Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 305: It Can't Be Hidden Anymore!

Granny Li was right; Yan Liang's concessions were precisely to protect the Jin family.

They are husband and wife, sharing the same interests. Jin has already given birth to children, and if Yan Liang is punished, he will also be implicated. His actions can only prove that he is a normal person.

But if Xie San hadn't encountered Lu Jia, who had guards protecting her, but instead it was Lu Ying, would anyone be protecting her like this now?
When she returns to the manor, won't she be met with Madam Yan's punishment and Madam Jin's ruthless pursuit?

When Madam Jin devised this wicked scheme, she never considered giving Lu Ying a way out!
However, there is still a possibility of being protected and exonerated. How could Lu Ying be willing to accept this?

With the Shen family involved, Yan Liang could no longer cover this up, and Lu Ying could no longer allow Yan Liang to protect her!
Since Yan Shu and Lu Jie had reconciled, Yan Shu had been working diligently for the past few days to come up with a plan for raising funds. He also quickly wrote a memorial listing the main sources of funds and sent it to the palace as soon as possible, hoping to please the emperor and get him to give him leniency in the case of water transport taxes in Tanzhou, so that the investigation would not be pursued further.

Not long after the memorial arrived at the palace in the morning, the emperor summoned Yan Shu to the palace. As expected, the emperor was delighted and not only praised him highly but also gave him other rewards.

Over the years, the emperor has bestowed countless favors upon the Yan family, but this particular reward at this juncture is especially precious.

"The Emperor still can't abandon our Yan family after all," Madam Yan said after returning home. She had dinner with Yan Shu, and the couple had a good chat and drank two cups of wine. Yan Shu then swirled the wine cup and sighed, "This is the right thing to do. Looking around the world, who else is as loyal as my father, and who else thinks of the Emperor in every way like the Yan family?"

After finishing his meal, he immediately went to the Ministry of Revenue to handle the matter, hoping to finalize it in one go.

Once the military pay is delivered, no matter how much trouble Cheng Wenhui stirs up, she won't be able to shake the Yan family's ship!
Madam Yan was also relieved. After not getting a proper sleep for several days, she finally fell asleep during her afternoon nap.

But just as she entered her dream, she heard the maid's anxious whispers in her ear.

She said the second young master of the Shen family came to cause trouble!

Is the Shen family causing trouble?
Why are you causing trouble?
Madam Yan sat up abruptly, and a maid came to tell her that the Second Young Master Shen was banging on the door!

This is outrageous! If the Shen family hadn't managed to get the Emperor to allocate military funds to Hu Yucheng right when the Liu family was in trouble, how could the Yan family have lost hundreds of thousands of taels of silver for nothing? They had already spent a sum of money to pay for water transport taxes before, and now they're doing it again. The Yan family hasn't even done anything to the Shen family yet, and they've already delivered themselves to their doorstep!
He immediately got out of bed to change his clothes and then led his men to the front yard.

"Mother, wait!"

She had barely stepped out of the room when a person strode quickly towards her from outside the courtyard gate. Upon seeing that it was Lu Ying, Madam Yan stopped and said, "Why are you waiting?"

Lu Ying looked at her, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she knelt down in front of her with a thud.

Those around them, caught off guard, jumped back in surprise. Madam Yan frowned and looked at them, saying, "If you have something to say, say it properly. What are you doing?"

With tears welling in her eyes, Lu Ying looked up and said, "I am both a wife of the Yan family and a daughter of the Lu family. I have so much to say, but I dare not say it!"

Madam Yan was furious: "I still have to go to the front yard, so get out of my way if you're not going to tell me!" But she took a step forward and then pulled her foot back: "What do you mean by that? What Lu family or Yan family? What have you done to us?"

Lu Ying asked, "Mother, do you know why the second young master of the Shen family suddenly came to our door?"

"Why?" "My sister-in-law and I went to Baiyun Temple to offer incense today. Two old women with her instigated and lured the third son of the Xie family, the Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial, into my sister's room where she was resting and having tea. They tried to do something indecent to her, but Xie San failed and was caught red-handed by my sister's guards!"

"what?!"

Madam Yan was so shocked that she took half a step back, her breath catching in her throat for a moment before she uttered the next sentence: "You're saying she used the underworld to deal with Lu Jia?!"

Lu Ying stood up: "My sister has already asked about the matter clearly in the temple. The daughter-in-law was caught in the middle and really didn't know what to do, so she rushed back to inform my elder brother and went to bring my sister-in-law back to stop the storm."

"But so many people saw it clearly. The news that the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yan family plotted to frame the young mistress of the Shen family has probably already spread throughout the streets and alleys. It is absolutely unreasonable for the Shen family not to send anyone!"

"Therefore, Mother's trip will not only be unreasonable, but she will also likely suffer humiliation at the hands of the second young master of the Shen family!"

Madam Yan could no longer contain her anger halfway through the conversation. After Lu Ying finished speaking, she glared at the servants in front of her and asked, "Have you heard about this? Is what the Third Young Mistress said true?"

The servants looked at each other, and those who had been to the front yard could not resist the pressure and had to speak up: "Young Master Shen has been invited into the mansion by the eldest young master. I just overheard that Young Master Shen gave the eldest young master a good scolding... and from what he said, that's indeed what he said."

"That's unreasonable!"

Madam Yan roared in fury: "Summon Madam Jin here immediately!"

……

After Yan Liang left, Jin was still feeling uneasy, but when she heard that he had only gone to see Steward He to discuss apologizing to the Grand Commandant, she felt relieved.

As long as this matter doesn't reach her in-laws' ears, it doesn't matter how much Yan Liang scolds her. After all, husband and wife are one; if she ends up badly, Yan Liang will also be implicated. Besides, her husband is always reliable; with him handling things, he'll naturally mediate.

But before she could even finish exhaling, news arrived from ahead that the Second Young Master Shen had come looking for trouble!
Has someone from the Shen family arrived?
The Shen family has always avoided the Yan family. When Jin saw Lu Jia leave with Yan Liang without saying a word, she still held a sliver of hope that Grand Commandant Shen would continue to turn a blind eye. After all, he knew how this daughter-in-law came to be. Perhaps if Lu Jia was bullied by the Yan family, he would secretly watch the show and think it was just infighting among them!

But to everyone's surprise, they actually came knocking on our door, and they did so incredibly quickly!

A mouthful of blood suddenly welled up in her throat. The Shen family had come, and with such a menacing manner, that there was no way to hide it from Yan Shu and his wife!
"Grandma!" The maidservant rushed in, lifting the curtain with a look of surprise. "Someone from Madam's side has arrived!"

Jin was greatly shocked. Before she could reply, Shuyu's voice came from outside the door: "Is the eldest young mistress here?"

Immediately afterwards, Shuyu arrived at the door with two maids, gave a slight bow and said, "Madam has something to say to you. Please come with me to the main room."

When Madam Jin saw Shuyu's unyielding expression, she felt a little guilty: "Shuyu, did Madam say anything?"

Shuyu simply lowered her eyes and said, "Grandma will know when she goes."

Jin felt another burning sensation in her heart. She gripped the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands and had no choice but to step over the threshold with a heavy heart.