readx(); Zhu Kongshan proposed to go home to attend the funeral. The Eighth Prince had no reason to stop her. He just reminded her again before leaving: "Remember your identity and your future. Don't let the Zhu Mansion hold you back. The dead are gone. It's enough to cry for a while. Return to the capital immediately after the funeral. Don't stay in Pengzhou too long."
Zhu Kongshan didn't want to listen to these things anymore. She even felt a little resentful that the Eighth Prince didn't help her at that time. If the Eighth Prince had expressed his position earlier, the Zhu family would not have let Liu die. Although she died by hanging, if the Zhu family hadn't locked her up in the woodshed, how could Liu have had the opportunity to hang herself?
Back to Pengzhou, the maid who knew Kungfu from the Sheng Palace drove the carriage, and Zhu Kongshan sat in the carriage with Ah Huan and Ah Ruo. She was dressed in plain clothes, but the two maids were dressed as usual, with pink edges on their cuffs. Zhu Kongshan took a cold look, and didn't want to say anything more about the two maids sent by Zhu Kongyue, but after all, it was her mother's funeral, and she couldn't get over the fact that these two people were dressed like this in front of her, so she said, "You sold your bodies as slaves, but you don't even know this little bit of rules. The master of the mansion is holding a funeral, and you are dressed like this, who are you wearing it for?"
The maids from Prince Sheng's Mansion were not in the carriage. Ah Huan and Ah Ruo were not afraid of Zhu Kongshan who was about to return to Pengzhou, because they knew that once she left the capital, this concubine's daughter would be at the mercy of the Zhu family. In front of the legitimate daughter, she was nothing. Moreover, her biological mother had such an ugly incident, who would be willing to look at her well?
Ah Huan shrugged and smiled, then asked Zhu Kongshan, "Did Third Miss forget the rules of Dashun? I've never heard of a family mourning for the death of a concubine. To put it bluntly, if something happened to the first lady, we would have to observe the deepest mourning. But Third Miss, don't forget that Liu is just a concubine. Why should we mourn for a concubine?"
Ah Huan's words left Zhu Kongshan speechless. Yes! Liu was just a concubine, and she caused such a big scandal before she died. She had some doubts about how Liu died. She was Liu's daughter and knew her mother too well. Hanged? What a joke, was Liu the kind of person who had the courage to hang herself? But if not, what was the real cause of death? Why didn't the Liu family investigate?
Zhu Kongshan had countless questions in her mind. She was thinking about what was going on all the way from the capital to Pengzhou. She had some vague guesses in her mind, but she was not sure. It was not until the carriage entered Pengzhou and finally stopped in front of Zhu's house that she saw the eldest uncle from the Liu family talking to people with a smile, and the guess became more and more in her mind.
When Zhu Kongshan returned home, no one in the Zhu family greeted her with a friendly face. Everyone looked at her with contempt and disdain. Some servants even whispered, "Even if she has the support of the prince and the princess, what can she do? With a mother like this, how can the prince marry such a person as his principal wife?"
Zhu Kongshan was struck by lightning, and suddenly realized a very realistic problem: these servants were right!
The most important thing for the royal family is face. It doesn't matter that she is a concubine's daughter, a concubine's daughter can also become a legitimate daughter. It doesn't matter that her father's official position is not high, he can be promoted. Or maybe she and the Eighth Prince are in love with each other. The Eighth Prince is not the kind of person who only cares about status. Once the hat of being sentimental is put on her, it will have a positive impact on her reputation.
But what about now? Not only is she a concubine's daughter, but her biological mother also had an affair with the housekeeper of the mansion and was caught in bed by her father. With such a background, how could the Eighth Prince want her!
The ripples in her heart over the past few days froze into ice in an instant. Zhu Kongshan stood in the courtyard, thinking hard about the cause and effect of this matter. The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she was deceived by the Eighth Prince. What future queen? Even when Liu's scandal was exposed, that person was still talking to her about the future queen. She was confused at the time and didn't think deeply about it, but now thinking back, how could that cousin treat her with sincerity?
Suddenly, Zhu Kongshan turned around, stared at the maid from Prince Sheng's Mansion, and asked coldly: "Tell me, how did my mother die?"
The girl frowned and shook her head and replied, "I just returned to Pengzhou with my cousin, how could I know how she died?"
“Hmph!” Zhu Kongshan snorted coldly, “You don’t know since you are not in Pengzhou? I am afraid you know more in Prince Sheng’s Palace!” After saying that, he turned around and went straight to Liu’s mourning hall.
Although she was a concubine, due to pressure from the Liu family, the Zhu family still set up a small mourning hall, but apart from family members, no outsiders came to pay their respects.
When she arrived, there were people from the Zhu family and the Liu family in the mourning hall. Seeing her coming, people made way for her. Zhu Kongshan kowtowed and lit incense, then walked to the coffin and touched it, with a complex expression on his face.
She couldn't tell how she felt about her mother. If she loved her, she definitely loved her, after all, they were mother and daughter. But if she hated her, she definitely hated her, after all, it was Liu's misdeeds that affected her second half of life. Zhu Kongshan's grandson now knew what fate awaited her. Would she be completely abandoned by the Eighth Prince, or would she be abandoned by the Eighth Prince after being used for a while, or would her cousin really not care about all this and still marry her as his concubine?
As she thought about it, she started to laugh. When she turned around, she saw her uncle from the Liu family coming in from outside. He looked at her with obvious annoyance on his face. She took the initiative to step forward, saluted, and called out, "Uncle."
The other party just nodded and said nothing, but said to Zhu Xinjie: "Kongshan is back, let's bury him tomorrow!"
Zhu Xinjie nodded with a sullen face, and never said a word to Zhu Kongshan from beginning to end. She was unwilling to accept it, and asked weakly: "How did Aunt Liu die?"
Zhu Xinjie looked disgusted and waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly, saying, "Haven't you heard? Liu had an affair with the housekeeper in the mansion and committed suicide out of fear of the crime."
Zhu Kongshan didn't like to hear such words, and replied: "But my daughter also heard that before Aunt Liu hanged herself, she stained her finger with blood and wrote a big word "injustice". Why didn't the family investigate it?"
"What are you investigating?" Zhu Xinjie really wanted to slap his daughter to death. "I saw it with my own eyes, what else is there to investigate!"
"I'm not talking about investigating this." When Zhu Kongshan said this, his eyes turned to the side where the Liu family stood, and he said quietly: "What I mean is, why didn't you investigate? It's obviously not an injustice, why write the word "injustice"? Aunt Liu is most afraid of pain, and she cares the most about her appearance. How could she hang herself? Who can do such a thing? She can't do it."
After hearing what she said, Zhu Xinjie also felt that something was indeed fishy. With Liu's personality, it was unlikely that she would commit suicide. But he didn't want to pursue it any further. The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he felt. No matter how Liu died, now that she was dead, he felt at peace and the mansion was clean. As for the real cause of death, it was none of his business. She was just a concubine, so she died.
Seeing that Zhu Xinjie didn't say anything for a long time, Zhu Kongshan was not surprised. He just asked the Liu family again: "Can't the two uncles make a decision for Auntie?"
Liu Wannian glanced at her and said in a deep voice, "I thought I would make some progress after going to the capital, but I didn't expect it to be like this. Since your aunt is a concubine of the Zhu family, everything is decided by the Zhu family. How can my Liu family interfere?"
In just one sentence, the Liu family's attitude was made clear. Zhu Kongshan nodded and did not ask any further questions, but in his mind he had already figured out 100% of the situation.
Liu’s death is probably related to the Liu family, or even the Eighth Prince in the capital, right?
After returning to the mansion, Ah Huan and Ah Ruo immediately returned to Zhu Kongyue's side. Zhu Kongyue only left the maid from Prince Sheng's mansion on this side. But she kept the maid outside the house and was not allowed to serve her closely. The one who was by her side was still her own person who had always taken care of her in the mansion.
That night, the eldest lady came to Zhu Kongshan's room and told her: "Your father has already arranged a marriage for you. He is a scholar in Pengzhou. You will be his legal wife if you marry him. You can marry up. You just need to prepare and marry him in half a month. The Zhu family will not miss your share of the dowry."
Zhu Kongshan said nothing, but nodded, showing a very cooperative look. This made the eldest lady very satisfied, and she left the house with a smile, but she did not notice the wolf-like gaze of the woman in the house.
The maidservant handed her a letter and said, "This morning, before the young lady came to the city, I went out to buy some things. A child slipped this letter to me, saying that it was a letter from someone to the third young lady of the Zhu family. Please take a look at it when you return home."
Zhu Kongshan was puzzled, but she quickly took the letter in her hands. The fact that the letter could be sent in this way meant that the content of the letter was very secret. Seeing that the wax seal was intact, she relaxed her grip and sent her personal maid away before opening the letter.
The content of the letter was very simple. The eldest master of the Liu family went to the capital, discussed with the eighth prince, and returned to Pengzhou to send secret guards to kill Liu and fake a suicide scene. Please investigate carefully, Miss Zhu.
It coincides with her imagination!
Zhu Kongshan held the letter tightly in her hand. She had no time to think about who sent the letter. She just thought that she had been helping the Eighth Prince for the past few months and had put in so much effort, but in the end, the Eighth Prince teamed up with her uncle to kill her mother. What kind of thing was this?
The truth is often hard to accept, but Zhu Kongshan understood that she had to accept it whether she wanted to or not. Things had already become like this. Her second half of life had been ruined by this incident and she could never go back to the past. Her father and the eldest lady had even chosen a husband for her and she would be married in half a month. They were so anxious that they obviously didn't want her to go back to Beijing, and the Liu family's attitude also made it clear that they didn't want to care about her and her mother's affairs anymore.
The Zhu family was eager to get rid of her, and the Liu family was also eager to get rid of her. She was still enjoying great success in the capital a few days ago, but now that she has returned to Pengzhou, it is like entering hell on earth, and everyone is disgusted with her.
Zhu Kongshan felt that she could no longer stay in this family. No matter whether it was the Zhu family or the Liu family, they were now dangerous to her. Her life could be lost at any time and anywhere. In this case, she did not intend to continue to be merciful. She wanted to take back all the honors she had given to certain people!
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