PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 35.1

An Ruochen replied: “From their point of view, there are only two possibilities when it comes to me: either kill me or use me. I’ve been going around many places in the past few days. In the eyes of outsiders, I am accompanied only by maids, which would allow them to attack me, but they didn’t do anything. Today they let Zhao Jiahua come and mention my fourth sister, so I think they must be planning to use me.”

Big Long asked again, “How many days were there between your fourth sister’s disappearance and your successful getaway?”

“Three days.”

“If they had your fourth sister in their hand and planned to use you, why didn’t they do anything in those three days? At that time, you were desperate and couldn’t ask for help. It would have been much easier for them to threaten you and offer you help than to deal with you today.”

An Ruochen fell silent. These words were the same as before. She had thought about all the possibilities and Big Long analyzed them one by one. He did it again just now, but only to knock her down – do not be blinded by hope because that will make you unable to see the truth. If she kept convincing herself that her fourth sister was in their hands, Big Long would be worried if she fought these people.

An Ruochen took a deep breath and nodded her head. Her heart was still struggling. Maybe her fourth sister wasn’t in their hands, but now that she lived in the Purple Cloud House, she had value, and her weakness was her fourth sister. Maybe they found out about it and decided to choose between the two possibilities, that was to use her.

How high is that possibility? Not high, of course.

An Ruochen bit her lips: “Even if they are using my fourth sister’s matter to deceive me, they are still trying to lure me in, so they must have a plan. I should go to Zhao Jiahua and find out what their plan is. It is the only way to lure the snake out of the hole.”

“Find out their plans?” Big Long said, “Do you know a trick called ‘invite the king into the jar’? By the time you understand the trick, you are already in the jar, unable to get out, so how can you get away?”

An Ruochen tightened her fist nervously. She knew she could not convince the General with just a few words. She said, “Please give me some guidance, General.”

“When two armies are at war, they often use schemes to lure the enemy. When the enemy army pretends to be defeated and escapes, you get carried away and lead your troops to chase them, only to be ambushed by the other side. If you can’t see through the scheme, there are no words left to say. But, if you can understand the scheme, there are two methods to counter it. First, don’t chase, so you don’t get trapped. Second, you should look over the whole situation, set up the formation earlier than the enemy army, understand the terrain, avoid the location of the ambush, and go to the forefront of the enemy army to intercept them.”

“The whole situation?”

“You’ve said so much to me. You didn’t even spare Zhao Jiahua’s tone of voice and expressions. But you did not mention a single word about Li Xiu’er. Didn’t you go to Jiang’s clothes store today?”

“Yes, but that’s because there was nothing unusual about Li Xiu’er. She didn’t even recognize me. She only changed her expression after I told her who I am, then she hid in the backyard and never came out again.”

“That’s why your attention was all on Zhao Jiahua.”

An Ruochen knitted her brows, and only then did she react to what was wrong.

“No one knew about your sudden visit to the clothes store, so how can Zhao Jiahua meet you by chance? After Li Xiu’er avoided you, how long did you stay at the clothing store?”

Quite a long time. An Ruochen pondered. In order to observe and wait for Li Xiu’er to show up, she chatted with Boss Jiang, deliberately asked many questions about the process of making clothes, and spent a long time picking out fabrics.

“How far is the clothing store from the Zhaofu Restaurant? How long does it take to make a round trip?”

An Ruochen had never made the journey, but she estimated that if her feet were fast enough, she should be able to make it. She wondered if Li Xiu’er would come out and delay her if she didn’t stay at the clothing store long enough. The General was correct. Her meeting with Zhao Jiahua was not a coincidence. Moreover, if Zhao Jiahua knew she was already under suspicion, why didn’t she wait for her at the Zhaofu Restaurant instead of coming outside to have a ‘chance encounter’ with her? What made her so eager?

“She was holding a child.” An Ruochen suddenly remembered. “That child looked sleepy. If she really loves her daughter, she would let her rest properly, not take her all over the street to chat and scheme people.”

Big Long nodded: “When we martial artists fight against each other, even if we sustain injuries, we will hide them under our armor to keep the enemy from knowing.”

“She intentionally told me that her daughter was as important as my fourth sister. She told me she knew that my weakness was my fourth sister, yet at the same time she also exposed her daughter as her weakness.” It was indeed a bit odd.

“What else?”

“According to the spies’ rules, to ensure the safety of the organization, they only contact each other using a single line of communication, do not know each other, and do not communicate. But because I ran away from my family to report to the government, they know that the girls associated with Xu Matchmaker are probably …… If it is really Li Xiu’er who reported to Zhao Jiahua, then why should she do so? Is Zhao Jiahua the second Xu Matchmaker? That’s not right. That would be too risky. Mr. Xie would not let his straight line reach out to me so openly. The risks for him are too big …… Why would she let me see her child ……”

“You have a lot of doubts, and that’s good. I can feel at ease if you are concerned about this.” Big Long said, “When the soldiers enter the city, whether it is certain or not for them to fight, they must not be too daring so that they will not be confused by the enemy’s formation. You can fight with Zhao Jiahua if you want to, but your narrow vision won’t work. You can’t focus just on Zhao Jiahua, do you understand?”

An Ruochen nodded her head vigorously.

“Do you remember why I told you to put Zhao Jiahua after the other girls?”

“Because we haven’t found out why Zhao Jiahua is important. Xu Matchmaker was mostly engaged in local marriages. Zhao Jiahua was from outside the county, changed her identity, and disguised herself as a distant cousin of Mr. Liu. It was very suspicious for her to go to such great lengths to create a cover for herself. Perhaps her identity as a courtesan of the Pin Xiang Lou was also a disguise. Until we know for sure, we can’t touch her yet.”

“But since she is so anxious now, then it is confirmed.”

An Ruochen’s heart was pounding: “I will go to the Zhaofu Restaurant tomorrow to meet her.”

“No, don’t mind her. Since she was anxious, then you should be relaxed.”

After Big Long explained to her this and that, An Ruochen had an idea in her mind. She returned to her room to think about Big Long’s words, carefully planning.

On this night, there were people also planning at the An House.

The first one was Mrs. Tan. Her plan was going very well. Due to the sudden overnight dismissal of all the servants in the first house, everyone was caught unprepared, and the residence became a mess. The guards sealed all the cries within the first house’s courtyard. Under the cover of night, the first house’s maids and servants left the An House as per the order of the steward. The ones with lifetime deeds were locked up in the room, waiting for the laborer to take them. Mrs. Tan was satisfied. She eliminated all the troubles and future worries in one fell swoop.

An Ruoxi felt anxious. She thought left and right but finally could not resist, quietly going to the backyard. No one guarded this place. All people went to the first house to deal with the servants, not caring about the woodshed. An unfastened lock was hanging at the woodshed’s door. An Ruoxi looked around and opened the door.