Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 6 We Must Not Let It All Go Wrong

Qiu Niang recalled for a moment: "It was a tall, thin man in his thirties who led the way, with a mole here—" She pointed to her left temple, "and a short beard, they called him something like Master Guo."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jia sneered and returned to her seat: "It really was him."

Now that we've come all the way to Tanzhou, how can we not bring up this old grudge?
Before being abandoned by the Jiang family, Lu Jia was the most beloved and high-ranking young lady in the Lu family.

She lost her mother when she was still an infant, and her father, Lu Jie, then refused to raise her himself, abandoning his elderly mother.

When she was three years old, Lu Jie was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. Not long after, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet arranged a marriage between his adopted daughter, Jiang, and Lu Jie.

The Lu family had been officials for generations, and Lu Jie's grandfather was a famous minister. Lu Jie became famous at a young age, rising from compiler in the Hanlin Academy to vice minister of the Ministry of Rites at the age of twenty. At the age of twenty-three, he won the emperor's favor with his outstanding writing skills and was appointed vice minister of the Ministry of Rites.

No matter how you look at it, Lu Jie had a bright future without needing anyone's backing. No one expected that he would readily agree to marry Jiang Shi, then become a member of Yan Song's faction, and calmly transform into a "petty villain" in the eyes of the world.

When Lu Jia was a child, she got along fairly well with her father, who was a treacherous official.

At that time, she didn't know anything about cunning or wickedness. She only knew that her father was very busy, loved reading, was good at changing his expression, and when he wasn't busy, he would usually hold her on his lap and read poetry and prose.

Seeing that she was being naughty, he would hurriedly break off a twig and glare at her to scare her. But when he heard that a guest had arrived, the man who was glaring at her just a second ago would immediately put on a smiling face and go out to greet her.

However, he didn't spend much time at home.

He would spend months inspecting the canal transport or ten days to half a month supervising the construction progress of the imperial mausoleum. During his absences, Jiang would naturally take over Lu Jia's duties.

At first, Lu Jia and Jiang Shi did not interfere with each other. Jiang Shi had her own things to do after giving birth to Lu Ying, while Lu Jie was away on business trips for many years. The couple rarely saw each other and Lu Jie did not conceive again for several years.

Lu Jia was abandoned just as Lu Jie was ordered to go to Luoyang to investigate a case.

Master Guo's real name was Guo Lu, and he was a major lackey of the Chiang family.

After returning to Beijing, Jiang sent this man surnamed Guo to monitor her day and night under the pretext of protecting her safety.

That being said, since the Jiang family sent people to accurately locate Tanzhou, it means that after abandoning Lu Jia, the Jiang family must have still had some clues.

But Lu Jia never expected that ten years later, the Jiang family would still be secretly looking for her.

In my previous life, the Lu family came to our door on their own initiative; we had no idea about this!

What does Jiang want with me?
Just to be a substitute bride for Lu Ying?

With that thought in mind, she resolutely said again, "I'm not going back."

Qiu Niang became anxious: "Why?"

"not the right time yet."

Of course she should go back. She is the eldest daughter of the prestigious Lu family. Why should she give up her home to someone else?

She will never settle the score with the Jiang family for abandoning her.

Now that this has suddenly happened, how can Lu Jia not be careful?

"Now is not the time, when will it be the right time?" Zhang Qiuniang stood up anxiously. "The Zhang family is richer and more powerful than us, and that He Shi is capable of anything!"

"She has that receipt in her hand. If things escalate to the county government, we won't be able to win against them when it comes to those three hundred taels of silver."

"If they're determined to scheme against you, they'll do it secretly if they can't do it openly. And if their evil plan succeeds, even if your family gets wind of it, it will be too late to undo it!"

"Wait until I'm ready."

Lu Jia wiped her hands with a handkerchief and glanced at Qiu Niang.

Since the Jiang family did not send anyone to come directly to their door, it means they still do not know Lu Jia's exact whereabouts.

At this crucial moment, Lu Jie was not in court. In his previous life, Lu Jia had traveled for two months and returned to his residence for another two months before Lu Jie finally returned.

Lu Jia said she found it difficult to comment on her treacherous father.

In any case, it was he who ultimately harmed Lu Jia by marrying Jiang, and it was also he who failed to prevent Jiang from taking Lu Jia's place in the marriage after Lu Jia returned home.

However, it was he who secretly took care of Qiu Niang and Xie Yi for three years, and later helped Lu Jia resume communication with them.

"elder sister!"

Just as the mother and daughter finished speaking, Xie Yi's shouts came from outside.

Lu Jia glanced at Qiu Niang and walked out.

Xie Yi ran to the courtyard gate, holding a set of coarse cloth clothes in his hand, and following behind him was a boy of about thirteen or fourteen years old, who turned out to be Xie Yi's childhood friend, Li Chang.

The two men were panting: "I've done everything you asked me to do. I was afraid that if Li Er saw me, he would create a loophole, so I had Li Chang wear these clothes to deliver the message."

"We found Li Er on the street. That bastard's eyes lit up as soon as he heard that you were awake, sister!" When Li Chang told him that the Zhang family wanted him to sneak over to the Xie family at night to meet them, he practically jumped for joy!

"It's clear that this bastard is planning to bully you again. If I didn't know I shouldn't act impulsively, I would have beaten him to death!"

Xie Yi was so angry that he kicked over the stack of firewood he had just finished stacking.

Li Chang called out "Sister" and then said, "I canceled my work at the dock today to help you! Li Er always has his lackeys with him, and I'm afraid Yi Ge'er won't be able to handle things by himself."

"That's daring!"

Lu Jia knew that the two were best friends, especially Li Chang, who was two years older and stronger than Xie Yi. With Li Chang's help, wouldn't that be like adding wings to a tiger?

"But if you don't go to the docks, won't your dad scold you?"

"It's okay! I've already told him."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jia thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll ask Uncle Li for another favor. Please pass on a message for me."

After she finished speaking, she whispered a few words to Li Chang.

Just as Li Chang left, Zhang Qiuniang caught up, completely bewildered: "What are you all plotting?"

Lu Jia said, "Beat the dog."

After saying that, she took Qiu Niang's arm: "I have something to tell you in detail, Mother. You also have a task to do. -- Yi Ge'er, why don't you move the haystacks in the yard to a different place first..."

The only difference in what happened after Lu Jia woke up was that she woke up a day earlier than in her previous life, allowing Xie Yi to stop Qiu Niang from getting hurt in time.

The Zhang family and Li Er's intentions toward Lu Jia and the Xie family remain exactly the same.

Since Madam He has made such harsh remarks to Zhang Qiuniang, does she really think she'll just sit there foolishly?
With the rain making work difficult and half the day already gone, Xie Yi, who usually carried rice at the dock, took the day off. Qiu Niang took on a batch of work applying tung oil to the ribs of oiled paper umbrellas, so she didn't need to go out. The mother and daughter then focused on "taking care" of Lu Jia, who was recovering from a long illness.

Around noon, as the sun began to set, Doctor Chen was invited by Xie Yi to his home to examine Lu Jia's pulse. Afterwards, Qiu Niang went to the medicine shop next to the market to get her medicine.

With this back and forth, the neighbors all knew that Xie's girl had finally come back to life. Everyone was happy for Qiu Niang and came to visit her one after another.

The slap mark on He Shi's face from Zhang Qiu Niang didn't fade for a long time. When she returned to her room and saw her reflection in the mirror, she pointed to the west and cursed.

Hearing that Lu Jia had woken up at this moment, his anger subsided by half, and he couldn't help but send someone to scout out the situation from the west wall.

"Madam, Miss Cousin has really woken up! I saw her walking around under the eaves with my own eyes!"

The maid rushed into the room, breathless, to report the news.

Mrs. He hurriedly said, "Did you see clearly? She can really walk?"

“I can see it clearly! Although he has to rest after walking a few steps, he doesn’t seem to be in any serious condition. That’s what Dr. Chen said too, that he’ll be fine after a day or two of rest.”

"That's wonderful!" Madam He gritted her teeth and slammed her hand on the table. "It's good that you're awake. As long as you're awake, getting married won't be a problem! If I can't control you, I'll be unworthy of being the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhang family!"

The maidservant spat, "The young lady is taking advantage of her seniority to show no respect for the mistress of the house. Why did the mistress only ask them for three hundred taels just now? That's too lenient on them."

Madam He retorted, "What do you know? If you ask too many questions, do you think they can come up with the money? They might hesitate with three hundred taels of silver, but if it's one or two thousand taels, they'll just renege on the deal!"

The maid shrank back and retreated.

Upon reaching the corridor, he turned back and said, "The master is here."

Zhang Qi strode in, lifting the curtain as he entered. He immediately noticed the bright red handprint on He Shi's face and blurted out, "Why did you fight with your older sister? Why did you show her that IOU that Dad left behind? Why did you bring this up with her at this time?"

"She knows we have something on her. What if Jia'er escapes?"

"Escape? Where to escape to?" Madam He slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "This Shawan County is our Zhang family's territory. How can we let her escape? If she dares to escape, I'll tie her up in a bridal sedan chair and stuff her into Li Er's bed!"

"Are you out of your mind!" Zhang Qi slammed his fist on the table. "In all these years, when have you ever seen her give in for the child? If she were so easy to manipulate, why would she have come to your door and started a fight?"

"Just now, while she was getting medicine, she bought several pairs of shoes, all in Jia'er's size, and even went to the county government office to inquire about getting a travel permit!"

"If she wasn't trying to escape, why would she be buying shoes and asking for directions?!"

Mrs. He paused, her hand stroking her temple: "When did this happen?"

"Just now!" Zhang Qi's voice rose in anxiety. "If they really succeed, we'll lose everything!"

Mrs. He panicked: "Then I'll go and have someone keep an eye on them?"

"What are you asking? Hurry up and go!" Zhang Qi urged her impatiently as she walked out. "Keep a close eye on her, especially at night. Don't let anything go wrong!"

I just got the internet installed, it's late today. I usually try to update in the morning.
(End of this chapter)