Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 269 Fun!

After the wedding, Shen Qingzhou spent a few days with Lu Jia. When it was time for him to return to work, he went to the government office as usual.

Lu Jia also took on the important responsibility of being the mistress of the household. Every morning she would manage the affairs of the household, and in the afternoon she would either call people in to inquire about the rumors between the various households, visit the families she was close to, or go out for a walk and have a meal at Yanzi Hutong.

Of course, to avoid being discovered by the Yan family, she tries not to go out unless necessary, since she now has many informants and a wealth of information.

What troubled her was that the Grand Commandant's attitude towards her was still very bad. In the past ten days or so, Lu Jia had taken the initiative to go to him twice under the pretext of family matters, but she couldn't even get in the door!
Then she discovered that as long as Shen Qingzhou was in the manor, everything around her was normal. But as soon as Shen Qingzhou went out, there would always be people who shouldn't be there following her within a three-zhang radius.

After all, she was the daughter of the Minister of Revenue. Even if she didn't have a photographic memory, she still had a general impression of the people in each household after living there for half a month.

The people she saw were clearly from the Grand Commandant's room!

Their wedding was grand and respectable. Lu Jia thought that Shen Bo might have let his guard down because of his son, but she didn't expect that wasn't the case at all!

This once-powerful military general, minister, and official clearly had two faces! He acted one way in front of his son and another behind his back!
If this continues, trouble is bound to ensue.

That day, Lu Jia sat by the back lake watching them pick lotus flowers, looking troubled, when Li Chang ran in to find her.

"The Liu family is not as easy to get involved as I imagined. After inquiring for more than ten days, I only managed to find out that Madam Liu had once accepted money to sell official positions to merchants. But strictly speaking, this matter is no longer considered evidence, because it had already been reported before, and the Liu family had already paid off the matter."

Now that things have been settled, bringing up the old issues again certainly won't cause any major problems.

If we can't find any leverage, how can we get that woman from the Yan family busy?

Lu Jia plucked a blade of grass, feeling even more annoyed, when Yin Liu suddenly ran over:
"Grandma! There's something funny going on at the Yan family's place, do you want to hear it?"

That’s what I said!

You can ignore other people's fun, but how can you ignore the Yan family's?
"Don't show off!"

"Alright!" Yin Liu immediately squatted down next to her happily. "Didn't you say before that there wasn't a single good person in the Yan family? You were right!"

"Yesterday, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yan family had her hair torn by one of the Yan family's concubines!"

"A concubine?" Lu Jia thought for a moment, "Is it Concubine Xu or Concubine Zheng?"

Both of them were Yan Shu's most favored concubines.

Yan Shu had a total of six concubines and maids.

One was a "slender horse" sent from Yangzhou, and the other was the daughter of a local official in Sichuan. The two were equally beautiful.

The young prostitutes of Yangzhou had no children, while the daughter of a local official had a son and a daughter. The son was already an adult, slightly older than Yan Qu, and had also been raised by the Yan family.

Yinliu couldn't hide the shock in her eyes: "You know that?" After her initial amazement, she quickly continued: "It was Aunt Zheng who pulled off her hair ornament!"

"It is said that a few days ago, the women of the Yan family accompanied their matriarch to go boating on the lake in the back courtyard. As a result, the eldest young mistress's two-year-old son fell into the water."

"Later, somehow the investigation led to Aunt Zheng. The eldest daughter-in-law of the Yan family even produced a lot of evidence, insisting that it was Aunt Zheng who did it."

"Aunt Zheng was speechless and the eldest young mistress was relentless, crying and shouting for Madam Yan to punish her according to family law."

"Of course Madam Yan would side with her daughter-in-law. That day, she gave Aunt Zheng ten lashes, and it's said that she was paralyzed on the spot." "But yesterday, Aunt Zheng suddenly produced evidence proving that the boat that the eldest young mistress's child was on was problematic."

"Upon further investigation, it turned out that the ship was actually built and delivered by Madam Yan's maternal family, the Du family."

"Yan Shu already felt sorry for Aunt Zheng, so he was furious and scolded his wife in front of everyone."

"Then she didn't even spare the eldest young mistress, berating her mercilessly. With someone backing her up, Aunt Zheng started fighting with the eldest young mistress like a madwoman!"

Lu Jia stood up halfway through the story, and by the time she finished listening, her expression had changed several times.

I've been so busy with my own affairs lately that I've forgotten about this. It concerns the Jin family, so it must have been Lu Ying who did it.

That was quite a move of hers.

Thinking of this, Lu Jia asked, "How did you know about this?"

Logically speaking, the Yan family would never reveal such things to outsiders on their own; Yan Shu and his wife were quite adept at managing their household.

"Aunt Zheng slapped that young mistress in the face! She suffered such a great injustice, how could she not take revenge on the spot?"
"Furthermore, the eldest young mistress was not to be outdone, so Concubine Zheng also got injured. How could she possibly have the face to go to the palace to fetch the imperial physician after such an incident?"

"Naturally, it's a doctor hired from outside!"

These words came from the doctor's mouth!
"Of course, not many people know about it, and the doctor wouldn't dare to spread rumors. But didn't Grandma ask Young Master Xie to keep an eye on this matter? He sent the news in as soon as he got it, and I reckon he's still outside listening in right now!"

Since they hired an outside doctor to treat the injury, then it makes sense.

People may not be interested in other things, but they are certainly very curious about the underworld within these noble families. Even if they dare not spread the word too much, they will still have to reveal a few words.

Besides, Lu Ying knows that the loss she suffered was caused by the Jin family, and now that she has finally vented her anger, wouldn't she secretly add fuel to the fire herself?

It's possible that half of what the doctor said was what she meant.

In any case, the Yan family's commotion is ultimately a good thing.

She circled the foxtail grass a few times, then looked at Li Chang and said, "I remember now, isn't Zhou Sheng still locked up in the yamen?"

Li Chang was taken aback for a moment: "Exactly!"

Lu Jia twitched the corner of her mouth: "This case has been shelved for long enough. It would be a real waste not to use the evidence we finally managed to gather."

"Isn't there someone in the Su family serving as an official in the imperial court, and they're on the same side as the Liu family? If you can't find any dirt on the Liu family, then go investigate the Su family!"
"The Su family's residence in Shawan still has a plaque with a calligraphy by Yan Shu himself hanging above the gate. They definitely have a lot of connections with the Yan family!"

Zhou Sheng destroyed the dikes and flooded the fields in Tanzhou, harming the people and ruining the country.

That's why the Yan family was in such a predicament and had to come up with the idea of ​​recommending Hu Yucheng to lead the southeast, which temporarily prevented the emperor from interfering.

As long as she exposes all those connected to Zhou Sheng, she refuses to believe that the emperor can continue to turn a blind eye to this case!

That old woman from the Yan family wanted to use Shen Bo to intimidate her, but she wouldn't let that old woman get away with it.