Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 49 The Damned Man
Lu Jia was naturally well aware of Shen Qingzhou's progress. But what puzzled her was that while the three Zhang brothers waited at the bottom of the boat for a whole day, Madam He also stayed at home for a day.

Two kinds of people can't sleep in the same bed. Zhang Qi and his wife have always been of one mind when it comes to greed and profit. It's strange that He Shi didn't get involved in matters concerning the fate of their whole family.

After Li Chang and Xie Yi inquired further, it turned out that in addition to going to Tanzhou Prefecture yesterday, He Shi also sent someone to the He family.

Considering He's meeting with the madam, this is very strange.

Who is the person He hates the most right now?
It's nothing more than Liu Xiyu and Lu Jia.

Compared to the fiery and equally matched Liu Xiyu, Lu Jia is clearly easier to control.

Moreover, for Madam He, the Xie family, which owned houses and shops, was clearly making her even more uneasy!
So, which of the three members of the Xie family would be the most suitable target?
Qiu Niang is old. Xie Yi is a young man, and dealing with him won't be easy. Lu Jia, a weak woman, is much easier to handle. Besides, Lu Jia was the one who interfered in their plan to harm Lu Jia and marry her off to Li Er, and also embarrassed He Shi in public!

More importantly, Lu Jia is a virgin!

It would have been more reasonable for the He family to want to get her into the Wan Hua Lou!
Realizing this, Lu Jia immediately summoned Xie Yi, who was watching the dock, back, gave him some money, and asked him to find a few familiar men to keep an eye on the He family.

After dark, Lu Jia was figuring out when to meet Shen Qingzhou when Qiu Niang rushed in: "Someone suddenly poked a hole in one of the side walls of our shop, right in the storeroom area. The tenant sent a helper to ask us to go over there immediately to discuss how to handle it!"

The tenant only rented for six months, and there are only three months left on the lease, so the cost of repairing the wall naturally needs to be discussed and dealt with.

Lu Jia got up without saying a word.

She stopped abruptly as she stepped out the door: "How could a perfectly good wall be broken?"

Qiu Niang, upon hearing this, also said, "That's right! What strange thing is going on here?"

Lu Jia immediately called Xie Yi, who was staring at the neighboring house, back: "What's going on with the Zhang family? What is the He family doing?"

Xie Yi said, "Zhang Qi hasn't returned yet. But strangely, He Shi already turned off the lights just now."

now it's right!

How could Mrs. He possibly sleep on something so important to them?
"Where are those people we invited earlier? Take them with you and stay behind my mother and me, so we don't get noticed. Come out when I call you."

After saying that, she took a wood-chopping knife from the woodshed, tucked it into her waistband, covered it with a jacket, and beckoned Qiu Niang to come out.

Qiu Niang immediately asked, "What are you going to do?"

Lu Jia gave a cold laugh: "You'll find out soon enough."

Although Qiu Niang hadn't expected He Shi to come up with such a vile and shameless scheme, she knew it wouldn't be good, so she went out with her.

Xie Yi followed them out as soon as they left. Just then, Li Changlai informed Lu Jia that Zhang Qi was sending someone to pick up the shop's land deed and urged her to go quickly.

Xie Yi then told him to turn back and tell Qin Zhou that Lu Jia could no longer go there, and explained the whole story.

Shen Qingzhou had not seen such a despicable person in a long time.

Ever since Lu Jia caught him and pressed him for details about his background, he had made up his mind to finish this matter for her and then make a clean getaway.

The matter was all settled, and all that was left was for her to come and hand over the reins. But the Zhang family actually wanted to sell her off?

He looked at Zhang Qi below the hall, and Zhang Qi was also looking at him.

For some reason, the young master's gaze just now, which had been fixed on the ground for a moment, was chilling.

"Young Master Qin, has something happened?" "Nothing serious." Shen Qingzhou sat down, then glanced at He Qu. After He Qu leaned closer, he gave him a few words of advice.

Zhang Qi was extremely worried. He looked at He Qu, who had moved behind the screen, and then turned his gaze back to Shen Qingzhou's face.

Is there going to be any unforeseen circumstances?

“I just received some news,” Shen Qingzhou’s voice remained calm, “that someone has leaked the news, and now someone else is trying to steal our thunder.”

The three Zhang brothers were on tenterhooks! Liu Xiyu also looked up.

"Who did this? It definitely wasn't me!" Zhang Qi quickly defended himself.

Shen Qingzhou said, "Master Liu, I have a few words I want to say to Master Zhang. I'll have someone escort you off the boat."

"You're too kind, young master."

Liu Xiyu then left the stage.

Shen Qingzhou looked at Zhang Qi: "I have a few questions for you, answer me honestly."

Zhang Qi shuddered: "Young master, please ask!"

"Your Shawan rice market has a chamber of commerce, headed by the Su family. What has the Su family been up to at the docks in recent years?" Shen Qingzhou glanced at him. "I want to hear something useful. Understand?"

Zhang Qi breathed a sigh of relief when he heard about the Su family. So the Su family had also heard the news? But when he heard the second half of the sentence, his heart jumped again.

The Su family has done so many things, where should I begin? If Young Master Qin wants to hear something useful, then it must be the crucial points.

But the Su family is one of the most powerful families in the area. They basically have the final say on the future of all the rice shops. If you offend them...

He looked back at his two younger brothers and saw that they also had solemn expressions on their faces, and were no longer urging him on as they had before.

The Su family has someone serving as an official in the capital, and last year he was even promoted to the rank of Vice Minister of the Six Ministries. How many years does it take for this small Shawan to produce an official in the capital? How many generations does it take for them to produce a fourth-rank official in the Six Ministries?
If you offend the Su family, the entire Zhang family could be crushed!
"A mere fourth-rank official like him, and you're this afraid of him?" Shen Qingzhou raised the last syllable of her voice, took out a piece of jade and placed it on the table, lightly tapping it with her fingers. "Have you ever seen jade like this before?"

How could Zhang Qi not have seen jade?

At first glance, the jade appears to be of good quality; upon closer inspection, the carving is also quite nice. Otherwise, it seems rather ordinary.

When he saw the rubbing of a jade pendant placed to the side, and the words on the rubbing, he immediately felt as if he had been kicked, his knees buckled, and he knelt down on the ground with a thud!
He didn't recognize the jade, but it looked exactly like the rubbing, and he recognized the characters!

"Anyone who sees this jade is as if they have seen the Lu family of the capital. Anyone who reports this will be richly rewarded."

The Lu family of the capital.

Apart from the Lu family, who else would dare to address someone in such a way?
Ordinary people can easily understand the high-ranking officials in the court, but even an idiot like Minister Lu knows who he is!
With so many merchant ships coming and going, this Lord Lu must have heard it so many times he's practically worn out!
That man was a confidant of Grand Secretary Yan, the current chief minister, and also his adopted son-in-law!

This rubbing was obtained by the county magistrate from Tanzhou Prefecture. In order to find it as soon as possible, he asked these big merchants to come to the county government office to see it.

The magistrate didn't reveal much, but he did tell them that anyone wearing such jade belonged to the Lu family.

Zhang Qi was drenched in cold sweat, his face had long since lost its color, and his hands were clenched into claws. He looked up at Shen Qingzhou again, feeling like he was about to faint several times.

No wonder this young master has such an imposing manner; it turns out he's a member of the Lu family!

Who can afford to offend the Lu family?
Even if three more Su families came, they still couldn't compare to the Lu family!
(End of this chapter)