Perfect Encounter - chapter 11.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 11.2
When he returned home, An Zhifu had a severe tantrum. No one in the house dared to speak loudly, and all the people hid back in their courtyards, afraid of attracting An Zhifu’s eyes and being picked on. An Ruochen was in a state of panic, not because of An Zhifu’s temper, but because she felt she was about to lose her chance of getting help from General Long.
A few days ago, Xu Matchmaker was killed. An official came to the An House to ask questions, which shocked the entire An family. An Ruochen knew the details of the matter. Naturally, she was even more surprised. The next day, when she saw Lu Daniang deliver the vegetables, she put her heart down again. A few days passed and she heard the death of Xu Matchmaker declared as a suicide. There was no movement on the General’s side. Lu Daniang came over day after day, and there was no difference in her behavior. An Ruochen felt that things were really strange as if the meeting she witnessed and overheard had never happened. The ghost-like Mr. Xie was just her imagination.
An Ruochen was upset. In the limited years she spent in her life, she had not experienced anything like this.
Her intelligence and suspicious mind have so far been used to confront her father, her father’s concubines, brother, and sister. She had only heard of this kind of event in the stories told by the storytellers. And now that she encountered one in real life, it was beyond her imagination.
She was not worried about anything else, but she feared the General would not believe her and think everything she says is a lie. Because everything she said sounded so good, but none of it could be verified. Things always went in the opposite direction. She said the granary would be burnt, but it wasn’t. She thought it would be fine if she simply didn’t live in that rented house, but then the owner was killed. She said Mr. Xie would deal with Lu Daniang, but Lu Daniang was fine. She said Xu Matchmaker would lead the General to Mr. Xie, but she killed herself instead.
She didn’t even know who Mr. Xie was. The only proof that this person did exist, Xu Matchmaker, no longer existed herself.
An Ruochen has been left with no choice. Now, it is the end of August, two months before her marriage. Two months is neither long nor short. She has been planning her escape for several months. This amount of time, will it not pass in a blink of an eye?
Is it time to rethink the way to avoid the marriage or should she still put her bet on General Long?
An Ruochen sighed in her heart. General Long never said he would help her escape from home. She didn’t know why she thought she could see hope in him. Anyway, when in the worst case scenario, act according to the previous plan. If you don’t fight for yourself to get a chance, you can’t blame others.
So An Ruochen decided to wait for a month. If there is still no progress from General Long’s side after September, she will fight to the death in October.
As a result, there was no need to wait for a month. On the third day of September, An Ruochen met the Great General Long.
On that day, the sky was a bit gloomy. An Zhifu had a temper tantrum again because of the jade store. The jade business was in an even worse state than he imagined. He thought he could wait for the goods. Liu Deli was right. The city couldn’t be closed for a lifetime. There would be no war, only teaching South Qin a lesson. When the market finally reopens, his goods will be able to arrive and the business will continue.
But now trouble is in those few foreign merchants. After much persuasion, these people do not agree to postpone the delivery deadline. They also don’t want the deposit to be returned. They came to the house and demanded an explanation in the hall.
At this time, every house hid in the inner courtyard and only sent the servants to inquire about the happenings in the hall. An Ruochen also did the same. The servant girl did not even need to inquire as the noise coming from there was too loud. She could hear seventy to eighty percent by standing far away.
“It’s a matter of buying and selling.” The servant girl returned and told An Ruochen. An Ruochen nodded, dismissed her, and sat down to ponder whether this would be good or bad for her to escape.
After a while, she heard someone outside the window knocking on the window frame. An Ruochen looked up and was surprised.
General Long!
Big Long put his finger to his lips and made a gesture of silence.
An Ruochen nodded. Her heart was beating like a drum. She went to the window to look around. Big Long whispered with a serious face: “There is no one. The old nanny is resting in the side room. The two maids are sleeping in the backyard and two more are doing needlework inside the house. A manservant is laughing with a maid outside the courtyard. Two other manservants are asked by your second mother to do menial work. Some other people are gossiping about the news in the front yard.”
“……” should she praise the Lord General? His eyes and ears are intelligent and alert, more powerful than her second mother.
“Did General come in over the wall?” She decided to ask what she was the most curious about first.
“You should ask what I have come for.”
“……” So he did just come in over the wall, right?
“What are the General’s orders?” An Ruochen asked while looking around carefully. Afraid someone would suddenly come out and catch General Long in the act. General Long would be in trouble if word got out that he had gone over the wall to meet a woman, right?
“Do you still want to run away?”
“Of course.” An Ruochen was uneasy, “Does the General want to come in and talk?”
Big Long raised his eyebrows, “Why?”
An Ruochen looked at his eyebrows and couldn’t help but want to raise hers. But unfortunately, her eyebrows were not under control. She could only frown. “Because of the secrecy.” As a girl, of course, she had to worry for General Long about him being caught while in a secret meeting. Is there any need to ask?
Big Long’s eyebrows raised again. An Ruochen felt this was the meaning of approval. She made a gesture of invitation, but Big Long just waved his head toward the door. An Ruochen darted over to open the door, and in the blink of an eye, Big Long came flashing in.
If you are in such a hurry to enter the room, wouldn’t it have been much faster to climb through the window? An Ruochen muttered in her stomach, closed the door and window, and respectfully stood in front of Big Long.
“I am asking why you still decided to leave. All the difficulties of leaving home, haven’t I explained them to you before? Do you have any ideas about how to make a living alone as a woman?”
“No.” She hadn’t gone out yet, hadn’t experienced what Big Long described. She couldn’t think of new ideas other than the ones she had thought of before.
She saw disapproval in the eyes of the Great General Long. She carefully asked, ”Follow the circumstances and improvise. There must be a way when the carriage is in front of a mountain, does this count?”
Well, it doesn’t count. She could see it in General Long’s expression.
”I am afraid you do not even understand which mountain the carriage has gone to and would have only walked onto a dead end. That is bad.”
”Aren’t I already in front of you?” An Ruochen probed. What does General Long mean by coming here? Is he going to help or is he going to use her?
Big Long raised his eyebrows again. This girl, her words are interesting. He looked at her. Her clear eyes had wariness but no fear.
Big Long said: “The suspects who attacked the horse farm have not been caught yet, and the situation between the Xiao Kingdom and South Qin has become more tense. The murder of the house’s owner in Ping Hu East Lane seems to be the work of a thief, and the suspect has not been caught either. Lu Daniang is safe and sound. The people I sent to keep an eye on her have not found any suspicious people trying to approach or hurt her. She comes and goes regularly every day, and there is nothing unusual. Xu Matchmaker hid in her home for several days and finally killed herself ……”
An Ruochen got anxious and interrupted him, “General, I have not lied. Every single thing is true. There is indeed a Mr. Xie. He and Xu Matchmaker did secretly discuss the attack on the granary, I heard ……”
Big Long waved his hand. An Ruochen choked, bit her lip, and closed her mouth.
“How can you do big things when you are this anxious and impatient?”
“Ah?” An Ruochen was dumbfounded. Does she still have to do big things?
“Escaping from the family, concealing your identity and going to a foreign land to make a living alone. This is a difficult task for a man, let alone a weak woman like you, which is a big thing.”
An Ruochen pursed her lips and straightened her back. It was indeed a big thing. Her heart settled. General Long didn’t disbelieve her, and he didn’t belittle her either. He was looking at her thoughts squarely and was trying to point things out for her.
“General has taught me well.” She answered and listened respectfully and carefully.
Big Long looked at her expression and continued, “All those things are different from the progress you predicted, which means that the other party has a sophisticated, calm, and strategic mind. He was not only controlling Xu Matchmaker but also suppressing her. She didn’t dare to betray him. There must be some means for that to happen. This kind of person must have contacts in the city and lurk for a long time before making a move. He was able to recruit the right people and then control them firmly. He needs to take care of his food, clothing, housing, and transportation in this city. Someone must know him and have seen him. I have sent people to scout around the city, but so far there is no trace of this person.”
“General doesn’t know his face. How can you find him?” An Ruochen couldn’t help but interject. After realizing she was rude, she hurriedly hung her head and admitted her mistake.
Big Long didn’t answer but asked, “Guess.”
“……”
“If you are resourceful and clever, I will give you some benefits.”
Not teasing her, right? An Ruochen was not sure. She carefully observed the expression of Big Long. Her brain turned a circle, anyway, there was no harm for her in answering, so she said: ”To control others to do things for him, one has to deter, lure, blackmail …… or give the grace to form a friendship, or to gain sympathy. Xu Matchmaker, this person only saw money, she was not very sympathetic. Moreover, they had been doing that kind of thing. Mr. Xie would not have used pity or sympathy. Well ……” An Ruochen thought about it, “the material of his clothes looked good, his body was slender and quite poised, his voice sounded calm, I guess he looks like a decent person with status.”
She said, looking at Big Long. Big Long’s eyes were bright with approval. An Ruochen’s heart was happy, and she felt lighter with confidence. “This kind of character, his food, clothing, housing, and transport must be sophisticated. Not dressing sloppily, have a certain temperament, and will make people feel he is not easy to mess with. His way of speaking will be high and profound so that people can’t grasp his mind and can’t feel his likes and dislikes. This will be able to scare people. Just like ……”
Big Dragon raised one eyebrow.
“……” An Ruochen swallowed back the words “like General” in time and said instead: “like the average person from a large family. So, General is checking restaurants and stores to see if anyone has seen a man with the surname Xie and matching features, right?
Big Long nodded his head. What he did not correct was that the people surnamed Xie in this city were limited and the scope of such investigation would be narrow. Still, it is likely for him to change his name and surname to forge his identity if the enemy country does intend to lurk in Zhonglan City. Moreover, his surname may not be Xie at all in the city. Mr. Xie may be just a code name. This means the scope of such inquiry needs to be far wider, like looking for a needle in a haystack, it is not enough to just investigate the people surnamed Xie.
An Ruochen saw the recognition in his expression and smiled, making her whole face light up. Big Long could not help but look more and said: “You are right. Since the answer is good, I will give you benefits as promised.”
An Ruochen was overjoyed and said, “Can the General help me cancel the marriage
“No.”