PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 37.1

“This matter is true. Please find someone to go to the mass grave outside the city, I do not know the exact location of that place, but I heard father say so. I am afraid we can’t find the corpse if it is too late.” An Ruoxi’s tears fell again. She looked outside the alley. When she saw her maid coming over, she said, “Lu Daniang, I have to go now. This money is a reward for you. For hiring someone, buying land, buying a coffin, and making a grave. Thank you very much.” An Ruoxi said while wiping away her tears. Then, she smoothed her hair and clothes and quickly ran out of the alley. 

Lu Daniang watched An Ruoxi greet her maid, who handed over the items she had bought, smile and drag her maid away. She never looked back at the alley again.

Lu Daniang looked at the money pouch in her hand and tucked it into her sleeves. She didn’t go home but turned in the direction of the market to look for funeral services.

Later, whether Lu Daniang actually found someone to collect the corpse, whether the old nanny’s body was found, whether the burial process was smooth, all these things An Ruoxi did not know. She didn’t take the risk of asking Lu Daniang again, but just like in the past, she seemed completely unrelated to Lu Daniang.

On the contrary, she heard a lot of news about An Ruochen. Mrs. Tan paid a lot of attention to An Ruochen’s movements and always told her where that bitch went and what she was doing every day. Mrs. Tan also knew what other people were saying about An Ruochen. Whether it was true or not, Mrs. Tan poured it out to her. Mrs. Tan needed to confirm that she had a plan in her mind when she met An Ruochen.

An Ruoxi did not say much and only wrote the request according to Mrs. Tan’s explanation. Mrs. Tan read it carefully and had someone deliver it to the Purple Cloud House.

Meanwhile, Lu Daniang found someone to go to the mass grave to find the body. It took a lot of effort as there was more than one mass grave to check. Also, in these kinds of places the trees and the grass are dense, the terrain is muddy, and on top of that the search for the corpse is considered bad luck, so few people were willing to go, but Lu Daniang still managed to accomplish the task. She finally found the old nanny’s body three days later. The An family abandoned the corpse without even making a hasty burial. By the time Lu Daniang found the old nanny’s body, it has already become unrecognizable.

Lu Daniang raged and felt pain in her heart. She gave the old nanny a proper burial, her eyes full of tears. Then she went back to the city to ask for information from the slave dealer. The slave dealer had sold a few maids with lifetime contracts from the An House and heard some things about what happened in the An family that day. When Lu Daniang listened to the slaver’s words, they matched An Ruoxi’s.

Lu Daniang thought about it and finally went to the Purple Cloud House to report it to An Ruochen.

Big Long finished his business on this day and returned to the Purple Cloud House. He felt surprised to hear that An Ruochen did not eat dinner and stayed in the training grounds. Big Long thought she encountered some setbacks when she visited Li Xiu’er mother’s home today, but Lu Zheng said the morning trip was smooth. Steward An looked normal, writing and drawing energetically after returning to the residence. In the afternoon, she received an invitation from the An family, but there was nothing unusual about it. Later, the vegetable delivery woman, Lu Daniang, asked to meet her. After they talked for a long time, Steward An looked upset. After sitting in the room for a while, she suddenly took her short sword and went to the training grounds to practice her kung fu.

Big Long raised his eyebrows and went to the training grounds to look for An Ruochen. When he arrived, he saw Tian Qing standing in a distance. An Ruochen sat in front of the target with her head down, not moving.

Big Long waved his hand to Tian Qing, indicating there was no need to salute, and then strode towards An Ruochen. She didn’t respond and didn’t seem to be aware that anyone was coming.

Big Long looked at her for a while, sighing in his heart. It seemed he had to get used to this girl always ignoring him.

“The ground is cold. You will be sick if you sit like this.”

An Ruochen was startled and looked up sharply to find that the General had arrived. She hastily stood up and saluted Big Long. Her eyes were red with a muffled voice. She looked like she wanted to cry but held it back.

Big Long looked at the straw-tied target with several holes gaping from its chest. The short sword lay at the feet of An Ruochen with a few words carved on the ground – “pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese.” An Ruochen followed Big Long’s line of sight, hurriedly stretched her feet to step on the words and wipe them, then picked up the short sword and inserted it into the sheath.

“What does it mean?” Big Long asked about those words.

An Ruochen lowered her head and whispered: “Cursing words.”

Big Long’s eyebrows raised high. These cursing words are new ah.

“Cursing who?”

An Ruochen said nothing.

Big Long did not ask anymore, only said: “You can relieve your anger by scolding like this?”

An Ruochen shook her head.

“I thought so.” Big Long said.

“But changing it to a crude one will not provide any relief either.” An Ruochen wiped the word marks on the ground with her toes and muttered in a small voice to herself.

“You also know how to be crude?” Big Long broke into some laughter. “What happened?”

 An Ruochen remained silent.

“Tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Today, I went to Li Xiu’er’s mother’s village as the General instructed. I met with her mother. Her mother’s eyes are not good. A little girl serves by her side. The little girl calls Li Xiuer’s mother Mother, too. She calls Li Xiu’er elder sister. She said she recognized her as a relative. The little girl was an orphan girl. Li Xiu’er gave her money and let her live in her house to take care of her mother. She promised to give her a dowry in the future, but she had one requirement, that the man the little girl would marry has to join the family and serve her mother together. The little girl is honest, the house is clean, and the vegetable field behind the yard is well-kept. Li Xiu’er’s mother is fat and fair, always smiling and living a worry-free life. When she mentioned Li Xiu’er, she was full of praise. I looked at the things in the house. Some of them are brand new. Even though Xu Matchmaker passed away more than two months ago, it seems that Li Xiu’er is not worried about money.” An Ruochen knew that Big Long was not asking about this, but she thought it was better to talk about serious matters.

“Hmm.” Big Long answered. Then he brought the topic back around, “Why are you sad?”

An Ruochen lowered her eyes, staring at her toes, pursing the corners of her mouth.

Big Long did not rush her and waited patiently.

After a while, when An Ruochen saw that Big Long had no intention of giving up, she could only say, “General, I’m a plague that has harmed many people.”

“Is that so? Tell me.”

An Ruochen looked up and saw Big Long’s bland expression, neither curious nor impatient, as if he was standing here only to listen to her speak. It made An Ruochen feel secure. Somehow, she felt relieved in her heart.

“My mother didn’t give birth to a son, so she always had regrets. She loved me, but she still had regrets in her heart, I know. They bullied her, but she didn’t do anything. Apart from her personality, there was another reason for it. It was because she was thinking about me. She always worried about me. As far as I remember, she rarely had a joyful moment.” Speaking up to here, An Ruochen paused. Big Long said nothing and waited patiently.

Then An Ruochen continued: “I was capricious as a child, deliberately doing things that would annoy my father and other concubines. I was young, so they could not do anything to me, but they punished my mother in my stead. My mother suffered a lot because of me. My maids and nannies also suffered a lot because of me. My mother ended up depressed and died of illness. Later, I wanted to escape from home and asked Lu Daniang to help me rent a house. The result was the death of Old Chen. Although Lu Daniang is fine today, the spies know about her, and she is still in danger. My fourth sister has disappeared with an uncertain fate. I keep telling myself that I will find her, that I will definitely find her, but I know in my heart that she died long ago. Otherwise, how could there be no news from her after so long?” An Ruochen’s voice choked up with tears swirling in her eyes, refusing to fall.

She took a few deep breaths and continued, “Xu Matchmaker died because of me, Xie Jin died because of me, and now my old nanny, too, is dead.” Tears filled her eyes again, and she wiped them away forcefully.

“The servants in my courtyard were all dismissed. Those with lifetime contracts were sold again by the slave dealer. It’s good if they can go to a good place, but if they are in a hurry, they may become prostitutes ……” An Ruochen clenched her fist, “I knew that when I left like this, I would definitely drag all the people in the courtyard, but I still did it. I didn’t care about them at all. I got the old nanny killed. I got them all killed. I can’t even get justice for them. I keep thinking but I can’t even find a way to file a complaint. All of them are gone, and so are the contracts of sale. I have no way to prove that the old nanny was not a servant of the An House, and I have no way to avenge her. I sit here, constantly thinking there must be a way, but I can’t find any. My brain was empty, and I could not do anything but drag others down and get them killed ……”