Chapter 32.1

PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

“No, no. Master Qian, no need to worry. I know the priority of this matter. It’s because I treated Master Qian like family that I can’t help but spit out my grievances.” An Zhifu said in a panic.

Qian Pei smiled again: ” It’s true. It’s inevitable to have grievances in your heart. But after the grievance, do not forget the things you should do. If the eldest girl does not come to pay her respects, then Master An should visit her. Don’t be alienated too much. I’m still waiting for Master An’s news.”

    “Yes, yes.” An Zhifu said he had made all the arrangements. The second daughter, An Ruoxi, will visit her sister and do things properly. An Zhifu reassured him with many words, just close to patting his chest and writing a guarantee letter, only then Qian Pei was satisfied and left.

In a small two-story building, An Ruochen carefully observed the surroundings and sneaked into a room on the second floor when no one was around. The room only had a bed and a desk. There were books on the desk. An Ruochen flipped through them, put them back in place, and was about to pull open the drawer when she heard the sound of footsteps outside the hallway. An Ruochen was very nervous and accelerated her movements.

There was some junk in the drawer and a brochure hidden underneath.

The sound of footsteps stopped at the room’s door.

An Ruochen flipped through the brochure. There were several names with addresses and numbers listed inside. She stuffed it into her sleeve and pushed the window open.

The person outside the door began to push.

    An Ruochen stepped on the window and climbed out. She noticed upturned eaves on the building’s roof and got out the window frame with one hand. Then she took out the claw rope in her sleeve. The claw rope flew to the eaves, it’s head spinning around them a few times, tying it up.

The person outside the room found the door locked and began to knock hard.

An Ruochen gritted her teeth, gripped the claw rope, and pulled, swinging away from the window.

The door crashed open at this time, but nothing was different in the room except for the window. The visitor walked toward the window.

An Ruochen hung in the corner of the building, grasping the rope to try to climb up. She had not yet climbed much, and her arms were already weak. When the person inside the house peeked out of the window, she screamed and fell by mistake.

An Ruochen fell into a large net with a puff.

    She gasped for air and didn’t want to get up.

    A man suddenly came out and pulled the net, saying, “Why don’t you slide down?”

    “General.” An Ruochen seriously reported, ” I tried to escape down and died eight times.” 

Either she fall to death, or encounter ambushers. 

“I thought of going to the roof to hide, and then maybe I can find a safer way out.”

    The man who pulled the net was none other than Big Long. He asked seriously, “What did I teach you?”

” With unprepared solutions, you can’t do anything.” This are the phrase she got rebuked with the most.

“‘Do not do something you can’t handle.” Big Long face sternly corrected. “With your strength, you can’t climb up. You will only fall to your death again.”

An Ruochen would love to say she wanted to try to climb before she was sure she couldn’t. But she didn’t dare to refute and meekly turned down the net.

 After agreeing that she could go on a mission, Big Long instructed her to learn and practice this and that. An Ruochen was very excited to agree to each of them. When she responded smoothly, Big Long suddenly said, “Let General Zong teach you personally, okay?”

It’s a trick, ah. An Ruochen reacted fiercely and swallowed back the word ” okay ” at the edge of her mouth.

” General, I work for the General. I will not hesitate to go through difficulties. I know the importance of the matter. My sister’s life and mine were less important than the safety and security of Great Xiao and the peace of the people of Pingnan County. The great kindness bestowed on me by the General, I can never repay it with all my life. Although the spies may try to use a handsome man to lure me into a lifelong commitment, I will not be confused. So you don’t need to use General Zong as a temptation. If you sacrifice General Zong, you will lose a great general, which is not good.”

 “Sacrifice?” Big Long’s expression was subtle, but An Ruochen had no time to ponder. Big Long said, “Since Miss is unwilling to be taught by General Zong, then this General will come personally.”

    “……” An Ruochen was dumbfounded. Wait, what was it they were talking about exactly?

“I have always been strict, Miss. You should try harder.”

    “……”

From that day on, Big Long taught her every day. He gave her some small weapons and tools, such as hairpins for daggers, claw ropes for climbing and hanging, waist buckles with poison, and so on. One by one, step by step, he taught her. She was not strong enough, so she had to practice every day. From time to time, he would test her for emergency responses.

Today, he asked her to go to a prearranged building to get a list. As a result, An Ruochen died once she obtained one. If she died, she started had to start over again.

An Ruochen climbed down from the net and took the list from her sleeves: “General, this time, at least you can get the list after you find my body.”

Big Long swept a glance: “This is a fake.”

    An Ruochen was surprised.

Big Long said, “Say it yourself. Why is it fake?”

An Ruochen carefully turned it over and bit her lip in frustration. It was fake!

“It’s too new. The ink is new, and all of them are the same.” The names on the list written one after another. The ink should be old and new. This one was all the same. It was copied in one breath. She was too nervous and anxious while rummaging around the room to pay attention to this.

“So we’ll find a fake list of names on your body.”

An Ruochen exhaled, tired and discouraged.

In the Zhaofu Restaurant, Mr. Xie sat in the private room and ate his meal, listening to the person standing at his table. He slowly and methodically swallowed the food, wiped his mouth, and then said: ” It doesn’t matter for those girls. Even if Big Long arrests and tortures them to extract confessions, they will come up with nothing. Xu Matchmaker used to chat with them to ask for information, but they themselves do not know anything.”

    The person standing at the table answered. “Yes.”

Mr. Xie added: “Big Long treats An Ruochen differently, making her a steward, transferring men from the army to guard her, and teaching her personally. We don’t know what his intentions are yet. An Ruochen will come here to explore. You have to be mindful, do not underestimate her. You must pay close attention to what she says and does. Her every move is all Big Long’s instructions.”

The person hurriedly answered again. After that, the person retired, and Mr. Xie dined alone in the private room.

When Mr. Xie finished his meal, paid the bill, and went out from the main hall of the Zhaofu Restaurant, the owner greeted him and asked if he was satisfied with his meal. He smiled and said goodbye. After leaving the restaurant, he went to the tea house across the street to pick up some tea. The owner of the tea house chatted with him. Several acquaintances greeted him, joked together, and discussed some jade antiques. Finally, Mr. Xie took the tea, beckoned the sedan chair, and returned to the house. He was as comfortable and relaxed as any ordinary person in Zhonglan City.

An Ruoxi was reluctant to visit An Ruochen and get close to her. This day, she finally decided to talk to Mrs. Tan and wanted to refuse the matter.