving Chengzhi Society. Honestly, the Duchess's plan is excellent, and opportunities like this are rare. I can't find any reason to object, and I certainly don't want to dissuade you from pursuing a better life."
"These words come from my heart. I hope you will pursue your ideals without hesitation."
Jeshia took a deep breath and turned to look at Isabel. "But if one day, I mean if, they get into trouble or lose their value to you, please send them back."
Someone in the crowd burst into tears.
Theresa pursed her lips tightly, her expression grim.
Isabel smiled and nodded to Jeshia, saying seriously, "Please rest assured, I will be responsible for them to the end, no matter what situation we encounter."
"But..." She paused, "I don't want Chengzhi Society to fall apart because of my involvement. Can I ask why you don't want to join?"
Jeshia glanced at Theresa, who understood and led everyone out.
Only the Norman sisters and Jeshia were left in the room.
"Teresa and I have special identities. If we were your only employees, it would just be a simple business operation," Jeshia said. "Once we're here, and you grow stronger, those church minions lurking in the shadows might use this as leverage."
She took a deep breath, her eyes full of meaning: "I don't want to implicate my members, nor do I want to implicate you."
Isabel thought thoughtfully.
Audrey told her that Theresa was a nun who ran away from St. Petersburg, and that Jeshia had a husband who participated in the uprising.
"Can I ask who your husband is?"
Jeshia stared at Isabel and chuckled, "I'm afraid the new Mrs. Spencer hasn't had time to get to know your family yet."
"My husband is Marquis Soren, a comrade-in-arms of Admiral Ludwig."
"Admiral Ludwig? My husband's father, that Ludwig Spencer?" Isabel narrowed her eyes slightly, and a subtle flash of inspiration quickly flashed through her mind.
"Yes, one of the renowned Twin Pillars of the Empire," Jeshia said calmly. "When they were young, he and my husband were sent on a diplomatic mission to Heslan together, where we studied for three years. During that time, Soren and I met and became engaged, and I returned to Ceylon with them."
Heslan was the cradle of humanistic enlightenment, where young Ceylonese nobles learned many advanced ideas and met like-minded partners. Returning to Ceylonese and facing the backwardness of the situation, it was only natural to want to change the status quo.
Isabel pondered for a moment. "Ludwig also participated in the uprising with Marquis Soren, right?"
"You got it wrong. It was Ludwig who led the uprising." Jeshia's eyes darkened. "You are now the master of Chalvis. You should know that Spencer's jurisdiction is not controlled by the church. This is not accidental, but because Ludwig drove out the bishop of Hank County."
Isabel lowered her eyes and listened.
"You're too young to understand how powerful the church was back then," Jeshia said. "Cyril ascended the throne of the Temple of the Holy Spirit at the age of thirteen. He is the most revered pope to date. The clergy call him the Holy God who blessed the world. Indeed, it was from that time that the church began to flourish."
"They mastered technology and established church schools where only clergy and high-ranking nobles could attend. They monopolized agriculture, commerce, and even thought in every aspect."
"When the church becomes the pinnacle of the pyramid, everyone wants to climb up. More and more termites are formed, and the pressure on the lower classes grows, even squeezing the living space of the nobility." Isabel said calmly, "So Ludwig is leading the uprising?"
"Yes, my husband originally advocated for nonviolent resistance, but he repeatedly submitted proposals to the parliament, but each one fell on deaf ears," Jeshia said. "Ludwig was a soldier and held military power. The first thing he did when he returned from Hersland was to dismantle all the local armed forces deployed by the church."
Isabel fell into deep thought. "If I were the church, I would unite with the other electors, promise them benefits, and teach Spencer a lesson."
"That's right. It's a pity that Ludwig is not only a soldier, but also an outstanding politician." Jeshia chuckled. "Can you guess how he made the church compromise?"
Isabel's eyes flickered slightly as she heard Jeshia's complex tone as she spoke, "No one knows how he ended up in St. Petersburg. Anyway, Ludwig captured Cyril alive that day and used him as a hostage to force the Temple of the Holy Land to sign a bill ceding power to the Church. This is how the seemingly peaceful situation we see today came about."
"That year, Ludwig was still very young, and Cyril was also very young. The Imperial Admiral kidnapped the Pope. I heard he also kidnapped a princess who was fostered at the Galan Temple. He fled all the way to Heslan and only released her after he had escaped the pursuers."
Jeshia: "It sounds like a rough struggle, but it is precisely the most useful measure for the church."
Isabel was silent for a long time, then looked up and said, "Because Cyril is the core of the Holy Light Church. So, why didn't Ludwig just kill him?"
Jieshia looked at her and suddenly smiled: "In that case, war is inevitable."
Isabel lowered her eyes, and suddenly felt that her guess about Ludwig was not comprehensive enough.
Throughout history, there have only been a few ways to play games.
The church has money and power, and can rule everything with ideas. Its only weakness is the military. Armed forces are not commercial economies, and everyone's eyes are on them, especially the royal family and nobles who hold military power.
Therefore, they had to maintain a balance with the royal power, share profits with the great nobles, and secretly raise troops under various pretexts.
Notices recruiting missionaries were distributed in the fields, and those who could not afford food naturally wanted to join.
On one hand, the upper echelons of society are expanding, while on the other, the lower echelons of society are burdened with increasing pressure. On the other hand, the middle class is suffering losses. If these contradictions are allowed to escalate, a real war will sooner or later break out.
But that's how history is. No one can learn lessons from it. When you are in it, you can only repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
Perhaps the people at the top, giving orders, could foresee this day coming, but to them, war was merely a game of winning and losing, another round of profit-sharing. They never considered how many lives would be reduced to dust as the wheels of history rolled over them.
Of course, he probably never guessed that the person who started the uprising would be Ludwig.
Ludwig Spencer, one of the seven electors, was a nobleman and an undeniable beneficiary. No matter how distorted the pyramid was, it didn't oppress him. Yet, it was precisely this man who rebelled.
Jeshia suddenly asked, "Do you think Ludwig is fighting for the interests of the nobility?"
Isabel: "I think everyone thought so at the time."
"Yes, even many nobles were looking forward to this day. You know, except for the common people, no one fears war. They all want to fish in troubled waters, follow Ludwig to overthrow the church, and share in the profits." Jeshia sneered. "Unfortunately, no one expected that Ludwig would indeed force Cyril to cut the cake, but he would pass it on to the common people. Every provision in that bill was designed to give them a way out."
"But this also paved the way for Ludwig's death." Isabel looked thoughtful. "He didn't fight for more benefits for the nobles, but he severely offended the church. If I were Cyril, as long as I returned alive, I would unite all the nobles who were unwilling to accept his fate and take revenge on him."
"Yes, that's how the House of Saxony rose to power, but Ludwig foresaw this situation," said Jeshia. "My husband has always followed Ludwig, and many people also followed the representatives of the church. Many struggles occurred in those years, but they were limited to the nobility, and no large-scale battles broke out."
"Few people know about these things now. They all regard that peaceful revolution buried in history as a symbol of Ludwig's personal struggle for power." Jeshia sighed.
Audrey's eyes suddenly turned red. "Is it worth it? He must be feeling very wronged, right?"
Jeshia chuckled. "Five years ago, internal strife broke out in Heslan, and the new king suddenly declared war on Ceylon. Before Soren followed Ludwig to the battlefield, I asked him the same question: Is it worth it?"
"Ever since the peaceful revolution, no one knows your contributions in avoiding war and fighting for the interests of civilians. For so many years, the entire Ceylon has been openly and covertly trying to reduce the power of Spencer and his followers, and even tarnish your reputation. Now you want to go to war for it, who knows if it's a trap?"
"It was later proven to be a conspiracy," said Jeshia. "My husband died in the rear. He had been working in the civil service and had devoted himself to the underground organization, but he was betrayed and posthumously convicted of treason. Duke Ludwig and Duke Frederick were never found, and Spencer was completely sidelined."
"Delayed revenge finally arrives." Jeshia smiled bitterly. "So, is it worth it? I don't know."
"I just remember what Soren told me about Ludwig. He said he didn't think he had any noble morals, but that as a person, you always have to hold on to something in life."
Isabel's eyes paused, and she recalled Margaret's experience when she was reading the history of the Spencer family.
Margaret, then the Duchess of Sutherland, was a leader supported by all the people in the territory. When her request to be made a baroness was rejected, it was they who jointly protested, which led to the beginning of the first Spencer family.
Recalling the words of gratitude expressed by the elderly tenant farmers when they visited Chalvez, Isabel seemed to guess that Ludwig, before the peaceful revolution, might have stood in the fields of the farm for a long time.
He watched weathered old men, unable to pay their taxes, kneel down and beg for mercy, watched children cry with hunger, watched nearby clergymen dressed in expensive silks order their men to escort the poor into service, watched young beggars pray to the church statues, hoping for a full meal, only to be brutally beaten by the compassionate priests.
The high and mighty gods just watched coldly without showing any sign, so Ludwig set out on the journey to the Galan Temple.
The sun sets and it gets darker.
Jeshia stood up tiredly. "Alright, please go back. I've said everything I need to say. After Soren's death, I came to Kent. But everyone who needs to know knows this. Building a new route is not easy, so don't make things difficult for yourself."
She was about to leave when Isabel stopped her.
"Mrs. Jeshia." The setting sun fell on her dark green dress, gilding it with a layer of golden light. "I don't think this is a problem."
"Chengzhi Society can't remain in a dark alley forever. Once the members join, I will transform it into a true girls' school." Isabel took out a new plan. "This is my ultimate goal here."
"But... aren't you afraid of the church's attention?"
Isabel and Audrey looked at each other and pointed at their sister. "I've already deployed my trump card to fight them. Am I still afraid of your little trouble?"
She placed the plan on the table and nodded gracefully, "Mrs. Jeshia, I hope you will carefully consider my proposal. Farewell."
Isabel led Audrey out. As they stepped out of the door, Audrey suddenly stopped and said, "Sister, wait a minute. I need to talk to Madam Jeshia."
Isabel waited outside the door, watching her sister run back quickly, whisper in Mrs. Jeshia's ear, and then run back quickly. When asked what she said, she waved her hand and passed it over.
Isabel chuckled, asked no more questions, and called a carriage to leave.
Behind her, Mrs. Jeshia couldn't help laughing when she thought of Audrey's words.
She explained to herself earnestly, "My sister is a very good person. Even though she speaks so badly of herself, she actually has a very soft heart and will definitely do what she promised you."
After saying that, his aqua blue eyes looked at Jeshia cautiously: "So... you must tell others not to misunderstand her, not to hate her, and not to be angry, okay?"
Mrs. Jeshia found it funny at first, and then she was moved by those clear eyes.
Audrey might not have fully understood what was being said; those interests and struggles were too far removed from her. But she only knew that her sister was considered a very bad and cunning person, so she was eager to explain this.
Jieshia sighed and silently signed the plan.
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