Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 272 Familiar Handwriting from My Daughter

The next day at dawn, he handed the petition sent by Li Chang to Lu Jia.

Lu Jia then arrived at the Cheng residence in a sedan chair, where she caught Cheng Wenhui, who was on her way to the yamen, right at the gate.

Lu Jia submitted the petition and explained the whole story. "Father has also been keeping an eye on the Su family behind the scenes. Uncle, don't be afraid. When the time comes, there will naturally be people in the court to support you."

When Cheng Wenhui heard her mention Lu Jie, she immediately snorted, "Don't mention him!"

Ever since learning that her sister's death was related to the Yan family, Cheng Wenhui had been working hard to cooperate with Lu Jia at the Lu family's house to nail Madam Yan to the list of crimes for failing to assassinate a key figure. But just when it seemed that the Jiang family had already started fighting like dogs, Lu Jie actually shut them up!
That treacherous Lu Jie actually managed to ruin the whole plan!
He and his niece are avenging their sister!

Two months have passed, but Cheng Wenhui is still furious whenever the matter is brought up. Cheng Wenhui didn't even see Lu Jie when Lu Jia got married.

Lu Jia knew the reason behind it all, so she didn't say much to him, but only asked, "So, Uncle, are you going to sue or not?"

"Of course I'll sue!"

Cheng Wenhui quickly put away the petition, then glanced at her with annoyance: "You little rascal, you're getting better and better at ordering me around these days!"

Every few days, I would find things for him to do, afraid that he would be idle.

Fortunately, this niece is indeed intelligent, and he is willing to run errands for her.

Lu Jia returned home satisfied and waited for news without mentioning it.

Cheng Wenhui examined the petition in her hand repeatedly. The logic was clear, there were almost no doubts, and the evidence was conclusive. The Su and Liu families were definitely guilty.

But he was still seething with anger. Thinking about how the Yan family had managed to escape last time, he secretly plotted for a while with the petition in hand, and then went to the home of his close colleague, Imperial Censor Zheng. He stayed there until late at night before returning home.

Meanwhile, Lu Rong brought up the matter between the Su and Liu families and reported it back to Lu Jie. Lu Jie only thought about it briefly before dismissing him.

The Yan family agreed to Lu Jie's transfer to the Ministry of Revenue because they wanted to use him to make a quick buck. Even if they didn't actually ask for three million taels, they certainly wouldn't be able to fill their stomachs without several hundred thousand taels.
However, Lu Jie had no intention of giving it to them in the first place, so there was no need for bargaining.

But Liu Zheng's shamelessness still caused people a headache.

After all that happened, the Yan family had long since stopped asking the Ministry of Revenue for money. Liu Zheng had been embroiled in a case last time and received a severe reprimand from Yan Song. Now, if he wanted to regain face, he could only bring the matter up again. In other words, the current pressure was actually being exerted on Liu Zheng by using Yan Song's name.

If someone surnamed Liu keeps a close eye on you, you can't get anything done.

Unfortunately, there was no way to knock him down directly. If you went too far, you'd naturally attract attention.

After finishing his official duties in the afternoon, he saw the letter sent by Su Chen on the table. Just as he picked it up, Yang Hong, the secretary who had been by Lu Jie's side since he first entered officialdom, walked in, closed the door behind him, and said, "Sir, the censor Zheng Kui has accused Su Chen and Liu Zheng."

"what?"

Lu Jie paused for a moment, then suddenly looked up.

Yang Hong said, "Su Chen bought several hundred acres of land for the Liu family at a low price, forcing more than ten households to sell their daughters or suffer physical injuries. They wrote petitions and sent them to the censor along with the original land deeds. This morning, Zheng Kui also sent them to the palace."

Lu Jie was stunned. Lu Rong had just figured out the situation between the Su and Liu families yesterday, and the news had already spread overnight? It had even reached the Censorate?
He stood up: "Then how did the person involved find the censor?"

"It is said that they met the steward of the Zheng family who was passing through the village. Upon hearing about this, the steward took them to see Zheng Kui."

Yang Hong continued, "The Liu family had just been punished by the Emperor, and now this matter has been brought up again. The Emperor immediately forwarded the memorial to the Grand Secretariat and ordered the Grand Secretariat to oversee the matter."

"The Emperor has not held morning court for many years and rarely sees his ministers. Government affairs are handled by the cabinet, so there is nothing wrong with that."

"But just after this memorial was forwarded to the cabinet, Lord Cheng Wenhui also submitted a memorial, bringing up the case of Zhou Sheng, who was still imprisoned, destroying the dike and flooding the fields. At the same time, Lord Cheng accused the Su family of having long-standing dealings with Zhou Sheng and of using the Tanzhou water transport to deceive the higher authorities and amass wealth on a large scale!"
"Just now, Guo Yi, the imperial envoy who was ordered to inspect the waterways in the south last year, has been summoned to the palace!"

Lu Jie remained calm while listening to the first half of the speech, but when he heard the second half, he couldn't help but straighten his back!

For many years, the cabinet has been in charge of all government affairs. The emperor only cares about the results and not the process. The Su and Liu families are no different from the Yan family. If it were just an impeachment, it would indeed not have any effect if it were handed over to the cabinet.

There are countless precedents like this, but in the end, they all amount to much ado about nothing.

But then Zhou Sheng was also dragged into the matter—

Lu Jie quickly stepped out from behind his desk: "The Emperor didn't just learn about Zhou Sheng's case, so why did he suddenly summon Guo Yi?"

Since returning to the capital, Guo Yi has been given a sinecure and has long since stopped caring about these matters.

Many people have been keeping tabs on Zhou Sheng's case. Over the past six months, people have been subtly probing, but the emperor has not taken it seriously. Now, however, he has summoned Guo Yi, which means he is no longer willing to avoid the issue.

"Because Lord Cheng not only brought up Zhou Sheng again, but also clearly explained the collusion between the Su family, the Liu family, and Zhou Sheng, and also mentioned that there were problems with the grain tax at Shawan Wharf in recent years!"

Lu Jie paused.

In recent years, the national treasury has suffered heavy losses due to the war in the northwest. Just as the war was quelled, another war broke out in the southeast, which is a bottomless pit. Now, the emperor is worried about money in addition to foreign enemies!
It turns out it involved taxes!

"It would be strange not to inquire about how much silver is generated by the river transport system every year."

"Indeed!" Yang Hong said. "The news has spread throughout the various government offices. The upright officials in the court who have been waiting for an opportunity to sue the Yan family for many years are now making urgent arrangements to join forces and support Lords Cheng and Zheng!"

Lu Jie's brows furrowed deeply. He then immediately exclaimed, "—The Cheng family?!"

I was so focused on hearing the whole story that I completely overlooked Cheng Wenhui!
This brother-in-law who's always causing trouble for Lu Jia has been friends with Zheng Kui for years. In the past, whenever there was a lawsuit, these two would always help each other. They're in cahoots!

From yesterday until now, a whole day and night, they have been submitting memorials impeaching the government one after another. This is obviously organized and premeditated, but can the two of them really be in charge?
And this operation is so familiar and skillful—could it be that his daughter is the mastermind behind it all?!

Lu Jie's skin tightened suddenly. So many past events had proven that when Lu Jia made a move, it was never a small matter!

Now that the commotion has been stirred up, the Yan family must have heard about it too...

He stood still for a moment, then suddenly turned around: "Hurry up and prepare the sedan chair, I need to go to the Ministry of Works!"