Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 50 Who hasn't risked their life?
Zhang Qi had no reason to refuse anymore. After swallowing, he opened his mouth and said, "Su Mingxin, the head of the Su family, framed a couple who ran a grain shop at the dock two years ago in order to inflate grain prices. They were imprisoned and are still in jail!"

"All the grain shops in the entire dock that have joined the Chamber of Commerce have to pay taxes ranging from one hundred to five hundred taels per shop per year. The Su family takes half of that, saying it's for bribing higher-ups."

"Furthermore, last year Su Mingxin's younger brother forced a woman into prostitution, and when she refused, he killed her, and the county government couldn't do anything about it..."

"Whom did the Su family bribe to get things done?"

"I'm not sure about that, but every winter, someone from their family goes north to Beijing."

"Are you sure you're going to Beijing?"

“Confirmed. Because they travel by water and carry goods up each time, they have quite a few people with them. Many of the boatmen are temporary hires, and I’ve heard them say that they did indeed disembark from Jishuitan. But they don’t know what happens after they get off the boat.”

Shen Qingzhou's gaze became deep and intense.

Zhang Qi glanced at He Qu, who emerged from behind the screen, and kowtowed on the ground: "That's all I know, please forgive me, young master!"

Shen Qingzhou glanced at him, took the document from He Qu's hand: "Put your fingerprint on it, and you can leave."

Zhang Qi took a closer look and saw that it was the document they had previously agreed to use for their investment. He was immediately relieved and pressed his thumb and forefinger into the inkpad, ready to stamp it on.

A sudden gust of wind blew in through the window and extinguished the candle with a whoosh.

Suddenly, everything went pitch black. Zhang Qi stopped abruptly, and then heard Shen Qingzhou say from the darkness, "What's going on? Turn on the lights!"

The cabin lights came back on, and Shen Qingzhou tapped the table again: "Press it."

Once he confirmed that this was a member of the Lu family, Zhang Qi dared not have any other thoughts.

There was no time to think about where the handprint he had pressed earlier had gone, and his right hand pressed it again on its own.

"See Master Zhang off."

Shen Qingzhou handed him one copy of the document, which was in duplicate, and then nodded to the door.

After the three Zhang brothers disembarked, shivering, Shen Qingzhou took out another piece of paper with two bright red fingerprints from under the documents, stood up, and said, "Send this to Guo Yi. Tell him I want to see results by tomorrow. If even one escapes, let him handle it!"

After saying this, he tore off his robe, put on another garment, and, unable to wait to climb the steps, blew out the lamp with a puff and jumped out of the boat window.

……

Lu Jia and Qiu Niang went to the shop.

It was midnight, and there was still a lot of noise from carriages and horses outside the dock, but Xichun Street was completely dark, with either deep courtyards or people who had to get up early for work the next day.

Qiu Niang often walked alone on this street at night, but tonight, she grabbed Lu Jia's hand tightly as soon as she stepped out of the house.

"Don't be afraid." Lu Jia gave her a look, then strode forward.

Halfway there, there was a commotion ahead. As soon as they stopped, several people jumped down from the wall and rushed towards Lu Jia!
Lu Jia has been through sword and blade formations before, so why would she be afraid of this? Not to mention she was prepared.

The moment the group approached her with sinister grins, she immediately grabbed Qiu Niang's wrist and pressed her back against the wall: "Who are you people?"

"Us? We're here to take you, young lady, to enjoy a life of luxury!"

After the leader finished speaking, the others immediately joined in with wicked, sinister laughter! Just as they looked up, Lu Jia also saw the number of people clearly. There were six of them in total. Xie Yi had made preparations in advance and invited eight people, which was enough!

Lu Jia suddenly drew his wood-chopping knife and, without saying a word, swung it toward their necks!

The man at the front received a sharp blow to the shoulder, leaving the others stunned by the sudden turn of events! They were no longer in a state to laugh.
Lu Jia didn't give them a chance. Before they could react, Yi Nian raised his wood-chopping knife and swung it down again, shouting, "Yi-ge'er, come out!"

At her command, Xie Yi, who had been holding back his anger in the shadows, roared and led eight men to charge forward!
After Lu Jia's outburst, the opponent's momentum was already somewhat suppressed. After Xie Yi and the others rushed up, the situation changed drastically, and they immediately captured the injured one.

Then Xie Yi also pulled out an axe and, together with Lu Jia, started hacking at those people.

As a woman, He was dealing with a weak woman like Lu Jia, so she naturally couldn't afford to spend a lot of money to hire professional martial arts practitioners. Thus, with the numbers being different, the outcome was quickly decided.

The siblings' outburst stunned Qiu Niang!
Xie Yi is a boy, so it's understandable that she has some backbone, but she never expected her daughter to be so reckless in a fight! The way she swung the machete was like a whoosh; it was nothing like the hand she usually used to handle needle and thread!

Instantly infected by their enthusiasm, I turned around and saw bricks on the ground. I grabbed them and rushed over, smashing one of them in the head!
After a chaotic battle, three of the six opponents were lying on the ground, and the remaining three were holding their heads and too afraid to move.

Lu Jia stepped on the back of a person on the ground: "Get a sack and put it over this!"

Then she bent down and grabbed one of the men who was clutching his head, holding a gleaming machete to his head: "Where is that poisonous woman, He Shi?!"

The man was terrified: "We don't know where she is either. She only told us that once she succeeded, she would have us take you to the dock and then send a message to the Zhang family! She would then head to Tanzhou to meet us!"

"Will he travel by water or land?"

"Let's take the land route! Because it's faster!"

Xie Yi said, "What do we do? We can't catch her!"

Lu Jia gritted her teeth: "Take him to the Zhang family to report! The rest of you, come with me to the docks! I'll reward you handsomely after this is all done!"

Hearing this, Qiu Niang finally understood. Enraged, the mother's throat tightened: "So it was that beast He! It was that bunch of beasts from the Zhang family! I'm going to fight them!"

Lu Jia pulled her back, his face cold as he sheathed the knife at his waist: "Mother, why the rush? The waterway from Shawan to Tanzhou is just in the right direction with favorable winds. It won't take more than an hour or two. Why not wait and see what happens before making any further plans?"

……

He turned off the lights early so that the Xie family wouldn't suspect anything amidst the comings and goings of people.

Zhang Qi waited anxiously for half the night, but still hadn't received a reply from the person he had sent out. He was sweating profusely.

Mrs. He was startled and quickly handed him a handkerchief: "What happened? Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? You've lost all your color!"

Zhang Qi was still trembling all over: "Do you know who that Young Master Qin is?"

Mrs. He was stunned: "Who is it?"

"He's from the Lu family! He's from the Lu family, the Minister of Rites in the imperial court!"

The He family also helped run the shop, so how could they not have heard of these big families in the court?
Upon hearing the words "Minister of Rites," her jaw nearly dropped to the floor in astonishment!

(End of this chapter)