Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 242 I told you there would be trouble! (Seeking monthly votes)

In the back hall of the yamen, a circle of official desks was set up, and in front of each person was a large pile of numbered account books.

Lu Jie remained seated at the head of the table, with Yan Shu to his left and Shen Qingzhou to his right. The three of them leisurely sipped their tea, a large incense burner burning nearby. The officials below them also had tea on their tables, but they were constantly busy, their feet barely touching the ground, a stark contrast to the three men in the hall.

Lu Jie immediately ordered his subordinates, "Bring up all the relevant accounts of the Cabinet." After finishing, he turned to Yan Shu and said, "These are all accounts from years ago, and many of them are difficult to trace. They are not from my term, so I don't need to investigate them in detail. But if you have any recollection of them, give them some guidance so that they can be entered into the register later."

Yan Shu put down his cup and accepted the first bill that was handed to him.

Shen Qingzhou glanced at them from behind her teacup, then lowered her eyes and sipped her tea.

Just as he took a sip of tea, a yamen runner rushed in: "Reporting to Your Excellency, someone has arrived at the mansion with urgent news!"

All three people in the hall looked up. At that moment, Changfu entered the hall and immediately knelt down under the table: "Master, please save Miss..."

Lu Jie flashed his hand, but before he could speak, another person rushed in from outside the hall. It was none other than Lu Rong!
"Master!" Lu Rong arrived breathlessly, quickly glancing at everyone present before speaking in a low voice, "Reporting to Master, Madam, Madam—"

Lu Jie paused again: "What's wrong with her?"

Lu Rong gritted his teeth: "Please return to the manor and explain in detail, sir."

"Why keep me in suspense? If you won't tell me, I will!" Changfu interrupted Lu Rong. "Master! Here's what happened: This morning, Guo Lu, along with Madam's trusted servants, knelt in front of the Shuntian Prefecture gate and beat the Dengwen Drum! He also held up a large stack of petitions, accusing Madam of various crimes she had committed over the years..."

"Wait a minute," Lu Jie put down his cup, "You mean Guo Lu went to tell Yingjie'er's mother?"

“That’s right!” Changfu nodded emphatically. “Not only did Guo Lu personally file the complaint, but he also accused Madam of abusing her power outside the home and of committing heinous acts behind the master’s back!”

Upon hearing this, Yan Shu put down the account book: "Isn't Guo Lu in prison? How did he get out?"

"Reporting to Lord Yan, yesterday, as soon as Madam returned to the manor, she instructed her servants to take poisoned food to the prison to silence him. However, the person who poisoned the food had a change of heart, changed Madam's orders, and instead bailed Guo Lu out of Shuntian Prefecture. After learning from the servants that Madam cruelly wanted to kill him, Guo Lu was devastated and decided to sue her."

The entire room was stunned.

Since Lu Jie was the head of the department, the Left Vice Minister quickly led his men to withdraw.

The three people in the hall remained silent for a long time. After a long while, Shen Qingzhou asked first, "Where did you hear this rumor? Isn't Guo Lu Madam Lu's nephew? Why was he silenced?"

"Because Guo Lu exposed one of our wife's biggest crimes, which involves our young lady!" Changfu cupped his hands in greeting. "Eleven years ago, our wife had someone take our young lady to the wilderness and abandon her! That's why our young lady has been wandering among the common people for more than ten years!"

"What?" Shen Qingzhou turned to look at Lu Jie. "Minister, is this true?"

Lu Jie's face was ashen as he put down his tea: "What else did he say?"

"Guo Lu also confessed that his wife attempted to murder the eldest daughter eleven years ago, and last year she instructed Guo Lu to go to Shawan to hunt her down! I can testify to this; the eldest daughter was indeed hunted down in Shawan! It was precisely because of fear that she later mustered the courage to return to Beijing to find her relatives! But I never expected that all of this would be done by the wife whom the eldest daughter respected as if she were her own mother..."

"Outrageous!" Shen Qingzhou slammed her cup down. "You mean, the fiancée whom the Emperor bestowed upon me in marriage is being repeatedly hunted down by her stepmother, Madam Lu?" "Qingzhou..."

Yan Shu wanted to speak when he heard this, but before he could open his mouth, Changfu spilled the beans: "Reporting to Lord Shen, Guo Lu said more than that. He said that just before the eldest young lady returned to the manor, the madam sent him to Jizhou to find a woman who resembled the eldest young lady to impersonate her..."

"Replace someone else?" Lu Jie, whose face had long been ashen, suddenly brightened up upon hearing this. "Replace what?"

Changfu glanced at Yan Shu beside him: "Because Madam has always been unwilling to let the Second Miss marry into the Yan family, and when she couldn't refuse, she thought of finding a fake Eldest Miss to marry in place of the Second Miss. After it was done, firstly, she could blame the Eldest Miss, saying that she was jealous of the Second Miss and deliberately stole the marriage; secondly, it would allow the Second Miss to get away smoothly and find another noble husband who was a good match for her!"

"Absurd!" Yan Shu slammed his hand on the table, stood up with a grim face, and said, "Did Guo Lu really say this?"

"My lord, this is what Guo Lu said himself! Not only that, he also brought the two women that his wife had asked him to find to Shuntian Prefecture. He wrote all of the above down in large characters and displayed them to passersby. Now, most of the capital city—no, almost the entire capital city—probably knows about it!"
"When the young lady heard the rumors, she didn't believe them at first, but she even sent me to Shuntian Prefecture. When I arrived, the gate was already packed with people. Guo Lu was making accusations at the top of his lungs, and all the witnesses and testimonies were there. There was no way to not believe it!"

"After learning of this, Miss was heartbroken and devastated in the mansion. Just a quarter of an hour ago, while my mother was fetching a basin of water, Miss hanged herself in her room..."

At this point, Changfu wiped his eyes, choked up, and lowered his head.

Lu Jie's cup clattered loudly! He stood up: "How is she now?!"

"Fortunately, my mother arrived in time and saved the young lady. But she is still not satisfied and is still thinking about suicide!" Changfu looked up with tears in his eyes.

Shen Qingzhou glanced at the two men in the hall: "Such a thing has happened in the residence of a first-rank official! Lord Lu, Lord Yan, may I ask if His Majesty is aware of Madam Lu's misdeeds? If His Majesty is unaware, then the Yan family, as Madam Lu's maternal family, and the Lu family, as Madam Lu's husband's family, both tolerate your wife's arrogance. Are you trying to trample on His Majesty's dignity, or are you trying to trample on the face of our Shen family?"

"So this Miss Lu is just a nobody in your eyes?"

"And I, Shen Yu, am only worthy of marrying such an abandoned woman in your eyes?"

Shen Qingzhou's gaze fell on Yan Shu's face.

Yan Shuhan glanced at him, strode out of the desk, pointed at Changfu, and stopped in front of Lu Rong: "Is what he said true?!"

Lu Rong gritted his teeth and nodded: "It's all true, not a single word is false. The Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture has even sent someone to the Lu residence to ask how our lord will handle this matter. If our lord gives no instructions, then Shuntian Prefecture will accept Guo Lu's complaint and hold a trial!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jie immediately strode towards the door.

Yan Shu grabbed him: "What are you going to do?"

Lu Jie said, "She's utterly depraved, what do you expect me to do?!"

Yan Shu then said, "Lan Chu!..."

Lu Jie looked at him intently and said deeply, "I told you that day that she couldn't come back; if she did, trouble would surely follow. You didn't believe me, but now you see?"

After saying that, he brushed Yan Shu's hand away and walked out like a gust of wind.