PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 21.1

Xie Gang watched An Ruochen’s back in the dark. Zong Zeqing appeared from nowhere and coldly said to him: “What did you do to her in the carriage? Look how she kowtowed her head! She wanted to give her whole body.”

Xie Gang glanced at him: “When the Emperor gave you the name of General Hu Wei, did he know you were so uneducated? Is giving one’s body to another the only way to describe gratitude?”

This again? Nothing new! Zong Zeqing skimmed his eyebrows to show his dislike. Xie Gang saw An Ruochen finally turn out of the alley, then said: “The General instructed me to guide her. I’m afraid she will be nervous and say the wrong thing. After all, she was raised in a deep boudoir and has not gone through many things.”

Zong Zeqing said, “The face of the governor is much kinder than the General’s.” You worry too much.

Xie Gang rolled his eyes.

“So, did you give her instructions on how to withdraw from the marriage?”

“No. The General did not ask me to point this out.” He couldn’t come up with a good solution even if he was asked.

Zong Zeqing shook his head: “I guess the General hasn’t thought about it yet. The time is too short to think carefully, and there is no way to explain more to Miss An. If we delay for too long, we will not be able to seize the opportunity to report to the government. Maybe, in the end, the General will have to say that we need to use Miss An as bait to lure out the head of the spies and summon her into the army.”

“If I were Master Qian, I would have cooperated fully, arranged for guards to take extra precautions, and let the General send people into the residence in disguise. The new wife would be allowed to go out from time to time to let the head of the spies have the opportunity to move. After the new wife reports the case, the spy would surely become alerted, and with the marriage taking place as if nothing happened, the spy will take action, and the plan can succeed.”

Zong Zeqing sighed: “You have a point. According to common sense, this is a reasonable plan to lure the enemy. The enemy would not be trapped if she withdrew from the marriage and hid in the government office or was placed under strict military control.”

Xie Gang did not say a word. He leaped across the alley, watching An Ruochen hobble far away.

 Zong Zeqing followed and watched together. After a while, he sighed: “Quite pathetic, isn’t it? Desperately escaped but finally still has to go back.”

“At least after such a drama, both the Governor and the General are watching. Qian Pei will not dare to do anything to her. An Zhifu also can no longer abuse her.”

“Well, in this way, things are turning around for the better.”

The two people had no more words to say, quietly watching An Ruochen as she walked with difficulty to the courthouse’s gate. The two officers guarding the door saw her and were about to ask questions but she was unable to support herself and abruptly fell to the ground. The two officers rushed over to check. The distance was too far. Xie Gang could not hear what the other side said and only saw an officer rush into the county government office. Another officer helped An Ruochen reach the injustice drum. An Ruochen stood straight, picked up the hammer, knocked a few times, and fell to the ground again. After a while, a few officers came out with a board and carried An Ruochen in.

She completed the first step.

Xie Gang and Zong Zeqing looked at each other, leaping back to the alley, back to the Purple Cloud House, and reported to Big Long.

Big Long nodded his head when he heard this, calm and collected. However, after waiting for a long time, Yao Kun did not send someone to invite him over. Xie Gang’s spies reported two teams of government officers running out of the courthouse. One went to the An House while the other team went off town, towards the direction of Fu’an County.

Zong Zeqing frowned: “The Governor contacted those two heads first. Were Miss An’s words not taken seriously, and he wants to send her back, so he called her family to pick her up?”

Xie Gang said: “I have already told her clearly about the Governor’s character and style ……”

Zong Zeqing interrupted him: “I never said you gave bad advice. Now I’m talking about whether the Governor believes her.”

“He should believe her.” Big Long did not panic. “He attaches great importance to this matter. He quickly sent people to stabilize the two families so they do not create a ruckus. It allows him to deal with the matter reported by An Ruochen at ease. He has not invited me over yet. He wants to ask a few more questions and inform me when he is certain.”

“Right.” Xie Gang gave Zong Zeqing a glance. He wanted to say it wouldn’t be too difficult to gain the Governor’s trust with Miss An’s intelligence. 

He waited for a while longer. Finally, a guard came to report, saying the Governor sent someone to invite him. There are military matters to discuss with General Long. The situation was urgent. He hoped General Long immediately move.

Big Long answered, telling the man to go back and that he would arrive with his men later.

On the road, Zong Zeqing quietly spoke with Big Long: “Governor said the situation is urgent. Is it because he wants the General to finish the questioning quickly so that Miss An can get on the palanquin according to plan?”

Big Long nodded his head. It seems to be Yao Kun’s style to tell the matter clearly, skim off the responsibility, and not cause trouble.

“Does the General have a countermeasure?” Zong Zeqing was quite sad for An Ruochen.

“Does asking questions for a longer time count?” Big Long asked indifferently and rhetorically.

Zong Zeqing’s face fell. Seriously? Then he glanced at Xie Gang’s expression of holding back laughter out of the corner of his eye. Okay, got it, General. It’s not appropriate for you to molest people like this, okay? Molesting the Emperor’s General Hu Wei!

Zong Zeqing pulled the reins of his horse and rode a little to the side, alone and quiet. All of you are not in a hurry. I’ll try to think about it myself. In case I think of any good ways to help Miss An.

By the time they arrived at the courthouse, Zong Zeqing still hadn’t come up with any good ideas. They saw An Zhifu with An Ping and several servants pacing back and forth at the county government office’s gate. An Zhifu’s face was blue, panicked, and angry. Zong Zeqing received a look from Big Long and immediately understood. He deliberately slowed his pace and waited for Big Long enter the office. Then, he turned to An Zhifu.

An Zhifu greeted him with a pleading and grateful face.

“Master An, why are you here?” Zong Zeqing asked first.

An Zhifu wiped his tears and explained confusedly. His daughter is supposed to get on the palanquin tomorrow morning but suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night. The entire family was looking for her, but then he suddenly received a message from the Governor that his daughter was at the county government office and had a major case to report. They told him to wait patiently. He would be allowed to bring his daughter back after the questioning was done and the matter handled.

“It turns out the Governor summoned the General because of Miss An.” Zong Zeqing said comfortingly. “Since the Governor said so, Master An can wait at ease. No need to rush. What kind of big case can Miss An have to report? Is there any trouble at Master An’s house?”

An Zhifu was waiting for this sentence and hurriedly said, “General Zong is unaware of this. My eldest daughter has always been good and obedient, but recently, somehow, she has become unruly. Her marriage had been arranged, and everything was going smoothly. But, unfortunately, there is a family scandal. A while ago, my fourth daughter has gone missing. I guessed it was my eldest daughter who caused the trouble, so I beat her and locked her up. I didn’t expect her to sneak out tonight and make a scene here. She’s an unbelievable bastard. She has been a bit crazy lately. I am afraid she will only talk nonsense, angering the Governor, discrediting her own family, and creating more problems. But the Governor won’t let us in. We have to wait here. Honestly, I can’t guess what she’ll say. You know, General. No matter what, these are all family matters. We have not broken any laws.”

“Yes, hitting your daughter, this is a family matter. The Governor will not blame you for this. Think carefully about what other odd things may have happened recently. The Governor has called General Long here, so it’s not about some trivial matter of beating your own daughter up.”

An Zhifu opened his mouth and seemed to react only then. “Is it because of Chen’er that the Governor has called General Long here?” He was anxious all of a sudden. Yes, yes. General Zong said this just now, it’s only that he was so intent on clearing up the relationship that he didn’t listen. “I’m a businessman. I’m a serious businessman. I’ve never committed any crime. Please help me to say a few words in front of General Long. I am an honest businessman. I beat Chen’er. She is holding a grudge and must be talking nonsense to vent her anger. Ah, yes, her mother died early. This child does not understand things and always feels I and her other mothers had wronged her mother. When she was a child, there was some trouble over this matter. But then, she grew up and understood. I thought she did not take it to heart, but I never thought she still held a grudge. Now that I beat her again this time, she must be brimming with hatred, so she made up a lie for revenge.” An Zhifu said with cold sweat coming down.

Zong Zeqing comforted: “It’s nothing. Nothing, I understand. I have to hurry inside, or General Long would blame me. Take it easy. Let me hear the problem first, and I will help you if I can. You think about how to make it up for Miss An. Tell me later, and I will think of a way.”

An Zhifu hurriedly thanked him.

Zong Zeqing went in. Big Long and Xie Gang slowly entered the backyard of the courtroom, awaiting someone to lead them in. Zong Zeqing hurried over and whispered to Big Long: “The An family’s business must be unclean. An Zhifu was terrified. He thought something had fallen into the hands of Miss An.”

Big Long nodded silently. At this time, chief officer Jiang Hongqing came to meet Big Long and said, “General, please don’t blame us. The matter happened suddenly, and it is about military affairs. It is not convenient to open the courtroom to hear the case. The Governor ordered us to move to a private room in the backyard. Please follow me, General.”

Jiang Hongqing started to describe the situation in whispers while leading the way. It was everything that Big Long had already heard from An Ruochen. Big Long had a serious face on and frowned as if he was hearing about this for the first time. By the time they reached the private room’s door, Jiang Hongqing had roughly reported the whole matter.

He stopped and said: “The Governor saw she was injured. Although a doctor treated her at home, she took a lot of trouble to escape and walked a long way. Many injuries opened up again, bursting with blood, so he called a doctor to treat her. The Governor would like to see the General first to discuss this matter clearly. Then he will call Miss An out for questioning.”

Big Long nodded his head, lifted his foot, and entered the room.

There was no one else in the room. Only Yao Kun sat under the lamp with a frown. When he saw Big Long coming, he got up and saluted. Big Long returned the salute. A group of people finished saluting each other and sat down.