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

959

Feng Fendai, What Are You Going Crazy Over Now?

Speaking of banquets hosted by the members of the imperial harem, these were things that were quite well-received by everyone in the past, but this “past” was referring to a time over 20 years in the past. In fact, it was nearing 30 years. At that time, Imperial Concubine Yun still was not around, and the Emperor was still a normal emperor. With all of the beautiful women in the palace, even if he did not spread his love equally, he still took care of most people. It was such that the members of the imperial harem competing for favor had become quite severe. The battles in the palace were like a raging fire, as the ones that were favored would occasionally host small gatherings in their own palaces, gardens or at the theatre stage. Some madams and young misses from the noble and prestigious families of the capital would be invited. They would receive some gifts and listen to some flattery to brag in front of the women that did not receive any favor. This gained them a great deal of face.

As for the madams and young misses, they were happy to participate in these sorts of activities. Although they needed to prepare some gifts, these noble and prestigious families were not lacking in nice things; however, finding an opportunity to enter the palace was difficult. Finding a chance to interact with the members of the imperial harem also was not easy, and interacting with those that were favored would be even harder to come by. That was why they were all perfectly happy and willing to participate. It was such that every time a member of the imperial harem hosted one of these small banquets, they would all become very lively.

Because of Imperial Concubine Li’s personality, she did not have many friends on the outside. As for her family, the Liu family, because of the existence of Noble Lady Yuan, they did not pay too much attention to the other daughter of the first wife, Imperial Concubine Li. After all, looking at it from many perspectives, the eighth prince was better than the sixth prince, thus the Liu family favored Noble Lady Yuan rather than the second daughter, Imperial Concubine Li. It was such that Imperial Concubine Li was unable to receive any help from her family. In the palace, her relationship with her own elder sister was not very good, and she had a bit of a loner personality, thus she was a bit envious of her sisters, who could invite people into the palace for banquets; however, she never had that courage nor ability.

Of course, this was also related to the Emperor’s favor. The Emperor only treated her normally. She was not ranked among those that were favored, thus it was natural for her days to be relatively plain.

Now that a few decades had passed, she had experienced a great rise from the birth of the sixth prince, and she had experienced a great fall during that winter hunt. Now that she had returned to the position of imperial concubine, Imperial Concubine Li felt that she could not continue to live as awkwardly as she had in the past. Her status and bearing needed to be worthy of this majestic and grand Zhang Ning Palace.

Zhu Kongshan left the palace with Imperial Concubine Li’s plan to host a banquet in mind, but she was in no rush to report what had happened in the palace to the eighth prince. Instead, she used the entire afternoon to visit the families that had been affected by the fake medicine, and she delivered the reparation money to each of them. She also brought along quite a few gifts. Her gifting choices had always been cunning and especially good at catering to one’s desires. The gifts to the poor citizens were things that were commonly used. Not only did she include foods like chicken, duck, or fish, but she also distributed pots, pans, bowls, basins, and other living utensils to many people.

The citizens’ hearts were soft. Although they initially hated the eighth prince to the point of gnashing their teeth, even going so far as to throw heads of lettuce at his gate, seeing the Sheng Palace’s current stance and the reparations combined with Zhu Kongshan’s ability to say and do the right things, the opinions of those who hated the eighth prince began to change. Also, Zhu Kongshan was extremely smart. She knew that what was being done now could only act as a remedy, and it was very abrupt. It could not compare with the accumulated goodwill that Feng Yuheng had amassed over the years. That was why she did not do anything to pass judgment on the eighth prince or Feng Yuheng. She just very earnestly helped to apologize for the eighth prince and did not say a single bad thing about Feng Yuheng. It was natural that people would feel good about someone like this, and they would naturally want to accept someone like this. Like this, Zhu Kongshan’s plan to help the eighth prince improve his reputation had won another victory.