Zhu Kongshan didn't know who sent the letter, whether it was an enemy or a friend, but she believed that the contents of the letter were completely true. She had no reason, just based on her intuition and her understanding of the Eighth Prince over the past few months.
She crumpled the letter into a ball, having already made up her mind. She called back her personal maid Xiaoyu and asked cautiously, "I will return to Beijing tonight. Do you dare to come with me?"
Xiaoyu was stunned and asked back, "Miss, is what you said true? Aunt Liu hasn't been buried yet, isn't it too hasty for us to leave now? Didn't you come back just to see Aunt Liu off for the last time?"
"No need to see her off." Zhu Kongshan's heart also turned cold. "As my biological mother, she never considered me when she was alive. I don't think she needs a daughter like me to see her off after she dies. The Zhu family and the Liu family are enough. One more person won't be too much. Besides, the eldest lady and my father want to marry me off. How can I let them control me?"
Xiaoyu also heard about this, and she could only sigh that her young lady was really unlucky, having such a biological mother, and such a father and stepmother. If she didn't leave, she would have to suffer for the rest of her life in the Zhu family. So she nodded and said, "Xiaoyu will listen to you. Wherever you go, Xiaoyu will follow you. But what about the two girls around the eldest young lady? Should we still take them with us?"
Zhu Kongshan shook his head: "Don't worry about it. Even if I ask them to go back to Beijing with me, those two girls won't want to go back. This matter must be kept secret and no one should know about it. Once it is known, we can't leave." She looked at Xiaoyu and felt that after many years of master-servant relationship, this girl should not betray herself. But there is always a chance of something happening, and she didn't dare to trust anyone in this Zhu Mansion. So after thinking about it, she said something threatening-"Xiaoyu, you have to understand that I am taking you to the capital for your own good. If we don't go, I will have to marry someone under the arrangement of the eldest lady, and as my personal maid, you must marry with me. Think about it, how can the family they arrange be reliable? Once you marry, you don't know what kind of torture you will suffer. If I don't live well, how can you live well?"
Upon hearing this, Xiaoyu knelt down and quickly expressed her position: "Xiaoyu has been serving the young lady since she was a child. In this mansion, the young lady is Xiaoyu's only relative. Wherever you go, Xiaoyu will go. I will never betray the young lady in my life."
Zhu Kongshan nodded with satisfaction, and said nothing more. He just went out and gave some instructions to the maid of Prince Sheng's Mansion. The maid was also a little puzzled as to why she was in such a hurry to leave. Zhu Kongshan used the Eighth Prince to pressure her: "My cousin told me to come back and take a look, and then go back as soon as possible. This Zhu Mansion cannot hold me back. These are my cousin's exact words."
The maid didn't ask any more questions after hearing this. After all, the Eighth Prince had told her before coming here that she must bring Zhu Kongshan back to the capital. There were still many things that needed Zhu Kongshan to do in the capital. He had finally got such an assistant, so he had to make full use of his value before throwing him away. She followed Zhu Kongshan's instructions and quietly left the mansion to prepare for the night trip.
With the help of this girl, Zhu Kongshan's escape was very smooth. He escaped without the Zhu family and the Liu family noticing and left Pengzhou overnight.
At the same time, Wangchuan also left that night, riding a fast horse, taking a shortcut and hurried back to Beijing.
The next day, when the Zhu family found out that Zhu Kongshan had run away and wanted to chase him, they could no longer catch up. The eldest lady was so angry that she jumped up and down, but Zhu Kongyue connected Zhu Kongshan's escape with the disappearance of her maid Ah Chuan a few days ago, and had a bad feeling that she had been deceived.
One night four days later, Wang Chuan returned to Beijing and entered the Prince Yu's Mansion smoothly. Huang Quan was very happy to see her back, and surrounded her to ask questions, but the two of them did not mention that they would report to Feng Yuheng immediately. In the middle of the night, the two masters were either sleeping soundly or making a lot of noise. They only had one head, so they didn't dare to disturb them at this time.
But Feng Yuheng in the room had already heard the noise in the yard. She pinched Xuan Tianming and suggested, "Wang Chuan is back, how about... I ask her about the situation in Pengzhou first?"
Xuan Tianming's "actions" continued, and he had no intention of stopping because of this topic. Not only did he not stop, he even reminded his wife, "You need to concentrate at times like this. How come you still have the energy to listen to the noise in the yard? I guess it's because I'm not working hard enough that I still have the energy to think about other things. It seems that I have to work harder."
He did what he said and indeed added more strength. Feng Yuheng panted repeatedly under his stimulation and never dared to mention meeting Wangchuan again.
Zhu Kongshan arrived in Beijing two days later than Wangchuan. Although she was in a hurry and wanted to sleep in the carriage, the carriage was not as fast as a horse and a horse. But at least she entered the capital. In the early morning, when the gates of the capital were opened, Zhu Kongshan couldn't tell what she felt in her heart. She was relieved and no longer worried about being chased by the Zhu family. But when she returned to Beijing, she was about to face the rift with the Eighth Prince. She was expecting and nervous, and at the same time, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. If nothing happened to Liu, everything would be so beautiful. She made so much effort, and saw that good days were within her reach, but at this critical moment, all her efforts were wasted. She hated Liu, but she was powerless to change anything. The mistake had been made. She was now a chess piece in the hands of the Eighth Prince, ready to be abandoned at any time. In this case, why should she let him control her?
A sneer appeared at the corner of Zhu Kongshan's lips, and Xiaoyu beside him was secretly surprised. She felt that her young lady had been more thoughtful since she came to the capital, but she couldn't figure out what she was thinking. It made her scared and worried. This feeling was really bad.
When they returned to Prince Sheng's Mansion, the Eighth Prince Xuan Tianmo had already gone to attend the morning court. Zhu Kongshan did not stay in the mansion for long. After changing his clothes, he took the two maids and headed straight to the north of the city.
During the days she was away, the charity in the north of the city continued. The servants in the Sheng Palace supported it, and other ladies and wives from official families would come occasionally. But after all, the charity had been going on for so long, and it was impossible for those delicate ladies and wives to report every day. When Zhu Kongshan was around, they could still pretend to do it, but as soon as she left the capital, they all appointed their servants to take over.
But now that Zhu Kongshan was back, he went to the north of the city, and the news was quickly passed back to the mansion by the servants of each family. Within two hours, the ladies who had not appeared for many days came again, but they were no longer the stars in the sky. Instead, they looked at him with scrutiny, and some even asked directly, "Miss Zhu, is what happened in the Zhu Mansion true? Did your mother really have an affair with the housekeeper, and was caught by your father?"
Zhu Kongshan felt that these words were stabbing into her heart, but they could not defeat her. She always remembered the purpose of her return to Beijing. She turned her head and said to the maid in Sheng Wangfu: "Go to the dilapidated temple and take a look. We have been away for so long, and we don't know if there is anything that needs repairing. My maid just came from Pengzhou and is not familiar with this place. You can go there for me!"
This girl followed Zhu Kongshan and had done a lot of running around for him before. She didn't think much of it at the moment. She nodded and turned to go to the ruined temple. It was not until she was far away that Zhu Kongshan responded further. He said to the lady who had just bullied her: "If I remember correctly, your master is only a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites, right? The Eighth Prince once said that the official in the Ministry of Rites is a petty person. He is fine for daily use, but he is far from being good enough for big things. There is even no need to help him."
The lady was stunned, and it took her a long time to figure out what this meant. Was it that the Eighth Prince disliked her master? And he had no intention of helping her family? Then why was she doing these so-called good deeds?
Another young lady also understood something and asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Zhu Kongshan looked at the young lady, thought about it, and said, "The legitimate daughter of a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works? Oh, really, the Eighth Prince also said that your father is an ungrateful person. He always fantasizes that he can use the Eighth Prince's influence to move up two levels, but he doesn't even consider his own weight. A grasshopper with half a leg wants to jump up? What a joke."
People were stunned when they heard this, looking at Zhu Kongshan, as if they were wondering if he was possessed by evil spirits. The Zhu Kongshan they knew was not like this. She was a gentle and graceful person, always modest to everyone. Even when she was bullied by Concubine Li and Princess Yu in the palace, she was always calm and composed. They had never seen her so full of anger.
People stared at Zhu Kongshan in a daze. After a moment, her usual humility reappeared on her face. She smiled and said to them, "It doesn't matter. No matter what the Eighth Prince says, I will treat you the same as before. The ladies are elders, and the ladies are sisters. They will not be affected by the Eighth Prince in the slightest." Everything seemed to have never happened, as if those words had not come from her mouth.
Some people thought more about it and thought that the previous words were just Zhu Kongshan relaying the Eighth Prince's meaning, not Zhu Kongshan's own meaning. Zhu Kongshan was still the same as before, and the only thing that changed was the Eighth Prince.
People looked at each other and exchanged glances. Some people smiled awkwardly and said, "Thank you Miss Zhu for reminding us. It turns out that in the Eighth Prince's heart, our family is so unbearable."
Zhu Kongshan waved his hands again and again, and explained anxiously: "No, no, don't misunderstand me. It's not that all of your family members are not worthy of the Eighth Prince's eyes. There are still some that the Eighth Prince didn't speak out about. I think... I think there is a chance that they will be favored!"
"This means that the Eighth Prince doesn't like most people." People also understood, "The rest just didn't say it directly, but the meaning is the same. No wonder our father followed the Eighth Prince for so long but didn't get any real benefits. It turns out that the Eighth Prince didn't like us at all. Small officials like us are useless."
"Oh, you really misunderstood." Zhu Kongshan was still explaining: "No, no, I didn't say you are useless. At least you are still useful now, for example, you come out to give out porridge. The Eighth Prince said long ago that if we only rely on the Sheng Palace, the expenses will be too high. With your help, it has reduced a lot of burden for the Sheng Palace."
"Is it useful now? It will be thrown aside after use!" People all understood the meaning of this, and they were so angry that their faces turned red and their necks became thick. The ladies even turned hostile on the spot - "Why are you giving out porridge? Didn't you hear that? They are just using our money to fill their own holes. In fact, in their hearts, we are nothing!"
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