Perfect Encounter - Chapter 100.2

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Chapter 100.2

“That’s good.” Meng Jiayue said, “I’ll treat him more attentively. I hope he can explain more for Great Xiao when he returns to his country.”

An Ruochen nodded and added, “I’m going to the An Ning Temple in a while to light a lamp for Mr. Huo and pray for the General’s wellbeing. The General is on the frontline, and I don’t know how he’s doing. I’m afraid …….” She reddened her eyes, lowered her head, slowed down her emotions, and then said, “Madam planned to ask a priest to perform a ceremony, so do you already have a preferred candidate? Do you need me to ask about this in the An Ning Temple? This way, we can talk to Mr. Cao about the details of the ceremony, letting him know that we are not deceiving him and that we are indeed doing the job.”

Meng Jiayue thought it would be good, so she asked An Ruochen to help her. An Ruochen excused herself and left, only to be stopped by a maid at the gate of the Governor’s mansion. “Madam said that she wants to go with you, Miss. She wants to ask in person about inviting a high priest to show her sincerity.”

An Ruochen smiled and agreed. Great! Just now, she was disappointed when Meng Jiayue didn’t want to go with her. When the Governor’s wife wanted to go out, Yao Kun would send some servants and government officials to follow her. Seeing this, An Ruochen returned to the Purple Cloud House and assigned a team of guards to follow her. Her reason was very legitimate. She was nothing, but if the Governor’s wife had an accident when she went out with her, she would be held accountable for it. So naturally, it was necessary to bring more people.

So, two carriages, along with government and military soldiers, went out of the city by the south city gate, towards the direction of the An Ning Temple.

When the group traveled to the bottom of Mount Xiu, a woman shouted: “Come on people, ah. Help, ah. Come quickly, my son has disappeared.”

Meng Jiayue immediately had someone stop the carriage and open the curtains to look out. She saw a village woman full of anxiety.

When the woman saw the caravan stop, she hurriedly jumped over: “Madam, esteemed Madam.” She looked around and saw that they were all military officials, hurriedly kneeling.

The officer on the side said, “This is Madam Governor.”

The village woman was surprised. She hurriedly kowtowed and said: “Please help, Madam Governor. I took my son to the mountain to dig for spring bamboo shoots. He was playful and ran around wild, disappearing in a flash. I searched for half a day but couldn’t find him. It’s spring now. The wild animals should come out to hunt for food. The boy is ignorant and reckless. What if he meets with some danger? All the men went to the fields, and it’s great to meet you here, so I’m begging you to help me find the child.”

This time, An Ruochen brought Lu Daniang over. Hearing the village woman’s words, Lu Daniang asked her, “Which village are you from?”

The woman said, “I’m from Wang Village in the west.”

“How old is your child?”

“Seven years old, wearing blue clothes, nicknamed Erniu.” The village woman replied, so anxious that tears were coming down her face.

Lu Daniang said, “I recognize her. She is indeed from Wang Village. I’ve been collecting vegetables with her family.”

An Ruochen and Meng Jiayue exchanged glances. An Ruochen came over and whispered, “Why don’t I lead the people up the mountain to take a look, and Lu Daniang follows her back to the village to call out for people. Madam can wait here. She’s stopped the carriage to ask for help in panic. If we ignore her, the word should spread badly.”

Meng Jiayue nodded, “It is necessary to help her. You don’t need to go either. Just let the officers go up.”

“The child is young. He must be scared when he sees military officials. I’ll go too, it won’t hurt.” An Ruochen said. She turned her head to the village woman and said, “Madam Governor is concerned about the people’s suffering. She will take care of your problem. You take Lu Daniang to the village to call for help first. I’ll go up the mountain with the military officer to take a look. You should tell us first, what is on the mountain?”

The village woman busily thanked Meng Jiayue and told An Ruochen that there were two hunter-built huts on the mountain and a small temple at the top of the east side. She had searched the huts, and the child had not slipped there to play. The temple is too far away, and the child would not run up there, so she did not look for it there. She only looked around the surroundings and rushed down to call for help.

An Ruochen said she understood and let her go back to the village to call people. The villagers were familiar with the terrain, so they had a better chance to find the child. Then, she led the soldiers to the mountains to check, not delaying on both sides.

The village woman was busy leading Lu Daniang away. After speaking to Meng Jiayue, An Ruochen led the people up the mountain. She also instructed the government officials to guard Madam Governor.

Lu Daniang and the village woman sprinted to the village. After walking far away, Lu Daniang handed over a money bag to the village woman. The village woman laughed: “Sister Lu, how did I act?”

Lu Daniang said: “Is Erniu all right?”

“He knows the mountains well and will be back after playing for a while.”

“‘Has the whole village made any arrangements?”

“It’s done. Don’t worry.”

An Ruochen went up the mountain, and everyone spread out and searched around, calling out, “Erniu.” At this time, an officer shouted, “I found it.”

The people were busy running to gather but only found the village woman’s basket and small hoe for digging bamboo shoots. “This is where they dug the bamboo shoots.” The officer said. Everyone stared at him, thinking he had found a child.

An Ruochen said, “Since the stuff is here, let’s spread out and look again. Children run fast and he may have gone far away. I do not know if he will get lost, so everyone should be careful. Do not walk alone. It won’t be good if we’re lost in the mountains.” She turned her head to Tian Qing and Lu Zheng and said, “Let’s go up and look at that temple. Maybe the child ran over there to play.”

The crowd spread out again, shouting “Erniu.” An Ruochen led Tian Qing, Lu Zheng, and two guards toward the temple.

Meanwhile, Mr. Xie brought five people up the mountain early in the morning. The door of the temple was closed, not welcoming guests. He was cautious and let the five people spread out and hide. Then, he went to knock on the back door of the Jing Xin Temple. He has already thought of a good speech, that was, to apologize for yesterday’s entering the temple thing. The great cause still needs Master’s help, and he will never do this thing again. He planned to lure Priestess Jing Yuan out to talk and let the others enter the temple to investigate.