Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 93 Living Father!

Standing on the stairs, Song En immediately spotted the exceptionally handsome young man in the crowd. He nodded, pointed at her, then at another one: "You two come here."

Lu Jia squeezed out, her heart pounding, and followed the Grand Commandant's attendant up the stairs with another, more mature-looking waiter, arriving at the door of Young Master Shen's private room.

The door was ajar, and a faint scent of agarwood wafted out from the crack.

There were also faint footsteps and the soft rustling of clothes inside, which sounded uneven and unhurried.

This requires extremely good control to achieve, which shows that the attendants of the Grand Commandant's office are well-trained and very disciplined.

Considering that Grand Commandant Shen had only been back at his residence for a little over half a year, and that this young master, who had lost his mother at a young age, had been the sole breadwinner of the family, it was clear that he was no ordinary person to have managed such a large family so well despite his illness.

"You wait here. When the tea is brought up downstairs, just take it."

"okay."

Thanks to her ten years of experience living at the docks, Lu Jia was able to impersonate a waiter with ease.

The aide's gaze lingered on her for a moment, perhaps finding her indeed clever, then he nodded and directed another to wait halfway down the stairs.

Lu Jia knew that this meant having someone to assist her in case she rushed from downstairs to upstairs and something went wrong.

People from wealthy and powerful families are like that.

The Lu family is the same.

Each person serving has their own designated area.

When she was little, it would take several groups of people to deliver her meals to her room in portions.

"The master has arrived. Go and prepare water!"

Just as I was standing there like a stake, I heard the voice of the teahouse manager downstairs again.

Lu Jia's heart skipped a beat, and she involuntarily straightened up and looked towards the stairwell.

The staircases were two separate structures, and at that moment, a group of people were coming up the opposite staircase.

Lu Jia looked at the dark blue brocade robe that stood in the center of the group of servants with his back to them, and immediately recognized it as Lu Jie.

The last time I saw him was three days before Yan Song died.

At that time, Lu Jie had been in the cabinet for four years, advancing from Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall to Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, becoming the humble Grand Secretary Lu under Yan Song.

During the half-month that Yan Song was impeached by officials in the court and on the border, and was universally condemned, only Lu Jie disregarded public opinion and visited him from time to time.

Perhaps moved by his kindness in not abandoning her in her time of need, Lu Jia was allowed to come out and meet him.

It was on that occasion that Lu Jie told her the news from Shawan. Sure enough, that very night, the letter he sent again included the devastating news that Li Chang had brought to the capital.

Lu Jie was indeed shocked when Lu Jia took the initiative to return to the Lu family.

She clearly remembered that when he rushed out to see her, the usually impeccably dressed and elegant scholar was only wearing one shoe.

His eyes were red, and his hands were trembling.

He called out, "Jiajia, you're finally back."

Lu Jia also called out "Father" and rushed over to hug him.

Lu Jia admitted that after being abandoned by the Jiang family, she willingly followed Qiu Niang and the others to Tanzhou, partly because she had no other choice, and partly because she was disheartened.

Five years old was still young, but with a talented father, her mind wasn't too muddled. Even if she didn't understand back then, as she grew older, many things came to light. Lu Jie married Yan Song's adopted daughter, then sided with the Yan family, and thus became a treacherous minister in the eyes of the world. She knew that as long as Lu Jie didn't turn back from the path of treachery, her life in the Lu family wouldn't be easy.

Therefore, for the next ten years, even though she was fully aware of her background, she never thought of going back.

It wasn't until she was forced to return to the Lu family and saw her only blood relative, her biological father, that she realized she had never truly severed this bond of kinship.

Even now, separated by life and death, though she only saw his back, Lu Jia couldn't help but think of how he used to hold her on his lap as a child, teaching her to read and reason with her. She thought of how he was so sophisticated and charming in public, yet so helpless when she was naughty and mischievous…

"...Everything is settled, please come in, sir."

Then, the sound of the manager bowing and scraping fawning came from the other side.

Lu Jia turned her face away and let out a long breath.

useless.

Five years of living together day and night with his daughter, and the greeting "Jiajia" upon meeting, could not at all erase the more than ten years of marriage between him and Jiang.

On the third day after she returned to the Lu family, he summoned her to the main courtyard and, in front of Madam Jiang, demanded that she listen to "Mother" in everything from now on.

Otherwise, how could Jiang have successfully schemed against her, who had long seen through her true nature, and ended up in the Yan family?
……

As Lu Jie walked up the stairs, he couldn't help but glance across the way.

Several well-dressed waiters stood at the entrance to the private room opposite. There was also a short waiter whose face was obscured in the distance.

Yang Bonong asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Jie withdrew his gaze: "Are there guests on the other side today too?"

Yang Bonong glanced at him and said, "It's the eldest son of the Grand Commandant's family, Lord Shen, who is about to take office as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. It is said that he has recovered after recuperating for several months. He must have taken advantage of the pleasant autumn weather to come out and make some moves." He then lowered his voice and added, "The Shen family has never been close to either the Yan family or the Qingliu faction. This young master Shen has never been very enthusiastic about politics, so it's not a problem."

Lu Jie nodded, glanced back once more, and then stepped through the door.

Gao Hong arrived shortly after. Accompanied by two eunuchs, dressed in ordinary clothes, he bowed with his hands clasped as he entered: "Your Excellency, Minister."

Lu Jie also stood up, his previous solemnity vanished, replaced by a beaming smile: "Eunuch Gao..."

……

Song En returned to the private room: "Young Master is finally back!"

Shen Qingzhou nodded: "Have you reviewed all the case files that Guo Yi sent to the capital?"

“I received it three days ago and have already presented it to the palace. I imagine His Highness the Crown Prince has already circulated it to the relevant departments for review.” Song En said, taking out a scroll of documents from his bosom. “The Tanzhou case has caused an uproar in the court. Since then, the court has been paying much attention to the river transport system. Yesterday, Grand Secretary Chen of the Cabinet proposed to establish a separate supervisory team to begin verifying the river transport taxes over the years.”

"Yesterday, the yamen sent over the Ministry of Revenue's accounts for the previous quarter's river transport tax collection, which showed that the amount was three or four times more than in previous years. It seems that Zhou Sheng's capture has given the Yan family a major headache, forcing them to divulge the information."

Shen Qingzhou had already started working at the Ministry of Revenue, but he was currently on sick leave and had not yet gone to the office. However, the office would still send general official documents to his residence every quarter.

It wasn't a confidential document, but it still speaks volumes.

Shen Qingzhou flipped through it: "How much did you vomit up?"

"Last quarter, the Ministry of Revenue collected over 300,000 taels of tax revenue from the river transport alone. Previously, the revenue was around 100,000 taels per quarter."

"With so many suddenly appearing, how did the Ministry of Revenue explain this?"

(End of this chapter)