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Chapter 22.1

”My Lord.” Big Long spoke flatly, “If Miss An’s speculation is true and there are indeed spies who took her sister to blackmail her, then those people must know the An House like the back of their hand. They must have known who is the most important to Miss An in the residence, to make the blackmail effective. They must have known the location of the courtyards and the whereabouts of the servants and maids. They would have to also know how to get in and out of the residence in order to take a sleeping girl without anyone noticing. With this kind of skill, how could they not know that Miss An escaped from home tonight and came to the county government office to report what she knows? Getting on the palanquin as if nothing happened right after reporting? Those are spies, trained and meticulous. Isn’t this being suspicious there is a ghost when there is a ghost?” At this point, he glanced at An Ruochen.

An Ruochen kept her head hanging and kneeled, making it impossible to see her expression.

”My Lord.” Big Long added: “Assuming for a moment that what Miss An said is true, the sole fact that she reported it to the government has already alerted the spies. After she marries into the Qian House, even if someone came to contact her and coerce her, they must already have a countermeasure against the government prepared. Maybe, they would set up a plan to lay a trap and let us fall right into it. At that time, how can you tell?”

Yao Kun was speechless. He choked and had to admit what Big Long said was reasonable. He was reluctant. Being set up by the other side after wasting a lot of people and energy, when he was aware of such possibility in advance, he did not want to do this sort of unprofitable thing.

Big Long added coldly: ”Moreover, the other side was able to kill Xu Matchmaker. It would be all the more easy to kill the An sisters. If Miss An quietly came to the authorities without anyone knowing about it, it could still be fine. But she beat the drum of injustice in the middle of the night, and everyone knows about it. Her father is outside, and the An House must be in a frenzy. This information cannot be concealed in any way. If the spies who intended to blackmail Miss An learn about this matter, to save themselves, they might decide to kill the two girls of the An family. Not to mention the fourth Miss An, who is still missing. On the other hand, the eldest Miss An here, as soon as you let her get back to the residence, I’m afraid the palanquin can only receive a corpse.”

Before he finished speaking, An Ruochen cried, “General, My Lord, please save my sister and me.”

Big Long ignored her, then spoke to Yao Kun: “What I said is based on the assumption that she is telling the truth. If there is a lie, that would be another situation. I need to detain her and carefully interrogate her. Marrying into the Qian family to lure the enemies is useless. It is better to examine the case and then carefully consider proper countermeasures. Moreover, this way the other side would not be able to grasp what we actually want. It is good.”

Yao Kun frowned and felt a dilemma rising inside his heart: “General, Miss An is an important witness. I understand this. For this reason, I did not open the public trial to avoid alarming the snake and leaking the news. No one else knows about the things that Miss An said tonight except the people in this room. Things may not be as bad as this. We can pull out a different unrelated case as a cover. It is uncertain whether the other side will be suspicious. If we act cautiously, they may not notice anything strange. Then Miss An will marry into the Qian House, and everything will go as usual. Over time, the spies will fall for it. The plan of baiting the enemy may still work. Even if it does not work, we still have the Xu Matchmaker’s clue. The spies still hold the fourth Miss An. They will have to act ……”

“My Lords.” An Ruochen listened to Big Long and Yao Kun’s words. She crouched to the ground: ”I do not have much ability, but those evil people took my closest sister. I cannot ignore it. I want to entrap the enemy for Your Lordship.”

Yao Kun glanced embarrassedly at Big Long: “General Long, look at this, now the girl is begging to get married ……”

“My Lord.” An Ruochen knelt on the ground and interrupted Yao Kun’s words: “My Lord, I am not begging to get married. The General’s words are right. Once I marry, it would be unclear whether I could still live or not. I’m afraid I’ve aroused their suspicion by beating the drum at midnight to report to the officials.”

Yao Kun’s face turned unhappy: “Then how do you wish to entrap the enemy?”

”My Lord, I want your permission to break my marriage contract with Master Qian, so that I can join the army to lure the enemy.”

“……” not only Yao Kun but the whole audience was amazed.

An Ruochen crouched on the ground. Her expression could not be seen this way, so everyone had to only listen to her continue: ”My Lord, your words are very reasonable. I have beat the drum of injustice at midnight to report to the authorities and would now get on the palanquin as planned. The other side will certainly know this is a trap. Either they would kill my sister and no longer look for me, pretending that there was no such thing in the first place, or kill me as well to avoid any adverse consequences. Otherwise, they may pretend to be tricked and still contact me, but then they must have ulterior motives. I’m afraid their intention would be to target Fu’an County.”

Yao Kun’s brow furrowed. Fu’an County is the largest city in Pingnan County, next to the county capital Zhonglan City. In terms of transportation, it is the main road to the outer counties and the Capital. In terms of people’s livelihood, Fu’an County is the largest food-producing county in Pingnan County and the most important place for supplying troops during war preparations. Fu’an County is also the closest and most convenient route to Zhonglan City for evacuating people and transporting supplies. An Ruochen is going to marry the father of the county magistrate of Fu’an County. She will become the stepmother of the county magistrate of Fu’an County, Qian Shixin …

“Sir, I’ve lost my sister and was afraid for my own life, so I had no choice but to flee from home and report to the authorities. These actions have made it difficult for you and General Long to capture the criminals, but I was terrified. No matter what, I still want to find my sister. To become an effective bait, I have to create something even more enticing than obtaining information about Fu’an County.”

“What could that be?!” Yao Kun asked in shock. Information more appealing than intelligence about Fu’an County would be the information on his Pingnan County Office, which was not something to be played around with.

”My Lord.” An Ruochen looked up, red-eyed, haggard, and frail: ”As you said just now, Xu Matchmaker is a clue. I guessed the lords would closely investigate the girls she bought and sold as maidservants. After her death, I felt relieved no one threatened me anymore. If an official came to my door and asked me about this, I would not admit anything. Those girls, too, must think along these lines. You can’t detain and torture them to force them to confess without any evidence. Therefore, I thought you and the General would need someone to talk to those girls to find out what they know.”

An Ruochen looked at Yao Kun and continued, ”My Lord, if I get married in Fu’an County and become an official wife, I won’t be able to move around and visit Zhonglan City too often. Otherwise, it would attract suspicion. The only way for me to have an identity that would allow me to act freely is if I am withdrawn from the marriage and taken into the military.”

Yao Kun was dumbfounded: “Nonsense, there is no reason for a woman to join the military. Moreover, if you are admitted to the military by General Long, can those girls trust you when you go around asking questions?”

“I was the last bride whose marriage has been negotiated by Xu Matchmaker before her death, who in Zhonglan City and Pingnan County doesn’t know about it? Those girls are people who have come through, so they will naturally believe in my relationship with Xu Matchmaker. As for the reason why I would dare to contact them while being in the military, it would be natural for the General to order me to investigate the case and ask questions in such situation. However, I would tell them this is the first step I have completed, that was given by my superiors.”

Big Long’s eyebrows were raised high.

Yao Kun remained shocked: “What would those superiors instruct you to do?”

“Take advantage of Xu Matchmaker’s death to report to the government. After gaining trust, inquire about the government’s information, take her place, and continue to control those girls to siphon information.”

Yao Kun was stunned.

Xie Gang quickly reacted: ”This way, you could ask them who worked for Xu Matchmaker and what they have achieved so far, and then you could also trick them into spying on the spies for us.”

An Ruochen bit her lip, showing hesitation and fear: “This seems to be a bit difficult, but I am willing to try till my death. I would tell them I need to continue to gain the General’s trust, so I must have information to report. I think they will believe me and tell me what they know.”

Yao Kun said, “After the death of Granny Xu, wouldn’t someone else have already contacted these girls? Why would it have to be you?”