Perfect Encounter - Chapter 10.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 10.2
The next day Lu Daniang woke up early to work as usual to prepare the goods and send them with the carriage driver to the An House. She listened to the gatekeeper who retold the events of last night.
”After searching all night, not even a shadow of a ghost was seen. Master was so angry that he jumped to his feet and scolded whoever he saw. We all had to thicken our skin.”
Lu Daniang was shocked to hear this and asked: “Then how is Eldest Miss?”
“Just a few minor injuries, nothing serious, but Master scolded her badly ……,” answered the gatekeeper, suddenly stopping himself. He seems to have said too much. He will have to eat the whip if it reaches the Master’s ears. Even subordinates do not think it makes sense for Eldest Miss, who was victimized and frightened, to be reprimanded by the Master for embarrassing herself. But who knows what else the thief did in the Eldest Miss’ room? Wouldn’t it ruin Eldest Miss’ reputation?
The gatekeeper shook his head. Anyway, he is only a subordinate. The Master’s family matters are not his to have a say in. The Master is probably afraid Master Qian dislikes Eldest Miss and cancels the marriage.
Lu Daniang inquired more but could not see An Ruochen. After hearing An Ruochen was fine, she put her heart down. She thought of yesterday night’s military officer visiting her home and guessed that it was related to this matter. Lu Daniang finished delivering the goods and went home. After returning home, she took out a pair of shears and put them in her arms, then fetched water and cooked as usual.
When Lu Daniang left the An House, a tall thin man who bought tea at the tea stall across the street from the An House also left. He circled the city and watched carefully for a while outside a certain house. He saw two men in front of the house who seemed to pay no intention to their stall but were very attentive to the house instead. There was also a man behind the house wandering around like a loafer, not doing much business.
The tall thin man avoided the sight of these people, went around to the other side, jumped into another house, and flipped to the house he wanted to enter from there.
The house was the residence of the Xu Matchmaker. The woman had not been out for several days and was leaning back in her chair when she saw the visitor. She jumped up in shock.
“Mr. Xie.”
Mr. Xie nodded and looked warily into the room.
Xu Matchmaker hastily offered him a chair and asked carefully, “What brings you here all of a sudden, Sir? Didn’t Mr. Xie instruct that we should not meet here?”
“No one saw me.” Mr. Xie said.
Xu Matchmaker nodded and wiped her hands on her clothes in a panic, as in just a moment, her palms were already sweating.
Mr. Xie pointed to the teapot on the table, and the matchmaker hurriedly went to boil water, “I’ll make tea for you.”
Mr. Xie did not speak, quietly waiting.
Not long after, Xu matchmaker used the hot water to make tea and respectfully placed it in front of Mr. Xie.
“Have a seat.” Mr. Xie was not in a hurry to drink.
Xu Matchmaker obeyed and sat down, swallowing her saliva, her heart beating fast. “Please command, sir.”
Mr. Xie took out the jade rabbit earring from his pocket: “Think again, the owner of this earring, do you remember who it is?”
Xu Matchmaker’s face was pale, “This ……” She carefully looked at Mr. Xie’s expression. Knowing he would not have come if he did not have something in mind, she said: “Sir, I was thinking of going to you these days to report this, but the government has been watching me closely. I did not dare to act rashly. Every time we meet, we leave a code word for each other, and I was afraid that the government will find out and spoil your plans, so I planned to talk to you when the time is right.”
“Now is the right time, you say it.”
Xu Matchmaker said, “That day, when I went to the An House and met the An family’s Eldest Miss, I remembered that the earrings belonged to her. She did not panic and told me she had reported it to the government and General Long. She threatened that if I dare to reveal half a word against her, General Long would catch me. I took a closer look, and there were spies standing guard outside of the An House.”
“The tea stall?”
“Yes, yes.” Xu Matchmaker was surprised, “How do you know?”
“The stall owner has calluses on his five fingers. He is a strong martial artist. He has a foreign accent and is attentive to people coming in and out of the An House.”
”You are very observant. Nothing can escape your eyes.” Xu Matchmaker used flattery while carefully observing Mr. Xie’s expression and then asked, “How did you know about Eldest Miss An?”
“Miss An was attacked by a thief yesterday night, and today many people are talking about it in the streets and alleys. Coincidentally, after she was attacked, General Long immediately sent someone to the home of the woman who delivered vegetables, Mrs. Lu. Mrs. Lu was the one who rented the house on Ping Hu Lane. But the earrings are exquisite, suitable for a young girl, and Mrs. Lu cannot afford to use such a good thing.” Mr. Xie said, drinking a cup of tea.
Xu Matchmaker was relieved Mr. Xie was willing to talk to her about such details. His tone was like usual. So, he was not suspicious of her. She was busy respectfully pouring him another cup of tea while saying: “Mister is very observant. I would not have thought that far.”
Mr. Xie smiled lightly and said, “Since the An family’s Eldest Miss has been acting strangely, and you are the matchmaker for her, I came back to ask if the earrings are related to her. Now that I’ve confirmed it, I’m sure.”
Xu Matchmaker slapped her thigh: “Thanks to Mister, I’ve been anxious as fire these days, but people are watching the An House. I’m sure there are ones here too. I heard An Ruochen say that, so I don’t dare to go out. I was thinking about how to report this to Mr. Xie, and then Mr. Xie came.”
Mr. Xie nodded and said, “What else did An Ruochen say to you, and did she mention me?”
“Don’t worry, she didn’t see you, only heard me call you Mr. Xie. She said it herself. I have carefully thought about the situation in the past few days. Mister was sitting with his back towards the window. She must have only seen me. This is why she used this to scare me. If she saw you, she wouldn’t have said that.”
“That’s good. Did she say what she wanted you to do?”
“She said I should talk to General Long about who you are, but I refused. She did not have a solution, only telling me to consider the implications. After I came back, I’ve thought about it. I thought I would send a message to you first, and let you decide how to deal with it. Perhaps we can take advantage of the situation and lure them in with false information. What do you think, Sir?”
Mr. Xie thought seriously, “Your plan is not bad.” He drank the tea, took another cup, and poured one for Xu Matchmaker.
Xu Matchmaker was pleased to be praised. She happily accepted the tea and said: “I did not know that Mrs. Lu rented the house and do not know how much Mrs. Lu knows. We should find an opportunity to silence her. It would also allow us to give An Ruochen’s deepest fears some color. A little girl who does not know the consequences of threatening someone! When she sees what happened to Mrs. Lu, she will be petrified, and then I’ll knock on her door so she can turn into a tool for us to use. She will be married to the Qian family in Pingnan County, becoming the stepmother of the magistrate, and only a wall away from the magistrate’s residence. We can use her.”
“Well. That’s a good idea.” Mr. Xie said: “But you need to be careful when you deal with it, do not fall into her trap.”
Xu Matchmaker took a sip of tea and said, “Don’t worry, I will ask you before I do it. About Mrs. Lu, will you find someone else to do it, or will I ……” After she said this, she suddenly stiffened. Her eyes widened and began to twitch. Her hand could no longer hold the cup. It fell to the ground.
The cup was caught mid-air by Mr. Xie. He calmly put it back on the table lest the sound of it breaking draws the attention of people outside the house.
Xu Matchmaker’s hand now held her own throat. She could no longer speak, painfully twitching. Her eyes rolled white while her mouth began to spit white foam.
Mr. Xie looked at her and said softly: “I am not at ease and do not trust you. You’re the one who should be silenced. If you wanted to report to me, you would have done it already. You hesitated today, and tomorrow you will give me up.”
Xu Matchmaker’s ears buzzed. She could no longer hear what Mr. Xie said. She convulsed for a while, foaming onto her lapels, and soon after, her body gave way and she died.
Mr. Xie checked her nostrils. He put the cup he was drinking back on the tray, took the poisoned powder packet out of his sleeve, opened it and put it next to the teapot, and then put the Xu Matchmaker’s cup down on the table. He looked around the room and pushed the chair he was sitting in under the table.
It seemed as if no outsiders had come to this room, with only the Xu Matchmaker sitting by herself.
After all this, Mr. Xie walked out of the house, listened to the movement next door, went over the wall and retreated.
In the late evening, from the back door of the county government office, a man in court uniform looked at the tree outside the door. Underneath the tree, there was a dustpan and broom, which seemed to be left there after cleaning. The man walked towards a side alley, and the guard greeted him. He smiled and waved his hand. The man turned and went through the alleyway towards his home, a road he has taken every day.
At this time, a tall thin man appeared out of nowhere on the alley, and that was Mr. Xie.
Mr. Xie and the man brushed past each other, and when their palms touched, a piece of paper passed from Mr. Xie’s hand to the man’s. The man and Mr. Xie maintained their usual expressions, like two strangers.
The man returned home and spread that piece of paper out. There were a few words written on it. He is to find a man surnamed Xie (*) who knows martial arts and has a bad reputation. Then he will be notified as to when and how to use that person.
The man finished reading and burned the paper.
T/N : (*) The character Xie ( ??here different from Mr. Xie ??).
(?) can be pronounced as Ji? or Xie.