The Ming Dynasty: My sister, Empress Ma

Chang Mao shook off his hand and glared at him impatiently: "What's it to you?"

Chang Sheng did not back down, and tried to keep his tone calm.

"When my father was alive, he often said, 'Those who respect others will always be respected.' If word gets out that you have this child pour you water, people will say that the Chang family's children are abusing their power."

"Bullying others by taking advantage of one's power?"

Chang Mao sneered, his voice so loud that half the cafeteria could hear it.

"I asked him to pour me a bowl of water and that's considered bullying? Who is it that they have today? It's because of our father! If it weren't for our father, they might still be scavenging for food under the barbarians, and they wouldn't have the good life they have now."

"What's wrong with pouring me a bowl of water?"

Chang Sheng's face turned pale instantly.

"Brother!" he said, his voice tense. "You mustn't say that."

Chang Sen also stood up. He was only fifteen years old and hadn't grown tall enough yet. Standing between his two older brothers, he looked like a sapling.

He tugged at Chang Mao's sleeve and whispered, "Big brother, second brother is right, let's go back, stop making a fuss."

Chang Mao slapped Chang Sen's hand away with considerable force, and the back of Chang Sen's hand immediately turned red.

Chang Sen winced in pain, biting his lip without uttering a sound, but his eyes reddened.

"You two, stop embarrassing me here."

Chang Mao glanced at his two younger brothers, his gaze finally settling on Chang Sheng's face.

"It's not your place to lecture me."

Chang Sheng took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said in a low voice.

"I'm not lecturing you, I'm doing this for your own good. If you don't listen, wait until the master comes and see what you'll do."

"Sir?" Chang Mao was clearly angry, and scoffed, showing no respect even for the emperor's brother-in-law.

"The one that fires the kiln?"

Before the words were finished, a voice, neither too loud nor too soft, came from the entrance of the cafeteria.

"Chang Mao".

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

Ma Wenyuan stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, holding a rice bowl exactly like his students', with the same food inside.

Ma Wenyuan's expression remained calm.

Chang Mao's face froze.

Chang Sheng and Chang Sen lowered their heads, not daring to look Ma Wenyuan in the eye.

These days, Ma Wenyuan has personally taught them lessons. Whether out of his status or out of respect for his teacher, the two of them have no choice but to respect Ma Wenyuan.

Ma Wenyuan did not react immediately.

He walked in with his rice bowl, sat down in the empty seat opposite Chang Mao, and glanced at everyone present before finally settling on Chang Mao's face.

"Have you finished eating?"

Chang Mao opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Sit down if you haven't finished eating. We'll go to the lecture hall together after you're done." Ma Wenyuan's tone was unreadable.

"I have something to say to you."

That's all.

Ma Wenyuan sat down in front of Chang Mao and began to eat with his head down, eating calmly and unhurriedly, as if nothing had happened.

Fang Xiaoru followed suit and started eating along with his teacher.

Xiao Fang had no complaints about the food.

Although he was also from an official family, Fang Xiaoru never valued such worldly things.

Chang Mao stood there for a while before finally sitting down with a thud.

The cabbage in the bowl had gone cold; he took a couple of bites, but it tasted like nothing at all.

Chang Sheng and Chang Sen silently returned to their seats, neither daring to speak again.

……

The lecture hall is the largest classroom in the school.

It can seat 300 people and was originally built for unified teaching.

It just looks more like a large conference room now.

At this moment, more than 220 students were packed together.

Ma Wenyuan stood on the podium, with Fang Xiaoru and Zeng Xiu behind him.

Xu Miaoyun squatted on the side of the podium, holding a piece of lens in her hand.

She was called over from the backyard at the last minute, and looked completely bewildered.

"I heard about what happened in the cafeteria today."

Ma Wenyuan's voice was calm.

"Some people asked other students to pour them water, treating them like servants. When they were refused, they said some very unpleasant things."

Chang Mao sat in the third row, his face ashen, his lips pressed into a thin line.

Chang Sheng sat next to him, head down.

Chang Sen sat on the other side of Chang Sheng, the red mark on the back of his hand still hadn't faded.

Ma Wenyuan did not call out names immediately. His gaze swept over Chang Mao and then over the other noble sons.

"Some of you come from families of dukes, marquises, generals, or founding heroes."

"You have been pampered since childhood, with someone leading your horse when you go out and someone serving you tea when you come in. You have more servants around you than the students in the school."

"You are used to being served and think that there are people in this world who are born to serve you."

The lecture hall was very quiet.

The children sitting in the back row, wearing patched clothes, had their heads down or their fists clenched.

They were teenagers and had never been subjected to beatings.

At this moment, it's natural to feel indignant, after all, everyone has heard the saying, "Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?"

"But I have something to tell you."

Ma Wenyuan stepped down from the podium and slowly paced down the aisle.

"In this school, there are no servants, no servants, and no one's life is more precious than anyone else's."

"Did you pay your tuition?"

"No.

"This school is funded by the imperial court. Every grain of rice you eat, every school uniform you wear, and every piece of paper you use is not earned by yourselves."

He stopped in front of a nobleman's son, and the boy shrank back under his gaze.

"You are able to live peacefully and sit here talking freely, not because your families are rich and powerful, but because your fathers and brothers have worked hard and shed blood."

"In this respect, you are no different from everyone here."

Ma Wenyuan turned around and walked back to the podium; he did not look at Chang Mao.

Chang Mao's words were somewhat treasonous.

At least that's how it was with Zhu Yuanzhang.

Ma Wenyuan couldn't bring it up again, as that would only hasten the demise of the Chang family.

Chang Lanshi had a relationship with his older sister, and he didn't want to put her in a difficult position.

Secondly, Chang Sheng and Chang Sen also respected him.

Ma Wenyuan also didn't want the other two students to end up in jail because of Chang Mao's inappropriate remarks.

Therefore, he did not correct Chang Mao, but simply said, word by word,

"You've had three days of classes at school, so you should have some understanding of this place."

"I'll say it again: I won't stop anyone from leaving; they can leave anytime. But once they leave, they don't need to come back."

Ma Wenyuan said, "Better to have nothing than something bad."

There's not a real shortage of students these days, so there's no need to force troublemakers like Chang Mao to stay.

It's a thankless task.

After Ma Wenyuan finished speaking, no one in the audience said a word.

The children of the poor will not leave; they come for the education and for the prestige of being students of the emperor's brother-in-law.

This is one of the few ways they can change their social class, so no one will leave.

None of the sons of the powerful and wealthy spoke up.

Many of them came to the Gewu Academy not for knowledge, nor to change their social class.

They are already powerful and privileged; how can changing their class affect them?

Most of them simply came here because they listened to their families.

They're keeping quiet now purely out of fear of being beaten when they go back.

But Ma Wenyuan didn't care about any of that.

Ma Wenyuan didn't care why they stayed.

Often, the result is more important than the process.

After waiting for a while, and seeing that no one still made a sound.

Ma Wenyuan just said,

"Those who enter my school are treated equally."

"From today onwards, I hereby establish a rule: in the school, no one shall be judged by their family background, nor shall anyone be distinguished by their wealth or poverty."

"No one is allowed to order classmates around or bully the weak. Violators will be punished as follows: first offense, three days of cleaning the latrines; second offense, five days of chopping wood; third offense, expulsion from the school and never to be employed again."