Perfect Encounter - Chapter 17.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 17.2
An Ruochen returned to her room, closed the door, and fell to the ground, only to find she was so nervous that her clothes were soaked through.
How can she escape? Once she escapes, her fourth sister would be married to Qian Pei. If she does not escape, will Qian Pei kill her to marry the fourth sister quickly?
An Ruochen did not sleep all night, her head full of chaos. She remembered her mother. The first time she had the idea of leaving, she snatched her father’s reward from her sisters to save money. She did not care about those small pieces of jewelry. She did not want to smile at her father, but she still did. She curried favor for a silver hairpin. That year she was twelve years old, the same age as the fourth sister.
She remembered the year she was 15. She attended the flower viewing party at Pingxiu Mountain, where she met a gentleman she liked, who was graceful and well-spoken. She remembered that his surname was Sun. At first, he was fond of her, so he talked to her and gave her snacks. When he heard she was the first miss of the An House, he asked, “Is it the An House of Master An Zhifu in the east of the city?”
She said, “Yes.” Then he smiled politely and distanced himself from her.
She remembered when she was 16. Her father wanted to marry her into the Wang family. Wang’s son was lustful with numerous concubines and visited brothels from time to time. An Ruochen did not want to marry him, but she could not say it to her father. She took an opportunity to play with the Wang family’s daughter as a guest and discovered the Wang family’s business had lost a lot of money. The monthly allowance in the lady’s house had decreased, and the clothes and materials issued were not as good as before. An Ruochen sneaked into the account room and confirmed her deduction was correct, then intentionally leaked the information on the state of the Wang family’s business to the dressmaker who came to their An House. The dressmaker heard about this matter. After all, the wealthy families in the city are mainly looking for her to order clothes. She naturally knew how much materials cost. She added details to the story and went elsewhere to talk about it.
The maids and servants of the An House learned about it, and An Ping also knew about it. Finally, it reached An Zhifu’s ears. An Zhifu carefully inquired. It turned out to be true the Wang family was beautiful on the outside, but actually could not make a profit. An Zhifu did not want to eat this loss and found an excuse to withdraw from the marriage.
An Ruochen remembered the joy she felt as if it were yesterday. But now it seemed far away, as if in a previous life.
She thought she was clever. She thought she had some luck and would escape from the rat’s nest with the help of the noble General Long. But in the end, it was ……
An Ruochen did not know when she had fallen asleep. She heard the sound of her mother crying. She said, mother, do not cry, I am fine. Then she remembered the scream, she ran over and saw the well, but couldn’t recall what the maid looked like. She knew she shouldn’t go, but she still went over to the well and looked down. The well was dark, but she could see clearly. A person was floating in the water, suddenly turning over. It was herself. It was her face, An Ruochen’s.
For a moment, she did not seem to be on the edge of the well. Instead, she was inside the well and couldn’t catch her breath. She was dying. Then she heard her fourth sister scream.
“Don’t touch my sister!” She shouted angrily, and somehow she was out of the water again. Her hand transformed into a dagger. She pulled her fourth sister behind her and stabbed the old man in front of her viciously in the chest. She didn’t even know who it was and didn’t see if it was Qian Pei. She stabbed over and over, until blood spurted out and sprayed into her eyes. She let out a scream and found the blood was hers. Her eyes, nose, and mouth, her whole body was bleeding. She screamed and couldn’t stop at all ……
“Miss! Miss!”
An Ruochen woke up violently, inhaling hard with a big mouthful of air. It took a long time before she realized she had been dreaming. The maid looked at her worriedly, “Miss, did you have a nightmare?”
An Ruochen nodded blankly, her sanity slowly returning to its place little by little. It was a dream! But it was so realistic!
This day An Ruochen was sick. She woke up with a start and found her clothes soaked with cold sweat. Her head was heavy, her eyes hurt, and her voice was hoarse. Her nanny reported her illness, asked the doctor to check her, and decocted medicine for her to drink. She did not leave the house, but An Ruofang came to see her.
An Ruofang looked unchanged. She didn’t know what had happened. An Ruochen silently prayed to God her father would talk to Qian Pei and allow An Ruofang to enter the house a few years later.
”Sister, why are you sick?” An Ruofang wiped An Ruochen’s face with her newly embroidered handkerchief. “This is my newly embroidered piece. Please have it, sister. You need to get better soon.”
“Okay, I will be well soon.” An Ruochen smiled and touched An Ruofang’s little head. Previously, she returned the money bag An Ruofang gave her, and the little girl was upset, but when she heard she was sick, she was still worried about her. Among her relatives, only this sister was genuinely good to her. She was so young, only twelve.
Five days before October 15, An Ruochen’s heart was sad. She couldn’t escape.
She has to marry Qian Pei and drag on for a few years for her sister. During these years she would think of a way to get a good marriage for the fourth sister. She believes someone in Zhonglan City can marry her sister and restrain Qian Pei. Right, General Long. Father’s efforts to curry favor are to climb up to General Long. General Long’s words he dares not disobey. She has to find the opportunity to go to General Long. He has so many subordinates or good family sons he knows. He must have a way. She would kowtow and beg him again, let him save her sister. There are a few more years, and one needs to be 15 years old before getting married. Three years, three years is enough. She desperately wants to get things done in three years.
She cannot escape, cannot die. If it still doesn’t work in the end, she …… suddenly thought of the scene in her dream and got scared.
That day An Zhifu did not return home. Nothing was happening in the An House. An Ruofang stayed with An Ruochen for the whole day.
The next day An Ruochen felt much better. She heard An Zhifu had not returned all night. In her heart, she had some expectations, but alsofear. She spent her lunch in her own courtyard. An Ruofang did not come today and An Ruochen did not care. She was thinking about what to do. Besides General Long, who else in town could say something?
At this time, the maid suddenly came in and reported that the fourth young lady was missing. An Ruochen was startled. An Zhifu, who came back at noon, brought back Qian Pei with him. They were laughing and looking happy. An Zhifu summoned all the houses and announced An Ruofang and An Ruochen would get married on the same day and enter the Qian family door together. Because An Ruochen was sick, she was not called.
The wedding announcement was made when An Ruofang was there. The maid could not tell the exact situation, she only heard about it from others. Anyway, An Ruofang was frightened, not knowing whether it was a verbal argument or something else, and she vomited all over Qian Pei. An Zhifu slapped her on the spot and ordered her to leave. An Ruofang retreated, and then she just disappeared without a trace.
“Now everyone is looking for her everywhere.” The maid said, “The gatekeeper said he hadn’t seen Fourth Miss go out. She must be hiding somewhere in the house then.”
When An Ruochen heard this, she quickly changed her clothes and went out of the courtyard to look for her. An Ruofang was usually close to her. She looked to the places the other frequented, but didn’t find her. Then she suddenly ran to the back of the fourth house’s courtyard.
There was a small compound where An Ruofang kept a little yellow dog. It was picked up when she went out to play. She liked it very much, so she brought it back and raised it, naming it Xiao Huang. Together, they built a small wooden house for Xiao Huang with their own hands under the guidance of a carpenter. Xiao Huang and An Ruofang were close. Once, An Ronggui scolded An Ruofang over a small matter, and Xiao Huang barked fiercely at An Ronggui. After that, An Ronggui sent someone to kill Xiao Huang. An Ruochen secretly buried Xiao Huang and lied to An Ruofang that Xiao Huang wanted to get a wife and left quietly. An Ruofang was sad and abandoned the small compound from then on.
An Ruochen ran to the small yellow wooden house behind the compound. It was full of weeds, almost waist-high. An Ruochen rustled through the grass for half a day and finally found her. An Ruochen bent down and saw a face full of tears of fear. An Ruofang has shrunken her body, hiding her head.
An Ruochen was distressed and almost shed tears. She tried to smile and extended her hand to her fourth sister: “Fang’er, it’s sister. Sister is here.”
When An Ruofang saw her elder sister, she cried out with a “whoa” and climbed out of the wooden room, covered in dust and dirt. She jumped into An Ruochen’s arms: ”Sister, sister! Father wants to marry me to Master Qian, he is so terrible, so terrible ……” she wailed, could not speak, only repeated this again and again.
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” An Ruochen did not know how to comfort her, only hugged her fourth sister tightly, stroking her back.
“He, he ……” An Ruofang sobbed, shivering, “At dinner, father let me sit beside him, he, he, he touched my leg, I couldn’t hold back, I was so scared, I threw up… …”
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” An Ruochen buried her face in her sister’s shoulder, tears finally welling up. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” Not sure if these words were for her sister or herself.
The two sisters hugged each other and cried for a while. An Ruofang nestled in An Ruochen’s arms and said in a small voice, “Sister, I beg you, let’s escape.”
An Ruochen stiffened. She lifted her head and met her sister’s eyes.
An Ruofang pleaded with tears in her eyes, “Sister, I have money. Let’s escape.”
An Ruochen’s heart pounded, considering the possibility. Escaping on her own was different from escaping with her fourth sister. She is all alone, her mother is no longer alive, and she has no ties here. But the fourth sister’s mother is still alive, and she is still young. Is it proper to take her away?
Besides, the two of them would be fleeing together. The fourth sister is even slower than her. If they leave home together, they will be chased back within one street. Whether they could catch up with Jiang Zhong’s caravan would be a problem. Not to mention that the General told Jiang Zhong that she was the only one to be taken along. If she brought another person with her, then what if Jiang Zhong was unwilling to go along with this change? Moreover, if the government wanted to arrest her afterward,…… for two people to escape together, there is almost no chance of success.
An Ruochen looked at her fourth sister. An Ruofang pursed her lips and wiped her tears, with a pair of big eyes looking at her sister. There is trust, a plea, and hope.
An Ruochen looked at her for a long time and said: ” Don’t be afraid. There is me in all things. I will take you away.”
An Ruofang shuddered and looked at her elder sister with surprise.
An Ruochen took out a handkerchief, carefully wiped her face, and asked her: “Have you thought about it? If you leave home, you will be away from your mother. You will not see her again in the future, are you still willing?”
An Ruofang bit her lips: “After marrying into the Qian family, I’m afraid I won’t be able to see my mother again anyway.” Her tears fell again. “Sister, I don’t want to be like Xiao Cui.”
“Who is Xiao Cui?”
“It’s the maid who threw herself into the well.” An Ruofang cried, “I asked around. Her name was Xiao Cui. She was only fourteen, two years older than me.”
An Ruochen hugged her sister tighter. She didn’t know the maid was called Xiao Cui. She didn’t dare to inquire. The new maid, who had not arrived for long, was not working in her courtyard, and she was not even sure whether she had ever seen her before.
“This Sister doesn’t want to be like Xiao Cui either.” An Ruochen cupped An Ruofang’s face and made her look into her eyes, “Sister won’t let you be like Xiao Cui either. I will take you away from here. We will live on our own. Sister will not let others bully you.”
An Ruofang tears fell again, nodding hard.
“It’s just that the days will be harder. But it doesn’t matter. We’ll get through it. We’ll go to a place where no one knows us and we’ll live a new life ……”
Before An Ruochen could finish her sentence, she heard a rustling sound in the grass behind her. An Rongkun, An Zhifu’s youngest son, who was eight years old, burst out and shouted at them, “Ha, I heard that! How dare you try to run away from home! I’m going to tell dad!” As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and ran away.
An Ruochen and An Ruofang were terrified.
An Rongkun moved fast and disappeared in a flash. Before An Ruochen could react, it was already too late to stop him.