Perfect Encounter - Chapter 11.1
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 11
Xu Matchmaker’s body was found that night.
On the day of her death, the people spying on her felt something was wrong later in the evening. Because although Xu Matchmaker has been staying at home these days, she still has to cook rice, light a lamp in the evening and clean the bucket. The spies had already figured out her life pattern in the past few days. They raised their suspicions when they could neither see any smoke nor smell the fragrance of rice and then failed to notice the house’s lights being lit at night. Not only that, according to Xu Matchmaker’s habit, she cleaned the bucket every day at the end of the lane, both in the morning and at night and returned to the house after that. But she didn’t do it this day.
Late at night, the spies worked together to check the situation inside. One person poked the window paper quietly and observed. He found Xu Matchmaker, long dead.
The government quickly arrived. The neighbors were shocked and said no wonder they did not hear any movement within the house of Mrs. Xu today. Usually, they hear the noise when she cleans the room and cooks. How did she suddenly take poison and kill herself?
The government investigated the matter, but no one knew why Xu Matchmaker would do so. She had been a regular guest of a gambling house but recently did not owe any debts. Some people had a bad experience with their marriage negotiations, but there were no fatal enemies. The last marriage she successfully negotiated was the marriage between the Qian family of Fu’an County and the An family of Zhonglan City.
The officials looked for the relevant people to ask questions, including the Qian and An families. But in the end, there was no progress. Thus, the case was closed with “unexplained suicide.”
Big Long got the news and thought deeply without saying anything. Xie Gang said at the side: “The spies did not see anyone enter the house. There was only Mrs. Xu alone in the house. At the time the body was found, only her traces could be found inside the house. Perhaps she thought about it for several days but did not dare to betray Mr. Xie. Afraid that the General will punish her, terrified, she ended up killing herself.”
Big Long said in a deep voice: “And maybe, she was eliminated by Mr. Xie.”
Xie Gang thought: “He knew about the conversation between Xu Matchmaker and Miss An and feared Xu Matchmaker would choose to report to General?”
Big Long nodded: “Regardless whether Xu Matchmaker committed suicide or got killed, this Mr. Xie is a formidable character.”
Xie Gang quickly understood. “If it is suicide, it is due to her fear of Mr. Xie. If he murdered her, Mr. Xie is truly experienced and calculating. He held back from touching Lu Daniang. I think he presumed the earrings must not be Daniang’s belongings. From there he must’ve deduced that that day there was another person who eavesdropped on their conversation. He can avoid the ears and eyes to sneak into the house of Mrs. Xu to commit the murder. He must have been aware of the surveillance we arranged. Our people are watching on Lu Daniang’s and the An family’s end. He must have also known about it. Lu Daniang sent vegetables to the An family, and Xu Matchmaker proposed marriage to the An family. Mr. Xie probably wanted Xu Matchmaker to look into this again. The result is that once you scared her, she admitted it.”
”Exactly.” Big Long: “With this move, Mr. Xie revealed that he will not allow anyone threatening his position to stay alive. Xu Matchmaker has not reported to him for several days. He must’ve gotten suspicious of her intention to betray him.”
“Then he will make a move on Lu Daniang and Miss An next, right?” Now there are only these two bait clues left.
”He will not touch Lu Daniang for the time being. He is very cautious. He knows that one more move will be one more point of danger. He will take it easy if he doesn’t have to. He must have observed Lu Daniang. If Lu Daniang has even half-knowledge of his affairs, she will surely panic. Just like Xu Matchmaker, there are always some abnormalities.”
“Lu Daniang is living her life, as usual, not panicking at all.”
“So Mr. Xie’s threat is on An Ruochen. But he is not in a hurry.”
“How can you tell?”
“If he thought An Ruochen was more dangerous than Xu Matchmaker, he would have left Xu Matchmaker to help him eliminate An Ruochen. But he killed her first, which means in his heart, he felt she was the one who needed to be gotten rid of the most urgently. He must have confirmed that An Ruochen did not see his appearance that day with Xu Matchmaker before he killed her. An Ruochen did not know who he was. Therefore he decided to eliminate Xu Matchmaker first.”
Xie Gang pondered that this was indeed the case.
”Tell the people under you to monitor Lu Daniang and An Ruochen. Especially An Ruochen. Although she does not know who Mr. Xie is, she still reported the matter to the official and threatened Xu Matchmaker. People are watching on Lu Daniang’s end because she sent the letter. To Mr. Xie, this girl is big trouble. But with so many things happening in the city, Mr. Xie will not take the risk for a witness who doesn’t even know who he is. He will ignore An Ruochen and concentrate on more important matters. If he wants to attack, he will patiently find the right time. We should not take it lightly, but we need not be impatient either. This time, don’t make the same mistake as with the negligence in surveillance of Xu Matchmaker.”
“Yes.” Xie Gang got the order and went out.
Meanwhile, An Zhifu was having a terrible time, and he’s been upset. The jade store finally opened. The publicity was good, the place had sufficient visibility, business was booming, and some customers came from outside the county to order on purpose. The samples of goods placed in the store have been selling well. Several customers saw the samples and ordered large quantities of goods. He received the money and signed the contracts, but then trouble came. The two most important shipments of goods he previously ordered were delayed and could not be delivered. The Department of Commerce’s people told him the Governor ordered to stop the market’s trade and cut off the goods circulating through the border because the thieves in the city were likely to be South Qin’s spies.
An Zhifu was immediately dumbfounded. How could it happen at this time? If the shipments stay stuck at the border, he would not only fail to finalize the sale, but the money he spent on the goods would go down the drain as well. He would also owe the customer a large amount of money for breach of contract.
An Zhifu urgently went around looking for people to lobby and set up a banquet for Liu Deli, the Minister of the Department of Commerce and Shipping. At the banquet, he complained and begged for leniency. The goods were ordered a long time ago and should have arrived before the Governor’s order, so he should be able to take them, right? He has made the payment.
But Liu Deli did not relent. “The order for jade was placed early, but the goods arrived late, leaving no chance to have the paperwork done. The Governor’s order, who dares not obey? Nowadays, no goods can be spared and all had to be returned to South Qin. The same applies to our side. We are not allowed to ship anything to South Qin.”
An Zhifu was sweating: “My Lord, what should we do? What else can we do? As long as it works out, we can discuss the benefits.”
“The solution ……” Liu Deli trailed off: “It is not without a solution.”
“Mm-hmm.” Anzhi Fu nodded repeatedly. He was so determined that, as long as he could have the goods, he would agree to give up half of the profit.
“When the Governor announces the resumption of the market trade.”
An Zhifu’s face froze.
“Think about it, can the Governor close the market forever? Naturally not. He just put on a show to South Qin. The market will reopen when South Qin is trustworthy again. It will also be possible if the emperor’s decree comes down and declares that the market does not need to be closed at this point in time.”
An Zhifu’s face stiffened.
That is nonsense. Waiting for South Qin to be trustworthy, when will it be? Even if they are trustworthy, the Governor and the Emperor should think they are. Waiting for the holy decree? His money would be sunken to the bottom of the river by the time the envoy will have finished the trip from Zhonglan City to the capital.
“Ah, yes. Also, if the goods were labeled as ‘official’ with official documents and seals, it would be possible to transport them in and out. There is no such thing on your goods, right?” Liu Deli stroked his beard and drank a glass of wine: “If not, this official cannot help. If there is, then hurry up and report it. South Qin has been furious about the closure of the city for trade, probably there will be trouble. The Governor is in a difficult position and cannot show weakness. The emperor also has a temper. Perhaps after a while, even official goods will no longer be allowed to enter and exit.”
An Zhifu wanted to cry. His goods are not official. How can he get official documents? He was furious. He ordered the goods a long time ago, and the paperwork should have been completed. It was delayed by the Department of Commerce, but now they are washing their hands off of it. But these words An Zhifu dared not say.
Liu Deli’s face will become unsightly if he pleads with a few more words, suspecting him of nagging.
An Zhifu said no more and swallowed his anger into his stomach.