On April 29, Lu Jing guided Chen Lu and told him to discover that the salt merchant's secret ledger had been dropped.

After Chen Lu learned about this, he was terrified, although the content of the account book has not changed, but when he studied it carefully, there were slight differences in handwriting and ink time.

He knew that the account book had fallen into the hands of others, but he did not dare to make a noise, once it was discovered that the account book had been replaced, whether it was the Chen family or the other twelve salt merchants, including the officials recorded above, they would not let him go.

Chen Lu was in a daze for a long time, and finally decided to run away, but just when he was halfway packing, Lu Jing took Chen Ji to knock him unconscious.

On the first day of the fifth month, at the beginning of the month, Lu Jing and Chen Ji were masked in black, put the account book in Chen Lu's arms, and threw him in front of the yamen of the Yangzhou prefect.

After Lu Jing struck the drum of grievances, he directly stuffed the drum hammer into Chen Lu's hand, and then stabbed Chen Lu directly to death from the back, and then he and Chen Ji fought in front of the government gate.

The drum sounded, the official on duty was attracted, Lu Jing went to get the account book on Chen Lu's body, Chen Ji blocked it, Chen Ji took the account book, Lu Jing blocked it, the two pretended to fight for the account book, and the fight was inseparable.

Seeing this situation, the official immediately called for support, and Lu Jing and Chen Ji immediately stopped and attacked the officer, but the two only stabbed the officer.

Later, seeing more and more people coming out of the palace, the two immediately fled according to the established route, and finally disappeared into the alley.

The remaining officials searched out the account book from Chen Lu's arms, immediately reported the matter to Ge Yu, the prefect of Yangzhou, and handed over the account book.

After Ge Yu saw the contents recorded in the account book, he did not dare to be proficient, and immediately invited colleagues at all levels who did not appear in the account book to discuss the matter together.

In the end, they came to the conclusion that Chen Lu was hunted down by the two forces because of the ledger in his arms, and Chen Lu wanted to report the case to the government, but was killed in front of the government office.

Subsequently, Ge Yu and the officials of Yangzhou Prefecture jointly signed the matter to the imperial court and submitted the account book to the capital.

On the second day of the fifth month, Lu Jing continued to add fuel to the fire, bribed many beggars, and asked them to publicize what happened at the gate of the second day of the fifth month, and deliberately pointed out the protagonist Chen Lu, and at the same time talked about the account book as if there was nothing.

In just one day, several different versions of the story spread in the streets and alleys of Yangzhou City, among which the story of the salt merchant losing the secret ledger was the most widespread.

The thirteen top salt merchants in Yangzhou did not know until this time that their secret ledgers had been discovered, and the whole city knew about it, and they suddenly became panicked.

Many officials involved also learned of the incident, and on the one hand tried to find a way to ask for help from the backers in Beijing, and on the other hand, they put pressure on the salt merchants, or exterminate the salt merchants who had interests with them.

Some salt merchants were unwilling to be killed, and either began to launch a counterattack against those officials, or sought the support of their backers in Beijing.

The confrontation between the two parties added to the corroboration and completely confirmed the loss of the salt merchant's secret ledger.

Then the situation in Yangzhou broke out again, and it spread to the whole territory of Jiangnan overnight, and even affected Henan, Guizhou, Huguang and other places.

This storm had nothing to do with Lin Ruhai at all, causing Lin Ruhai to be forgotten temporarily, and Lin Ruhai didn't know that Lu Jing was responsible for this incident.

On the ninth day of the fifth month, the salt merchants' ledgers arrived in the capital, and at the same time, the news of the chaos in Jiangnan again reached the capital.

After Emperor Yuan Yong learned of this, he sighed in his heart, knowing that the matter in Jiangnan had to be settled, he immediately sent a messenger to Jiangnan to thoroughly investigate the corruption case and account books of the Yanzheng in Jiangnan.

In order to take care of his own image, Emperor Yuanyong did not tell Lin Ruhai about obtaining the account book, but mainly based on the account book presented by Ge Yu, which can be regarded as indirectly protecting Lin Ruhai, otherwise Lin Ruhai would offend more people.

After Lu Jing detonated public opinion, he brushed off his clothes and hid his merits and fame.

In the next few days, Lu Jing went to visit Lin Ruhai and tell him the news about Daiyu in addition to reading every day, until today he picked up Lin Daiyu.

Lin Ruhai stroked Daiyu's hair, and Wen Yan comforted: "Yu'er, don't cry, don't cry!" ”

When Lin Daiyu heard her father's words, she blamed herself in her heart, hating her deeply for failing to fulfill her filial piety in front of her father's bed over the years, and her tears couldn't be stopped.

Lin Ruhai was comforted several times, and Lin Daiyu stopped crying.

Looking at her daughter's miserable face, Lin Ruo blamed herself for a while: "Yu'er, I've made you suffer all these years." ”

Lin Daiyu thought of her care in the Jia family over the years, as well as the gossip that often came out of the Jia Mansion, and felt a pang of depression in her heart.

But she was worried about her father's health, and she didn't dare to say it to her father, but comforted her father and said: "My daughter is not bitter, Daiyu has been living well in her grandmother's house in the past few years, but her daughter has failed to fulfill her filial piety by her father's side, and she often blames herself in her heart!" ”

Lin Ruhai saw that Daiyu was thinking about his body, and she didn't say anything about the grievances she had suffered in the Jia family in the past few years, and she felt more and more sorry for her daughter in her heart.

"Yu'er doesn't have to hide it from me, I sent someone to Rongfu some time ago to find out your news, and I already know the days you have spent in Rongfu over the years!"

"Speaking of which, it's all blamed for my father's thoughtfulness, I thought about what the Jia family said, it is also your flesh and blood, for your mother's sake, they will also protect you, alas, I didn't expect you to bear so much at a young age!" Lin Ruhai said with extreme self-reproach.

Speaking of this, Lin Ruhai was still angry in his heart, the Jia family sent Daiyu back at this time, nominally, to let Daiyu come back to fulfill filial piety, but it was not because of the relationship with him.

Although the second brother-in-law wrote to explain the reason for the incident, he still couldn't let go of his heart, if it wasn't for the Jia family this time, he wouldn't have made such a big battle in Jiangnan.

He was worried that the Jia family would be involved, and he didn't let the Jia family speak for him in Beijing, just so that the Jia family could take care of Daiyu.

But he didn't expect that the Jia family would not even be able to do this, and in the end, if it wasn't for Lu Jing to send the account book and let him turn the tables against the wind, he would almost fall into a state of no return, so Lin Ruhai felt guilty for him many times because of the Jia family's suspicion of Lu Jing.

At the same time, he was also a little happy in his heart, fortunately, after the chaos of the previous few days, now the turmoil in Jiangnan has gradually calmed down again, and Yangzhou has gradually calmed down, otherwise Daiyu will inevitably be implicated by him when he comes back at this time, and even safety cannot be guaranteed.

Lin Daiyu hurriedly comforted: "Father doesn't have to blame himself, his daughter has no worries about food and clothing at her grandmother's house, and her grandmother loves her daughter very much!" ”

"Alas, your grandmother loves you, I believe it, but it's hard for others to say!" Lin Ruhai said this, and the words were paused, this time to send Daiyu back to Yangzhou, if it was not for his mother-in-law to nod, he would not believe it, so in this way, the old lady's love for her daughter is also debatable.

Thinking of this, Lin Ruhai sighed: "Forget it, your grandmother's family is complicated, and now it's good for you to come back!" ”

Lin Ruhai didn't want Daiyu to know that the Jia family abandoned her this time.

The Jia family's thoughts about the Lin family, he didn't want to say more to his daughter, but the Jia family really broke his heart this time.

"Father, what do you mean by that?" Lin Daiyu asked with confusion.

Father actually commented on her grandmother's family like this, she has been in Jiafu for many years, although she can also feel the attitude of the Jia family towards her, the two uncles basically rarely meet, Mrs. Xing is affectionate and perfunctory to her, and Mrs. Wang is estranged and indifferent to her.

But she didn't know what was going on, and when she heard her father mention it, she was even more puzzled.

Lin Ruhai was worried that her daughter would think too much, so she simply used the conflict between his wife and the Wang family as an excuse.

"Do you remember that your mother has ever been back to your grandfather's house since you were born?"

"Never!" Lin Daiyu was also full of doubts about this.

Although the daughter who marries does not have her mother's family to pick her up, her husband's family agrees, and she cannot return to her parents' house casually.

But my grandmother's love for my mother will not mean that she has not taken over her mother once.

Especially since she can remember, her mother has often mentioned her grandmother and Rongguofu in front of her.

She could tell that her mother missed her grandmother and Rongguo Mansion very much, but she never went back once.

"It's just that before your mother got married, she had some discord with your second uncle, and your mother has never been back since she heard that Rongguo Mansion was her home!"

Lin Ruhai just reminded him a little, and he didn't plan to tell Daiyu in detail about the grievances between his wife and Jia Wang's family.

"I see!" Lin Daiyu said suddenly, no wonder she always felt that her second aunt was not very close to her, and even a little unwelcome, it turned out that it was because of her mother.

Lin Daiyu then asked how her mother had a grudge with her second aunt back then.

Lin Ruhai just said that it was all the grievances of the elders, and he didn't want to say much about the others, he felt that even if Daiyu knew, it would be no good.

Lin Daiyu was sensitive, and she heard from her father's words that her mother seemed to have a deep grudge with her second aunt, but her father didn't say it, and she couldn't continue to ask.

"Father, I heard that you accepted the cousin of the Lu family as a disciple, why have you never heard your father and mother talk about the Lu family when your daughter is at home?"

Lin Daiyu was very puzzled why her father and mother didn't mention the Lu family at all.

"Yes, Huai Jin is a disciple I accepted three years ago!" Lin Ruhai said with emotion.

"The Lu family is your grandmother's maiden family, and when your grandmother died, you weren't born yet, so we didn't mention it to you!"

Lin Ruhai didn't want to mention the contradiction between his wife and mother in front of Daiyu, so he said cryptically: "Because of a slight misunderstanding, the Lin family and the Lu family had less contact, in fact, they have been in contact all these years. ”

Lin Daiyu saw that her father had a difficult and vague face, thinking that her mother was not very happy every time she mentioned her grandmother before her death, and thought in her heart that the affairs of the Lu family should involve her mother and grandmother, so she didn't continue to ask deeply.

Lin Ruhai saw that his daughter no longer asked about this matter, so he introduced the current situation of the Lu family.

The Lu family is now the closest relative of the Lin family, and her daughter should also know that she still has this relative.

As for the Jia family, who was originally ranked first in his heart, this time it completely broke his heart, and he was temporarily ranked behind the Lu family.

If it weren't for the Jia family and Daiyu, as well as the involvement in the marriage, the second brother-in-law also wrote many times to express his apologies for being powerless, and he wanted to break off relations with the Jia family and never communicate again.