Cousin
These words caused Feng Yu Heng to freeze. She looked up at the shop that had been described as having many people lining up outside and as having a shabby appearance. Oh, that shop, it was a pastry shop that had been open for over 100 years. Apparently, that shop had been around for over 150 years, and the owners had deliberately chosen not to renovate it to preserve the older appearance.
The clerk of the embroidery shop could not help but mutter: “Where did this country bumpkin come from?”
Feng Yu Heng was also uncertain as to where this bumpkin had come from. Either way, the carriage had stopped further away, and there was nothing for her to do. This would give her something entertaining to watch.
“A-Huan, come take a look. Those people really are wearing shabby clothes!” The maidservant in the carriage spoke once more, “Coarse cloth, there are actually people in the capital that wear clothes made of coarse cloth? Who was it that had said to us before that everyone in the capital wore the finest of clothing? It isn’t like that at all!”
She pointed at a few madams that were walking along the street. They were just the wives of some normal families. Although the clothes that they wore were plain, they were clean. It was not as exaggerated as they had made it sound. Feng Yu Heng was puzzled and asked Wang Chuan and Huang Quan: “Who was it that said that the people in the capital wear the finest clothes? With this sort of standard, would we be considered low-to-middle-class peasants?”
The clerk of the embroidery shop quite enjoyed talking. Hearing Feng Yu Heng say this, they rushed to nod: “Not just lower-class peasants. We truly are in dire need of relief.”
The maidservant in the carriage spoke very loudly and did not avoid things in the slightest. In fact, for fear of others not knowing who they were talking about, they did not just continue shouting, as they even pointed. The madams that were passing by had rather ugly expressions on their faces, as they stopped to take a look at the carriage. Although they were angry, when they saw the large horses and the quality materials used to make the carriage, they knew that this was not just another wealthy person. As a result of this, even if they felt angry, they did not dare say anything else for fear of causing trouble. Although they did not dare say anything, they did not continue to walk forward. Instead, they just stood there while feeling curious about the master of this carriage.
At this time, there were many commoners that had begun to gather around. It was not just the commoners who were curious, as even Feng Yu Heng was curious. She asked Wang Chuan: “Whose carriage is this? Have you heard about any important people coming to the capital recently?”
Wang Chuan shook her head: “There really hasn’t been any word. This servant will ask around about it later, but based on the bearing, it’s not a normal person, right?”
Just as this was said, some young beggars were coming down the street from the other end of the street. Originally, there had been some beggars squatting on this street. In an instant, these beggars had caught the attention of the two maidservants. The one that had been called A-Huan became spirited. Pulling out a handful of copper coins, she scattered them on the ground. The beggars subconsciously charged forward to snatch it. There were even two that began fighting for the sake of snatching the money. This made the two servants burst out laughing.
“A-Ruo, look, look, not only does the capital have beggars, but they’re even fighting over some copper coins. It really is funny. It’s too funny. Come, come, let’s throw another handful!” As she spoke, she threw out another handful of copper coins. This time, it was not just the beggars that were fighting over the copper coins. There were even some normal commoners that joined in. This caused the two servants to throw another two handfuls. They rocked back and forth with laughter inside the carriage. It was as though they had seen the funniest play.
“It’s too much!” Huang Quan glared at the two in the carriage, angrily clenching her fists, but she also felt that the people in the capital were truly too lacking in character. It was just a few handfuls of copper coins. It was one thing for the beggars to fight over them, but why were the normal commoners also joining in the fight? “Too shameful!”
Feng Yu Heng, however, said: “You can’t blame the commoners for being shameful. Look, the people going to pick up the coins are normal people. From the clothes that they wear, it can be seen that a few copper coins are also very important to them. It’s not as those two maidservants have said. Even if the capital is entirely noble, the larger portion of the capital is made up of normal citizens. Just looking at the medicine that is given away by Hundred Herb Hall each month, it can be seen. Everyone has inherent weaknesses. If there is something to blame, the blame should lie in the throwing of copper coins succeeding in provoking their weaknesses.”
“Young Miss.” Wang Chuan thought quickly and smiled, saying: “Say, if this servant threw out a handful of gold pieces, would the two servants also get out of the carriage to fight for them?”
Before this thought could be realized, the driver suddenly began to act evil. Who knew if it was a result of being egged on by the two maidservants or if he had a bad character to begin with. Seeing a few beggars and citizens squatting on the ground to pick up the copper coins, he actually raised his horsewhip, causing the horses to neigh. Raising their front hooves, they were about to charge forward. At this time, the maidservants in the carriage were also shouting: “Right, right! Trample them to death! Trample them to death! Haha! This is too much fun!”
Feng Yu Heng could not bear to continue watching. Playing around with human lives? Playing around with the people in the streets was fine. After all, those people were willing to fight for that money, but now they were actually using horses to harm others. This was something that she could not ignore.
Moving her wrist, she held some silver tranquilizer needles between her fingers and prepared to throw them at the two horses. At this time, however, a female voice suddenly came from inside the carriage, angrily scolding: “Stop! What are you guys doing?”
The three people outside trembled upon hearing this. The driver quickly reined the horses in. The carriage swayed a few times but did not harm anyone up ahead. As for the people picking up copper coins, they had been startled and dodged out of the way, looking at the carriage in horror.
“This young miss just rested for a while, yet you two girls would actually cause this sort of a disturbance. Who gave you the courage to do it? What sort of place is the capital? Can it tolerate your impudence?”
The faces of the two servants paled with fear. Very quickly, a young miss in an orange dress and thin cloak came out of the carriage. She looked to be around 15 or 16 years of age. She had delicate facial features and had a tall frame. Although she could not be considered beautiful, she was elegant and had a comforting appearance.
She came out of the carriage and glared at the two servants and driver. She then looked at the citizens and beggars holding copper coins up ahead. She immediately understood what had happened, thus she began to shout: “You have played at this game in Peng Zhou, and you have already been punished for it. Why is it that you just can’t learn your lesson? Beggars are also people. No matter how poor the citizen, they are still citizens of Da Shun. You are merely servants of the manor. Just how much better is your own status compared to other citizens? Why haven’t you quickly gone down to apologize!”
After saying this, she descended from the carriage without any need for help. She then looked around and took a few steps forward. Bending over, she helped a young beggar up from the ground. Without any care for how dirty this young beggar was, she reached out with a dainty hand, which caused the young beggar to feel flustered and retreat. She quickly consoled the beggar: “Don’t be scared. I just want to help you up. Just now, it was my servants who had been disobedient and used this sort of method to make fun of you. I am their master. Naturally, I would need to apologize on their behalf.”
The young beggar was dazed and thought that they had seen a deity. Such a beautiful and noble young miss actually personally came to help him up and would actually say this sort of thing. He had never been treated like this before! For a moment, he did not know what to do. Looking at the two copper coins that he was holding in his small and dirty hands, he pondered for a while then said: “It can’t be blamed on them. They gave us money. No matter what method they used, it’s good.” In the past, there had been people who would deliberately throw money into dirty places for them to pick up. There were even some that had deliberately caused trouble for them. Compared to those times, those two girls scattering the coins into the air was already quite benevolent.
The young miss that had come out of the carriage shook her head and said: “There is indeed some blame. Even if it was charity, they should not have had such an attitude. Though you are beggars, you are Da Shun’s citizens. You are just poorer than we are. There are no other differences.” While she spoke, she reached into her sleeve and quickly pulled out a piece of shattered silver. Stuffing it into the young beggar’s hand, she said with sympathy: “You are still so young. You should not need to go begging door to door. When you’re a bit older, go and find a place to work? It will be better than your current life.”
The young beggar had been moved by what she had said, and he could not help but tear up. At this time, the elegant young miss had already turned around and earnestly bowed toward the crowd of citizens. Seeing her make these movements, the two servants and the driver no longer dared to act rashly, as they joined in the salute, while the young miss said: “Everyone, this young girl came from Peng Zhou to the capital to visit family; however, who knew that my servants would be so disobedient and cause an incident. This young girl will represent them and apologize to everyone. It was our fault and hope that nobody will assign any blame.”
A noble daughter of a large family had helped up a beggar and apologized to the citizens. When had the citizens of the capital ever seen this sort of thing? The people that had been feeling resentful from the two maidservants had felt their anger completely dissipate with this apology from the young miss, thus everyone returned the courtesy, saying: “It’s fine, it’s fine. We poorer families are not that finicky. Young Miss has been too courteous.”
“That’s right! This sort of thing happens frequently. We have become accustomed to it.”
Someone also asked: “I wonder who would be Young Miss’ family relative?”
That elegant young miss smiled and replied: “I am the eighth prince’s, His Highness Prince Sheng’s, younger cousin. I came from Peng Zhou to the capital to visit elder cousin and aunty.”
These words had completely dazed everyone. The eighth prince’s younger cousin?
In this instant, all of the goodwill that had been built up was lost. Some rolled their eyes and left. There were also some that could not hold back and rushed to say: “No wonder they’re so arrogant. It turns out she’s the eighth prince’s cousin. She really is the exact same as the eighth prince!”
The elegant young miss was frozen there with a puzzled expression, and her face looked to be full of grief. Tears even began to well up in her eyes. Seeing that the people were wearing ugly expressions and wanted to leave, she panicked. Grabbing the young beggar that she had just given silver, she anxiously asked: “Little brother, tell elder sister why they had this sort of reaction when I brought up my cousin?”
Ever since the young beggar had begun to understand things, he had been a beggar. To speak of the eighth prince, he did not have much of an impression in the past, but ever since the matter in the capital between the eighth prince and Hundred Herb Hall, aside from those of the eighth prince’s faction, there were none in the capital who did not view him as a scourge! The young beggar also disliked the eighth prince; however, he felt that this young miss before him was good, and she had given him silver. That was why he was not like the others and did not leave, thus he said: “Young Miss, don’t blame everyone. It’s just that the eighth prince has done many things that the people of the capital do not like. As for what exactly he did, you’ve already come to the capital. You’ll know once you ask him.” After saying this, he saluted to the girl before running off.
The young miss remained frozen in place for a while before returning to her carriage with her head down. The driver used the horsewhip and hastily set the carriage in motion.
Feng Yu Heng watched the carriage leave in a cloud of dust, and she could not help but coldly snort, “The eighth prince’s younger cousin, she just brought up her aunt. Thinking about it, she must be Noble Lady Yuan’s niece. To come to the capital at a time like this, it seems that it’s not something as simple as visiting relatives…”