Divine Doctor: Daughter of the First Wife (Yang Shi Liu) 801

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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…