Chapter 10: For the Sake of Our Uncle-Nephew Relationship

In her previous life, Lu Jia had woken up on this very night. After three days of recuperation and preparation, she had left by water under the cover of Qiu Niang and Xie Yi.

At the time, wary that the Zhang family might send people to track her down once they discovered she was gone, she had deliberately lingered in Tanzhou Prefecture for a few days before departing.

It was during those few days in Tanzhou that she witnessed the major movements at the Tonghuomen Wharf. When Li Er exposed the truth about Zhang Qi’s background, she immediately thought of this, and from that, she became certain that Li Er was not lying.

At the same time, she knew clearly that the person advocating for this reform was none other than her husband’s grandfather from her past life—ah, pfft, it was the direct superior of her little treacherous father, the great villain of the current dynasty, Yan Song!

After Grand Marshal Shen Bo returned in triumph, Yan Song took advantage of the incident where the Grand Marshal’s only son encountered danger at the canal wharf and the Emperor’s subsequent fury to propose a reorganization of the river transport. Although the Xiang River was not a primary north-south artery, it was an important waterway for transporting southern grain to the north.

Lu Jia was not yet clear on Yan Song’s purpose in proposing this policy, but under the strong winds blowing from the imperial court, the various wharves in Tanzhou Prefecture made adjustments based on local conditions. The Tonghuomen Wharf would always flood in the spring and summer, greatly affecting the river transport within its jurisdiction. Taking this opportunity, the Tanzhou Prefectural Office ordered all north-south cargo ships to dock at the Shawan Wharf, located several dozen miles upstream.

As the future young mistress of the Yan family, and as one of the victims who constantly hoped for the Yan family’s early downfall, how could Lu Jia not be informed about the administrative policies related to the Yan family—in other words, things the Yan family had meddled with in the court—aside from top-secret matters? If she didn't proactively grasp the Yan family’s movements, where else would she have found the opportunity to escape?

Especially since this matter concerned the Tanzhou Prefecture where she had lived.

When she married into the Yan family, although the reorganization of the nation’s waterways had already been completed, she had a rough idea of the process.

What did it mean for all the ships in Tanzhou Prefecture to be docked there?

It meant that silver would be flowing in like the river water itself!

After Li Er revealed Zhang Qi’s original intention to frame Lu Jia, Lu Jia understood everything. The commercial potential of Shawan Wharf was already ripe; its future prospects could be imagined.

Her previous life proved that this was indeed the case. After this event, the status of Shawan County rose with the tide, and it gradually became known throughout the world by the beautiful name "Golden Shawan."

With business opportunities laid out like this, who among those in trade would ignore them?

Especially the rice merchants; most of the rice purchased in their shops was sold to north-south cargo ships, which would then transport the grain to various places for resale.

Over sixty percent of the firms at Shawan Wharf were in the grain business. Now that this news came directly from the Tanzhou Prefectural Office, who could still sit still?

To Zhang Qi and his wife, what was a niece compared to their money bags? Not to mention, they held the leverage that Lu Jia was not Qiu Niang’s biological daughter. Pushing Lu Jia out to profit themselves was simply too consistent with their dog-like nature.

Now that the duck that was about to be cooked had been let go by Lu Jia, and they had even failed to steal the chicken and lost the rice instead, it would be a miracle if the Zhang family let her off!

Xie Yi really couldn't understand what Lu Jia was thinking, but he couldn't ignore her words either—after all, she had quite a grip when she pulled his ears. Early in the morning, he invited Li Chang as usual and went to the wharf to carry rice.

Qiu Niang also went off to brush her umbrella frames, leaving only Lu Jia in the room to continue "recuperating."

After breakfast, Lu Jia tidied up the courtyard inside and out. She exchanged the needlework she hadn't managed to sell before falling into the water for some money, bought two dou of rice, and wandered into a stationery shop to pick out a few sheets of the cheapest paper. As for the brush, ink, and inkstone, there were still some left over from when Brother Yi was learning accounting, so there was no rush to buy those.

After finishing her shopping, she slung her basket over her arm and strolled to the wharf.

The Xie family went about their day as usual, but the Zhang family hadn't had a moment of peace since last night.

Last night, He Shi had waited in her room for Zhang Qi to return. She didn't expect that before long, she would hear wailing coming from the Xie family’s side. She assumed Zhang Qi had intimidated the Xie family and was calculating in her room how to quickly and accurately dump Lu Jia into the Li family. As it turned out, before she could finish her calculations, Zhang Qi returned!

As soon as he entered, his clothes were dirty, his hair was disheveled, there were bruises on his face, and he was limping, which scared He Shi into screaming repeatedly.

Once she finished screaming and heard the cause and effect, she nearly collapsed to the ground.

She never expected that the Xie family, who had fallen to such a state and were essentially meat on the Zhang family’s chopping block, would actually resist just as they were about to succeed!

They had even dug a pit for them!

"How dare they! They actually dared to beat Li Er and then make us take the blame! I’m going to fight them to the death!"

Having not closed her eyes all night, He Shi still couldn't suppress her anger; she felt like tearing Zhang Qiu Niang to pieces.

In her view, this must have been the idea of Qiu Niang, the mother! Even before she married into the family, she had disliked this sister-in-law who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Now that their positions had finally reversed, how could this Zhang Qiu Niang still be so arrogant?

Zhang Qi pulled her back: "Once Li Er told the truth, everyone on Xichun Street now knows we schemed against those orphans and widows. If you go over there like this, won't the Zhang family be cursed to death? Not to mention anything else, what about Brother Yi finding a wife? What about Sister Ru’s marriage to the son of Magistrate He?"

"Then you can just swallow this insult?" He Shi slapped the table, her angry voice as jarring as the cups jumping on the table. "That Zhang Qiu Niang is so vicious, does she have any regard for you as her brother? Does she treat you like a brother? Does she treat our Zhang family like her maiden home? Go out and ask around, where is there a married-out sister who pits her maiden family like this?

"It’s precisely for the sake of their marriage that I cannot let the three of them ride on our heads!"

Zhang Qi gritted his teeth, his face ashen.

Of course, he couldn't swallow this insult, but even if he couldn't, hadn't he been forced to swallow it anyway?

Seeing his battered and bruised state, He Shi didn't dare to stir the fire further.

But she was unwilling!

"The Li family’s warehouse deal fell through. If we can't buy a warehouse, how will we expand our shop? Since the old man died, I don't know what’s happened these past few years, but the shop’s income has been decreasing year by year. You remember that the grain we collected before the New Year was bought with savings from the money shop, don't you? If we don't seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get rich, how will we turn things around? When the time comes, others will be eating meat, and we’ll only be able to drink the soup!"

Speaking of money, Zhang Qi felt a stabbing pain in his heart: "If that girl Jia-jie hadn't jumped out and shouted 'Uncle,' I would have definitely persuaded Li Er. But she acted so convincingly that I couldn't explain myself. Now that they’ve beaten me, even if the Li family knows the truth, they won't admit they hit the wrong person; they can only continue the mistake!

"Thinking about it, she is the most vicious one!"

With this thought, Zhang Qi, who had originally wanted to take things slowly, could no longer restrain himself.

His wife had a point. If they couldn't handle them last night, couldn't they handle them today?

He hadn't argued last night because there were many neighbors around, but now, in broad daylight, he wanted to see which of those poor wretches would abandon their work at the wharf to come and stand up for the Xie family.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he wouldn't be satisfied until he vented all the humiliation he had suffered!

Thinking this, he immediately got up and limped toward the Xie house.

He finally reached the west wall and shook the door, but it had been bolted from the Xie family’s side!

His left tooth ached with anger, so he had to drag his injured leg to the main gate. When he looked, the gate was crooked—that damned Li Er had smashed his gate when he left last night, and now half of the door panel was still hanging there!

Abominable! Now he had to fix the door too!

This made his right tooth ache with anger as well.

He angrily called for someone to deal with it, and as he pushed the door open, a gust of wind blew into his face, nearly causing him to throw out his back!

Why?

It stank!

Someone had poured a huge pile of excrement on the open space in front of the door, and as the wind blew, it immediately filled his nose with the stench!

Damn this pile of dung, it smelled like it had been passed down for eight generations, making the medicinal soup he had just drunk come vomiting back up.

The servants who rushed over to help him upon hearing the noise immediately braked five steps away—well, with that vomiting, wouldn't it be even smellier!

...

By the time Zhang Qi was pounding on the door, Lu Jia had already returned from the wharf.

Not only that, but she was sitting behind a small square table, writing and drawing on several sheets of paper.

"You stinking girl, my Zhang family raised you for years, and in the end, this is how you repay me? Do you think I have no way to deal with you?!"

Zhang Qi brought seven or eight people in. With this lineup, let alone dealing with a powerless Lu Jia, it would have been enough to deal with ten of her.

"Uncle, it’s inconvenient for you to walk. If you have something to say, sit down and let’s talk slowly."

Changing her demeanor from last night, Lu Jia spoke softly and gently, inviting Zhang Qi into the hall and even brewing a pot of tea.

Zhang Qi assumed she was afraid of him, so his momentum increased by three points. He walked in, took the main seat, and swept his eyes across: "Since you don't treat me as your uncle, don't blame me for being heartless. Originally, I intended for you to marry into the Li family, and the three hundred taels of silver the Zhang family spent to register you would have been forgotten. Now that this matter has fallen through, I give you half a day to return that money!"

Lu Jia said: "I don't have any money."

"No money?" Zhang Qi sneered, looking around the Xie family’s house. "Then use this house to pay the debt!"

"If I don't have a house, where will I live?"

"That’s your business!" Zhang Qi said angrily. "A life for a life, pay your debts—it’s only natural!"

Lu Jia raised her eyebrows: "And what if I refuse to pay?"

Zhang Qi felt his breath catch in his throat, and his tooth roots ached with anger again!

He took a deep breath: "Magistrate He in the county office has an excellent relationship with me. If you want to default on the debt, we’ll see if the office’s heavy sticks are willing!"

With that, he slapped a piece of paper onto the table.

Needless to say, this was the very IOU that He Shi had shown to Qiu Niang.

"My reputation has already been ruined by you. As the saying goes, one doesn't itch from too many lice. Even if the whole Shawan County points their fingers at my spine, I must win this lawsuit!"

This voice, filled with anger, nearly blew the roof off.

Lu Jia picked up the tea: "You’re in cahoots with the Magistrate?"

After saying this, she looked at the floor and smiled, put down the cup, and said slowly: "I calculated the value of this house. When it was bought, it was five hundred taels of silver. If the ships at Tonghuomen really dock here, it should double in value, making it worth about a thousand taels.

"A thousand taels is enough to buy half a shop at the wharf; it’s certainly not a small amount."

Zhang Qi sneered: "Reluctant to part with it? That’s not up to you!"

Lu Jia looked at him: "If you had a warehouse right now, the extra silver you could earn would be far more than one or two houses, wouldn't it?"

Hearing this, Zhang Qi met her intrigued gaze: "What do you mean?"

Lu Jia took a sip of tea: "It means I have a way to get a warehouse."

Zhang Qi stared at her for a long time, then threw his head back and laughed: "You must have lost your mind?!

"You can get a warehouse? All the warehouses in Shawan County have long been booked by others. Even with my heavy bribes, I couldn't grab one. You have a way? You can't even come up with three hundred taels of silver; do you have the money to buy a warehouse?

"You dead girl, you dare to play with me! Do you still take me for a fool?!"

With that, he slapped the table and stood up: "Men, prepare the sedan chair! Carry me to the county office to beat the drum of grievances. I don't believe the government won't rule in my favor for these three hundred taels!"

Of the eight servants he brought, four immediately rushed off. The other four stood behind him, blocking Lu Jia’s path, looking as if they were about to drag her to the office to face the heavy sticks.

Lu Jia didn't move a muscle: "I don't have the money. If I had the money, this opportunity wouldn't fall to you. You only have the ambition to stare at these petty gains right in front of you. Those who do big business, who doesn't look toward higher things?

"Don't forget who the Xie family did business with in the capital in the early years. Although we have fallen, how many years has it been? Those old acquaintances in the capital are still there. What is digging up a little information to us? It’s just that we, orphans and widows, haven't had a use for it.

"But looking at your attitude now, even if I could really get a warehouse at the wharf, you probably wouldn't want it, so let’s pretend I didn't say anything."

These words directly blocked Zhang Qi, leaving him unable to respond.

He had gone through all this trouble, wasn't it just to get a warehouse?

Although he absolutely didn't believe this yellow-haired girl had such ability, thinking about how the Xie family had returned to Tanzhou in the first place, he couldn't help but feel a drum beating in his heart...

"I’m only giving you this opportunity for the sake of our uncle-niece relationship," before he could speak, Lu Jia had already stood up. "There are people everywhere wanting to grab warehouses now. If you don't want it, I’ll go connect with someone else.

"They don't know how much they’ll thank me.

"Unlike you? You didn't learn your lesson after being beaten, and you come over here to slap the table and glare for three hundred taels. Three hundred taels? If I really wanted money, I wouldn't even bother looking at such a small amount!"

Saying this, she snorted and walked toward the threshold.