Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 58 This is your good fortune
The Zhang family's assets are almost gone, making the transfer of property quite easy.

The ancestral home, along with the furniture and belongings that were not damaged by the Su family, and some farmland, were all valued together by the county yamen's accountant, and were worth just over nine thousand taels of silver.

They still owe several hundred taels.

The people in the government office asked if I needed help writing an IOU.

Qiu Niang waved her hand dismissively, "No, I don't want it!"
Let him go to jail sooner rather than later, then he'll be clean sooner.

At this point, the bottom line of the long-term housing market was completely emptied, leaving only one house for owner-occupiers with two or three bedrooms.

This pent-up frustration, which had been building up for years, was finally released all at once.

That night, Zhang Qi was imprisoned in Shawan Prison, and the entire Zhang family moved away overnight.

The Zhang family children wanted to cause trouble, but Lu Jia had already sent Xie Yi to bring back the men they had previously hired to guard the gate. So the brother and sister argued for half the night, their mouths dry, but they gained nothing. Afterwards, they packed their bags and went to the He family's maternal home in the neighboring Hengshan County.

On the very night she received the house deed, Qiu Niang presented all of this to Lu Jia, asking him to make the decision.

All of this money was brought back by Lu Jia. If it weren't for her, Xie Yi and I would still be suffering. Handing it over to Lu Jia was definitely the right choice.

Having learned from past mistakes, Lu Jia knew that Qiu Niang and her son were not yet capable of managing household affairs. If she refused, she might face the same fate as in her previous life.

Without saying a word, he accepted the money and said, "Whether you become an official or not, passing the county-level exam will reduce your taxes. If you pass the provincial-level exam, you will not only be exempt from taxes, but the government will also give you money."

"And Mother has become the wife of an official, so ordinary people can no longer bully you."

If you become the mother of a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations, even if your family is destitute, like the Zhang family before you, you have nothing to fear.

Ultimately, they need to have someone to rely on so that the Lu family can feel at ease in the future.

With official rank and title, one would naturally have a way to protect this large fortune.

Having witnessed the Liang family suffer the hardships of official infighting in the capital, Qiu Niang originally disapproved of Xie Yi's studies.

But her daughter is so accomplished, truly befitting a daughter of the Minister's family. Like begets like, her words must hold true. Besides, with such a large fortune at her disposal, she'll give half to Lu Jia as dowry, and the other half they'll have to manage themselves. If Yi-ge'er gets some education, at least things will be better than they are now.

Then he asked, "Where are we going to find the teacher again?"

Lu Jia then made arrangements: "I've inquired and found out that there's an old scholar living behind Tangxing Temple. He's quite knowledgeable and runs his own private school. Tomorrow, we'll take Yi Ge to visit him."

“Yi Ge’er has studied for a few years before. Let the old scholar pick up his books first, and he can read them as he goes along. When the opportunity arises, we can find him a good teacher.”

With such thoughtfulness and meticulousness, Qiu Niang had no reason not to comply.

The next morning, Lu Jia took Xie Yi to visit the old scholar. Meanwhile, Lu Jia made an agreement with the old accountant who had previously been Xie Yi's apprentice. He asked the accountant to leave the door open for Xie Yi at night so that Xie Yi could study in the morning and learn accounting at night. In return, Lu Jia would give the master more money.

The old gentleman was named Liu Gui. He had worked for Master Zhang for many years, but was later ousted by Zhang Qi. After learning of the Zhang family's downfall, he was quite resentful. Hearing that Lu Jia planned to open his own shop, he also wanted to come and help out at the Xie family. Lu Jia was more than happy to oblige, as this would solve both the problem of hiring an accountant for the shop and the problem of finding an apprentice for Xie Yi—a win-win situation.

Lu Jia had already checked where Shen Qingzhou hid his silver; it was in a money exchange run by people from Jiangxi, and it was indeed a safe place.

She wasn't in a hurry to take it; she waited for Shen Qingzhou to come over.

The rented-out shop can't be taken back for the time being, but all seven shops belonging to the Zhang family are now under her control. The property deeds and land deeds have all been transferred, and the shop sales are still ongoing, but Lu Jia doesn't want to employ anyone from the Zhang family, so all the shops have been closed for the past few days, and she's busy hiring people.

Liu Gui reminded Lu Jia that those old men from Zhang Qi's family who had been dismissed by Zhang Qi in the past could be called back if they were sincere and reliable. This would not only improve the Xie family's reputation but also allow the shop's business to return to normal quickly.

Lu Jia then asked Qiu Niang, the eldest daughter of the Zhang family's first wife, to contact these people one by one. In two days, they found three managers, four accountants, and several employees. So they opened three of the shops first. The remaining four shops were the ones that Zhang Lao Er and Zhang Lao San had taken away. Their accounts had already been split up, and the shops had been closed for several days. They simply hired people first.

After three days of diligent work, Lu Jia first went to Liu Xiyu's shop that afternoon to present a generous gift to thank the head of the shop, Liu, for his timely assistance. However, Liu Xiyu was not there, so Lu Jia put the gift down and returned to fetch another gift before going to Li the Taoist's house.

Qiu Niang helped the Li family several times, and Grandma Li's health has improved; she is now going to the fields to mend fishing nets.

After exchanging a few words of greeting, the mother and daughter went inside to see Taoist Li and Aunt Li.

Aunt Li used to be a cook in the Zhang family. After the Zhang family was destroyed, she hadn't found any work yet, so she started helping Taoist Li draw talismans.

After exchanging pleasantries, Qiu Niang chatted with the Taoist priest and his wife about everyday matters.

Lu Jia couldn't get a word in edgewise, so she sat quietly for a while before picking up the talisman bag next to her to look at it.

Just then, Li Chang returned and casually remarked, "You've had a lot of illnesses and misfortunes this year. I'll have my father draw a talisman for you to hang up tomorrow."

Lu Jia asked, "Is this really effective?"

"Hey, it all comes down to how sincere you are. If you say it works, it works; if you say it doesn't, it doesn't. We have to respect the Buddha."

Lu Jia then asked, "How should we show our respect?"

Li Chang pulled out the necklace he was wearing around his neck: "I kowtowed ninety-nine times for this back then..."

……

Having learned that things had calmed down at the Zhang family's place, Guo Yi took the judgment presented by the county magistrate and went to find Shen Qingzhou.

"Everything has been done according to your requirements. Are you satisfied now, Young Master Shen?"

The night Zhang Qi's testimony against the Su family was presented to Guo Yi, Guo Yi was fast asleep when Shen Qingzhou had He Qu and Tang Yu lift him off the bed, one on each side.

That day was very lively.

Before dawn, he was forced to immediately send a letter to the prefect of Tanzhou, ordering Tanzhou to severely punish He for forcing women into prostitution and buying and selling innocent people.

Then, without stopping, they organized evidence of the Su family's crimes and began holding court before dawn, thoroughly interrogating Su Mingxing in front of the powerful figures the Su family occasionally brought up.

After finally getting a break in the afternoon, the Xie family came to accuse Zhang Qi again.

The cat was enjoying the view from behind the lattice window when Shen Qingzhou slapped him on the shoulder, ordering him to personally supervise the magistrate in handling the matter.

What the hell! ...How come even a civil dispute within their county is being interfered with by this imperial envoy?

If he had known it would turn out like this, he would have been better off staying in the capital and taking care of the child!

After reading the verdict, Shen Qingzhou said, "If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and grow sweet potatoes. It's your good fortune to be able to uphold justice for the people."

Guo Yi was amused by his words. He flicked his sleeves, ordered people to prepare carriages and horses, and went to the dock to survey the rice market.

After stepping out, he saw someone peeking out from behind a pillar. He stopped and turned around: "Who's there?"

(End of this chapter)