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

980

No Longer Benevolent

Zhu Kongshan brought up going home to participate in the funeral, and the eighth prince had no reason to stop her. He just reminded her before she left: “Remember your status. Remember your future. You must not trip because of a measly little Zhu manor. The deceased is already dead. Just cry it out and return to the capital after the funeral. Don’t stay in Peng Zhou for too long.”

Zhu Kongshan had no desire to listen to these matters. She even felt a bit of hatred towards the eighth prince for not stepping in to help at that time. If the eighth prince had expressed himself earlier, the Zhu family could not possibly have let Liu shi die. Although she died by hanging, if it was not for the Zhu family locking her inside a storage room, how could Liu shi have had the chance to hang herself?

Returning to Peng Zhou, it was the maidservant from the Sheng Palace that knew martial arts who drove the carriage. Zhu Kongshan sat in the carriage with A-Huan and A-Ruo. She wore plain clothes; however, the two maidservants wore the same clothes that they usually wore. There was even a bit of pink on their sleeves. Zhu Kongshan coldly glanced at them but did not want to say anything about the two maidservants sent by Zhu Kongyue. But this was still her mother’s funeral, yet these two people had dressed so flashily in front of her. It was something that her heart could not get over, thus she said: “You sold yourselves as servants, yet you don’t even understand this bit of the rules. The masters of the manor are holding a funeral, yet you’re dressed like this. Who are you dressed for?”

The Sheng Palace’s maidservant was not inside the carriage. A-Huan and A-Ruo were not afraid of Zhu Kongshan, who was about to return to Peng ZHou because they knew that once they left the capital, this young miss of a concubine would need to obey the Zhu family’s orders. In the face of the young miss of the first wife, she was nothing. Moreover, her birth mother had made that sort of a commotion. Who could possibly treat her well?

A-Huan shrugged and laughed, asking Zhu Kongshan: “Third young miss has forgotten Da Shun’s rules, right? I have never heard of any family hosting a funeral for a dead concubine. To say something inauspicious, if something had happened to the head madam, we would definitely have been filial, but third young miss must not forget. Liu shi was just a concubine, yet you want servants to observe the funeral rites for a concubine?”

A-Huan’s words had silenced Zhu Kongshan. That was right! Liu shi was just a concubine, and she had caused such a scandal before dying. She also felt a bit suspicious about how exactly Liu shi had died? She was Liu shi’s daughter. She understood that mother too well. Suicide by hanging? What sort of joke was that? Was Liu shi the type to have the courage to hang herself? But if that was not the case, what was the real cause of death? Why did the Liu family not pursue it?

Zhu Kongshan had many questions in mind. On the road from the capital to Peng Zhou, she pondered precisely what had happened with this situation. She had some guesses of her own, but she did not dare be certain. It was only after the carriage entered Peng Zhou and stopped in front of the Zhu manor’s entrance that she saw her eldest uncle from the Liu family happily chatting with a servant. With that, her speculation grew even further.

Zhu Kongshan returned to the manor; however, nobody in the Zhu family received her warmly. Everyone looked at her with gazes full of disdain. There were even some servants who quietly discussed: “Even if she has a prince and members of the imperial harem for support, what of it? With this sort of mother, how could a prince take in this sort of official princess.”

It was as though Zhu Kongshan had been struck by lightning and suddenly realized a massive problem. What these servants were saying was correct!