Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 349 Let their plans turn into wishful thinking

Yi Zhe suddenly stopped.

“Eunuch Li just mentioned the matter of establishing an heir back then, which reminded me.” Shen Bo looked at the lamplight and said slowly, “Under the whole heaven, all land belongs to the king, and all people within the borders are subjects of the king. No matter who holds power in the court, this world belongs to the emperor alone. The thorn in the emperor’s heart is the word ‘imperial power’.”

Yi Zhe suddenly realized: "In the Emperor's heart, naturally nothing is more important than imperial power. The Yan family has been arrogant for many years, but they would never dare to go against the Emperor's wishes. Because they also know that without the Emperor's trust, let alone the hard-earned money of the people, they would have to think twice before breaking even a blade of grass."

In other words, if you have a direction but no road, how can you go about it?

……

Lu Jia brought Yang Bonong back to the mansion. Upon hearing this, she was overjoyed. She first had Changfu lead Yang Bonong to rest in the flower hall, and then went to the room to tell Lu Ying that she had come and the whole story of her visit to the Lu mansion.

Upon entering, he saw Shen Qingzhou standing silently by the window, and couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder: "Wake up!"

Shen Qingzhou opened her mouth to speak, but seeing that her hair was already wet from the rain, she pulled out a handkerchief to dry her hair, and said, "How is the Yan family doing? What did your father-in-law say? Why didn't you wait for me to come back before you left? It's raining so hard, don't you care about yourself?"

"I'm fine! There's plenty of rain in Tanzhou. I grew up by the water, what am I afraid of?" Lu Jia undid and dried her hair, then got down to business and urged him, "I don't know what that bundle is, but it must be very important. Uncle Yang is in the outer room, hurry up and go!"

After Shen Qingzhou decided to personally go to the Yan residence yesterday, he made several plans, but the enemy is cunning, so how can he be sure that everything will go smoothly?

Having experienced a crushing defeat in my past life, I must not only win this time, but win decisively and thoroughly! Only then will I have lived this life to the fullest.

However, when things reach a critical point, it's still hard to say that one is completely confident.

Having been deep within Cao Cao's camp for some time, how could Lu Jie hesitate upon hearing that he had something to say?

Upon seeing Shen Qingzhou, Yang Bonong stood up and handed over the bundle in his hand: "You are already aware of what happened today. The Yan family is cunning and arrogant, and they cannot be easily defeated. However, I believe this item will definitely come in handy this time!"

As Shen Qingzhou listened, he opened the heavy bundle. Upon seeing the words on the cover, even his usually calm eyes were filled with emotion...

……

"If all else fails, we'll just have to use this petition that Eunuch Li sent as a temporary measure!" In the study of the main courtyard, after hearing Shen Bo's words, Yi Zhe couldn't help but look at the petition still on the table, which was covered with bright red fingerprints. "Submit it, and it will at least buy us a day or two. With that day or two, we might be able to think of another way."

“But the current issue is about the military pay case. Although this petition is useful, it is unrelated to the military pay case. If I submit it now, it might give the Yan family an opportunity to divert attention. Besides,” Shen Bo sighed and paced back and forth, “this document was hard to come by, and it was delivered at the risk of Eunuch Li. If I hand it over now, Eunuch Li’s situation will also be in danger.”

“It shouldn’t just serve the purpose of keeping Yan Shu in jail for a day or two longer.” After saying this, silence fell between the two of them again.

Just then, footsteps could be heard amidst the sound of rain outside the door. A staff member who was attending to affairs in the neighboring courtyard walked in: "Sir, the eldest son, the young mistress, and Mr. Yang from the Lu family have arrived!"

Upon hearing that it was Yang Bonong, Shen Bo exchanged a glance with Yi Zhe and then looked towards the door. At that moment, Shen Qingzhou and his wife, along with another person, entered one after the other. Sure enough, it was Yang Bonong, whom they shouldn't have had any dealings with!
“Father, my father has sent Mr. Yang over to speak with you!” Lu Jia gestured for Yang Bonong to step forward. “He has something important to pass on!”

Yang Bonong bowed and handed over the bundle in his hand: "My master guessed that the Yan family might pay money to redeem Yan Shu from his crime. So he sent me to deliver these to the Grand Commandant and to convey my master's words: Please, Grand Commandant, do not hesitate too much. Right now, it is best to convict Yan Shu in one fell swoop!"

Grand Commandant Shen asked in surprise, "Your master wants me to convict the Yan family?"

"Exactly!" Yang Bonong nodded deeply. "Please let the Grand Commandant know that my father has never been ashamed of the Lu family's traditions. He also deeply despises the Yan family."

The Lu family was a well-regarded family of officials in the capital. The reason why the Yan family tried to win over Lu Jie was not only because of his own talent, but also because of the Lu family's upright family background.

Shen Bo withdrew his complicated and unspeakable gaze, quickly opened the bundle in his hand, which turned out to be a stack of account books.

Even a layman wouldn't notice anything amiss, but how could Shen Qingzhou, who had served in the Ministry of Revenue for so long, not know?

He explained from the side: "This is the annual allowance book allocated to the imperial clan. For many years, the Yan family has been withholding the annual allowances of the imperial clan, and even the Crown Prince's allowances have been delayed. They have to send money to Yan Shu and pull strings to get the allowances."

"—Such important accounts, my father-in-law has actually compiled them privately, and they even have the signatures of the imperial family members from various regions receiving their annual stipends! With this, we can definitively prove Yan's crime of forming cliques with court officials for personal gain and oppressing the imperial family!"

"My lord!" Yi Zhe could no longer contain his excitement upon hearing this. "With this, how could we possibly fail to touch that thorn in the Emperor's heart!"

Even the composed Shen Bo couldn't help but flip through these items with his hands!
Lu Jia, upon hearing this, became curious: "The thorn in the Emperor's heart? Which thorn?"

"Naturally, it's that thorn called 'imperial power'!" Yi Zhe said. "No matter how distant the imperial clan is, they are still the emperor's relatives and represent the face of the imperial family. The Yan family's actions are actually a usurpation of the emperor's power! They are also going against the emperor's wishes!"

Yang Bonong nodded: "My father also said that there are two things in the Emperor's heart that cannot be touched: one is the Emperor's power, and the other is the Emperor's profit. Yan Shu is so audacious that he not only withheld the annual allowances of the imperial clan, but he also set his sights on the Crown Prince. This is tantamount to stroking the Emperor's tiger's whiskers."

"Therefore, he has been feigning compliance with the Yan family for many years, taking the opportunity to investigate and gather evidence. But in reality, the Yan family is clean and has not leaked much evidence. Fortunately, every year members of the imperial family from various regions send officials to the capital to collect annual tributes, and my master often receives them, which is how we obtained some important things."

"Later, he used a pretext to transfer to the Ministry of Revenue as Minister, taking over the accounts that were ostensibly given to the imperial family. It was precisely because of this distraction that he recently got trouble entangled with the Liu family. In short, although there have been constant ups and downs, and only Yan Shu has been involved, not Yan Song, the evidence is now complete. With this, the Yan family's plans should be thwarted!"