Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 43 Employers and Employment

"My mother gave it to me."

Lu Jia blatantly lied. "My parents used to be merchants in the capital and knew many high-ranking officials. It was given to me by those officials."

She, a person who was so oppressed by the Zhang family that she could hardly stand up straight, actually produced a jade pendant belonging to a high-ranking official. How could this not arouse suspicion?
She naturally expected Qin Zhou to ask.

But this person isn't very honest either.

When he suddenly appeared in Tanzhou last time, Lu Jia asked him why he came, and he became dishonest.

He didn't say anything, and Lu Jia didn't press the matter.

So when she doesn't want to talk, he can't blame her, of course!
However, Lu Jia still had confidence in him. Based on the fact that he had rescued her from danger several times and the fatherly demeanor he displayed after winning money, she could rest assured that she could entrust the jade to him.

Shen Qingzhou knew he couldn't outmaneuver her, so he thought for a moment and said, "Since you can bring up the Lu family, why don't you just suppress them directly? You can completely shut them down, and even drive them out of Tanzhou so they can never harm you again."

"That would be too much of a commotion. It would be disadvantageous for me."

Lu Jia did not offer much explanation.

Shen Qingzhou didn't feel comfortable asking any more questions.

She tucked the jade into her bosom: "When do we make our move?"

"There's no time like the present," Lu Jia said, standing up. "Let's eat now. We'll get to work after we finish. Don't worry, once it's done, I'll definitely give you a generous commission!"

……

Forget about the commission.

He dared not count on it.

Let's get this job done and get out of here quickly.

She's already so audacious as to use her father's name to swindle and deceive people; what else wouldn't she dare to do in the future?

However, Lu Jie, that treacherous villain, is no good person either. Even if he is used to deceive people, it's just like having one more fly land on a board covered with flies—it's no big deal.

Shen Qingzhou complied with Boss Lu's instructions and went to Fuxingfang.

Lu Jia followed a step later, because she needed to keep an eye on Zhang Qi.

Jiang also knew about the jade pendant she was wearing.

Since the Jiang family sent people to Tanzhou to find her, they would naturally leave some information in the government offices at all levels.

No matter which of the three Zhang brothers saw this jade, they would all only bow down in reverence to Shen Qingzhou.

Qin Zhou believed that she could directly crush the Zhang family by using her status as a member of the Lu family. This method was certainly more convenient, but it would expose her in advance.

Eight months to go.

The wedding of Lu Ying and Yan Qu is about to begin.

As long as they avoid revealing themselves beforehand, the marriage will succeed. Qiu Niang, unaware of the situation, had some concerns about her actions: "What if the news leaks out? Won't it cause trouble?"

Qiu Niang knew that everything Lu Jia did was for herself and for the Xie family, but that was precisely why she disapproved of Lu Jia's actions.

not worth it.

But Lu Jia clearly didn't think so: "Those who shouldn't come won't come, but those who are meant to come will come eventually. Don't worry."

……

Zhang Qi never expected that a strange ledger would lead to this situation.

Whose interests are ultimately being harmed?
After arriving home, he went back to his room without saying a word. When Madam He came up to help him undress, he remained silent.

Madam He said, "Have you calculated everything? I heard that the third son wants to start moving things today?"

"Let him move! He'll have to move sooner or later!" Zhang Qi took the tea irritably, took a couple of sips, but still couldn't suppress his anger. "I want to see just how capable they really are when they try to run their own business!"

Madam He said anxiously, "You should stop worrying about them and focus on your own business! After the division, we'll only have three shops left. Yufeng Shop is still a newly opened shop and it's not ready yet! We can still handle the deals we signed before, but after this batch of goods is delivered, we won't be able to handle large quantities of grain, and those big customers and big businesses will almost certainly run away!"

Mr. He felt extremely unlucky!

Why is it that ever since Li Er's incident, nothing has gone smoothly for them?

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” Zhang Qi said. “Things have come to this point, we can only take it one step at a time.”

"You may accept your fate, but I won't!" Madam He said bitterly. "Our family is still negotiating the marriage with the He family. Ever since the third son caused this mess, the He family hasn't sent anyone to visit us. If we just let this go, not only will the marriage not be able to be negotiated, but the He family will probably distance themselves from us in the future!"
"How can our Zhang family possibly gain any standing in Shawan? And forget about ever taking over the reins of the Chamber of Commerce from the Su family!"

"Then what else can you do?" Zhang Qi was also irritated by these words and couldn't help but raise his voice. "Third Uncle will come and share the profits with us in a couple of days when he has some free time. If there was still room for maneuver, would we have waited until now?"

Madam He said, “Are you really confused? The second and third wives are determined that we can’t get their shops back, but have you forgotten that the neighbor has a shop in a very good location? Take that shop back! And take back their house, resell it, and that will be enough for us to buy another shop!”

Zhang Qi was stunned upon hearing this, then tilted his head and said, "That makes sense! That brat Jia'er tricked me out of a shop last time, but it's a blessing in disguise! If I still had that shop, I would have had to give half of it to those two bastards. Now I can take it back and have it all to myself! Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!"

Madam He gritted her teeth: "That damned girl not only occupied our house and our shop, but she also went against us on the street, exposed our shortcomings, and pointed her finger at me while making veiled insults!"
"If it weren't for her, how could the second and third sons have used this as an excuse to say that the decline in the shop's profits was our fault?"

"What kind of niece is she? She's an ingrate! A jinx!"

"All the bad luck in the Zhang family was brought by her!"
"This time I will absolutely not let them off!"

"I'm going to drive them out of Shawan! I'm going to sell that bitch! I'm going to sell her to a brothel to be a prostitute, so she can never harm us again!"

Zhang Qi was also furious: "She's eaten at the Zhang family's house for so many years, but in the end she turned against them and went to work as an apprentice at Liu Xiyu's shop, getting involved with that widow!"
"She knows perfectly well that we don't get along with Hongtai, isn't she slapping me, her uncle, in the face?"

"If that's the case, even if she goes to extremes, it's her own fault, and we can't blame her!"

At this point, he flicked his sleeve and pointed to the storeroom: "Take five hundred taels of silver immediately and have the steward deliver it to the He residence. Ask Lord He to find a way to get the document that my father left in the county government office to give away the house and shop to him and destroy it!"
"Once things are settled tomorrow, immediately go to Tanzhou Prefecture to contact the madam of Wanhualou. Meanwhile, you seize that girl when she goes out and take her directly to Wanhualou!"
“I’ll go see my eldest sister. If she’s willing to hand over the house and shops obediently, I won’t have to resort to violence.”

"If she doesn't listen, then don't blame me for disregarding our brotherly bond!"

(End of this chapter)