zChapter 965 - Crushed by Status (1/2)

Zhu Kongshan had brought many people. Between masters and servants, they had the numerical advantage, but they were far lower in terms of status.

On Feng Yuheng’s side, she alone was not enough to oppress them, as she also had a proper palace princess in Xuan Tiange with her. In addition to this were the daughter of the first wife of the right prime minister and the daughter of the first wife of General Ping Nan. No matter where this pair went, they would attract attention. Even a beauty like Feng Zhaolian, who had no rank, no title, nor pillar of support, could silence any opposition because of his beauty.

Of course, those accompanying Zhu Kongshan were not all completely unpresentable. There were some head wives and daughters of first wives from second and third rank officials families. These sorts of people had been into the palace and met many noble people, thus they did not find such an event to be fresh. In the end, there were still some girls from lower-ranked officials’ families, and some of them were daughters of concubines. In the past, they had never had a chance to enter the palace. This time, it was because their families secretly supported the eighth prince, and they used the opportunity to do good things to curry favor with Zhu Kongshan. Thanks to this, they were able to enter the palace with her. Now, just as they reached the entrance, they ran into a palace princess and a princess. They were extremely nervous and a little excited.

But very quickly, people at their sides quietly reminded them about why they had come. This reminder managed to stifle the excitement and emotions of those girls, causing them to lower their heads.

Zhu Kongshan sighed to herself and thought that the one thing this capital was lacking the least for was people of nobility. She had also made preparations for needing to oppose Feng Yuheng; however, who knew that she would also bring out a palace princess. For a lowly Imperial Concubine Li, she guessed that Feng Yuheng would most likely attend. After all, there was that relationship with the sixth prince; however, she never thought that Feng Yuheng would bring so many supporters.

She took the initiative to step forward and deeply bowed before Xuan Tiange and Feng Yuheng, “This humble girl, Zhu Kongshan, greets Palace Princess Wu Yang and greets Princess Yu.” Her manners and respectfulness were all perfect, and not a single fault could be pointed out.

Seeing Zhu Kongshan bow, the people that had come with her naturally could not continue to foolishly stand there. They were all family members of officials in the capital. It was natural that they were clear on the status of these people before there, thus they all stepped forward and bowed with Zhu Kongshan.

Feng Yuheng nodded but did not say anything. Although she was the official princess of a prince, her current ranking was no lower than that of Xuan Tiange. In addition to this, the ninth prince was the older relative, while Xuan Tiange was the younger one. According to this, she was currently more important than Xuan Tiange. But she had already seen the fierce fighting spirit in Xuan Tiange’s eyes the moment they saw Zhu Kongshan, thus she thought that it would be best if she left this opportunity to her good friend. This palace princess usually spent her days inside and got quite bored. Now that she finally had a chance to have some fun, she needed to find her something to do.

She took a step back and stood with Fung Tianyu and Ren Xifeng. The three stood together and watched Xuan Tiange, as they heard Xuan Tiange say: “You’re the girl that suddenly came to the capital and suddenly went to help the poor people in the northern part of the city? You were called Zhu what was it again?”

“This humble girl is called Zhu Kongshan.” Zhu Kongshan continued to maintain her partially bowed position and was extremely tired.

Xuan Tiange nodded then said: “You being able to bring benefit to the citizens of the capital is very good. My Da Shun needs girls like you. If everyone in the world could be like young miss Zhu, that would be my Da Shun’s good fortune. I hope that you can continue to do this going forward. You must not let it end with just the end of winter. This palace princess really hopes to see young miss Zhu again at the same time next year.”

Zhu Kongshan quickly replied: “Would Palace Princess Wu Yang please be at ease. This humble girl will definitely continue to do everything possible. Even if this humble girl is not in the capital next year, I will continue to help the poor somewhere else. As long as this humble girl is able to see them, I definitely will not allow a single citizen to freeze or starve to death.”

“Very good!” Xuan Tiange revealed a smile, “It’s good if you are able to do this. Doing good deeds requires an earnest heart. It must not be done with ulterior motives; otherwise, the Bodhisattva will be unhappy.”

After she finished speaking, she ignored Zhu Kongshan and turned to say to Feng Yuheng and the others: “Let’s go! Let’s go in.” The group left together, passing by in front of Zhu Kongshan and the others.

The palace servants at the entrance saw that the situation over there had already ended and quickly went to receive them with smiles. Their reception was extremely warm, and they very nearly kneeled. Seeing many of the palace servants leading Feng Yuheng’s group into Rui Gate, Zhu Kongshan’s side had already begun to feel their legs grow sore from remaining partially bowed. At this time, a eunuch came over and said: “Everyone, palace princess and princess have already gone into the palace. You should also come with us!”

Only then did they get up and begin to massage their legs with a great deal of unhappiness. They also needed to do their best to keep up with the eunuch’s pace, as they quickly entered through the palace’s gate.

Feng Yuheng’s group was at the front, while Zhu Kongshan’s group was behind. The people in the back were able to see the palace servants shower the people ahead with all kinds of praise, even receiving some happy laughter from time to time; however, the atmosphere in the back was extremely heavy and quiet. The eunuch had a stoic expression and did not give look kind in the slightest.

Some felt that this was unfair but did not dare say anything about Xuan Tiange and Feng Yuheng, thus they thought for a bit and pointed at Feng Zhaolian and said: “Look! On such a cold day, they’re actually wearing clothes made of such a thin fabric. In any case, this is the Imperial Palace, yet it would actually tolerate such a gaudy appearance?”

Who knew that Feng Zhaolian would have keen ears and charmingly turned around to look at the person that had spoken. With a smile on his face, this look caused the girl to turn red in the face. The words that she had wanted to say were stopped her at lips, and she had no choice but to swallow them back down. She was not able to say another word.