Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 258 Father
Having just finished preparing for a wedding, Lu Jia's upcoming marriage seems like a piece of cake.

On the eve of the arrival of the Grand Commandant's men to fetch Lu Jia for her wedding, Lu Jie put aside his affairs and returned home early in his sedan chair. He then had the kitchen prepare a sumptuous meal and summoned Lu Jia to his study to dine together.

"Knowing that you've long since developed a taste for spicy food, I specially had a table of Tanzhou dishes prepared as a farewell gift for you."

Lu Jie lifted the lids of the bowls one by one, revealing authentic Tanzhou folk dishes. Moreover, according to Tanzhou custom, it was an eight-bowl feast—except for one bowl of braised pork belly.

Lu Jia sniffed repeatedly, then took a couple of bites with her chopsticks; the taste was indeed authentic. She then asked, "When did you hire a chef from Tanzhou? How come I didn't know?"

"Just invited."

Lu Jie looked at her and said.

After saying that, he turned his head and glanced at the door. A person came in outside, holding a bowl of braised pork: "The main dish is here!"

Lu Jia was immediately surprised: "Li Chang?!"

She stood up in surprise: "What are you doing here?"

After all, the Lu family was a noble family in the court. Apart from Qiu Niang and her son, Lu Jia's relatives in Shawan were all from different social classes. Ever since the Li family followed Qiu Niang and the others to the capital, none of them had ever entered the Lu family mansion!
According to Lu Jia's understanding, Li Chang and the others would never even recognize Lu Jie, let alone have the chance to see him. So how could they not be surprised that he was here with dishes?

"Eldest sister," Li Chang said, after placing the dishes on the table, he took two steps back, scratched his head, and then looked at Lu Jie respectfully, "Not only am I here, but the Minister has also summoned Yi Ge'er. By order of the Minister, the two of us will live in the Lu family from today until we send eldest sister off to her wedding."

"Oh, right, the master also said that on the day of your eldest sister's wedding, he will bring Aunt Qiu over so that she can accompany you as your mother."

Lu Jia was both happy and puzzled. In her heart, Qiu Niang and Xie Yi were both her family. On such an important occasion as her wedding, she naturally hoped to give them the respect they deserved.

But she thought Lu Jie would at most invite Qiu Niang and her son to attend the ceremony, since that was the case in her previous life! So, with Jiang Shi gone, his attitude has changed so much?
"What other dishes are there?" Lu Jie turned his head.

Li Chang quickly stopped grinning and said respectfully, "The dishes are all ready! I'll go down and call Brother Yi right away!"

After Lu Jie had left, he gestured for Lu Jia to sit down: "Qiu Niang raised you for more than ten years. Rather than having your aunt and the others by your side, it is natural that she should accompany you."

Lu Jia sat down: "Then what is the purpose of calling Li Chang over?"

Lu Jie's gaze was fixed: "I plan to have him go with you to the Grand Commandant's residence."

"...Why is that?"

Li Chang is not a servant! He is now the manager hired by the Xie family!
“During those days, Yi Ge’er and he came to see you, but you were busy taking stock of the dowry, so they didn’t get to see you.”

"I happened to run into them, and after asking them a few questions, they told me about the situation at Shawan Wharf."

“I heard that you caused some trouble there, which is a good thing. But since then, the local grain merchants who used to run their businesses peacefully have had a hard time. After the New Year, even grain merchants including the Xie family had their old customers snatched away by various means.”

At this point, Lu Jie stretched his back: "These two lads are ignorant of their own limitations. They are full of resentment and want to file a complaint to higher authorities to crack down on the unscrupulous merchants and chaos at the docks."

"The idea is good, but can they do it? Do they have the ability?"
“These are your people, so naturally you should be responsible for training them. I gave you ten shops, and I have already handed them over to them. From now on, these two will be in charge of these shops.”

"..." Lu Jia's joy vanished instantly.

So he thought these two brats were in the way and just dumped them on him?!
Lu Jia's face fell: "That won't do! Yi Ge'er still needs to study. If you really care about the Xie family's kindness to me, why don't you cultivate him properly and let him become an official in the future, bringing glory to the family?"

Lu Jie smirked: "That's your business. In short, I've handed them over to you. Whether you let them study and enter officialdom or let them go into business and make money, as long as they don't cause trouble, that's fine."

He reached out and scooped himself a bowl of the only dish without chili peppers, which was made with rock sugar and lotus seeds. He then said, "Grand Commandant Shen is a man of unfathomable depth. Your future is uncertain. Do you intend to face this alone?"

"Furthermore, Shen Yu is in charge of the affairs of the Grand Commandant's Mansion. Once you go there, you will essentially become the mistress of the Grand Commandant's Mansion."

"If the Shen family allows you to show your face, you will have to face all the women of the court and the families of the noble families. Even if you have a group of loyal servants around you, they will still be just servants."

"When it comes time to take the stage, there always needs to be a suitable candidate."

"Besides the two of them being capable, your second aunt's family, the Zhou family, works at the Guanglu Temple. Their eldest daughter-in-law comes from a scholarly family, is virtuous and well-versed in literature."

"Madam Zhou has recently encountered some difficulties. If you can find a way to help her, then this eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhou family may be of use to you when dealing with the wives of officials in the future."

Lu Jie spoke slower and slower, as if he wanted to stuff each word into Lu Jia's ears.

She stared at him for a moment, holding her breath, then finally lowered her eyes, closed her mouth, and raised her chopsticks.

Since she returned, she and Lu Jie have spoken quite a bit, but this time, Lu Jie spoke more than she did.

She lay in bed all night, tossing and turning without closing her eyes.

She drifted off to sleep the next day as dawn broke, and everything she saw and heard afterwards were long-ago childhood memories.

She was woken up by dawn and told with great joy, "The Grand Commandant's mansion has sent people. There's a long procession. They're really generous. They're here to welcome the bride, but they started giving out tips as soon as they entered."

“From the gatehouse at the main gate all the way into the inner courtyard, everyone who showed up received a string of cash!”

"Almost everyone in the household went out! This scene is much more grand than when the Yan family welcomed their second young lady!"
Everyone's talking about how grand their wedding procession will be tomorrow!

"Young Miss, go and take a look!"

Lu Jia was suddenly pulled up by him, and almost stumbled.

"What am I supposed to do there? Am I supposed to go out and collect a reward?"

"Of course it's not to receive a reward, it's a gift specially prepared by the Grand Commandant's mansion for the young lady!"

"They specially sent over a complete set of pearl-made wedding robes, saying that they were prepared for the eldest son's wife when Madam Shen was alive. Madam Shen is no longer here, but she still wants to express her feelings. Please come with me quickly!"

The fact that Grand Commandant Shen, who was forced to accept the marriage from the beginning, would be so high-profile was a huge surprise to Lu Jia.

But before she could react, Dawn had already forced her to sit in front of the mirror...