Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 231 There's More to It Than You Think
As Song En spoke, Guo Yi was completely stunned.

As the Vice Minister of Revenue, Liu Zheng had caught the eye of the Yan family father and son through nepotism and had become a major lackey of the Yan family over the years. Given his shrewdness, he shouldn't have been ruined by such matters of love and sex.

But when the case was brought to light, it turned out that it wasn't just about those shameless bedroom matters; it even dragged into Liu Zheng's official misconduct!
Three thousand taels of silver was not much to people surnamed Liu, and even if they filed a complaint, it would not affect Liu Zheng's official position.

Besides, this kind of thing has happened to him more than once or twice; it's practically reached the point where he's become so used to it that he doesn't even feel the itch anymore. So their rivals usually don't bother to bring it up for discussion.

But since evidence has been submitted and the complaint has been made in front of the government, it cannot be ignored. Shuntian Prefecture must accept the case, and since the woman has evidence, it must be reported to higher authorities. Whether it is the Dali Temple or the Censorate, they must investigate this matter.

Not to mention the censors of the Censorate, all of them were upright scholars who were not afraid of anything. They brought their complaints to our door, so how could we not take the opportunity to interrogate them?
"No wonder you're so happy!" Guo Yi said. "Liu Zheng has really fallen into a trap this time. This woman is no simpleton, but who is behind her? She actually has evidence of Liu Zheng's embezzlement, which is quite remarkable. Besides us, who else would dare to target the Liu family?"

Shen Qingzhou looked at Song En: "Have someone investigate."

After he finished speaking, he immediately added, "You just said that this Du woman is Yan Shu's wife's cousin?"

Song En replied, "Not only is she my cousin, but I also heard that she has a close relationship with Yan Shu's wife. In the marriage between the second young lady of the Lu family and the Yan family, this Du was invited to be the wife of the first wife."

He paused here, then said, "However, with this incident, I'm afraid I won't be able to remain a Lady of Perfect Fortune."

The Yan family has already made a huge fool of themselves recently. If they were to invite another woman who has also made a fool of herself, wouldn't the people of the capital laugh at the Yan family for decades? Is it possible that the Yan family can't find anyone else?
Shen Qingzhou stood up: "Look where He Qu is, have him find a way to get close to this Du family!"

Since Madam Du and Madam Yan are close, it's not impossible to find clues about what happened eleven years ago from her.

……

While waiting for Shen Qingzhou's reply, Lu Jia took some time to visit the Jiang family.

After Jiang was placed under house arrest, Guo Lu disappeared without a trace. Since Lu Jia had already asked Yang Bonong to inform the people at the city gate to keep an eye out for him, she was certain that Guo Lu had not left the city after receiving no feedback.

When she arrived at the Jiang family home and met Madam Li, Madam Li's attitude was completely different from last time; she was practically kneeling before her.

That day in Anqing Hutong, Lu Jia did not meet Li Shi, and Li Shi did not witness the scene of how Jiang Shi was finally brought down.

However, Lu Jia now holds the reins of power in the Lu family's inner quarters, and the Lu family only has so many people. With Jiang Shi's downfall, Lu Ying has also lost power, and the connection between the Jiang and Lu families has been completely severed. Li Shi would have to be incredibly audacious to continue to look down on the eldest daughter of the Minister's household as she did before.

Lu Jia didn't waste any words with her and went straight to asking her about Guo Lu's whereabouts.

Even though Li herself wasn't entirely sure, she immediately summoned everyone in the Jiang family and told them all the possible hiding places of Guo Lu.

Yin Liu searched these places for three days, and finally found the person in a gambling den.

When the person was brought back, they reeked of foul odor. Their once slicked-back hair and powdered face were now completely gone.

"Do you know why I'm here with you?" Lu Jia smashed the walnuts on the kang table with a hammer.

A splatter of walnut shells hit Guo Lu's face, causing him to bounce up from the ground. He then shook his head, his face pale. Lu Jia gestured to Yin Liu: "Drag him out and make him confess everything he knows about how the Jiang family has dealt with me, and then have him sign and put his fingerprint on it."

Yinliu led the people out, Lu Jia ate two walnuts, and Changfu brought in the news about the Liu family outside.

Lu Jia was also surprised: "Where did this woman come from, so capable?"

Just as they were wondering if it was Shen Qingzhou and his group who did it, Zhi Mu came to report, "Miss, He Qu has arrived and says he has something important to tell you!"

Lu Jia quickly got up.

He Qu was waiting outside the side gate. As soon as he saw her, he rushed over: "Miss, there's been some progress on the matter you asked me to inquire about! According to the wet nurse of Liu Zheng's wife, Du, on the Mid-Autumn Festival eleven years ago, Yan Shu's wife—also surnamed Du—was with Jiang that night!"

Lu Jia asked in surprise, "You went to the Liu family?"

He Qu took the handful of walnuts she handed him and continued, "Early this morning, the Liu family was sued by the government, and the young master asked me to go to the Liu family to look for an opportunity. As a result, I managed to find Du's wet nurse. I pretended to be a person from Shuntian Prefecture and did her a favor by letting her go in to talk to Du. When she came out, I took the opportunity to get close to her."

"Of course, we didn't get any crucial leads, but she said that her mistress was close to Madam Yan, but in the past, she was indeed not as good as Jiang, who married into the Lu family. I mentioned their interactions during holidays, and she said it herself. The Mid-Autumn Festival of the year the eldest young lady had her accident, everyone should have been reunited at the Yan family, but because Madam Yan and Jiang had made an appointment to go to the Lu family's villa to admire the moon that night, they couldn't get together."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jia immediately frowned: "You mean Madam Yan also went to Bieye that day?"

The Lu family's ancestral home was located in the suburbs of the capital. Later, the old patriarch of the Lu family built a separate residence next to the ancestral home, which later became a place for the family to rest and recuperate.

So the night Lu Jia was abandoned by the Jiang family happened in Bieye.

"That's right, the old woman's tone was very sour, and she started talking about the Jiang family herself when she mentioned them."

Lu Jia paused for a moment, then said, "Are you sure she's not lying?"

“Besides this, the old woman also listed some other supporting evidence, so there shouldn’t be any evidence that she was lying on purpose.”

Lu Jia frowned: "But I only found out today."

From the moment Qiu Niang first learned that Guo Lu was looking for her in Shawan, it can be deduced that Jiang Shi had been searching for her all along. After finding her, she began to kill her to silence her. This can certainly be understood as Jiang Shi's attempt to abandon her stepdaughter back then failing, and in order to prevent her crime from being exposed, she ruthlessly eliminated the root of the problem.

But what's the difference between abandoning her in the mountains and killing her?
Why did Chiang Kai-shek go through this roundabout way, leaving this beginning and end unresolved?
This has always been a question in Lu Jia's mind.

The clue He Qu obtained was not very direct or significant, but it brought up Lu Jia's question again and proved once more that there was something fishy about Bieye that night eleven years ago.

Since Madam Yan also went, why didn't Lu Jia see her?

Where did she go?!