Zhu Kongshan's family background was not very good. She was the daughter of a sixth-rank official and a concubine's daughter. Fortunately, the Zhu family treated her well for the sake of the two queens and two princes in the palace. At least she could hire a teacher to teach her literacy, music, chess, calligraphy and painting together with the legitimate daughter. However, she was not very interested in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, but she had her own unique views on how to deal with people and things. In the Zhu Mansion, she helped her father solve many problems and gave many ideas. As a result, in Pengzhou, the reputation of the Zhu family was better and greater than that of the governor of Pengzhou.
When she talked to the Eighth Prince about what happened in the palace today, she expressed her own opinion. She said, "Although cousin Feng is also a prince, I heard that he is not good at court affairs and does not like to stay in the capital. In recent years, he has either been hiding at the border or in Ji'an County. I am afraid that he himself would reject such a person to compete for the throne. What's more, I have met the second aunt. To be frank, even if she has the ambition, she does not have the ability. Cousin, don't ask me how I can see it. It's just based on my feeling, and Kongshan's feeling has always been very accurate. So in Kongshan's opinion, this matter is not difficult. Tomorrow Kongshan will go to the palace to congratulate the second aunt. Since she has taken that position, we must find a way to let her help us."
Xuan Tianmo felt that it was very pleasant to talk to someone like Zhu Kongshan. The two of them could always think alike. This girl was also smart enough and was always thinking about her. Having such a cousin to help him was really a great help to him. He couldn't help but think about Yuan Guiren's plan. If this girl took the position of queen in the future, he would be able to save a lot of worries in this world. After all, she was his cousin. She was reliable in every way, which was better than helping other women to take the position. As for whether he liked her in his heart, it was not a big deal. After all, there could not be only one woman around him. There would be women who comforted the world for him, and there would be women who spoke softly to him. As long as this world belonged to him, what could he not have?
Zhu Kongshan did not try to guess what Xuan Tianmo was thinking. She knew that it was too early to talk about whether it was a big deal or not. The more you looked at some things, the less likely you were to get them. It would be better to just calm down and do things step by step. One day, you would be able to make things a complete success.
After Xuan Tianmo left, she began to prepare the gifts she would need to enter the palace tomorrow, and the relief money for the people was first handed over to the accountant for the final statistics, and she would deliver it in person as soon as she came out of the palace tomorrow.
After Zhu Kongshan came to the capital, he also learned about the two aunts in the palace from the side. Just now, she said that Concubine Li was ambitious but incompetent, which was still lenient. In fact, in her opinion, Concubine Li was a useless piece of mud who would only be depressed and weak, and would fail when the real thing came. However, since he wanted to get benefits from her, he had to flatter this person now.
She knew that Concubine Li was a relatively poor concubine. Although the Sixth Prince was not penniless, he was not as wealthy as other princes. The Emperor Tianwu did not care about the harem at all and had not given him anything for more than 20 years. The concubines lived on their own foundation or the support of the princes. Concubine Li could not be relied on in any way. Now that she had returned to the position of concubine, there should be many people who came to congratulate her. I think she would need a lot of small things to take care of.
Zhu Kongshan was really smart. She didn't ask the accountant to prepare large silver bills, but asked them to exchange them for ingots of ten taels and five taels, a total of one thousand taels. Some more scattered ones were packed into a dozen small cloth bags. These were all reserved for Concubine Li to reward people. In addition, she found three sets of jewelry and head ornaments worthy of the status of a concubine from the warehouse of Prince Sheng's Mansion. These three sets of head ornaments were very exquisite and precious, and they were genuine and worth the price. She also found a lot of fabrics from the warehouse, including two pieces of Shuiyun satin, and simply took them with her.
The next day, Zhu Kongshan entered the palace, followed by the royal guards arranged by the Eighth Prince, who helped her carry the boxes of silver all the way to Changning Palace.
Changning Palace was very lively these past two days. From the Empress to the imperial concubines and concubines, everyone came to give gifts and express congratulations. Many of the ladies came by themselves, and some sent servants. Concubine Li received a lot of gifts, but she didn't have enough money to give the palace maids and eunuchs who came to give gifts, so she was criticized for being shabby.
Zuo'er suggested to Concubine Li helplessly: "We have received so many things now, why don't I try to send some of them outside the palace and exchange them for some silver! The King of Hell is aggressive and the little devils are difficult to deal with. Those masters and ladies don't care about the few taels of reward money, but the people under them all rely on it to make a living. I'm afraid they are happy to take on the task of sending gifts to us, because there will be rewards, but the only loose silver we have was used up yesterday, and we can't use large silver notes to reward them."
Concubine Li was also worried about this matter, but it was not easy to sell things from the palace! Once it was discovered and someone started to make trouble, it would be more trouble than gain. She shook her head and did not approve of Zuo'er's approach.
Zuo'er also knew that this was not a good idea. The master and the servant sighed to each other, neither knowing what to do.
Zhu Kongshan entered Changning Palace at this time. When he announced his family background and said that he was the cousin of the Liu family, the servants of Changning Palace hurried inside to report. After hearing this, Concubine Li was not surprised at all. She just took out a box from the cabinet silently, touched it with her hand, and said reluctantly: "This is the best thing I can get. After all, I climbed back to the position of concubine because of her. If I don't give her some valuable gifts, if people talk about it, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the emperor."
Zuo'er quickly advised: "Your Majesty, please don't feel bad about these things. Just look at the items you have received in the past two days. Let's not talk about others. The rewards from the Emperor and the Empress are all good things. You won't lose out."
Concubine Li also knew this, so she said nothing more. She just handed the box in her hand to Zuo'er and went out of the main hall to greet him personally.
When Zhu Kongshan saw his second aunt again, her status had changed dramatically. From a noble lady to a concubine, she had to kneel down and kowtow when she came today.
She knelt down in a proper manner, kowtowed to Concubine Li, and said, "Kongshan was very happy to hear that my second aunt had returned to the position of concubine. I couldn't help myself this morning and asked my cousin Mo to get a waist badge to go to the palace to congratulate my second aunt! Kongshan pays homage to my second aunt and Concubine Li!"
Concubine Li put on a professional smile. After all, she had lived in the harem for so many years, so she knew the ins and outs of this. She quickly stepped forward and helped the person up, then said, "We are all family, there is no need to be so polite. To be honest, I was able to return to the position of concubine thanks to your blessing, Kongshan."
"What are you talking about, Second Aunt? Kongshan was not able to show filial piety to Aunt before. Now that he finally came to the capital, he should at least take care of Aunt." The two of them walked into the main hall while talking. After they sat down, the Imperial Guards, the servants from Prince Sheng's Mansion, and Zhu Kongshan's two maids brought in the gifts. Zhu Kongshan said, "Because I am staying at my cousin Mo's place, I can't bring out many good things at the moment. These were picked out from the warehouse of Prince Sheng's Mansion. Cousin Mo said that it was inconvenient for him to come here, so he asked me to pick the good things, which was also a token of his kindness. Even the only two pieces of Shuiyun satin in the warehouse were taken out by Cousin Mo himself, and he asked Kongshan to bring them in and give them to Second Aunt."
She kept calling him Cousin Mo, which made Concubine Li feel irritated. However, no matter how irritated she was, she was suppressed by the two rolls of Shuiyun satin. The material, one of the five treasures, was difficult to obtain even for the masters in the palace, and she had never touched it from beginning to end. But today she got two rolls at once, how could she not be excited.
Concubine Li quickly signaled Zuo'er to pass the box to Zhu Kongshan, and then said: "Auntie doesn't know what to give you. Life in the palace may seem glorious, but in fact it is not as glorious as it seems. This is the best thing that auntie can give, please don't despise it."
Zhu Kongshan quickly stood up to thank her without any polite words, and just said: "Kongshan thanks aunt for her concern. Kongshan will definitely keep these things well and give them to mother when I return to Pengzhou in the future. Mother misses the two aunts very much, and seeing these things can be regarded as a thought."
She brought up the topic of family affection, and also brought up Concubine Li's sighs. Thinking back to the days when she was a girl in the mansion, she could not remember the appearance of the concubine sister, but she still remembered that there was such a person. When she thought of this, she thought of the people in the Liu Mansion, her father, her mother, and Concubine Yuan's biological sister, and her heart could not calm down for a long time.
"Aunt." Zhu Kongshan bowed and said, "In addition to bringing some head ornaments and Shuiyun forges to congratulate you, I also took the initiative to bring some loose silver." As he said that, he ordered the servants to open the boxes, which were filled with white silver. The silver was not big, and there were silvers of five or ten taels. At the same time, the two maids Ah Huan and Ah Ruo also opened the bundles they carried with them, and inside were small packages of even more loose silver. Zhu Kongshan said, "These silvers are not worth much in total. Kongshan brought them in for your daily rewards. It is not easy to exchange some silver in the palace. Kongshan has exchanged small amounts. The smallest in the box is five taels and the largest is ten taels. These smaller ones are one tael and two taels. They are not for great use, but for your daily convenience."
This is really what you need, and Concubine Li and Zuo'er both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw off these small silver coins. At the moment, the servants were welcoming and seeing off people in the courtyard. Concubine Li exchanged a look with Zuo'er, and Zuo'er stepped forward, first bowed to Zhu Kongshan, then took out a small silver bag without any hesitation, picked up a few five-liang and ten-liang silver coins, stuffed them all into his sleeve pocket, and hurried out.
Seeing this reaction, Zhu Kongshan knew that his gift was on point, and a deeper smile appeared on his face. And because of this timely help, Concubine Li became closer to Zhu Kongshan and said, "You are still considerate, you are still considerate!"
The two sat down and chatted again. Concubine Li asked a lot of questions about the Liu Mansion and the Zhu Mansion. Zhu Kongshan answered them one by one. He also asked about Xuan Tianfeng's situation outside. They were like a family, and all their words were about family matters.
Finally, while chatting, Concubine Li casually said her thoughts, "Now that I have returned to the position of concubine and received so many gifts, I am thinking that I will hold a palace banquet in the future. Don't make it too ostentatious and don't invite too many people. Just hold it in Changning Palace. It will at least be auspicious. I was demoted to a noble lady before, and your cousin Feng also suffered grievances. Now I am proud of myself, and I can't let your cousin Feng be looked down upon by others again!"
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