Perfect Encounter - Chapter 16.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 16.2
General Zong suddenly appearing along her way was a bit coincidental. An Ruochen’s heart moved, she looked around, and got off the sedan chair. The sedan bearer hid under the eaves of the restaurant to avoid the sun and talk, not paying any attention to the side. An Ruochen entered the restaurant calmly. After entering and looking around, she noticed it was not mealtime yet, and there were hardly any customers sitting on the first floor. There was a corridor on the right side of the restaurant, with private rooms inside. An Ruochen thought about it and went towards the corridor. The door of one private room was half hidden, and An Ruochen knocked.
Someone in the room answered: “Come in.”
The voice was familiar, and An Ruochen pushed the door open.
Big Long sat alone in the private room, drinking soup. When he saw An Ruochen enter, he put down his bowl, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly. An Ruochen thought he should be smiling. Not sure if it was because the soup was too good or because he saw her.
“You’re here.” Big Long said, in a tone as if he had actually made an appointment with her.
“General.” An Ruochen gave a salute, secretly thankful that she had not guessed wrong.
”You were able to find this place without me needing to send a letter to you. You are quite clever.”
“Thank you, General, for the compliment.” An Ruochen thought General Zong Zeqing was a big live “letter.”
“That person’s name is Xie. What do you want to say?” Big Long didn’t waste time on nonsensical pleasantries and instead directly asked the question he wanted answered.
An Ruochen hesitated.
Big Long didn’t rush her but only looked at her quietly.
An Ruochen sighed inwardly and said, “I guessed he is not that Mr. Xie.”
“Isn’t it that you haven’t actually seen Mr. Xie’s face? This person followed you and targeted you when you were alone. Why would he not be that Mr. Xie?”
An Ruochen asked rhetorically, “The officers and soldiers searched the forest, fought with Xie Jin, pursued him along the blood trail for a while, and finally found his body. Before the body was found, did the officers and soldiers see the face of the person who fought against them?”
“Did not see it clearly.”
An Ruochen pursed her lips and understood that Big Long had already looked into the details and made up his mind. He was asking her like this because he was testing her. She continued: “Xu Matchmaker had experience in dealing with all kinds of people. How could she be respectful to someone like Xie Jin? And since the other party has tricked me into going into the forest, why not patiently wait for me to enter the forest before making a move? This is different from the cautious and careful Mr. Xie. After I hid in the forest, someone looked everywhere, trying to lure me out. But Xie Jin disappeared. I guess Xie Jin had been restrained at that time. The other party wanted to kill two birds with one stone. After killing me, and after having the officers enter the forest to search, he made it look like Xie Jin was defeated and took poison, that he killed himself for fear of being arrested. This way it would seem that I had been killed by Xie Jin and that he ultimately killed himself.”
Big Long nodded solemnly: “That’s a good point, quite reasonable. Why did you hesitate earlier?”
“I was afraid the General would think that if this is true, you might want to use me as bait.”
“Then why did you tell the truth?”
“The General is smart and decisive. Since you asked me this question, you must understand the suspicions behind it. If I lie to you, I’m afraid the General will be angry and I won’t even have the chance to be the bait for the enemy.”
Big Long said: “Nice flattery, but it is quite useful.”
“……” An Ruochen struggled to maintain the modesty of her expression.
“There is one more question. If your speculation is correct, the man who lured you out attracted the soldiers to chase Xie Jin and let them find Xie Jin’s body, but how did he get out himself?”
An Ruochen opened her mouth and froze.
“A lot of soldiers gathered inside and outside the forest. Everyone scattered in various places to search the forest. You were also being searched out. What about the person? How did he escape?”
An Ruochen was stared at by Big Long and became nervous in her heart. “Uh ……” she tried to think, “Maybe, maybe he didn’t escape at all. He could have hidden himself first, and when everyone dispersed, he left.”
Big Long raised his eyebrows.
An Ruochen rub her eyebrows, “If, if I had martial arts, I would have leapt up onto a tree. Those military masters, did they search the trees?”
Big Long’s eyebrows raised high.
An Ruochen gulped. No? That forest of trees with dense foliage is definitely a good place to hide people, compared to her squatting in the bushes.
Big Long didn’t comment but suddenly said: “You remember the time, October 15, at the time of Shen, the South City Gate. If you miss it, there will be no more opportunity.” After saying that, Big Long waved his hand, indicating An Ruochen could go.
An Ruochen was still confused after leaving the restaurant. He just let her go like this? Then why did General Long see her this time?
After An Ruochen and An Ping left, Zong Zeqing asked in the private room, “General, what is the reason for your many meetings with Miss An?”
“I feel it is quite a pity.” Big Long sipped his soup and answered only after a long time.
“Pity what?” Zong Zeqing’s eyes glowed, smelling the scent of major gossip.
“It’s a pity that she is not a male.”
Zong Zeqing’s face was green. What was the profound meaning of this statement? General likes Miss An but wishes she was a boy. General had been rumored to have a fetish for liking men, otherwise, he would have long married a wife at his age. Even if he didn’t marry a wife, he didn’t have concubines in his house either. It would still be fine without having a wife or a concubine. Usually, there are beautiful girls to pursue, but General Long did not even look at them. He kept his distance with women, old-fashioned and serious.
Could it be that the rumors are true?
“If she was a boy, I could have trained her well and she would have become a useful person.”
“……” Zong Zeqing’s face fell. The Great General was not aware at all, not to mention marrying a wife, he was probably not even interested in men. He saw a girl he liked and appreciated but only thought about training her as a talent.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone so brave, resourceful, and composed.”
Zong Zeqing really wanted to point at his own nose in front of General Long. There is one here! Unfortunately, the Great General didn’t even look at him and just drank his soup.
A few days later, An Ruochen heard the case was closed by the Governor. Xie Jin was convicted of disguising himself as a rich gentleman by wearing fancy clothes in order to cheat and extort money. He was planning to do the same thing again at the oath ceremony and picked a single girl but was unexpectedly discovered by the inspecting soldiers. Xie Jin panicked and attacked but ended up getting killed.
An Ruochen listened quietly and did not say anything. Even if the government suspected he was a spy, there was no evidence, and they could only close the case. But General Long must have understood what was going on. Though what she feared did not happen, General did not demand her to become bait. He is a man of his word. She can really get out of here.
An Ruochen was secretly happy in her heart. That day, she saw An Zhifu looking happy and asked him for permission to go to her mother’s grave. An Zhifu got the two crates of jade back that day and was in a good mood, so he agreed. An Ruochen took her maid and old nanny to her mother’s grave to pay respects.
October 15th was seven days away, and An Ruochen kept quietly counting the days. She came to see her mother, praying in her heart that it would not be the last time in her life. An Ruochen stood in front of her mother’s grave for a long time and said many things to her in her heart. She told her mother that she was going to go away and leave this place.
“Live as you wish.”
An Ruochen could not help but smile when she remembered these words spoken by Big Long. She told her mother she was a blessed person. Although she was born into that kind of family, had such a father, and was promised such a marriage, she got to meet a precious person.
She met the right person at the right time.
An Ruochen remembered her mother met her father when she was young, and from then on, her life was full of depression and ended too early. But she would go far away, not knowing what would happen. She kneeled in front of her mother’s grave and kowtowed three times.
When An Ruochen returned home, she met An Ruoxi and An Ruofang returning from picking flowers in the garden, holding a large bouquet in their hands, and smiling. When An Ruofang saw her big sister, she ran over and gave An Ruochen several of them. An Ruoxi’s face was a bit unpleasant. When the three people walked back together, An Ruofang did not hold the flowers in her hand properly and dropped a few. She squatted down to pick them up.
An Ruoxi looked back and mocked in a small voice: “You’re also poorly raised. I’m the one who brings you the food and toys, but you always only think about big sister.”
An Ruochen said nothing but praised her second sister for her good use of the word “also” in her heart. We are all sisters. No one owes anyone anything to eat and play, so why does she not see whether she is also poorly raised and only knows to talk about others? Besides, she has only been pleasing the fourth sister for a few days, while her words sound as if she had brought up the fourth sister by herself.
An Ruochen didn’t say anything, but An Ruoxi felt her elder sister seemed sarcastic, so she glared at her twice. An Ruochen ignored her, but in her heart, she wondered. ‘Why does the second sister suddenly show a lot of goodwill to the fourth sister? Is it because Father has secured a good marriage for the fourth sister, and the second sister knows about it and intends to be good to the fourth sister for a few years, so when the fourth sister gets married, she can help her later on?’
An Ruochen was uneasy, watching as An Ruofang finished picking up the flowers and walked towards them with a smile on her face, knowing this was not a good time to test the waters. She hesitated to make inquiries before she left. But what could she do? Even if she manages to find anything out, she can’t change anything, only adding to her worries.
An Ruochen decided not to ask. She was smiling at her two sisters and saying, “go, go back to find a vase,” when she heard the sound of a woman crying for help in the courtyard not far away.