Perfect Encounter - Chapter 108.2

PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

 Chapter 108.2

She had thought countless times about what she would do if war happened, and now she knew. She didn’t panic. She could do it. The General was on the frontline defending the enemy while she would be in Zhonglan catching out the spies for him.

On this day, Yao Kun was in the Governor’s mansion with a sullen face. Qian Pei resided in the An Mansion, eating, drinking, and laughing with the An family.

Big Long Da’s end naturally knew about the military situation. The signal fire was suddenly lit, and the gray smoke was blinding.

After Big Long heard the guards report to him, he stepped out of the tent without hurrying and looked towards the sky: “It’s starting.”

As expected, they chose the Shiling Cliff, the place where he was not present. He assumed it was just a test run and was not the time for the big battle yet.

“General.” Zhu Chonghai led the generals in full gear, waiting for Big Long to give the order.

“Go.” How can one sit back and take a beating? There has to be a response. Although he was unwilling to fight, he was also not afraid of war.

Soon, a row of boats sailed out on the Si Xia River, heading toward South Qin. The closer to the other side of the river, the clearer the formation was. It was a long straight line with a narrow slant. The South Qin side realized that this was boat formation and fired arrows at the boats. But because the formation was slanting, the distance between the back row of boats and the front row of boats was very far, and even farther away from the opposite bank, ordinary bow and arrow could not reached at all.

Only a few ships in the front were hit by the South Qin, but there were not many people on them, only a few war flags were flying. The helmsman should be hiding in the cabin. The South Qin General frowned, not understanding what Big Long was trying to sell. What was the use of this ship approaching South Qin without transporting soldiers and generals?

The ships got closer and closer, and South Qin sent several ships to meet for battle, and keep the Great Xiao’s convoy on the river. Then when the two armies were close, a change suddenly occurred.

“Dang, dang, dang, dang!” a drum sounded, and the horn blew. The sounds passed only to see a row of brush movements, where the Long family army’s ships lifted wide and pred-designed boards to the middle of the river, one piece next to the other, one ship connected to another, and soon lined up into a pontoon bridge. A large number of sailors swiftly but orderly stepped onto the pontoon bridge and rushed to the South Qin’s warships.

Then, arrows flew, firebombs were fired, and in the blink of an eye, the Long family army had already taken advantage of the chaos to attack the South Qin warships.

The South Qin army was caught off guard and responded to the battle in a panic. But they lost the first opportunity, and their position was already in disorder. Some fell into the water, and some were killed. The South Qin generals shouted, “Retreat!”

Zhu Chonghai was the first to lead the battle, and his double swords danced like a tiger, cutting down more than ten Southern Qin soldiers in one breath. Seeing the South Qin general’s ship want to retreat, he reached his hand behind his back to take the bow and arrows. With a ‘whoosh sound,’ an arrow with a letter pierced the general’s ship pillar.

The South Qin fleet quickly retreated, and the Long family army did not chase after them. This battle was not long, but they captured three South Qin ships and nearly a hundred people. The captives were detained back in the Long family army’s ship, then the pontoon bridge was closed and the army retreated to the riverside.

The South Qin General pulled off the arrow that Zhu Chonghai had shot, read the letter on it, and was furious. It read: A small fight is dishonorable. If you commit a crime against my Xiao country, I will execute you. Signed: Long Teng.

South Qin was cautiously on the alert, but Big Long’s side seemed to keep his strength after a small test.

After nightfall, South Qin received a report from the army that raided the Shiling Cliff. It was quite a tough fight, but the casualties were not heavy. If a strong army helps the attack, there should be a chance. After retreating, Great Xiao’s soldiers and generals were not pursuing and hid behind the cliff without moving.

The South Qin Generals discussed that it looked like the original judgment was right. The Shiling Cliff was a better choice to fight than the Si Xia River.

An Ruochen arrived at Zhonglan on the third day because she traveled slowly on the first day. Jiang Song led his troops to the general battalion when he was near the city. As the front line was at war, he also had a lot of things to do here. An Ruochen’s carriage was escorted into the city by Lu Zheng and Tian Qing.

After entering the city gates, a woman outside the carriage shouted, “An Ruochen, you bitch, give back my daughter’s life!”

The two horses hissed, and the carriage shook violently. The coachman cursed loudly, “You don’t want to live!” Presumably, the visitor had rushed to the front of the carriage and narrowly escaped being hit by the horses.

An Ruochen was taken aback and reacted after she sat down, that voice she recognized – Fourth Concubine, Mrs. Duan.

Mrs. Duan cried out in front of the carriage: ”I don’t want to live. My daughter was killed by this bitch An Ruochen. What more do I need? An Ruochen, you come out! Return my daughter’s life!”

An Ruochen uncovered the curtains and looked out. Mrs. Duan was wearing mourning clothes and holding up a large white cloth scarf with red letters written on it.

An Ruochen’s heart shook. Could it be that the fourth sister had resurfaced after she left the city these days? Is she dead?

Tian Qing said to An Ruochen beside the carriage, “Don’t come out. Leave it to us to handle.”

An Ruochen said, “Ask what’s going on.”

Tian Qing nodded.

In front of the carriage, Mrs. Duan was still screaming and crying. Her shocking dress and hissing gesture attracted a lot of people watching. Mrs. Duan’s crying and howling, pointing at the carriage and cursing. As the crowd gathered more and more, Lu Zheng shot his horse forward and shouted to Mrs. Duan: “This is the carriage of the State Protector General’s office. Quickly get out of the way.”

After Lu Zheng spoke, Mrs. Duan’s howling was more miserable: “What’s up with the General? The General can rob people’s daughters? Can plot to kill others? My daughter is only twelve years old, still a child! General and that bitch killed my daughter! An Ruochen, get out of here! It’s either you or me today. I’m not afraid of the General. I’ll make you pay with your life!”

Someone in the crowd yelled, “What’s going on? Come out and make it clear.”

“Is it the murderer? Quickly report it to the officials!”

“What a pitiful thing. Hand it over to the officials.”

“There’s a war on the front line. Does it have anything to do with that? What happened?”

“Come out quickly.” More and more people were shouting.

An Ruochen in the carriage heard the shouting around her and suddenly understood. This was the same trick she used to get the villagers to surround the mountain.

The carriage was shaken by the push. Lu Zheng led the guards in front of the carriage to stop the crowd and Tian Qing was at the side to drive people away. Suddenly, the back door of the carriage was violently pulled open.

A man took advantage of the chaos to break into the carriage and dragged An Ruochen out with one hand. He had strong palms, agile movements, and sharp eyes. He looked like he had practiced martial arts.

Things happened too suddenly. Between the flashes of lightning, An Ruochen could only scream by instinct: “There are spies! Catch the spies!” There was only one thought in her mind. If she was dragged into the crowd, she was afraid that her tracks would be quickly covered. How would Tian Qing and Lu Zheng save her?

An Ruochen was dragged to the side of the carriage, and she screamed, “Spy! This person is a spy! Catch the spy!” While shouting, she kicked the side of the carriage and used her strength to pounce on the man, poking him in the eye with her finger.

That person never expected An Ruochen to be so shrewd. With pain in his eyes, he let go of his hand with a cry of misery. But another person also pounced over, grabbing towards An Ruochen.

An Ruochen wanted to poke at the eyes again, but this person was on guard, holding An Ruochen’s wrist, turning her hand, twisting An Ruochen’s arm behind her back, and pressing down on her shoulder, restraining her.

An Ruochen bent her knee and kicked the man in the crotch. She didn’t care where she kicked, but while kicking hard, she yelled, “The South Qin spies have captured someone, the South Qin spies have captured someone! Don’t let them go!”

The man was kicked in the vitals, ‘ah’ a miserable scream and loosened his hand strength. An Ruochen quickly turned around and gave him a poke in the eye. Two more men pounced, while An Ruochen retreated after the poke and ran in Tian Qing’s direction. “Catch the spy!”

The surrounding people finally reacted. In the past two days, the city was hotly discussing the war. The spies and whatnot could be more serious than the murderer, so they all shouted, “There are spies!”

Tian Qing rushed through the crowd and stabbed his sword at the two men who had grabbed An Ruochen. The two men twisted and dodged. Lu Zheng also arrived. Seeing there was no more chance, the men turned their heads to run. When the crowd stopped them, the men pointed their toes, made a few leaps, jumped to the top of a nearby store, and fled.

Lu Zheng was about to chase after them when Tian Qing shouted, “Beware of turning the tiger away from the mountain.”

In front of the carriage, the guards and the driver had already caught Mrs. Duan. Mrs. Duan cried out, and the driver stuffed cloth into her mouth and tied her up.

An Ruochen caught her breath, straightened her hair and clothes, and walked to the front of the carriage to check the situation. Lu Zheng and Tian Qing carefully guarded her, looking around warily. An Ruochen looked at Mrs. Duan, and when Mrs. Duan saw her, she instantly struggled again with a fierce gaze.

“Have you seen the fourth sister?” An Ruochen asked her.

The guards removed the cloth from Mrs. Duan’s mouth, and she cursed again, repeating the same words but not answering An Ruochen’s question.

An Ruochen frowned and waved her hand for the guards to block her mouth again. When the surrounding people saw this scene, they were talking a lot. A person dressed as a village woman watched this from the crowd and quietly retreated and walked away. No one paid attention to her figure. Everyone’s attention was on Mrs. Duan’s side.

Listening to everyone’s discussion, An Ruochen knew that the commotion was too big, and she still had to appease them to deal with the aftermath. So An Ruochen stood up on the carriage and shouted to the surrounding crowd: “Everyone, now that the border is at war, the spies in the city are rampant. They want to take over our home in Great Xiao and kill our people. Just now, those four people used the crazy woman to stop the street, wanting to disrupt the peace and create a dangerous situation. Don’t panic. Think carefully. Does anyone have a clear picture of what they look like? If you have any clues, please report them to the officials. If you see them again next time, please report to the officials as well. We don’t fight on the front line, but we can still guard the city. The spies must be eradicated before Zhonglan City can have peace.”

Her voice was loud, her words were clear, and she was extremely imposing, and the crowd hurriedly nodded in agreement.