Chapter 35 Chu Xinrou's Flood Control Strategy
When Marquis Jingning was on duty at the yamen today, he felt that his colleagues were looking at him strangely, and some even pointed at him and whispered with sarcastic eyes.
By the afternoon, Marquis Jingning could no longer bear it and called out to a colleague who was looking scornful. This man came from a humble family, and he had always avoided him. But today, he dared to look at him in such a way, and Marquis Jingning could not tolerate it.
"Lord Ma, do you have any opinion about me?" Marquis Jingning frowned and said angrily.
Ma Song looked at the gloomy face of Marquis Jingning and was subconsciously afraid, but when he thought of the rumors spreading outside, he straightened his back and looked at Marquis Jingning with a bit of sarcasm and disdain.
"It's not that I have a problem with the Marquis, it's just that the rumors have spread. They say that someone else saved Divine Doctor Yun's granddaughter, and that a young man or woman from the Marquis's mansion took advantage of the girl's unconsciousness to abduct her. They also drugged her to prevent her from waking up and telling the truth, and used this as an excuse to force Divine Doctor Yun to stay and treat your old lady."
"The eldest daughter of the Marquis's family was all over Luo Jing a few days ago, boasting about her filial piety. She even paid a scholar to write a play for her to sing. I've really learned something new today. So this is how filial piety is practiced."
Seeing the increasingly gloomy face of Marquis Jingning, Ma Song gloated, "That Divine Doctor Yun saved the Empress Dowager in the palace when he was young. Although the Empress Dowager has passed away, Your Majesty may still remember this kindness in his heart."
"The Marquis's family is bullying Divine Doctor Yun and his grandson. Beware of His Majesty's reprimand."
"That girl who saved people is so unlucky. Not only did her credit get taken away by others, but she also had to watch those who stole the credit publicize it in the capital and make a fortune from it." Ma Song kept talking, as if he wanted to use this opportunity to vent his anger at being bullied by Marquis Jingning in the past.
Marquis Jingning couldn't stand it any longer, and even forgot to ask for leave from his superiors. He rode back to the mansion in a hurry with a gloomy face.
As a result, they happened to see the female members of the family and their servants smashing the treasures at the gate of the marquis's mansion, cursing and swearing at others, which attracted many people to come and watch and point fingers at the gate of the marquis's mansion.
Marquis Jingning's face couldn't be any darker now. The owner of the marquis's mansion didn't even dare to enter the main gate and could only enter through the corner gate.
With a lot of anger in his heart, he ordered his servants to arrest Chu Yunlan, Chu Xinrou and Ji Jinglan as soon as he entered the mansion. He then went to the ancestral hall to get the family law, a shiny black whip with barbs.
The servants looked at Marquis Jingning's expression and hurried away.
When Chu Yunlan and the others were brought in, their faces were ashen. Seeing Marquis Jingning's legs weaken, they all knelt down. Only Ji Jinglan couldn't see clearly what was going on and stepped forward to stop him. "My Lord, what are you doing? Yunlan's head has a hole in it. Why don't you go get a doctor to treat Yunlan's injury and send someone to the Shen family to teach that guy named Shen Zhang a lesson? Are you still here to teach Yunlan a lesson!"
"Shut up! It's because you, as a mother, failed to educate your two children well that they caused this terrible disaster!" Marquis Jingning was so angry that he whipped Ji Jinglan without thinking.
"Do you know that this matter has spread throughout the city? I have completely lost face in my mansion because of you idiots!"
When Marquis Jingning thought that the news might reach the emperor's ears, he wanted to kill all three of them.
Ji Jinglan screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her bleeding arm and looking at Jingning Hou resentfully, "It's not entirely our fault. If Shu Wei hadn't brought people here to take him away—"
"How dare you say that!" Jingning Hou was shaking with anger, pointing at Ji Jinglan and unable to speak, "Someone come! Someone come!"
"Gag her, drag her away and lock her up in the woodshed. No one is allowed in without my permission. Not even water is allowed!"
Ji Jinglan stared at Marquis Jingning with eyes wide open in disbelief. She was the Marquis' wife and his first wife, yet he dared to treat her like this.
Soon, a burly maid came forward, blocked Ji Jinglan's mouth with a rag, and dragged the struggling Ji Jinglan away.
Chu Yunlan knelt with his head lowered. His body trembled when he saw this scene, but he didn't say a word of pleading.
Chu Xinrou didn't even dare to cry, and knelt beside Chu Yunlan with a pale face.
Marquis Jingning whipped Chu Yunlan several times and only stopped when Chu Yunlan passed out.
Looking at the whip dripping with blood, Chu Xinrou was so frightened that she turned pale. Seeing Marquis Jingning looking at her, there was only rage and hatred in his eyes, without any father-daughter affection.
Her heart was trembling. Seeing that the whip of Jingning Marquis was about to fall on her, she suddenly shouted, "Father! I have a way to clear the reputation of the Marquis' Mansion and help you gain the appreciation of His Majesty!"
She shouted out of the blue, and although Marquis Jingning hesitated, he still whipped Chu Xinrou. Chu Xinrou screamed in pain and fell to the ground, covering her painful and bleeding arm.
"You have a solution? What solution do you have? Everything that's happening in the Marquisate is thanks to you!" Marquis Jingning pointed his whip at Chu Xinrou and cursed, "Your grandmother and mother are so lucky to say you have the Phoenix destiny personally approved by Master Jinghui! What destiny? I think you're nothing but trouble! I shouldn't have allowed someone like you back into the house!"
Marquis Jingning's words were like needles piercing her heart. Chu Xinrou's face turned pale and blue, but she was afraid that Marquis Jingning would really beat her to death. She struggled to stand up and shouted, "My daughter really has a solution. Yuzhou has been suffering from floods for several days recently, and many victims have already poured into the capital. I have a good plan for flood control that I would like to present to Your Majesty."
She heard about the disaster victims on the way to pick up Doctor Yun. When she saw those skinny and pale victims blocking the road to beg for food, she looked down on them and even asked the coachman to whip them to drive them away.
Marquis Jingning stopped when he heard the voice, because the flood in Yuzhou had troubled His Majesty for many days. The atmosphere in the court was low these days. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue had been arguing over how to control the flood, and many officials had been reprimanded and demoted by His Majesty.
"How can a woman like you come up with such a good idea for flood control?"
Chu Xinrou heard the tone of Jingning Hou and knew there was room for maneuver. She hurriedly said, "I got this from reading the works of great scholars when I was at the Shen family. If you don't believe me, I can go to the study and write it down for you now."
Not long after, Marquis Jingning looked at the flood control strategy that Chu Xinrou had written down. The more he read, the more shocked he became. He looked up at Chu Xinrou several times.
He had listened to the debates among the ministers inside and outside the court in the past few days and had heard about some methods of flood control. The method written by his daughter was clear and incisive, and was even more comprehensive and complete than the methods proposed by several ministers of the Ministry of Works in the court in recent days.
Marquis Jingning held the policy paper in his hands, his hands shaking uncontrollably. His previous anger had mostly dissipated, replaced by ecstasy.
Several princes under His Majesty have recently been looking for advisers to discuss flood control. He must make good use of this strategy to create a bright future for the Marquis's Mansion.
Chu Xinrou carefully looked at Marquis Jingning's expression, and knowing that her bet was right, she immediately collapsed and knelt on the ground.
She accidentally saw this policy paper when she was tidying up her elder brother's study at the Shen's house. She thought it was written by her elder brother in preparation for the investment banking paper in the autumn examination.
She took a few more glances at it and memorized the general content, so that she could write it down from memory.
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