Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 402 Don’t cry until you see the coffin

Yan Liang's flesh and blood suddenly went cold.

Over the years, the Yan family has always held a certain air of superiority in front of everyone. Even someone like Lu Jie, who has been suppressed by the Yan family for more than ten years, has never dared to truly confront them!
Even when Yan Shuxun came to his door last time and humiliated him so much, he didn't explode on the spot.

Inside the small building, he never displayed any power or prestige from beginning to end.

Yan Liang had learned some tricks from the two elders. He thought he knew Lu Jie well enough. But at this moment, who would have thought that he would suddenly tear away all pretense of courtesy?
These questions hit him like a slap in the face.

Apart from Yan Song, he was the only one in the entire Yan family who truly understood the Yan family's current predicament.

These days he has been running around trying to salvage the situation, and he has found it much more difficult to get things done than before.

Whether it was his somewhat humble meeting with Gao Hong back then, or his efforts to find those officials from the Three Judicial Offices in the small building tonight, although they all arrived smoothly, he had spent more than twice as much time and energy as before.

The Yan family's position is precarious!
Ultimately, they were still afraid that the Yan family might one day rise again, so they remained polite on the surface and dared not disobey.

Lu Jie's bluntness and lack of politeness were the first time he had been truly shaken by the family tragedy!

"Since the Yan family came to power, countless officials, from the highest ranks to the lowest commoners, have fallen at your hands. Have you forgotten that I am also a legitimate first-rank official with real power? And that I was personally promoted by the Emperor? You, a disgraced son, dare to speak to me in this manner; this is already an act of contempt for imperial authority."

Lu Jie's questioning was neither angry nor impatient, but every word was like a knife, hitting Yan Liang squarely where he least wanted to face the problem.

His throat tightened, and he gave a cold laugh: "Back when my father was alive, Lord Lu didn't have this attitude! The Yan family has only suffered a little hardship, and Lord Lu is already in such a hurry to turn his back on us, leaving himself no room for maneuver at all?"

He glanced around at the crowd and continued, "My brother has at most engaged in some improper conduct, but Lu Ying has two lives on her hands. If you insist on cutting ties completely, I will naturally oblige!"

"But is it more important for my younger brother to lose a marriage, or for Lord Lu to lose his future? You can't be so sure of this, can you?"

As he finished speaking, Lu Jia on the other side smiled.

"What are you laughing at?!" He squinted.

“I laughed at you for saying ‘human life’!” Lu Jia slowly straightened his chest. “I grew up in a merchant’s family, and I can calculate all kinds of accounts clearly.”

“But you grew up in a family of cunning and treacherous officials, you don’t really think I set up this court just to sue your beastly brother, do you?”

"Since you've brought up human lives, then I have to tell you properly about the murder lawsuit that the Yan family owes our Lu family!"

She asked Qinghe for a petition: "Your Honors, sixteen years ago, the Yan family plotted to kill my mother in order to place Jiang in the Lu family to monitor my father. Today, I have invited you all here to seek justice for my mother!"

The officials who had been watching their confrontation with wide eyes suddenly turned serious upon hearing this.

Yan Liang scoffed, "Nonsense! It's common knowledge that your mother died from postpartum hemorrhage. How can you blame this on my Yan family?"

“I knew you’d do this. Did you think I’d been eating for nothing these past few months?” As Lu Jia spoke, another stack of files was produced. “These are all official documents.”

"It records the interactions between your Yan family and the murderer back then, as well as the benefits the murderer received from your Yan family, that is, how he obtained his official position from you. All these people involved are listed clearly, and they have all been well protected by you, and they are still in high positions in the court!"

This time, the case file wasn't placed on the case file, but instead was thrown directly onto Yan Liang's chest.

Yan Liang's face darkened before he could finish reading.

"You've dealt with government officials since you were young, so you don't need to waste your breath explaining whether they're telling the truth or not. Speaking of which, we have a lot to do with Madam Jiang; most of this money was saved up by her."

"Back then, you plotted to kill my mother and then placed her in the Lu family, but you still acted all high and mighty, manipulating and controlling her in many ways."

"In order to gain some leverage for herself, she secretly used her status as Mrs. Lu to accumulate these assets over the years."

"The Jiang family died at your hands, and now these things have come in handy, so it can be said that her efforts were not wasted!"

Yan Liang was unaware of the details of Madam Lu's death. Such things happened far too often, and there was no need for Yan Shu and his wife to specifically tell him while they were alive.

However, he was able to deduce why Jiang had the opportunity to marry into the Lu family, and why she was able to control Madam Yan before her death, and how she provoked Madam Yan and Yan Shu to the Lu residence that night to carry out the assassination.

What's more, Lu Jia has now produced these documents as evidence!
Murdering Lu Jie's wife is a completely different matter from accusing Yan Qu of acting recklessly!
He looked up and said, "Even with these pieces of evidence, without witnesses present, it's just far-fetched! Since you want a joint trial by the three judicial departments, you need solid evidence!"

That happened more than a decade ago; he didn't believe the Lu family could still find witnesses!
"I naturally expected that you wouldn't shed a tear until you saw the coffin."

This time, Lu Jia didn't even need to turn around. In the dark alley where the lights didn't reach, Shen Qingzhou led a group of guards, escorting several people up.

Bound hand and foot, the two were a man and a woman, their eyes gleaming with venom. When their gaze fell on Lu Jie, they both shuddered and then hurriedly lowered their heads.

"Qi Rusong! Lift your dog head up!"

Lu Jia gave a sharp shout and slammed the gavel, making the already quiet courtroom even more silent!

Qi Rusong kowtowed twice, then lifted himself up.

"I dare to let Young Master Yan know that these two are my father's classmate and siblings mentioned in the document." Lu Jia's voice was as cold as ice. "Qi Rusong has served as an official. Before each official is appointed to a post outside the capital, he must leave his fingerprints internally for record-keeping and identity verification."

"If you have any doubts about their identities, you can go to the Ministry of Personnel to obtain the necessary documents for verification."

"As for his sister Qi Rulan, she knows all too well how our mother died, how the Yan family bribed her to secretly bring them from other places to the capital to kill people!"

“And these next few—” Lu Jia glanced at him as she said this, “They are all people who have been with them from the very beginning, and they are all insiders.”

"Well, are these people enough? If not, I'll go and summon those people from the court who have handled these matters before."