Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 64 Wait for me to come back
"What do you mean you don't understand?" Lu Jia asked curiously.

Li Chang then recounted the conversation between Shen Qingzhou and Su Da in its entirety.

Even without him saying it, Lu Jia also found it strange. Although he was pretending to be the Xie family's steward to get closer to them, wasn't Qin Zhou, a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and outlaws) figure, acting a little too convincingly?

Last time, he impersonated someone from the Lu family on the ship because he came from a wealthy family. This time, he can't possibly be from an official family, can he? How come he knows so much about the official households in the capital?
"Boom!"

A clap of thunder interrupted her thoughts, and then He Qu and Tang Yu burst in: "Miss Xie, we're back!"

Lu Jia quickly made way for them to come inside: "Why are you so late?"

He Qu pointed to the bundle on his shoulder: "We lived under the bridge. Brother Qin found us jobs here with the young lady today, so we won't starve. Plus, with the thunder and rain, we ran back to pick up a few clothes and came to seek refuge with the young lady!"

"Bridge arch?..."

Lu Jia glanced at their clothes, which had no patches under their raincoats, and pointed inside: "Then come in quickly."

How can someone living under a bridge have a place to put their belongings?

They're all such con artists, each one a master liar.

The two families lived close by, and Li Chang had often stayed overnight at the Xie family's house since he was a child, like a younger brother to Lu Jia. So they didn't let him go back in the rain. The group immediately cleaned the room and prepared a room. Qiu Niang brought dry straw to lay on the door, put on a straw mat, and brought a thin quilt for them to make do for the night.

After being busy for half the night, things finally settled down.

The rain had subsided by then. He Qu nodded to Tang Yu in greeting, then opened the back window and quietly climbed out. Tang Yu bolted the window and lay down.

When He Qu arrived at the county office, Shen Qingzhou had just finished bathing and was lounging on the couch with his hair still wet. The guards who remained quickly fed him ginger soup and dried his hair. Guo Yi, unable to help, was extremely anxious: "Why did you go out in such heavy rain? Bringing you out has put half my head on the Grand Commandant's blade. If you get sick again, my wife might be widowed!"

Shen Qingzhou drank half a bowl of ginger soup, glanced at him, and said, "Can't you wish me well for once?"

Guo Yi snorted and turned to see He Qu: "Why are you only just getting back?"

He Qu stepped forward: "My lord, please calm down. Tonight, the young master led us to investigate the Su family."

"When we arrived at the Su family's merchant ship, we discovered that only half of their full shipment of rice was recorded in the accounts. The other half was not."

“We asked a few boatmen and found that almost all the grain ships heading north to Beijing were like this.”

"It is clear that what we heard before, that they only come to Beijing after the autumn harvest, is not entirely true."

Guo Yi turned his head to look at Shen Qingzhou.

Shen Qingzhou put down the bowl: "The Su family makes money by relying on the dock. Su Mingxing's son is quite interested in the Liu family. Liu Zheng is the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and he happens to be in charge of river transport."

"On the other hand, Liu Zheng is Zhou Sheng's teacher, and Zhou Sheng happens to be in charge of river transport in Tanzhou Prefecture."

Guo Yi said awkwardly, "They're in the same circle!"

Shen Qingzhou frowned deeply: "The Su family is sending money to the capital continuously, which must be being handed over to Su Mingxing's second uncle."

"As for who Su Mingxing's second uncle handed over to, we don't know, and it's not the focus of this trip."

"I can only think of one thing: the Su family clearly has ambitions for officialdom. They are currently fourth-rank officials, so it's normal for them to want to advance further."

“They must know about Zhou Sheng’s relationship with the Liu family, but we haven’t found any signs of contact between the Su family and Zhou Sheng.”

“That’s right,” Guo Yi realized, “We only know that the Su family transported a large amount of wealth into the capital, and we also know that Zhou Sheng must have his own purpose.”

"But the two sides, who had every reason to establish a relationship, actually did not contact each other."

"They either have a grudge against each other, or they're covering something up!"

Shen Qingzhou waved for the guards to leave and straightened up.

"Song En told me to go back."

"Huh?" Guo Yi couldn't keep up with him. "Why are you suddenly being asked to go back?"

“I haven’t shown my face for several months, and there’s been some gossip going around in the capital. He shielded me for a while. But a few days ago he received a secret letter saying that someone in the cabinet is watching me. I have to go back and show my face.”

"Is it that Mr. Chong again?"

Shen Qingzhou nodded. Guo Yi then sighed, "That's true. Even if you're recuperating, it's strange that you haven't seen any visitors for months."

Shen Qingzhou picked up a pile of files and documents from beside him, walked over and handed them to him: "The Yan family's sudden attack on the river must have a purpose. And Zhou Sheng must have a way to break through."

"Back then in the cabinet, you came from Lu Jie's side to replace Zhang He. From that perspective, you can be considered one of Zhou Sheng's own people."

“After I leave, keep a close eye on him.”

"I'll also take this opportunity to investigate the Su family's shady dealings in the capital."

Guo Yi accepted these things and then asked, "Will you return them?"

Shen Qingzhou glanced at He Qu subconsciously and said, "Go back."

……

After giving He Qu some instructions that night and sending him away, Shen Qingzhou went to the Xie family again the next morning.

Last night, it rained heavily all night, and the yard was flooded. Lu Jia rolled up his sleeves and led everyone to drain the water.

Shen Qingzhou looked at her, who was covered in mud and had mud splattered in her hair: "Why didn't you hire someone to do it?"

"Every household is doing this, so who can we invite? Besides, didn't we just invite He Qu and Tang Yu?"

Lu Jia wiped her sweat and asked him again, "Where's your bag?"

"What burden?"

"He Qu and the others have all moved in, aren't you coming?"

Shen Qingzhou took a deep breath: "I was just about to say goodbye to you."

Lu Jia immediately straightened up: "You stood me up?!"

“I took money from my previous employer, but I haven’t finished the job for him yet. I need to go and finish it up.”

Lu Jia frowned: "Where to?"

"It's a bit far. It will take more than a month to get there."

Shen Qingzhou felt that if she continued to lie like this, she wouldn't be far from being exposed.

He forced himself to say, "Don't worry, I'll definitely be back in a little over a month."

Since I've agreed to be her housekeeper, I should at least help her get the family business up and running before I leave.
Lu Jia responded with an "oh".

Fortunately, they didn't ask any unnecessary questions.

But it's also a bit too calm.

Shen Qingzhou was about to leave when Lu Jia called him back.

His heart leaped into his throat.

Lu Jia asked, "Do you have any travel expenses?"

Shen Qingzhou paused.

Without a word, Lu Jia pulled out several silver notes from her purse: "This is twenty taels of silver. I was just about to hire someone to clean up the house next door today, so take this first. A poor family should be extra frugal on the road, so eat and drink as you please."

The silver note burned Shen Qingzhou's hand.

After looking at her for a while, he pulled her into his arms.

His raised finger accidentally brushed across her face, wiping away the two specks of mud on her forehead that were now just faint red marks.

"wait me back."

(End of this chapter)