Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 325 Something happened again!

Madam Yan gave Yan Liang one night, but she didn't sleep well that night either.

The Yan family was not actually as united as a monolith. The old man had amassed such a huge fortune, but he himself did not have many sons. Instead, he allowed Yan Shu to open the gates of the inner quarters, with six or seven concubines and maids, who gave birth to more than a dozen children born out of wedlock.

However, the old man also valued his grandchildren born out of wedlock. He hired an old teacher who had passed the imperial examinations to run the family's private school, and all his children, regardless of gender, were required to attend school.

This made the competition among the younger generation quite fierce. The concubines, too, had something to look forward to and secretly worked hard to outdo each other.

Madam Yan and Yan Shu were childhood sweethearts. She had been married into the family for over twenty years, but she started from the very beginning, fighting her way through the blood and sweat of her parents-in-law. It was through her own methods and the help of her clever and decisive eldest son, Yan Liang, that she gained their approval and relinquished the power of managing the household ahead of schedule.

But it was only a slight advantage.

Among the children born out of wedlock, several were exceptionally intelligent and talented, and some even held official positions and achieved considerable success.

This shows that Madam Yan's two legitimate sons were not irreplaceable. For Yan Shu, losing two meant having many more. This was evident from the fact that Yan Shu's attitude towards him had become much more distant since Yan Qu's incident. However, they were Madam Yan's everything, and only the two of them were closely related to Madam Yan's interests.

Therefore, she didn't hesitate to sacrifice Yan Liang's happiness back then, agreeing to let the old master make the Jin family girl the eldest daughter-in-law. Making the Jin family girl her daughter-in-law could also, to some extent, restrain Yan Shu.

For so many years, she had never considered anything else, focusing solely on teaching Madam Jin how to handle all sorts of matters. But she never expected Madam Jin to suddenly cause such a commotion!

She couldn't accept Qu Ge's daughter-in-law!

Yan Shu insisted on marrying Lu Jie's daughter as his daughter-in-law, partly due to Yan Shu's wishes and partly due to Madam Yan's own selfish motives.

Just as she used Yan Liang to bind the Jin family, she also wanted her son to help Lu Jie. Because she knew that Yan Song and his son thought too highly of Lu Jie, and that this person was indeed worthy of being trusted. The emperor was increasingly trusting him, and perhaps the day Yan Song left the cabinet would be the day Lu Jie took over. The Lu family was the big tree that the Yan family had cultivated for her.

With these two safeguards, Madam Yan's position was naturally even more secure.

But fate is unpredictable. Firstly, Yan Qu was unable to have children. Despite the pressure, she still married Lu Ying. Secondly, the Jin family, who should have been united and stood firmly by her side, dared to fight amongst themselves.
God knows how much turmoil Lu Jia's words stirred in her heart that day. If Yan Shu finds out about this, she will also be implicated!

Is there an affair between the Jin family and the Shen family?
How dare the Jin family?

There's no smoke without fire. If there's no basis for this, why would the Wu family suddenly come to plead for the Jin family?
"Madam, the eldest son has arrived."

The maid's voice woke her up.

She straightened up and realized that the pen she was holding hadn't touched the paper for a while, and several drops of ink had already fallen onto it.

“Mother.” Yan Liang entered the room and bowed before the table.

Madam Yan crumpled the soiled paper into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket: "How is it?"

"Mrs. Jin was just confused for a moment. She couldn't stand seeing her mother dote on her younger siblings, and because she secretly resented her mother's favoritism, she did something foolish. Please forgive her this time, Mother."

"Who told you that?" Madam Yan's face darkened. "I'm asking about the Jin family and the Shen family!"

Yan Shu paused slightly: "I was just about to investigate. I will report back to Mother as soon as I have any news."

"Such indecisiveness is unlike you." Madam Yan's gaze was devoid of warmth. "I believe that if you were willing to do it, two hours would be enough."

Yan Liang stood silently.

Madam Yan waved her sleeve: "Go. I want to hear your report before sunset."

Yan Liang said, "Actually, even if the investigation finds no problem, Mother will still have some reservations if she has any doubts." Madam Yan picked up her pen again and said, "Don't make me sound so petty."

Yan Liang smiled and said, "It's just that without Jin's help, we can't bear to see Mother working so hard. Let my sister-in-law stay by Mother's side. There have been constant disagreements these days. Although the Lu family has apologized, I'm afraid they're still not at ease. If we give my sister-in-law a little push, it will be easier to explain to the Lu family."

Madam Yan glanced at him: "Since when have you been meddling in these matters of the inner quarters?"

Yan Liang clasped his hands together and smiled.

Madam Yan looked away from her writing and said, "I'll have her come over later. You go and take care of your business!"

Yan Liang bowed and left.

Madam Yan looked down at the words on the paper, then put down her pen in annoyance.

She wiped her hands and was about to leave when the maid rushed in like a whirlwind: "Madam! Something has happened to the Jin family again!"

Madam Yan's brow twitched: "What is it?"

"This morning, the eldest young mistress's brother, Master Jin, was cornered inside his house by people from our mansion!"

Madam Yan was taken aback: "What kind of talk is that?!"

"Besides Master Jin, there was also a staff member surnamed Song from the Grand Commandant's mansion, who was blocking the room!"

"what?!"

Madam Yan's voice cracked upon hearing this, "Explain yourself clearly!"

The maid swallowed hard and continued, "That's in the backyard of a gambling den in Baoping Hutong inside the South Gate! Since Master Jin is a regular there, the gambling den specially set aside a room for him as a place to rest on weekdays."

"In that room, the advisor surnamed Song from the Grand Commandant's office was present, as were members of the Wu family. Crucially, the room also contained evidence documents related to the Jin family's lawsuit, along with silver notes..."

Seeing Madam Yan's expression, the maidservant could no longer continue. She quickly stepped forward and grabbed Madam Yan's hand, saying, "Madam, let go! You're bleeding!"

Madam Yan shoved her away, pointing outside with her fingernails, which were bleeding from scratching herself: "Go, call Madam Jin here! And call the eldest son back too!"

"Wait a second or I'll break your legs!"

……

Yan Liang walked out of the main room, frowned slightly, and then called someone over to prepare the car, as he was going to the Jin family.

Before he had even stepped out the door, a maidservant rushed up behind him: "Young Master! Madam has summoned you back! Please hurry!"

Seeing her flustered state, Yan Liang turned and walked back, asking, "What's wrong now?"

The maid refused to answer.

He had no choice but to quicken his pace. Just as he reached the main room, a sharp crack echoed from inside, followed by Jin's scream and then Madam Yan's furious roar: "You vile woman! You'd better explain yourself clearly!"

Yan Liang rushed into the room and saw that Madam Yan's face was contorted with rage, while Madam Jin had been slapped several times and her hair was disheveled as she lay on the ground.

"You've come at the perfect time!" Madam Yan pointed, "Your brother-in-law was caught red-handed by our men while having an affair with someone from the Shen or Wu families. This is what you mean by her momentary lapse of judgment!"