Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 374 The Arrogant Brat Who Doesn't Know His Own Limits
When Li Quan walked out of Qianqing Palace, He Ping and his men's mission was nearing its end. The imperial guards had brought over a cart and were waiting for the last few strokes to be completed.

He slowly exhaled on the steps, then turned and walked down the stairs.

"Go to the Ministry of Revenue and deliver a message to Minister Lu."

……

Such an event in the palace early in the morning has stirred up undercurrents in various government departments.

After Shen Qingzhou left the palace last night, she immediately had He Qu deliver a letter to Lu Jie, and Lu Jie sent someone to inquire about the news early this morning.

When the news of Gao Hong being arrested and flogged spread, the father-in-law and son-in-law were sitting in the office waiting for further developments.

"This battle was won so suddenly and quickly, it is truly a cause for celebration. At first, Yan Shu could be said to have been scheming because of Yan Song, but with Gao Hong, the evidence of his collusion with the Yan family is right in front of His Majesty, and His Majesty has no reason not to deal with him. Now that Eunuch Li has been extricated, His Majesty has investigated and dealt with Yan Shu and Gao Hong one after another. Given His Majesty's nature, he will most likely take some action against the Shen family next."

Lu Jie visibly relaxed when he spoke the first half of the story, but became more cautious in his speech later on.

Shen Qingzhou nodded: "But now that things have come to this, we are in a difficult situation and have no choice but to keep our heads down and charge forward."

"The Yan family has no choice but to investigate and punish those thirteen henchmen according to the imperial decree, in order to buy themselves time. Although my father has already gone to the southeast, we must also be wary of Hu Yucheng acting arbitrarily."

"If we can capture him, that's fine. But if we can't, the Yan family will have to live a miserable life for a while longer. Then we'll have to come up with another plan."

"The key issue is that if he really investigates and prosecutes these thirteen henchmen, and the emperor is reluctant to kill him, the situation will be even worse."

"So ultimately, the crux of the problem lies within the palace."

"Doesn't Father-in-law think that the Emperor is no longer suitable to sit in this position?"

Lu Jie was drinking a cup of tea when he suddenly heard him say this, and he spat out the tea!
"What do you think you're doing, you brat?" He put down the tea, rushed to the desk, quickly glanced left and right, and glared at him through gritted teeth: "Don't you want your head?"

Shen Qingzhou dusted off his robe and calmly raised his head: "I was just telling the truth. The Yan family has enough evidence of their crimes to deserve death ten times over. It is only because the Emperor is protecting them that we have had such a difficult journey."

"This is only treating the symptoms, not the root cause, and it will only cause more trouble. Even if the Yan family is eliminated, other factional struggles will still arise in the future. In short, I think that in order to get rid of the Yan family, we cannot ignore the situation in the palace."

"Ignoring the problem and addressing the root cause are two different things!" Lu Jie slammed the door shut and glared at him again: "If you don't want to live, you should have my daughter divorce you as soon as possible, so you don't drag us, father and daughter, down with you!"

“I don’t believe my father-in-law hasn’t thought of this.” Shen Qingzhou leaned closer to him. “My father-in-law has endured humiliation and hardship all these years, and even as the Minister of the Six Ministries, he still couldn’t openly denounce the evil deeds the Yan family committed against the Lu family. Do you really not think the Emperor has failed in his duty?”

Lu Jie, with his back to him, said, "I didn't!"

Shen Qingzhou didn't take it to heart: "The Crown Prince has studied for many years. His Majesty's health has been deteriorating in recent years, and His Highness the Crown Prince has been watching the Emperor work hard for the country while he himself stays in the Eastern Palace and acts as a hands-off ruler. It is truly unfilial."

“I think he should sit in the Hall of Supreme Harmony and personally handle state affairs, while the emperor should retire to the inner palace and devote himself to cultivating Taoism and becoming an immortal.”

"Pooh!"

Lu Jie spat without any politeness, "You wish! Who would dare to say such a thing? They don't even need to say it out loud. If even a whisper reaches the Emperor's ears, you can expect your family to be wiped out and your clan to be exterminated!"
"How to fight and how to fight are secondary matters. The most important thing is to protect everyone!"

Not satisfied with that, he added, "You really don't know your place!"

At this moment, Lu Rong pushed open the door and walked in: "Sir! Gao Hong is dead!" The two people in the room paused, but they were not particularly surprised.

Lu Jie quickly sighed and waved for him to leave. Lu Rong then said, "Also, just now Eunuch Li sent someone out of the palace to deliver a message, saying that after the Emperor reprimanded Gao Hong and Eunuch Li, he issued several decrees. One of them is that after Grand Commandant Shen returns to the capital, he will be transferred out of the Ministry of War to take up a post in the Ministry of Personnel."

After he finished speaking, he recited all the imperial edicts issued by the emperor.

Upon hearing that Grand Commandant Shen was to be transferred from the Ministry of War, Lu Jie immediately looked at Shen Qingzhou: "Just as I thought! Once he leaves the Ministry of War and loses the power to mobilize troops, the Grand Commandant will have no control over Hu Yucheng."

"Then do you still think that what I said just now was ignorant and presumptuous?" Shen Qingzhou said. "The facts are right in front of us. If we suppress Yan's faction, the Emperor will put the Shen family in a difficult position again. Who knows if Yan Song will find fault with us and accuse us, and then persuade the Emperor?"

Lu Jie choked.

He turned his head away and walked a few steps in the room, finally stopping in the center of the room: "I admit that what you said makes sense, but this matter should not be taken by force, but only by strategy."

Shen Qingzhou leaned closer to the back of the chair: "How do we outsmart them?"

Lu Jie frowned, put his hands behind his back, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll go to the palace first, and then I'll come find you later!"

Shen Qingzhou stood up.

Lu Jie watched his retreating figure and sighed, "That brat has even more guts than me!"

After saying that, he looked at Lu Rong and asked, "How is the investigation of those thirteen people by the Yan family going?"

Lu Rong glanced at the sky outside: "Yan Song is in charge of Dali Temple today, and he has already summoned these thirteen people in one day. It's only midday now, so he should be handling the case at Dali Temple."

Lu Jie sighed, "Those are all their people. The evidence is readily available. If we really wanted to investigate, we could imprison them all in a day. Right now, we're just deliberating on how to convict them."

At this point, he picked up two memorials and put them in his pocket, instructing, "They can handle the million taels of silver the Emperor is chasing, but with Gao Hong's sudden death, they'll probably be thrown into disarray. Go and keep an eye on things!"

……

"...Gao Hongsheng was beaten with a hundred strokes of the cane, and finally the men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard took him away on a cart to a mass grave."

"His private residence in the capital, as well as the shops and land he owned, were all confiscated by imperial decree."

"On my way back just now, He Ping had already led his men to surround the Gao residence. Gao Hong's wives, concubines, adopted sons, and servants were kneeling in front of the gate, their cries shaking the heavens."

Yan Qu stood in the eldest room and relayed the information he had gathered to Yan Liang one by one. The events that had occurred over the past few days were all unexpected, and his deep voice no longer contained any anger or shock.

Yan Liang sat quietly in his chair, looking out the window at the autumn leaves falling in the courtyard, utterly silent.

“Brother,” Yan Qu looked up, “Gao Hong was also killed by them, while Li Quan is still in the position of chief eunuch. The Shen family’s power is growing stronger and stronger.”

"Even though the Emperor wants to transfer Shen Bo away from the Ministry of War, he will still be a minister of one of the six ministries, a first-rank official with real power."

“I have a feeling that even if my grandfather is able to investigate and punish thirteen officials and keep his official position this time, he may not be able to withstand one case after another.”