Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 56 We must not let him down.

Last night was quite a busy night.

Suddenly, He Shi was taken away by the people of Tanzhou Prefecture. Lu Jia and the others were reluctant to go with her. When they saw the prefect sitting upright and the madam and pimps who were already tied up kneeling below, they immediately understood why Qin Zhou said that He Shi was no threat when he left!

With such a big lawsuit, as long as the government can handle things properly, He's imprisonment is a certainty.

As a convicted prisoner with irrefutable evidence, what good would it do for her to try and uncover Lu Jia's past? Who would believe her?!

Even if she were to sue the Lu family for cheating them out of their money, she would still need evidence!

Who can prove that Qin Zhou and Lu Jia are related?

Now that they've lost all their wealth, how can they possibly survive?

Lu Jia didn't even know where Qin Zhou was. How could the Zhang family, who had lost both money and property, possibly find him?

But since the play had already gone this far, Lu Jia had no choice but to cry and complain in front of the hall, recounting how He Shi had bullied her all these years.

The prefect, being a local official, actually listened patiently to her rambling on and on, and then sent someone to fetch witnesses.

The matter concerning Li Er was readily available. Several months had passed, and the Li family's anger had not subsided. They sent people over, and the information they received was accurate.

The prefect immediately decided to imprison He.

The family left Tanzhou happily, and by the time they returned to Shawan, it was already broad daylight.

At the bow of the ship, Lu Jia told Xie Yi to turn back and ask for leave. He then sent Xie Yi and Li Chang to tidy up the mess and go to the dock to check if the boat that Qin Zhou and the others had rented had left the port. He also slipped them some silver and told them to take good care of the few men they had hired the night before, and at the same time keep a close eye on the movements of the three Zhang brothers.

Qin Zhou and his crew's boat was rented, of course. When they canceled the rental last night, they were instructed to leave port immediately, and thankfully nothing went wrong.

The hired helpers were poor young men from nearby counties who came to do hard labor. They only participated in beating He Shi and knew nothing about what happened on the boat.

Lu Jia didn't need them to keep it a secret forever; with enough money, keeping quiet would have been easy.

Having made all the necessary arrangements, Lu Jia was preparing to avoid the situation for a while longer when she unexpectedly heard news about the Zhang family as soon as she stepped off the dock.

This turn of events was completely unexpected by Lu Jia.

She is now powerless and without influence, so she can only deal with the Zhang family within her means, starting with scheming to seize all their assets.

She won't stay in Shawan forever.

With this money in hand, she could get things done as soon as possible, and she also had ways to slowly deal with the Zhang family.

Lu Jia was stunned when she heard that Su Ming'en had stormed into the Zhang family in a grand manner.

She wasn't too surprised that He Shi was taken down, after all, Qin Zhou had already dealt with her beforehand.

Even the Zhang family has run into such big trouble?
The Su family has been tyrannical in Shawan for a long time because they have someone holding an official position in the court. Even the rice market at the entire wharf has to listen to them. Can the Zhang family compare with the Su family?
Lu Jia never expected that before she could even make a move, the Su family would smash up the Zhang family's property on her behalf!
This guy, didn't he just do him a huge favor?
Not to mention, the yamen officials also came and dragged Zhang Qi to court, and they actually said that Zhang Qi had sued Su Mingxing.
This play is getting more and more exciting!
Lu Jia was overjoyed and could no longer find a reason to avoid the limelight. She immediately followed the crowd of onlookers to the yamen and stood on tiptoe to peek inside.

She couldn't see the imperial envoy's figure through the fence, nor could she hear what was being said inside, but she could clearly see Zhang Qi collapsing to the ground!
Lu Jia didn't understand how Qin Zhou had managed to do it, but Zhang Qi suing the Su family was truly a brilliant move!
In this way, the Su family and the Zhang family will be irreconcilable enemies. Zhang Qi is finished.

It's really over.

This is even more effective than Lu Jia taking action herself!

So this is the fate of the Zhang family that Qin Zhou was talking about!
The gavel struck repeatedly in the courtroom.

Lu Jia became curious about the imperial envoy again.

What good people could the Yan family possibly have under their command? Why is this imperial envoy's work so different from what I expected?
No, no, how come all the officials she's met from yesterday to today seem to be quite nice?
Having lived in Shawan for so many years, I've never heard of such a clean and honest officialdom here!
However, regardless of the circumstances, the simultaneous misfortune of the Su and Zhang families is a good thing for both the people of Shawan and the Xie family.

From today onwards, not only will the Zhang family no longer be able to target the mother and her two children, but even the rice market at Shawan Wharf will face rectification.

And removing this worry is also a good thing for Lu Jia, who is about to open a shop and do business, isn't it?
Thinking of this, she urged Qiu Niang: "The Zhang family swindled money from our family in the past, and Mother has kept records of it all. It's time for you to return it!"

If we waste such a good opportunity to kick someone when they're down, wouldn't we be letting Qin Zhou down?!

Qiu Niang suddenly stamped her foot: "That's right! I almost forgot, there's still this unresolved matter!"

After saying that, she turned around and ran home.

Lu Jia continued to look at the courtroom.

Zhang Qi had already been carried away by the Zhang family, while Su Mingxing was taken to prison by the constables.

The fact that this imperial envoy dared to show such disrespect to the Su family suggests that, regardless of which side he was on, he must have powerful backers.

If that's the case, why doesn't she take advantage of this opportunity to completely expose the Zhang family?
She turned to Li Chang and Xie Yi, who had followed her, and said, "We don't need to worry about the boat anymore. The news that should be relayed to the second and third wives can be sent there now!"

……

What they handed over last night was all of Old Zhang's family's possessions!
Even when Zhang Qi fainted, he couldn't feel at ease. He woke up as soon as he got home, and when he opened his eyes, the sunlight outside was already setting in the west.

He hadn't eaten or drunk any rice or water all day, yet he didn't feel hungry or thirsty.

He scrambled to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hurry to the dock! Find that boat from last night!"

"Keep the change, please!"

The second brother, who had been waiting outside, rushed in, his voice even hoarser than the first brother's: "The ship is gone! It's long gone!"
"I've already asked around the neighborhood, and the owner of that boat isn't some young master Qin at all, nor is he from the capital! That guy surnamed Qin just rented the boat!"

Zhang Qi stared blankly at the bed, his face turning deathly pale. He glared at the third brother who then walked in, covering his face, and suddenly rushed towards him like a madman: "You beast! Give me back my money! Give me back my shop!"

The third brother shoved him back, saying, "You're blaming me? I'm blaming you! You were the one who made the decision to hand over the silver and the shop! Give me back my silver and the shop!"

The two brothers immediately started fighting.

The second brother, standing to the side, was so angry his eyes were bloodshot. He didn't care about them at all; in fact, he wished he could rush up and kick them both a couple of times!
(End of this chapter)