Perfect Encounter - Chapter 14.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 14.2
Xie Jin hesitated in his heart. It sounds simple, with the thirty taels easy to get and tempting, but somehow he felt things are weird. He is not a fool. When he hesitated, the man behind him exerted force on his feet, leaned over while holding the blade, and said: ”Since you know about this matter, if you do not do it, it will mean death. If there is any, even slight, leakage of what we discuss here, it will also be your death.”
Xie Jin’s face twisted with pain, and he felt his spine almost breaking. The blade was right next to his face, and the light of the blade hurt his eyes, so how could he not agree?
Xie Jin answered yes. The pressure on his back loosened, the blade was pulled away and a bundle was thrown in front of his eyes. The person behind him said, “On the day of the oath ceremony, you will wear these clothes to the eastern suburbs. I will contact you again.”
Xie Jin warily agreed and waited for a while. Hearing no more instructions or any other sound, Xie Jin hesitated for half a day before finally quietly turning around. The place was empty. Xie Jin fell to the ground at once. If not for the silver and clothes right before him, he would feel he had just dreamed.
In the blink of an eye, the first day of October arrived.
An Zhifu led a group of concubines and children to the eastern suburbs. Along the way, flags were set up, the guards imposing. The An family was excited to see this scene for the first time. An Ruochen thought she would learn about the arrangements for leaving home today, and her heart beat like a drum, so excited that her face became hot. When they arrived at the training grounds, there were already a lot of people there. An Ruochen followed her mothers and father through the barrier and entered the inner field. On the way, she unexpectedly met Qian Pei.
An Ruochen became nauseous when she saw Qian Pei. She turned her eyes away but noticed her father and second mother smiling and fawning over Qian Pei from afar. An Ruochen subconsciously glanced at Qian Pei gain and saw an indescribable smile blooming on his face. It seemed to be different from before, but she couldn’t tell what was wrong. An Ruochen’s heart was puzzled, but she was leaving anyway, and these people’s nasty conspiracy had nothing to do with her.
Not far behind An Ruochen, Xie Jin warily took the invitation to enter the venue. Ordinary people have been placed outside of the training grounds, and those who could enter the inner court were the rich or noble or the ones with connections. Xie Jin considered himself an ordinary citizen. The invitation felt hot in his hand, although the clothes on his body fit perfectly. He was surprised the other party knew his size when making clothes. With these thoughts, Xie Jin looked nervous, causing the soldier who examined the invitation to look at him a few more times.
Xie Jin broke out in a cold sweat but entered the inner court without any problems.
When the mystery man handed him the invitation, he instructed him to pay attention to a girl in the third tent in the eastern part of the inner court. The girl’s name was An Ruochen, and she was supposed to be without her mother by her side, only an old nanny.
His task was to say to An Ruochen: ”Miss has been in a lot of trouble recently. Be careful of your life.”
After saying this, his business will be considered done. He can go to the west side of the woods to find a man, hand him the invitation, and repeat the words. The man will then give him twenty taels of silver for the trouble.
Xie Jin entered the inner court and went to the east side, finding a seat there. He looked around and saw the third tent. The viewing tent was built with only a roof, leaving all sides open to ensure the view of people insideis not obstructed in the slightest. This was convenient for Xie Jin. He looked closer at the tent and saw the girl the mystery man had mentioned. Indeed, she was the only one not accompanied by her mother – behind her was an old woman.
An Ruochen kept an eye on the surroundings, wondering where General Long was and how she could meet him without being noticed by others. Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she noticed someone staring at her. She turned her head and saw the other person was a tall and strong man. The man’s eyes met hers, and he quickly turned his head, pretending to look away.
An Ruochen secretly frowned. She hung her head and lowered her eyebrows, holding a cup of tea to drink. Her eyes peeked in the direction of the man again. She saw the man turn his head again to secretly observe her. An Ruochen did not put down the teacup, smiling and listening to the fourth sister, An Ruofang. The second sister, An Ruoxi, was looking at the fourth sister, and there seemed to be some soft emotions in her gaze. Sympathy? Pity? An Ruochen was not sure. When An Ruoxi’s eyes came into contact with An Ruochen’s, she hurriedly looked away and spoke to her mother, Mrs. Tan, as if nothing had happened.
The two of them are so weird.
An Ruochen looked at the man outside the tent again. He had already found a seat, and the position was not far from her tent, exactly the direction of her view. The man sat in the crowd, looking a bit nervous.
He is not one of General Long’s men, An Ruochen thought. Who is he? Why is he staring at her?
An Ruochen quietly looked at the man a few more times, thinking she had never seen him before.
Not long after, the event began. Soldiers formed up in groups and marched neatly into the field. The flag soldiers were the first, followed by the cavalry, the chariot soldiers in the middle, and the infantry soldiers at the end. The groups of men lined up with their flags in an imposing manner. Everyone’s attention was attracted by the formation in front of them, and the crowd of onlookers applauded enthusiastically as the soldiers issued their powerful slogans.
An Ruochen’s eyes were fixed on the field, but she kept watching the man from the corner of her eye. The man glanced at her from time to time, which made her nervous. She searched her mind for memories and suddenly thought of the clothes she saw that day on Mr Xie’s back, which seemed to be these exact green clothes. An Ruochen suddenly stiffened.
At this time, the field was already full of soldiers and generals. The flag soldiers suddenly let out a loud cry and waved a big flag. As soon as the flag order came out, the field full of soldiers and generals moved in unison. Neat and uniform movements made a loud sound, and the crowd cheered, followed by several soldiers in armor riding horses into the venue, imposing and majestic. The leader in the middle, riding a black horse, was handsome and tall, and particularly eye-catching. It is Big Long.
The surrounding crowd cheered and applauded. The field of soldiers and generals stood straight, not affected in any way. Several generals entered and divided in front of each battalion formation. Big Long slowed down and rode from the front of the team to the end. The flag soldiers waved their flags, and the soldiers behind them raised their swords and stepped forward to shout in unison, well-trained and majestic. The surrounding people automatically quieted down and watched with bated breath.
Many girls were blushing and staring at General Long, but An Ruochen couldn’t care less. Because everyone’s attention was drawn to the scene, one person quietly passed by her and threw a paper ball into her lap. The paper ball hit her hand and startled her.
She quickly held the paper ball in her hand and turned her head to look for the figure of the person who threw it but only saw the back of a man in military uniform marching into the crowd. An Ruochen looked around. There was nothing suspicious. She looked around carefully. No one paid attention to her. The man in green clothes was staring at the field. She hurriedly opened the paper ball and took a look.
“After the oath ceremony, wait in the woods to the west. The General has some instructions.”
An Ruochen finished reading it with a glance. She raised her head as if nothing had happened, quietly crumpled the paper into a ball again, and hid it in her sleeve pocket. Her heart beat fast and she subconsciously took a second look at the man in green, who was still staring at the training ground and seemed quite shocked.
The drum and trumpet soldiers beat their drums and blew their horns, and the soldiers and generals on the field changed their formations. All eyes watched, but An Ruochen cast her eyes to the west. There were indeed large woods there. From this direction, it seems that the flags are not far from the woods, so no one knows whether there will be any guards. An Ruochen thought for a moment, since the General asked her to meet there, he should have made arrangements. There was no need to worry.
At this time, a longhorn sounded through the sky. The field of soldiers and generals stood upright and serious, and the whole field held its breath. An Ruochen swept a glance at the field. Long Da stood on the stage, his eyes sweeping through the soldiers, seemingly unaware of what was happening outside. The man in green kept staring at the field. An Ruochen frowned and looked around carefully.
A general officer on the field shouted, and the oath ceremony seemed to have started. An Ruochen felt a line of sight peeping through the crowd on the other side, but when she turned her face, she didn’t see anything different. An Ruofang stood up in the tent. She was small, her view blocked by An Ronggui. She could not see the front. An Zhifu reprimanded her with a low voice, and An Ruoxi pulled An Ruofang to her side. She sat down obediently.
An Ruochen’s heart was beating like a drum. She always felt something was wrong, but perhaps she was just being overly suspicious.
”The one who leaks military secrets -” this was the voice of Big Long, and no one knows how he managed to do it, but it was like a trumpet drum, resounding all over the field.
”Behead!” The whole field of soldiers and generals responded loudly in unison, and the feet, shields, spears, and swords stamped on the ground. The sound shook the sky.
An Ruochen looked towards the field, and this magnificent scene warmed up her blood.
“Those who do not fight but surrender to the enemy–“
“Behead!”
“Those who have private communication with the enemy -“
“Behead!”
“Those who fail their lord and general–“
“Beheaded!”
“Those who lose their banners –“
“Beheaded!”
One sentence and one response resounding through the sky.
An Ruochen looked at it for a while and was shocked to realize she had been staring at Big Long. It was not the time to lose concentration. After the oath ceremony, they would meet in the forest.
An Ruochen steadied her mind, looked around again, confirmed the whole family was staring at the field, and quietly got up. When she got out of the tent, she looked back and saw everyone’s attention was still on the field. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickened her pace to leave.
An Ruochen headed for the woods, thinking about what to say if she was stopped along the way. But after walking for a while, no one stopped her. The soldiers stood in the distance staring at the field, not paying attention to An Ruochen’s movements. As she was going further into the woods, she strayed farther away from the venue, gradually leaving the circle of guards.
Maybe things were easier than she thought. When she heard the sound on the training ground change, it seemed like the oath ceremony ended. The next sound was the clash of weapons and the shouting of voices, perhaps it was the military training competition. The General should now leave the field to meet her. An Ruochen’s steps couldn’t help but lighten up.
As she got closer to the forest and turned in the corner, An Ruochen turned her head to look behind her and was shocked.
The man in green clothes followed her. When he saw her looking back, he seemed to want to avoid it and stopped to look away, but only after a pause. Then, as if he had made up his mind, he came towards her in big strides.
An Ruochen was startled and turned around to walk away quickly. Some thoughts came to her mind, but she was doubtful.
Is it him? Or not?