Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 157 The Instigator

Upon hearing the scream, Lu Jie immediately sat up. Seeing Long Xiang enter after hearing the commotion, he immediately told her, "It seems to be Madam's side; go and check on her."

Longxiang realized the screams weren't coming from the main courtyard, but how could she disobey his orders? She immediately dressed and put on her shoes, and followed his instructions to the inner courtyard.

Lu Jie then opened the window. In the courtyard, there was only the sound of the wind, and occasionally the meows of night owls.

Then a servant came to the window and said, "Master, Granny Du has jumped into the well!"

Lu Jie's gaze froze.

A servant stepped forward: "The specifics are still unclear. We only vaguely heard that Granny Du chose to commit suicide in the well on the west side where she waters the flowers. The inner courtyard is in chaos right now. The Second Madam and the Third Madam have both gone in. The Madam has also gone in. Just now, we were telling the servants in the outer courtyard to go in with ropes to retrieve the body."

"Jumped into the well?" Lu Jie paused for a moment, then left the window. "Where is the young lady?"

"The second gate was locked and just opened. We still haven't been able to get any news about the young lady."

Lu Jie frowned and pondered, but before he could speak, a servant outside the window announced, "Lu Rong is back."

A rustling sound of clothes came from under the window, and then another servant came to the window: "Master, Changfu, whom the eldest young lady brought in, just now secretly carried a sack and walked towards the west corner gate. It looks like he's going out!"

Lu Jie suddenly focused his gaze: "What's in the sack?"

“There should be someone inside.” Lu Rong raised his bright eyes. “The brothers and I, following the master’s orders, have been lying in ambush at the various side gates of the mansion, waiting to intercept Granny Du as soon as she came out at dawn. But just a quarter of an hour ago, Changfu quietly sneaked to the west side gate, which is usually deserted, and secretly carried a sack out.”

"As you have instructed, sir, I dare not reveal any trace of my presence. But there is movement inside that sack. It could only be a person or something else."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jie frowned deeply: "That girl!"

Changfu was Lu Jia's man. After Granny Du threw herself into the well, he secretly carried someone out. Who was he carrying? Do we even need to guess?
Lu Jie was initially worried that she would have difficulty adapting after returning, but now that he sees her methods, they are much more cunning than he had imagined!
He immediately asked, "Where is Changfu?"

"I don't know what to do, so I secretly bolted the side gate, but he hasn't gone out yet."

"Intercept him immediately! Then take the person in the sack out without alerting anyone!"

"Yes!"

"Master, Longxiang is back."

Just as Lu Jie finished speaking, a servant knocked on the door. Then Long Xiang strode in and said, "Madam requests that you move to the west courtyard, sir."

Lu Jie glanced at her, then casually picked up the robe beside him, put it on, and went out.

The lights inside the mansion had long since spilled over the walls, and the noise grew louder and louder. After waiting for a while, Shen Qingzhou also planned to climb over the wall and go inside.

Before he could even lift his foot, the guard he had sent out returned: "Young master, that scream just now was from the old woman next to Madam Jiang that Miss Lu wanted to catch, who jumped into the well! However, it seems that Miss Lu has other plans. Earlier, I saw Yinliu meet with Changfu in the shadows on the west courtyard wall, and then Changfu came this way!"

“But he didn’t come out,” Shen Qingzhou glanced at the wall and asked, “When did you see them?”

"I saw it from afar as soon as I arrived at the West Courtyard!"

Shen Qingzhou silently calculated the time, then glanced at the distance from the accident site to here, and immediately said, "If he could get out, he would have done so long ago."

After saying that, he turned around and said, "You guys stay here and cover me, I'll go check it out."

The mansion wall was quite high, but not too difficult to climb. After Shen Qingzhou scaled the wall, she silently landed at its base. Before she could even see the entrance clearly, a startled cry came from ahead: "Who is it?!..."

He immediately pulled his foot back, holding his breath and hiding in the shadows. But then the shouts of alarm rang out again from ahead, accompanied by the sounds of two groups pulling on each other.

He parted the vines and looked down, and saw a man lying on the ground under the eaves at the end of the moon gate leading to the west road, pointing ahead. In front of him, two people were carrying heavy loads on their shoulders and quickly scaling the wall to leave...

"Changfu?"

He saw clearly the person lying on the ground and immediately went forward.

Changfu turned around, then grabbed his sleeve tightly: "Steward Qin, something unexpected has happened to what the young lady asked us to do!"

……

On the west side, after Jiang's stern and insinuating words, more and more people came upon hearing the news.

Su Zhixiao's wife initially ordered the servants to leave, but when she saw that Madam Jiang didn't care that someone was present, she also stopped making noise.

When Lu Jie arrived, a group of servants with ropes were gathered around the well, seemingly about to retrieve the body. Lu Jia stood in front of them, his face as cold as iron: "...No one is to move until the master arrives!"

"Master!" Su Zhixiao's family was the first to see Lu Jie, and her voice drew everyone's attention.

Lu Jie walked into the crowd, his gaze fixed on Lu Jia: "Why can't you move?"

Lu Jia said, "Father, you've come at the right time. I'm in a situation where I can't clear my name no matter what I do. The maids said that Granny Du jumped into the well, and then somehow they found the jade on me by the well. So they implied that I was sleeping in the cold weather and instead came here to kill an old woman who was about to be kicked out."

“I’m an innocent person, of course I won’t stand for it. You’re the head of the household, what do you think we should do?”

Madam Jiang stepped forward: "When Granny Du fell into the well earlier, she let out an extremely shrill scream, which was heard by many people in the whole mansion. It's not that I, as her mother, want to doubt it, but if she really wanted to commit suicide, why would she scream? Shouldn't such an illogical thing be dealt with with caution?"
“Our Lu family has always treated its servants well. If we let her die without knowing why, what will these people think in the future? Can we still expect them to be loyal to the Lu family?”

At this point, she turned to Lu Jia and said, "Just now you kept saying that you would wait for your father to arrive before letting people retrieve the body. Now that he's here, aren't you going to move aside?"

Lu Jia said, "Before I step aside, I need to ask my father and mother for a few words."

Lu Jie raised his hand: "You speak."

“My father promised me that he would protect me and ensure justice. If it is ultimately proven that I did not commit murder, then whoever slandered or offended me should stand up and face death. Is that alright?”

Upon hearing this, Madam Jiang frowned. She hadn't killed the person in the first place, and all the accusations were obviously slander, yet she was to be executed for it afterward. This girl was truly vicious.

But thinking about it now, who wouldn't suspect that Granny Du was murdered?

Add to that the jade she found, can this girl explain herself? Can she prove her innocence?
If you can't prove yourself, you naturally can't control others.

Even if she manages to seize something by some stroke of luck, sacrificing a maid wouldn't harm her at all.

He then fell silent.

Lu Jie said, "You didn't kill the person, yet they're framing you. Of course, we can't let that go unpunished. Is there anything else?"

"Furthermore, I would like to ask my father to personally guarantee that once I have proven my innocence, the person who instigated this should also be punished severely, just as I have."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Jiang's eyes.

What does she mean by this?
The instigator?