Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 379 I Need a Justifiable Reason
These words were comforting, and the case file was indeed well organized and summarized. The usually deep and unfathomable emperor gradually relaxed his brow and continued to look through it.

"This case was submitted last summer, and I assumed it would be extremely difficult, so I didn't urge them to proceed. I never imagined it would be so close to completion. You managed to finish the trial overnight; that shows your dedication. These opinions—"

He picked up the few sheets of paper beside him and looked at them again. He saw that they were categorized by importance and each had a concise and to-the-point opinion that directly addressed his concerns. He immediately said, "That's not bad!"

After saying that, he looked over, then turned around and looked Lu Jie up and down: "This matter was handled very well!"

Lu Jie looked down at the ground and said, "Your Majesty trusts me, and I cannot fail Your Majesty." He bowed and glanced at the emperor's face before continuing, "This time, Zhou Sheng has also implicated a group of people. According to preliminary investigations, it involves as many as seven officials of various ranks, and the amount of money involved is currently known to be more than 300,000 taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, the emperor, who was reading further, suddenly sharpened his gaze: "There are others?"

Lu Jie nodded deeply: "They have been colluding with each other for more than ten years. According to the imperial envoy Guo Yi, who was sent to inspect Tanzhou Prefecture last year, Tanzhou Prefecture has a bumper harvest of grain every year, but the number of people who are starving is increasing year by year. Even now, there are still officials interfering and controlling the docks in Tanzhou Prefecture."

"The few people Zhou Sheng exposed are just the ones who are worth mentioning. There are also many lower-level officials, and I'm afraid there are too many to count."

"Even if there are too many people to eliminate them all, at least we can recover more of the stolen money."

"Why haven't I heard of this before? As the imperial envoy, why didn't Guo Yi tell the truth when he returned from Tanzhou to report back?"

Lu Jie opened his mouth, sighed silently, and said, "The Guo family are just poor scholars who have been honest and upright for generations, focusing on academics. It is already quite difficult for them to collect so much evidence under their noses. Guo Yi is young and does not hold a high official position. I'm afraid he can't go against these people."

The emperor stood there with a gloomy face, and after a moment he returned the case file to him: "Then do as you said, thoroughly investigate the group of people he implicated! Punish those who should be punished, and recover all the silver and land that should be recovered! In addition, if Zhou Sheng can produce any more useful information, I may only execute him and not implicate his family!"

"Yes." Lu Jie accepted the document with both hands, then hesitated slightly: "I dare not disobey the Emperor's decree, but since it involves multiple government departments, my presiding over this case has already exceeded my authority. Yesterday, I also encountered Grand Secretary Yan and Grand Secretary Pang coming to visit me, and I could hardly respond. If the investigation continues, I'm afraid I will need to ask the Emperor to issue an edict so that I can have a legitimate reason to proceed."

"Overstepping your authority?" The emperor picked up his brush: "Come here and serve me. I hereby appoint you as an imperial envoy!"

"...Yes, Your Majesty!"

Lu Jie jogged forward.

……

Lu Jie was appointed imperial envoy in the morning, and the news spread by noon.

It was done by the emperor.

Lu Jia was refused entry to her parents' home, but she could still see his spirit and energy from a distance, sitting in a carriage opposite the Ministry of Revenue.

She thought to herself inexplicably, "She's just like a favored concubine."

After sitting with her hands tucked in her pockets for a while, she returned to her residence.

On the way, they happened to encounter a group of Yan family members galloping past, heading straight for the Grand Secretariat. Yesterday, when Lu Jie's trial began, Shen Qingzhou went to the Li family, one of the people Yan Song was investigating, and stabbed Yan Song in the back. He was busy dealing with them and couldn't pay attention to Lu Jie's side. Now that Lu Jie is advancing step by step and has been appointed by the emperor as an imperial envoy to handle the case, the Yan family, having received the news, couldn't help but rush to the Grand Secretariat to ask for advice.
She ignored them and went straight back to her residence.

Shen Qingzhou, who was also refused a meeting, did not leave his home for two days and just then received a message from Lu Jie, written on his behalf by Yang Bonong.

As soon as Lu Jia entered the room, he said, "If this matter is handled well, my father-in-law's entry into the cabinet will be a sure thing."

“But we still need to be wary of the Yan family. I just saw Yan Liang’s men go to the cabinet, they must be discussing countermeasures.” Lu Jia sat down while removing his cloak. “However, the struggle has already begun, so this was all expected. Even if Yan Song doesn’t die now, with his father in the cabinet sharing power, the Crown Prince won’t be completely isolated in the palace.”

"Right now, taking a hard line is obviously not a reliable way to address the root cause, but as long as the Crown Prince has someone backing him up, that day is just around the corner!"

“They’ll resort to underhanded tactics,” Shen Qingzhou gestured to He Qu in the distance, “Go check if Shen Zhui has made any progress.”

After He Qu left, Lu Jia withdrew his gaze and asked, "How many days do you think it will take to complete the task that Father has taken on?"

Shen Qingzhou paused to ponder: "It will take at least three days, and the rest depends on how the Yan family does. If we can keep their actions under control, even if there are any mishaps, it won't matter. It will take at most five days."

Lu Jia said slowly, "Father has also grasped the Emperor's preferences. Back then, Yan Song rose to power step by step by catering to the Emperor's tastes, and Father did the same in his previous life! However, in his previous life, he was still indebted to the Yan family for their support and did not have the opportunity to take on important responsibilities on his own, so the Emperor only saw his good learning. Now that he knows that he can also get things done, he will naturally be given important responsibilities again."

"The Yan family must be desperate to drag Father down right now. Unfortunately, he won't let us see him, so we can't help him."

Just when the Yan family was in a state of utter chaos, Lu Jie, whom they had ignored, unexpectedly gained the emperor's favor. Not only was he given the presidency of a case that the cabinet had taken over, but he was also appointed as the imperial envoy to handle the case. If the emperor was after the Yan family's money, then Lu Jie was after their power!
How could that old scoundrel Yan tolerate this?
Although Lu Jie is resourceful, he is ultimately a civil official, and now that he has to avoid suspicion, he is even more isolated and powerless.

Thus, she couldn't help but look towards the courtyard gate, hoping that He Qu could get some useful information from Shen Zhui and make use of it.

Just as a glass of water was brought to his lips, He Qu ran back: "Young Master, Young Madam, the Second Young Master is back!"

Behind him, wasn't it Shen Zhui walking in with a gloomy expression?
"Why are you back?" Lu Jia stood up.

"Don't even mention it," Shen Zhui said bitterly. "The Yan family has tightened their defenses again these past two days. Before, we could at least peek inside, but now we can't get in at all! We've been staking out for the past two days, and we haven't heard a single word or even seen a single person!"

"What about Lu Ying?"

"Then forget about it! You can't even see her, how could you possibly see her?"

Lu Jia's expression suddenly froze.

Shen Qingzhou asked, "Are you worried about her?"

“Worrying is one thing! On the other hand, she's been acting as our inside manor so she can leave the manor. I was just thinking of having her pass on some messages to keep Yan Song occupied and prevent him from interfering with Father. But now that we can't even see her, does that mean we can't even do that?”