In the Yu Palace, Wang Chuan spoke with Feng Yuheng about the happenings in the Zhu family. Feng Yuheng listened to it very happily and interjected from time to time with her own thoughts.

  Huang Quan was unable to hold back from the side: “Young miss, is there a bit of a feeling of having returned to the Feng family?”


  She shrugged: “There is a bit of that feeling, but the lowly Zhu manor is truly too lacking when compared to the previous left prime minister’s Feng family. To the eighth prince, they’re just ants. If he wanted to crush them, that really would be something that could be done quite easily. If I was the sixth-rank master Zhu, I would grab a hold of Zhu Kongshan’s leg. What head madam, what daughter of the first wife, recognizing the situation is what’s most important. Regardless of what happens in the future, at the very least, the current eighth prince still has power, and it would not be a loss for the Zhu family.”


  “Unfortunately, Zhu Xinjie is the same as the late Feng Jinyuan. He’s completely incapable of realizing this point.” Wang Chuan apathetically said: “The Liu family is also ferocious, having Liu shi strangled so frankly. There wasn’t the slightest consideration given to their shared origins.”


  “This is the grief of daughters of concubines.” Feng Yuheng said: “Concubines must share with the head wife, and they exist to fight for the husband. This sort of existence is destined to be disliked by others. It’s natural that their children will not have any standing to speak. The only way to stop children from being born of concubines is to stop men from taking in concubines.”


  “How could that be possible!” Huang Quan shouted, “Where are there any men who don’t take concubines?”


  Wang Chuan shot a glare at her, reminding her: “How are there none? Our prince is one who will not take a concubine.”


  “That’s because our young miss is too good.” Huang Quan spoke with reason, “A second of our young miss does not exist in this world. That’s why our lord does not take one.”


  “That does not appear to be the case!” Feng Yuheng rubbed her face, “What if there comes a day when I get old?”


  “Young miss, don’t worry. Our lord appears even older than you.” Wang Chuan analyzed things seriously, “He’s that much older than you. When it comes to aging, he will be the first to appear old.”


  Feng Yuheng felt that these words were too comforting, as she happily pulled out a piece of chocolate to reward Wang Chuan. Wang Chuan could not endure the envious little gaze from Huang Quan and quietly gave her half.

  Recently, Zhu Kongshan had continued to perform good deeds in the northern part of the city during the day. At night, she would wait for Xuan Tianmo to have sex. There were times when she felt as though she was a prostitute who had to pay instead of getting paid. Not only would she be called to sleep with him in the name of love, but she would also need to turn around and do hard work for him.

  But this work could not continue for much longer. Recently, fewer and fewer people had been going to hand out congee. With her occasionally leaking the disdain that Xuan Tianmo felt towards those officials’ families, those people no longer wanted to come over. Even the congee stalls were removed.

  As for the people in the northern part of the city, they were rather kind. They all knew that money did not come as easily as the wind blew. From the beginning of winter to the start of the year, it had been over two months*. Nobody could possibly give away large amounts of their own family’s grains. That was why they did not cause a fuss when the families of the officials pulled out. In addition to this, Zhu Kongshan continued her work. At the very least, they would be able to get one meal each day.

  On this day, after Xuan Tianmo climbed off of her once more, Zhu Kongshan said to him: “Cousin, the good deeds in the northern part of the city have continued this entire time. As for the good deeds, Kongshan has an idea and has wanted to talk about it with cousin.”


  Xuan Tianmo nodded: “Speak.” He was quite expectant when it comes to Zhu Kongshan in this area.

  Zhu Kongshan quietly said: “All this time, it has been me who has been doing the work. Although all of the citizens know that the money for these good deeds comes from the Sheng Palace, this is not direct. Especially with the matter with Imperial Concubine Li, I have been feeling that things were unfair for aunty. It was clearly us who did the good deeds. Why is it that the reward went to Imperial Concubine Li? At the very heart of it, it’s because aunty and cousin didn’t personally participate.”


  Xuan Tianmo pondered for a while then asked: “Then you mean…”


  “Kongshan was thinking that if cousin could find some time to personally make a trip to the northern part of the city, even if it’s just standing next to the pot and handing out a few bowls of congee, it would be different. After all, you have gone, but the sixth prince did not go. The next time that there is a reward, to say something that goes against the Emperor, the Emperor will not be able to go against the public conscience and reward someone else. Also, for aunty, she is a member of the imperial harem. Leaving the palace is definitely not possible, but at the very least, she can take a stance. She can hand out some awards. As for what is to be handed out, Kongshan believes that wealth is not important. What is important is to give out something that the people can make use of. For example…” She thought for a bit then continued: “For example, we can have aunty sign off and find a group of maidservants and grannies to make some new winter clothes. It’s about to be the new year. We can use Noble Lady Yuan’s name to give the citizens new clothes. What does cousin think of this?”


  Xuan Tianmo’s eyes lit up. He felt that what Zhu Kongshan had said was reasonable and very thorough. He and Noble Lady Yuan would personally take part. Giving it one last push before the new year, when the new year comes around, the Emperor would definitely need to give a reward. With the two personally participating, the Emperor could not possibly give the reward to old sixth or Imperial Concubine Li.

  He looked at Zhu Kongshan with an approving smile, “Cousin really is smart and thorough. It’s fortunate that you thought of it. This prince will go into the palace tomorrow to tell imperial concubine mother about it to have her immediately arrange these things. When the winter clothes have been completed, this prince will personally go and hand them out and also personally hand out food.”


  A smile appeared on Zhu Kongshan’s face. Nodding her head, she shyly ducked under the blanket. When a beauty put on this sort of expression, it was difficult for Xuan Tianmo to go against them. With a smile appearing on his face, he climbed back up…


  Making winter clothes needed some time, and Zhu Kongshan continued her role as a Bodhisattva in the northern part of the city. It was just that all of the families of the officials completely pulled out within a few days of her “speaking up.” She put on a helpless expression; however, she was very happy. At the same time, the Sheng Palace’s congee stall had been doubled in size; however, the congee was thinner than before. Not only had it become thinner, but quite a bit of coarse rice had been added. It was no longer polished rice as it had been in the past.

  The citizens were a bit puzzled by this, but after thinking a bit, it had been supported for such a long time. It was possible that the Sheng Palace was powerless despite its best intentions. Coarse rice was fine. Congee that was thinner was also fine. It was better than not having anything. The people did not say anything about it.

  But Zhu Kongshan was hoping for this outcome. She would occasionally go to the dilapidated temple with her maidservant, Xiao Yu, and chat with the beggars. Most of what was said, however, was just a repeated conversation- “I don’t know how much longer this can continue. Coming from Peng Zhou to the capital, all of my accessories that could be sold have been sold. The money that I brought over has also been spent. The eighth prince gave me quite a few nice things, but I traded all of that for grains for the sake of letting everyone eat and stay warm. In the end, I am just a girl, and my family in Peng Zhou is just a sixth rank official’s family. It does not have much wealth. You guys have seen the congee recently. It’s getting thinner and thinner, and it’s mostly filled with coarse grains. This is also something that I can do nothing about. If I truly cannot hold out until spring, do not blame me.”


  The beggars became confused upon hearing this: “Wasn’t it said that the Sheng Palace spent money to give out the congee? In the past, there were so many family members from officials’ families who came to give out food. They all said that they were doing it under the eighth prince’s banner, and it was the eighth prince’s suggestion. Since it’s the eighth prince’s suggestion, why does our benefactor need to provide the money?”


  These beggars referred to Zhu Kongshan as their benefactor because Zhu Kongshan had begun her good deeds in the northern part of the city in the dilapidated temple. Now, the temple had a main door, and the paper for its windows had been replaced. Zhu Kongshan would even come by at night to provide them with a brazier to prevent them from catching a cold. Zhu Kongshan really was their benefactor. Even when they heard that it was the Sheng Palace’s money, the only person that they felt grateful for from the bottom of their hearts was Zhu Kongshan.

  Hearing the beggars bring up the eighth prince, Zhu Kongshan sighed and bitterly said: “He is a prince, a lord. He has so much work to do each day that he cannot finish it all. How could he have the time to concern himself with this side. I said that the Sheng Palace provided the money, but in truth, aside from the servants working in the stalls being from the Sheng Palace, the Sheng Palace has not provided a single cent.”


  “Then why do you still announce to the world that it’s the Sheng Palace helping the people?” The people just could not understand it, “He didn’t spend any money. How can he be willing to claim this for his reputation?”


  Zhu Kongshan helplessly said: “He is a prince, and I am currently relying on his charity. It’s natural that I would need to curry favor with him. He wants to forcefully claim these contributions as belonging to the Sheng Palace. What is there that I can do as a little girl? I just thought that it did not matter whose reputation improved. As long as everyone could enjoy some actual benefits, I would not argue over the reputation. Have you all heard about Imperial Concubine Li regaining her position as imperial concubine? Think about it, the Emperor is the most brilliant person. If these things really had been done by the eighth prince, if the Emperor really was to reward someone, he would have rewarded Noble Lady Yuan. How could it have possibly been given to Imperial Concubine Li. After all, the sixth prince has not done anything.”


  With her saying this, the beggars came to a sudden realization. But of course, what sort of person was the Emperor? He was sharp-eyed and clear-headed. It was because the Emperor knew that these things were unrelated to the eighth prince and Noble Lady Yuan, and those two were being extremely shameless in making themselves look good. It was because of this that the Emperor got angry and granted the reward to Imperial Concubine Li. After all, the Zhu family’s daughter was also related to Imperial Concubine Li. Looking at it from a distance, she was the same as Noble Lady Yuan.

  Someone angrily said: “It’s like I said! How could someone like the eighth prince suddenly straighten out and suddenly change to show compassion for commoners? All of it ended up being fake. The money came from our benefactor, and the deeds were performed by our benefactor; however, he piled all of these accomplishments on himself. He really is shameless to the greatest extreme!”


  The people in the capital already had complaints about the eighth prince because of the situation with Feng Yuheng and Hundred Herb Hall. Now that they found that they had been deceived, their words became even less courteous, as they began to cuss him out. Zhu Kongshan laughed internally from hearing this; however, on the surface, she furrowed her brow and put on a loving expression.

  Not long later, the Sheng Palace’s servant came over to this side. She quickly stood up and pretended to be shocked in front of the beggars. She then quickly left with that maidservant. These days, Xiao Yu had been trained very well by her and left a step later than the two. When Zhu Kongshan and the maidservant had left, she turned around and hastily told the beggars: “The servant just now was one sent by the Sheng Palace. She was sent by the eighth prince to keep an eye on our young miss, fearing that young miss would reveal these things. But seeing that the grain supply is about to run out, things won’t be able to continue for much longer. Young miss felt that it would not be good for her conscience if she did not say anything. You must not spread this information! If it was found out by the eighth prince, he will hit our young miss when we get back.” After saying this, she hastily ran out.

  The beggars hatefully gnashed their teeth. The eighth prince actually treated their benefactor like this. They were at the end of their patience…


  *TN: Reminder that the new year here is the lunar new year, which is around the end of January or beginning of February.