Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 273 Quick, grab the evidence!
The collusion between Su Chen and Liu Zheng could be considered a minor matter, but it involved Zhou Sheng and the river transport grain tax, which meant it was aimed at the Yan family.

Liu Zheng has been in charge of the Ministry of Works for years, acting as a lackey for the Yan family. When trouble comes, the Yan family will inevitably make moves behind the scenes.

The one orchestrating everything behind the scenes is none other than Lu Jie's own daughter!

If it were someone else, Lu Jie could have remained calm and observed the situation.

Can he still sit still right now?

Whether you want to or not, you have to bite the bullet and go for it!

The Minister of Works was not present, and the Vice Minister of Works was listening to the servants report that Liu Zheng had been reported to the palace again. Upon hearing of his arrival, he hurriedly went to the door to greet him: "Minister, is there any urgent matter that brings you here so suddenly?"

Lu Jie walked into the yamen with him: "Have you all heard about Lord Liu's matter? The Emperor has already summoned Guo Yi to the palace. Quickly check what accounts haven't been sorted out and make a list for me!"

He paused at the threshold, looked around, and lowered his voice: "Be quick, and don't disturb anyone."

The Minister of Works was also a cabinet minister. Although he could not be said to be a supporter of the Yan family, the fact that he was able to hold this position and that the Yan family was able to continuously extract money from the Ministry of Works showed the extent of the relationship between the minister and the Yan family from top to bottom.

The Left Vice Minister certainly knew the gravity of the situation. Lu Jie and the Yan family were becoming increasingly intertwined, and now that he had personally come to sort out the accounts, he was bound to cooperate!
He immediately responded and ran to the innermost part of the yamen, afraid that if he was even a step late, he would fail to show his loyalty and respect.

Lu Jie then glanced around again, then subtly gave Lu Rong behind him a look before striding toward the hall where they were receiving guests.

Lu Jie had barely left the yamen when He Qu found Shen Qingzhou.

"Why haven't I heard her mention it?"

Shen Qingzhou had already heard about the Censorate's actions that morning, but since the situation was unclear at first, he hadn't given it much thought. Only now did he realize that it was Lu Jia who was behind it all!
After listening, he quickly walked out of the government office.

He Qu caught up with him: "Young master has been busy with yamen affairs these past few days, and the young mistress hasn't had a chance to talk to you. Besides, the young mistress is confident about this matter, and young master can't get involved."

"Foolish!" Shen Qingzhou sat down in the carriage. "If I can't get involved, can't I at least give it a kick?"

He Qu: ...

On the side of the Censorate, Cheng Wenhui listened to the censors talking all at once for a long time, then seized an opportunity to come out, and quickly got into the sedan chair and hurriedly headed to his residence.

After becoming the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family, Lu Jia is no longer the same as before. Even if she doesn't leave the house, she has many spies and informants, and news from the outside world keeps reaching her ears.

After submitting her petition to Zheng Kui, Cheng Wenhui rode in the carriage purchased by the Shen family to the Cheng residence.

Right now, both Cheng and Zheng are targets, so they can't go anywhere else. Lu Jia is different; no one is thinking of keeping an eye on her at this time.

Just as he sat down with Madam Cheng, Li Chang delivered the news that the Emperor had summoned Guo Yi to the palace.

“Very good,” Lu Jia said. “Go check on the situation at the Censorate.”

"No need to go, I'm back!" As soon as she finished speaking, Cheng Wenhui walked in hurriedly. "The censors are already reviewing the impeachment memorials that have been submitted in the past, and they plan to strike while the iron is hot and submit the Yan family's past crimes to the Emperor again."

"The Yan family has amassed tens of millions in embezzled funds over the years. Now that the Emperor has summoned Guo Yi, if the Liu family wants to attack, the Yan family won't escape either!"

Lu Jia asked, "Can it work?"

She was puzzled. Her target this time wasn't the Yan family; her main aim was to use the attack on the Su and Liu families as a pretext to indirectly harm the Yan family, giving them something to do. The Su family's offenses were primarily the responsibility of Liu Zheng, not the Yan family. Judging from the previous emperor's behavior after Yan Song's death, he clearly hadn't lost faith in the Yan family, and now wasn't the best time to deal with them.

If the thread is pulled too far, it becomes easier to divert attention, ultimately giving the Yan family an opportunity to act cunningly.

Cheng Wenhui shook her head: "It's absolutely impossible. Even if we had such a plan, the cabinet would stop us."

Yan Song's cabinet, which controls the government, has already brought trouble upon itself. How could it possibly let the Censorate succeed so easily?
Lu Jia nodded: "We won't stop the censors from doing whatever they want. We'll just keep an eye on the Su and Liu families."

"Now that the Liu family has been defeated, the Yan family will naturally have to follow suit."

"The most important thing right now is to act quickly and convict the Liu family before the Yan family finds a way to deal with it, otherwise things will definitely get complicated!"

"Father!"

Just then, Cheng Yan walked in: "Young Master Shen has arrived!"

Shen Qingzhou, led by Cheng Yi, stepped into the house and bowed to Cheng Wenhui and his wife, saying, "Uncle, Aunt."

At the homecoming banquet, the Cheng family and Shen Qingzhou had already formally met. Lu Jia immediately stood up: "We just—"

“I heard you.” Shen Qingzhou nodded quickly to her. “You’re right. The Yan family father and son must be trying to figure out a way to deal with this right now, so we really need to race against time!”

After saying that, he turned around and took a scroll from He Qu's hand: "This is an account book that I smuggled out from the Ministry of Revenue's accounting a while ago."

"It records exactly the funds that the Ministry of Works has transferred from the Ministry of Revenue to repair the waterways over the years. For many years, any project related to the transportation of rivers throughout the country that exceeded 50,000 taels of silver has had many irregular expenditure records."

"These alone add up to over a million taels of silver!"

Lu Jia glanced at the document and handed it to Cheng Wenhui, who looked up in surprise: "This document is enough to convict Liu Zheng within ten days!"

"You actually managed to get the account books out right under Lao Lu's nose?"

That's Lu Jie, a shrewd and cunning man!

“Of course it wasn’t that easy,” Shen Qingzhou said. “After I brought it out, I spent an entire night having ten people copy it. After we finished copying it, we sent it back the next morning.”

Cheng Wenhui suddenly realized.

“But precisely because it’s copied, it’s not effective enough.” At this point, Shen Qingzhou looked at him again: “Without a stamp or signature, it can’t convince the public.”

"However, the Ministry of Works had a special office to implement river works. Although they did not handle funds, every project involving river transport was clearly recorded."

"All the projects implemented there match the accounts listed above."

"In other words, if someone is willing to investigate, with these two things, they can find out everything clearly no matter what."

Cheng Wenhui suddenly straightened up: "If His Majesty didn't want to investigate, he wouldn't have summoned Guo Yi to the palace!"
"I understand, I'll go to the Ministry of Works right away!"

Shen Qingzhou nodded: "You absolutely must get it. And you must do it quickly!"
"Only by obtaining it can my account book be of any use. And only by obtaining it can I possibly convict Liu Zheng before the Yan family does!"