Zhu Kongshan did not know who had sent that letter, whether it was friend or foe, but she believed that the contents of the letter were completely true. There was no reason. Based on her intuition and her understanding of the Eighth Prince over the past few months, she believed it.
She crumpled the letter into a ball, as she made a decision. Calling her personal maidservant, Xiao Yu, back, she cautiously asked: "We will return to the capital tonight. Do you dare to come with me?"
Xiao Yu was startled and asked: "Is young miss telling the truth? Concubine mother Liu's funeral still has not been carried out. For us to leave right now, isn't it a little too rushed? Didn't you come back to send concubine mother Liu off one last time? "
"There's no need to send me off." Zhu Kongshan's heart also became cold, "As my birth mother, she never thought about me when she was alive. Thinking about it, she does not need me as her daughter to send her off. Having the Zhu family and the Liu family is enough. Adding me in won't make much difference. Also, the head madam and father want to marry me off. How could I allow myself to be manipulated by them. "
Xiao Yu had also heard about this matter and could only sigh that her young miss really had a bad life. To have this sort of birth mother and this sort of father and head wife, if she did not leave, remaining in the Zhu family would only cause her to feel wronged for the rest of her life. Thus she nodded: "Xiao Yu will listen to young miss. Wherever young miss wants to go, Xiao Yu will go. But what about eldest young miss' two servants? Will they still be brought along? "
Zhu Kongshan shook her head: "There's no need to worry about them. Even if I told them to come back to the capital with me, they would not want to. This matter must be kept a secret and must not be known by anyone. Once it is known by someone, we will not be able to leave. "She looked at Xiao Yu and felt that this servant would not betray her due to their many years of relationship as master and servant. But there was always a chance. She did not dare trust anyone in this Zhu manor. Thus she thought for a bit then said something that carried a bit of a threat: "Xiao Yu, you need to understand that me bringing you to the capital is for your own good. If we don't leave, I will need to be married off under the head madam's arrangements. As for you, as my personal maidservant, you will definitely need to be married off with me. Think about it, how could the people they arranged be reliable. Once you get married, who knows what sort of torture you will suffer. If I'm not doing well, how good can you be? "
Hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately knelt down and hurriedly declared, "Xiao Yu has served Young Miss since she was young. In this estate, Young Miss is Xiao Yu's only family. Xiao Yu will go wherever you go and will never betray Young Miss in this lifetime."
Zhu Kongshan nodded in satisfaction and did not say anything else. She just went out and gave some instructions to the Sheng Palace's maidservant. The maidservant was also a little puzzled as to why she was in such a rush to leave. Zhu Kongshan used the Eighth Prince to pressure her: "Cousin said to have me come back to take a look then quickly return. This Zhu manor must not hinder me. These were cousin's original words."
The maidservant heard this and did not ask any further. After all, before coming here, the Eighth Prince had advised that Zhu Kongshan must be brought back to the capital. There were still many things in the capital that required Zhu Kongshan to continue taking care of. He had obtained this sort of assistant with great difficulty. No matter what, he needed to make sure that he had used up all of her value before throwing her away. She complied with Zhu Kongshan's instructions and quietly left the manor to make preparations for going out at night.
With this servant's help, Zhu Kongshan's escape went very smoothly. She escaped from the Zhu family and the Liu family without anyone noticing. She left Peng Zhou that very night.
At the same time, Wang Chuan also left that night. Riding a fast horse, he chose a shortcut and quickly returned to the capital.
The next day, when the Zhu family found that Zhu Kongshan had run away and wanted to give chase, they found that they could not catch up. The head madam stomped her feet in anger; however, Zhu Kongyue connected Zhu Kongshan's escape with the disappearance of her maidservant, A-Chuan. She faintly had a bad feeling that she had been tricked.
On a night four days later, Wang Chuan returned to the capital and successfully entered the Imperial Palace Yu. Huang Quan was very happy to see her return. He surrounded her and asked her all sorts of questions; however, the two did not mention the matter of immediately reporting to Feng Yu Heng. In the middle of the night, the two masters were either sleeping soundly or "messing around" happily. They only had one brain and did not dare disturb them at a time like this.
But Feng Yu Heng, who was inside the room, had already heard the movements in the yard. She pinched Xuan Tianming and suggested: "Wang Chuan has returned. How about … I ask her about the situation in Peng Zhou first?"
Xuan Tianming continued to "move." He did not have any intention of stopping because of this topic. Not only did he not stop, but he even reminded his wife: "At a time like this, you need to focus. How can you still be in the mood to listen to the movements in the yard? Thinking about it, it's because husband is not working hard enough that wife still has the energy to think about other things. It seems that husband needs to put in a bit more effort. "
He did as he said, and he did indeed put in a bit more effort. Feng Yu Heng began to pant under his influence, and she no longer dared to bring up the matter of meeting Wang Chuan.
Zhu Kongshan arrived in the capital two days later than Wang Chuan. Although she had also rushed over and hated that she could not sleep in the carriage, in the end, a carriage was not as fast as a single person on horseback. But in any case, they had entered the capital. In the early morning, when the capital's gates opened, Zhu Kongshan was unable to describe the feeling in her heart. It could be said that she had let out a sigh of relief and no longer needed to fear the Zhu family's pursuit, but upon returning to the capital, she would have to face a falling out with the Eighth Prince. Her heart was filled with anticipation and nervousness. At the same time, she could not help but feel vexed. If nothing had happened to Liu shi, how wonderful would everything have been? She had put in so much effort, and a good life was just around the corner; however, at this critical juncture, all of her previous efforts had been wasted. She hated Liu shi; however, she was powerless to change anything. The mistake had already been made. Now, she was a chess piece in the Eighth Prince's hands that could be discarded at any time. Since this was the case, why should she continue to be manipulated?
A sneer appeared on Zhu Kongshan's lips, which caused Xiao Yu, who was at her side, to feel secretly shocked. She just felt that ever since her young miss had come to the capital, she had become more thoughtful than before; however, she could not figure out what exactly she was thinking. It made her feel afraid and worried. This sort of feeling was truly not good.
Returning to the Sheng Palace, the Eighth Prince, Xuantian Mo, had already left for morning court. Zhu Kongshan did not remain in the palace for long. After changing her clothes, she headed straight for the northern part of the city with her two servants.
During the days that she had left, the charity event in the northern part of the city continued. The Sheng Palace had servants to support it, and the young misses and madams of the other officials' families would occasionally come over. But the charity event had been going on for so long, and it was impossible for those pampered madams and young misses to come and report every day. When Zhu Kongshan was present, they could still put on an act. Once she left the capital, they would all assign servants to take over.
But now that Zhu Kongshan had returned and stood in the northern part of the city, this news was very quickly brought back by the servants of each family. Less than four hours later, the madams and young misses that had not appeared for many days came over once more; however, they no longer had the same attitude as before. Instead, they all looked at her with scrutinizing gazes. There were even some that directly asked: "Young Miss Zhu, is what happened in the Zhu manor true? Your mother really had an affair with a housekeeper, and it was personally witnessed by your father? "
Zhu Kongshan felt that these words were stabbing at her heart; however, they could not defeat her. She still remembered what her goal in returning to the capital was. She turned her head and said to the Sheng Palace's maidservant: "Go over to the rundown temple and take a look. We've been gone for so long. Who knows if there's anything that needs fixing. My servant just came from Peng Zhou and is still not familiar with this place. Just go over in my place! "
This servant had been with Zhu Kongshan, and she had done plenty of things for her in the past. She did not think much of it, nodding and heading toward the rundown temple. Only after she had gone far away did Zhu Kongshan have a further reaction. She said to the madam that had just spoken: "If I have not remembered incorrectly, your family's master is just a standard sixth rank official in charge of the Ministry of Rites, right? His Highness the eighth prince once said that the official in charge of the Ministry of Rites is a very petty person. It's fine to use him on a normal day, but when it comes to big matters, he's too far away. In fact, he's so far away that there's no need to give him a hand. "
The madam was stunned and pondered for a long time before realizing what these words meant. Was she saying that the Eighth Prince disdained her family's master for not being good enough? Also, he was not prepared to give her family a hand? Then what was the point of her doing these so-called good deeds?
There was another young miss that was able to make sense of this and asked: "What do you mean by these words?"
Zhu Kongshan looked at this young miss and thought a bit, saying: "The daughter of the first wife of a standard fifth rank official from the Ministry of Works? Hah, really, the Eighth Prince also said that your father is someone who does not know what's good for him. He always thinks that he can use the Eighth Prince's influence to rise up a few ranks; however, he does not weigh his own worth. A grasshopper with only one leg wants to jump up? What a joke. "
Everyone was dazed from hearing this. Looking at Zhu Kongshan, they had an expression that said: "Has this person been bewitched?" The Zhu Kongshan that they knew was not like this. She was a delicate and gentle person, and she treated everyone with a humble attitude. Even if she had been angered by Consort Li and Royal Consort Yu in the palace, she would always remain calm. They had never seen her filled with such hostility.
Everyone looked at Zhu Kongshan in a daze. In just an instant, they saw her face reveal her usual humble demeanor, as she said to them with a smile: "It's fine. Regardless of what the Eighth Prince says, I will treat you the same as before. The madams are all seniors, and the young misses are all sisters. You will not be affected in the slightest by the Eighth Prince. " It was as though nothing had happened. It was as though those words had not come from her mouth.
Some people thought about it a bit more and felt that what had been said earlier was Zhu Kongshan relaying the Eighth Prince's intentions. It was not Zhu Kongshan's own intentions. Zhu Kongshan was still the same as before. The only one that had changed was the Eighth Prince.
Everyone looked at each other and exchanged a few glances. Some people smiled awkwardly and said: "Many thanks for young miss Zhu's reminder. It turns out that in the Eighth Prince's heart, our family members are actually so unbearable."
Zhu Kongshan repeatedly waved her hand and anxiously explained: "No, no, don't misunderstand. It's not that all of your family members are unworthy of the Eighth Prince's attention. There are still some that the Eighth Prince did not speak about directly. Thinking about it … thinking about it, there are also some opportunities for them to be favored!"
"This means that the Eighth Prince does not like the majority of the people." The people also understood, "The rest are just things that were not directly said, but the meaning is the same. It's no wonder our fathers have been with the Eighth Prince for so long but have not been able to obtain any benefits. It turns out that the Eighth Prince does not like us at all. Lowly officials like us are completely useless. "
"Hah, you've really misunderstood." Zhu Kongshan continued to explain: "No, no, I didn't say that you're completely useless. At the very least, you're still useful right now. For example, you've come out to give out some congee. The Eighth Prince said it long ago. If we just rely on the Sheng Palace, the expenses would be too great. With your help, the Sheng Palace would be able to lessen quite a bit of the burden. "
"Useful right now? After using them, they'll be thrown to the side, right? " Everyone understood the meaning behind these words, and their faces turned red with anger. The madams simply became angry on the spot, "What congee? Did you not hear it? They're just using our money to fill their own holes. In truth, we're nothing in their hearts! "
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