Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 271 What are you waiting for? Sue them now!
Li Chang and his men guarded the Su family's gate for several days. Although they often saw the Su family and the Liu family in contact, they did not manage to find any incriminating evidence.

If one path is blocked, then you have to change your approach. Although Li Chang doesn't know Su Shen well, he does know the Su family, since they are all from Shawan.

Just as he was about to start by inquiring about the Su family's shops in the capital, Chen Shun, the guard who had come out with him, suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and pointed to several figures in the bustling crowd under the sunlight: "Isn't that Lu Rong from the Lu family?"

Li Chang stopped abruptly and looked up. Sure enough, he saw two familiar-looking people sitting in the bustling teahouse across the street. They were none other than Lu Jie's trusted confidants! The two were dressed in coarse cloth and disguised themselves as they sat among the crowd. If one did not know them and look closely, one would not recognize them at all!

"What are they doing here?" Chen Shun asked curiously.

As if in response to his question, just as he finished speaking, someone on the street waved to them. Lu Rong and his companion immediately got up and hurriedly followed the person toward the street.

Li Chang's mind raced: "Chase after them!"

……

The task of sending Xie Yi to deliver a message to Lu Ying was done well. Lu Jia rewarded Xie Yi with ten taels of silver and allowed him to go out to eat, drink, and have fun. Of course, he was also to bring back some news along with him.

Who knew that in the following days, she kept running into this boy in the mansion. At first, she caught him and asked him why he hadn't gone out.

Xie Yi stammered, saying he had just returned.

She didn't run into him again, but Yinliu saw him sneaking towards Huzhitang several times.

Xie Yi lived in the east, and Huzhitang was in the west. That area also housed Shen Zhui's residence, his martial arts training ground, and his private school. What was Xie Yi doing there?
Just after lunch, Yin Liu rushed in again to deliver the news.

Lu Jia couldn't hold back any longer. She threw down her handkerchief and followed her out, eager to see what Yi Ge'er was up to.

Upon reaching the west, they indeed saw Xie Yi's servant whispering to someone under a tree outside the gate of Huzhitang. Looking closer, they realized the other person was none other than Shen Zhui's servant!
"Jin Ke, Shi Jian! What are you two doing?"

Lu Jia suddenly shouted, and the two people opposite her immediately looked up. After seeing that it was her, their expressions changed at the same time: "Madam!" Then they took off running into the yard!

Lu Jia retorted angrily, "Why are you running? Do you think I'm a ghost?"

After saying that, he was about to chase after them.

Just then, Li Chang shouted from behind, "Big sister! We've got the evidence against the Su family!"

Lu Jiashen pulled his right leg back, turned around abruptly at the threshold, and saw Li Chang, his clothes covered in mud, panting heavily as he approached. Li Chang then twisted one arm towards the doorway: "The Su family recently became lackeys of the Liu family, forcibly buying 500 mu of land from farmers in the northern suburbs for 300 taels of silver! I've brought the aggrieved party back with me; he's right outside!"

Lu Jia was overjoyed: "How did it go so smoothly?"

"Hey!" Li Chang slapped his thigh and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Speaking of which, I have to thank the Minister!"

"When I was keeping an eye on the Su family, I didn't expect that the Minister had also sent Lu Rong to secretly watch the Su family, and they acted much faster than us!"

"They were the ones who first discovered the forced land purchase, so I took my men to the northern suburbs and secretly found out the whole story."

Lu Jia was greatly surprised. Was Lu Jie also keeping an eye on the Su family? Or was he actually keeping an eye on the Liu family?

She asked, "So how did you get your hands on them? Were they willing to give themselves to you?"

"Lu Rong and his men seemed only interested in figuring out what was going on and didn't intend to arrest anyone. After they left, I found the victims, got the land sale contracts from them, and then picked out the two most miserable and resentful farmers to bring back." Lu Jia's heart was surging. Based on Lu Jie's past actions, wanting to find out the details without making any rash moves was definitely his style.

She strode out: "Where is he?"

"We didn't dare bring them to our residence; we left them at the inn in the next alley!"

Shen Zhui and Xie Yi, who were in the Huzhitang, watched Lu Jia walk away from the door frame. Only then did they free their hands, which were holding their homework, to wipe away the sweat. They then quickly returned to the room and locked the door.

"That was close! She almost caught me! Mr. Zhang was personally invited by my brother to teach me. If she had caught me, she would have told my brother, and then I would have been in big trouble!"

Shen Zhui patted her heart in lingering fear.

Xie Yi was still in shock: "I'm not much better off. She'll definitely team up with my mother and beat me to a pulp!"

"Thank goodness Li Chang arrived in time, I must treat him to a meal later!"

Shen Zhui nodded emphatically: "Count me in! I'll pay!" He then pushed the textbook in his hand in front of him: "There's still a little left, hurry up and write!"

Xie Yi gave him a resentful look.

……

The two farmers that Li Chang brought back were both in their early twenties, full of vigor and vitality. Lu Jia, behind the screen, had Li Chang ask them some questions in detail. Before they could even finish three sentences, they were already gritting their teeth and cursing Su Chen.

"What's hateful is that we have no power or influence and can't do anything about them. In the past, in order to buy our land, they secretly beat our villagers and forced the girls in our village to sell themselves into slavery. We were in so much pain that we had no choice but to sign the contract."

“That’s hundreds of acres of land! Our family of dozens of people rely on farming to make a living, and they just gave us three hundred taels of silver to get rid of us!”

The two of them spoke back and forth, and almost effortlessly said everything.

Fearing they might get too excited and cause trouble, Li Chang reassured them and told them to have dinner in the next room before going around to the screen.

"What does the eldest sister say about this?"

Lu Jia said in a deep breath: "The witnesses and physical evidence are right here. What else can we say?"
"Sue! Sue them to death!"
"Pulling up a radish brings out the mud; now that the land has fallen into the hands of the Liu family, we're not afraid of not being able to drag the Liu family out!"

As one of the closest lackeys clinging to the Yan family, and also related by marriage, how could Madam Yan not be protected if something happened to the Liu family?
“But who should we complain to?” Li Chang glanced in the direction of the next room. “It’s definitely not going to work if we let those two come forward. Let alone the Yan family, the Liu family could easily suppress them.”

He had been a farmer in Shawan for many years and knew all too well the plight of the grassroots.

Don't think that just because the Liu family is powerful and influential, they can suppress things without a word. Even if the government enforces the law impartially, these two common people absolutely cannot withstand it.

If things turn sour in front of the hall, it will be bad news.

“If they can’t do it, then find someone else,” Lu Jia stood up. “Before dark, have them write a petition, sign it, and bring it to me.”

"I will find someone to stand up for them first thing tomorrow morning."