Zhu Kongshan still had many plans waiting to be carried out. She did not use the banknotes sent by the accounts office. Instead, she had the accounts office hold onto them for now. When she needed to use them, she would withdraw them. She sold off all of the accessories that Xuantian Mo had given her. The money that had been sold was enough to open a porridge stall in the northern part of the city. She would give out porridge three times a day, and it was all done under the Sheng Palace's name.
Aside from this, she also brought her maidservants with baskets to the market to buy vegetables. She had accumulated a large amount of cabbage and potatoes for the Sheng Palace. These vegetables that the Sheng Palace normally did not eat were now treated as treasures by her. From time to time, she would go to the market to buy some large bones. She would then bring the cabbage to the northern part of the city to make a large pot of stew to give to the poor people.
In this era, large bones were very cheap, and there was not much meat, but after they were cut open, there was oil in the bone marrow. Stewing it into a soup was very fragrant. Cabbage was a normal dish and did not have much of a taste, but stewing it in a bone soup was different. The people in the northern part of the city were poor. Even if large bones were cheap, they could not afford them. Also, stewing soup required a lot of firewood. They could not bear to part with it. Moreover, there were many beggars here. How could they have the ability to stew food for themselves?
Zhu Kongshan had been messing around in the northern part of the city for half a month without any intention of stopping. She even simply rented a small courtyard. Although it was old and shabby, it could be used as a temporary place to rest after being cleaned and repaired. After renting the courtyard, she spread the word that she would continue to provide porridge and food for the poor people in the northern part of the city. It was for no other reason than that she hoped that they would be able to successfully survive this winter and not freeze or starve to death.
In an instant, the news that a female Bodhisattva had appeared in the Sheng Palace spread to every corner of the capital. In addition to this, Xuantian Mo had spread it in secret, causing the news to spread even more. At this point, Xuantian Mo truly admired this cousin of his. It was not just because she was willing to lower herself to do those things in the northern part of the city, nor was it because she was actually able to turn the tables for the Sheng Palace in such a short period of time. Most importantly, Zhu Kongshan's attitude caused him to view her in a new light. She did not use any of the manor's money. Instead, she sold the accessories that he had given her. She then used the money from selling those accessories to do things for the Sheng Palace. She did not haggle over gains and losses, nor did she care about money. This sort of girl suddenly gave him the misconception that "Zhu Kongshan is another Feng Yu Heng." This sort of misconception caused Xuantian Mo to be very happy. If Zhu Kongshan really could support him in the same way that Feng Yu Heng had helped Xuan Tianming, it would not be impossible to give her the position of empress after he succeeded. So what if she was a concubine's daughter? Turning a concubine from a sixth-grade official's family into a legitimate wife was as easy as flipping his hand.
While he was thinking like this, he continued to observe Zhu Kongshan's movements. At the same time, the person who had sent the things to Peng Zhou returned and told Zhu Kongshan about what had happened in Peng Zhou. He also stated that the things had been sent to the Zhu manor. He also emphasized that they had been sent by the Eighth Prince and Noble Lady Yuan. The Zhu family viewed her mother, Liu shi, with great importance.
Zhu Kongshan received the news from her family and naturally felt grateful toward the Eighth Prince. Aside from this gratitude, she also did something new.
Congee and stew were things that she could not do on her own. Even if the Sheng Palace had mountains of gold and silver, it could not handle such a disaster. Thus Zhu Kongshan contacted the madams and young misses from the Eighth Prince's faction and invited them to join in. As for the benefits, put plainly, there were no practical benefits, but it would help their master gain a good reputation. How important was reputation now! The Eighth Prince's faction's reputation was already bad, and they were worried that they had no way to recover! Zhu Kongshan's suggestion was immediately approved by the officials, as they urged their own madams and daughters to join in. They also had them listen to everything that Zhu Kongshan said.
With so much going on outside, the imperial concubines in the palace could no longer sit still. The imperial concubines without children were all leaning toward the Eighth Prince's faction. Hearing that their families had begun to move, they thought for a bit and decided to contribute. The imperial concubines did not have much money, but they did have a lot of accessories, and they were all products of the palace. If they were taken out, they could be sold for a lot of money. They sent the accessories and people out to their own homes. It could be considered adding a brick or tile. Naturally, their families were happy to receive them.
Like this, the congee distribution group in the northern part of the city grew even larger. It was such that there were some families that did not even provide congee. Instead, they gave dry rice with a spoonful of vegetables. That scene, Feng Yu Heng secretly went to take a look. It had a feeling that was similar to a modern government cafeteria.
With so many people joining in, the ones benefiting were the poor citizens. But under the guidance of the Sheng Palace's public opinion, they did not give too much thanks to the officials' manors that had participated. Instead, they gave all of this credit to the Sheng Palace's young miss. They believed that these people had come to give face to the young miss, and the greatest credit was given to the young miss.
Of course, this was the effect that Zhu Kongshan wanted. Aside from this, she had also been collecting information on the citizens that had been scammed by the Eighth Prince's fake Hundred Herb Hall. Those were all part of her compensation plan. Of course, things had to be done one step at a time. She did not want to empty out everything in an instant. Like that, her value in the Sheng Palace would shrink.
Inside the Imperial Palace Yu, Huang Quan stood at Feng Yu Heng's side. While listening to Ban Zou report on the situation in the northern part of the city, he very anxiously asked Feng Yu Heng: "Young Miss, are you really not in a rush? If he continues to cause trouble like this, the hearts of the citizens in the capital will be won over! "
Ban Zou was also thinking this way, but he was not as direct as Huang Quan. He just nodded to Feng Yu Heng, meaning that he was thinking the same as Huang Quan.
But Feng Yu Heng was still not in a rush, as she just said: "The hearts of the citizens are not something that belongs to us. That's why we can't treat the hearts of the citizens as something that belongs to us. Moreover, I spent over three years to win over the hearts of the citizens in the capital. Does Zhu Kongshan want to win them over with just one winter? You're overestimating her too much. "
"But the Eighth Prince is also putting in a lot of effort!" Huang Quan stomped his foot and could not help but complain about Xuan Tianming: "His Highness really is capable of holding back. He doesn't even say anything about helping young miss."
"How does he want to help?" Feng Yu Heng laughed, "Men care about the matters of the court. Could it be that you want him to spend all of his time in the inner courtyard? To compete with Zhu Kongshan? That would truly be beneath his status. Don't worry! Your young miss is not someone to be trifled with. Didn't I say that we'll just let that cousin continue to be smug. We'll take action a little later. That way, the poor people in the northern part of the city can benefit a little more. " She thought for a bit then added: "Right, Hundred Herb Hall's hot tea needs to be distributed as usual. Un, you should also spread the word. Just say that the refugees in the northern part of the city need to pay attention to their health. They've been living in unhygienic conditions for many years, and it's very easy for them to get sick. Especially when it comes to their stomachs. In the past, they've been eating the leftover food, but now, they've suddenly been given congee and bone soup. Wasn't it said that there were some that simply ate dry rice? If they eat like this, won't they end up with stomachs? Think of a way to get this information to Zhu Kongshan. At the same time, our Hundred Herb Hall will prepare some more medicine for this. Just wait for her to come and buy it. It would be a waste to not earn the money of the Eighth Prince's faction. "
Upon hearing Feng Yu Heng say this, Huang Quan became spirited and happily went to take care of this matter. Ban Zou, however, said to Feng Yu Heng after Huang Quan left: "You shouldn't have sent Wang Chuan to Peng Zhou. The political situation in the capital is not stable. It can't be that there isn't a stable person at your side. Huang Quan's personality is impatient. With this sort of thing, she did not think it through thoroughly. "
"Don't we still have you?" Feng Yu Heng laughed, "Wang Chuan is no longer here. There are some things that should have been done by her. That will be left to you."
The arrogant hidden guard rolled her eyes, clearly leaving behind an expression that said, "I really can't stand you." She then did not say anything else and disappeared in a flash.
Feng Yu Heng shrugged. Her hidden guard really was becoming less and less cute! Very well, Ban Zou had never been cute; however, he was very considerate. She knew that they were all sincere in treating her well. As for her sending Wang Chuan to Peng Zhou, it was because the matter in Peng Zhou was also very important. She could not feel at ease leaving it to someone else.
Zhu Kongshan, a young cousin that had appeared out of nowhere, might not be as easy to deal with. It was possible that she would need to spend a bit more effort.
At present, the Eighth Prince's faction had already successfully reversed the bad impression that the Eighth Prince had of the people in the capital because of Zhu Kongshan working with the madams and young misses of the various families to do good deeds for the poor. The people's opinion had changed, but it was only limited to the fact that they no longer disliked the Eighth Prince as much as before. It had not risen to the point where it could affect Feng Yu Heng's achievements. It was as Feng Yu Heng had said. She had used three years to win over the hearts of the people. How could it be possible for a young girl to win them over in just a single winter?
Zhu Kongshan also understood this reasoning. She was in no rush to criticize Feng Yu Heng. She just continued to do what she wanted to do. Either way, she was doing good deeds. Nobody could find fault with her. She just continued to do things quietly. After hearing about the matter of giving medicine to the poor, she went to investigate and found that there were indeed quite a few people who had fallen ill, thus she did not argue too much. She had a servant bring banknotes and go to Hundred Herb Hall to buy medicine.
It was just that she did not think that the poor people who had eaten medicine from Hundred Herb Hall did not thank the people who had paid for the medicine. Instead, they gathered together and said things like, "It's still Hundred Herb Hall's medicine that's better. Royal Consort Yu is our Bodhisattva of medicine." Zhu Kongshan did not get angry upon hearing this. In fact, she even put in a few good words for Feng Yu Heng. As the people saw it, this young miss Zhu was magnanimous and kind. She was also a female Bodhisattva!
This Winter's curtains were drawn to a peaceful atmosphere in the capital. Up until the first heavy snowfall, there had not been a single person who had frozen to death or starved to death because of the cold weather. Emperor Tianwu also gave a special commendation to the Eighth Prince. He also gave quite a few things to Zhu Kongshan and the madams and young misses who had participated in doing good deeds. As for those things, they were naturally used by Zhu Kongshan to do good deeds. The Emperor repeatedly sighed upon hearing this, saying that if all of the daughters of noble families in Dashun could be like this, his world would truly be in a prosperous era.
The Eighth Prince had received a commendation, and his aura had caused a new wave in court. It was a bit like he was standing above the other princes. Of course, even if the Eighth Prince was in the limelight, there was not a single person that dared to overlook the pressure coming from the Ninth Prince. There were even some that said behind his back that whenever they saw the purple lotus flower on the Ninth Prince's brow, they would feel a bit scared for no reason. It was as though that purple lotus flower could eat people. This caused them to not dare look at it a second time. In fact, they did not even dare criticize him in the slightest.
At the same time, Noble Lady Yuan could no longer sit still in the inner palace. Zhu Kongshan had once said to her: "Children also need their mothers' help in order to live a better life." These words had been lingering in her mind the entire time. That's right! She had already been a noble lady for too long. It was time for her to return to the position of Consort Yuanshu.
Thus on this day, stepping on the snow that had not yet been cleaned up, Noble Lady Yuan led her palace maid, Yue Xiu, toward the Empress' Jingtsu Temple …
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