PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 25.2

In the past four days, An Zhifu had a hard time. He visited the door every day and was stopped at the door every day. He wanted to return to Zhonglan City, but he already said he would be waiting, so he didn’t dare to leave. So on this day, he visited again. After the gatekeeper reported it, someone led them into the house.

An Zhifu chanted a hundred times Amitabha Buddha in his heart.

Qian Pei smiled kindly and asked if they had eaten yet. An Zhifu suddenly felt relieved. It seems his anger has subsided. It surely means he could understand his difficulties and would not blame him too much. An Zhifu explained he was not disciplined enough and did not expect this to happen. That day, the Lord Governor and the Lord General sent a message, followed by the General’s pressure. As a citizen, he dared not refuse. He wanted to discuss this with Master Qian, but he was trapped in the courthouse and could not see him.

Qian Pei interrupted his words and said: “Do not talk about these troublesome things. The past is in the past. We’d better have some wine and food and catch up on family matters.”

An Zhifu agreed.

Qian Pei ordered people to serve food and wine in the Beast Garden.

An Zhifu had been to the Qian House many times and knew the mansion was much bigger than his An House. Although he looked at several courtyards and listened to several shows in the Qian House, he never heard of the name “Beast Garden” before. He and An Ronggui followed Qian Pei to the Beast Garden and saw the greenery and flowers filling the place on all sides, truly beautiful. But after venturing further in, they saw two iron fences in the middle of the courtyard separating it into two sides, which was very strange.

The wine and food were placed next to the iron fence. An Zhifu took An Ronggui and followed Qian Pei to sit down. The servant poured wine for them all. Qian Pei told An Zhifu not to be polite. He reached out his chopsticks first, and began to drink, and eat the food, but did not speak again.

The atmosphere was cold. An Zhifu and his son did not dare to say much, only sat rigidly while looking at Qian Pei, waiting for him to say something.

Qian Pei drank another glass of wine and said to a servant, “Go get some rabbits.”

The servant retreated in response and soon carried a cage with rabbits in it.

Qian Pei looked at the rabbit cage, got up, opened the first iron fence’s door, then began to knock on it. Not long after, the bushes rustled, and a tiger ran out.

An Zhifu jumped, subconsciously shrinking back.

Qian Pei smiled. He grabbed a rabbit, ‘click’ broke its neck with bare hands, then walked unhurriedly to the second fence and threw the rabbit in.

The tiger was excited, pounced on the rabbit, and ate it up.

Qian Pei waited until the tiger almost finished and threw another rabbit in. This time it was still alive. Before the rabbit managed to react, the tiger pressed its claw. Although the rabbit struggled to run, it was still swallowed by the tiger and torn into its stomach.

Qian Pei turned back to look at the An father and son with a faint smile, asking: ”Nephew, do you want to try?”

An Ronggui glanced at An Zhifu and answered yes.

Qian Pei pointed to the rabbit cage, and a servant grabbed a rabbit and handed it to An Ronggui. An Ronggui took it and threw the rabbit into the fence as Qian Pei did, but the rabbit turned and ran as soon as it hit the ground and jumped out.

An Ronggui rushed to catch it and managed to do it. He wanted to twist the rabbit’s neck like Qian Pei did but could not. Instead, he threw the rabbit on the ground. The rabbit was hurt by the fall and could not run away again. An Ronggui was delighted to see that and threw it into the tiger cage again.

Qian Pei laughed at the side: “A rabbit is just a rabbit, so what if it has some small intelligence? With broken legs and a broken neck, the tiger will finally eat it. Nephew is wise and decisive. He will have great potential in the future.”

An Zhifu smiled at him, but he was very nervous.

Qian Pei sat back at the table, cleaned his hands in the water basin brought by the servant, looked at the tiger feasting behind the fence, and suddenly asked, “No news from the fourth girl yet, right?”

“Yes, yes.” An Zhifu replied. “We have sent someone to look for her.”

Qian Pei laughed: ”Speaking of it, the eldest girl is a character. I didn’t see it before.”

“It’s because my daughter doesn’t know how to behave. I didn’t teach her well.” An Zhifu repeatedly apologized: “It’s our fault, Master Qian ……”

Qian Pei waved his hand, smiled, and looked as if he did not mind but said, ”There’s a saying, a clever person may become the victim of their own cleverness.”

T/N : ???????

‘A clever person may become the victim of their own cleverness’ is a Chinese idiom. Pinyin is c?ng míng f?n bèi c?ng míng wù, which means that you think you are smart, but you are delayed or entrapped by cleverness. It comes from Song Su Shi’s “Xi’er.”

These words turned fast. An Zhifu somehow did not understand.

”There is another phrase, a strong dragon cannot suppress a ground snake.” 

Qian Pei raised his hand and drank another glass of wine. He sneered: ”No matter how powerful the general’s official position is, he is only temporarily guarding the city. Sooner or later, he will have to leave. Also, life and death are not certain in a war. We can endure it for a while. It doesn’t matter. We can arrange the marriage again, and people can return after leaving.”

T/N: A strong dragon does not overwhelm a local snake, a Chinese vocabulary. The metaphor is that although the first one is powerful, it cannot suppress the forces entrenched in the local area.

“Yes, yes.” An Zhifu was surprised listening to the meaning behind Qian Pei’s words. Was he still determined about this? He was still waiting for his two daughters to come back.

Qian Pei said: “Don’t assume these officials are very impressive. I just don’t want to be an official. I’m too tired. Otherwise, how could Yao Kun get his turn to be a governor.”

To this remark An Zhifu dared not respond. These words are far out of line, and it would be bad if they got to the ears of the Lord Governor.

“If Master An is on my side, I will naturally take care of you. Just like getting those goods back, it’s not a difficult task for me. But if Master An thinks that Yao Kun and Big Long can bully me and not treat me seriously ……”

“No, no, no ……,” An Zhifu panicked and waved his hands. “Master Qian and I are family. How can we compare this friendship with other people?”

Qian Pei smiled and said, “It’s good that Master An thinks so. If we are family, then Master An can continue doing business and make money in peace. I will take care of the business, and Master An will not suffer. I am a person who can never be bullied, and I can’t allow others to bully my own family.”

An Zhifu nodded in response, secretly alarmed, and wanted to ask whether any problems might occur after collecting the goods but now it was impossible to ask any questions. He was glad he had handled the matter well and spent a lot of time trying to meet with Qian Pei to resolve this knot. Otherwise, if he held a grudge, it would not be good in the future.

Qian Pei was satisfied with An Zhifu’s attitude, smiled, and said: “Anyway, they have a good plan.”

An Zhifu laughed dryly and did not answer. He did not understand what strategy Qian Pei was talking about.

“The spy.” Qian Pei sneered. The topic changed, and he said: “The eldest girl must know the whereabouts of the fourth girl. Keep an eye on the eldest girl, and we will naturally be able to find the fourth girl. Since they said they would rely on the eldest girl to lure the enemy, then if the eldest girl and the fourth girl are suddenly gone, it must be the work of the spies and would have nothing to do with us.”

An Zhifu was about to nod in agreement but suddenly reacted and froze.

On the An Ruochen’s side, after entering the Purple Cloud House, she earnestly ate, slept, and read the scrolls. She fully complied with General Long’s instructions.

When Xie Gang came to visit her, he was surprised. In three days, she finished reading all the files and divided them into categories.

An Ruochen divided the categories according to the people she felt had no value to be used and were unsuspicious, the people who had value but she felt Xu Matchmaker could not control them, and finally the people she felt could be both used and controlled.

Xie Gang flipped through the piles and asked her how she picked the last batch.

“They all have weaknesses.” An Ruochen said, “For example, this Li Xiu’er is the second concubine of Jiang’s Clothes Store owner. She only had a widowed mother who was in poor health. Soon after she joined the Jiang family, her mother hired a little maid to take care of her. I’ve met Boss Jiang. He’s not a generous person who throws a lot of money around. She is just a concubine. How much money would he be willing to give to the Li family? Li Xiu’er father passed away when she was eight years old. The family has no other male children. A widow and an orphan. How much money can they save? But the Li family lives in a new house and can even hire a maid. The source of money is quite suspicious. Li Xiu’er is only a concubine with the main wife above her. She wants to take care of her mother’s family, but I’m afraid she has no power. If I were Xu Matchmaker, I would have negotiated this marriage for her so she would no longer suffer from poverty and would also take care of her mother for her. In turn, she would be grateful. In addition, what could she do if she disobeys me and something happens to her mother?”