Perfect Encounter - Chapter 18.1
PROOFREAD By AFREANA
Chapter 18.1
The two sisters stared in the direction where An Rongkun had disappeared and looked at each other with panic in their eyes. An Ruofang began to shake, completely panicked and at a loss for words. An Ruochen took a deep breath and steadied her mind. She couldn’t be afraid, couldn’t be disorganized. What would happen to her fourth sister if she couldn’t hold on?
In any case, there was no way to stop An Rongkun from telling the secret. An Ruochen clearly knew this in her heart. An Rongkun was the family’s little bully. Even if he was stopped, it would have been impossible to keep his mouth shut. On the contrary, he would only be more excited to go to his father to claim the credit.
An Ruochen quickly organized her mind and calmed down, holding her fourth sister’s shoulder: “Fang’er, you listen to me.”
An Ruofang panicked: “Big sister, what to do, what to do?”
“Rong Kun is still a child.” An Ruochen’s speech was slow, but her tone was firm.
An Ruofang nodded and grabbed An Ruochen’s hand, agitated: “He will definitely go and tell father.”
An Ruochen also held An Ruofang’s hand, squeezed hard, and said, ”First, do not panic. You listen to me, close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and count from one to ten.”
An Ruofang looked at An Ruochen with eyes wide-open, not understanding what she intended to do.
“Listen to me. I need you to calm down. The following words are very important.”
An Ruofang bit her lips and did as she was told. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten. When she opened her eyes again, she was still scared but not that agitated.
“Very well. Now, you listen carefully to me. Be sure to remember and do as you’ve been told.”
An Ruofang nodded her head vigorously.
An Ruochen squeezed her hand, looked into her eyes, and said seriously, “Rongkun is a child and is impetuous. He must have been unable to be patient enough to listen to all our words. He most likely only heard the last few sentences, the lines where I said I would take you away. Then he jumped out and said he was going to tell Father.”
An Ruofang swallowed her saliva and nodded again.
“Father is in the residence at the moment. The whole residence is looking for you. When Rongkun run off like this, someone will soon come looking for us. We don’t have much time. Remember my words. You must remember.”
An Ruofang looked into her sister’s eyes and listened to her word for word: “This matter has nothing to do with you. You are just scared, very scared. I found you and encouraged you to escape with me. You didn’t agree. You didn’t dare. How could you possibly leave your mother.”
An Ruofang’s eyes widened, never imagining her sister would say this. An Ruochen gave her hand a firm squeeze and said, “Repeat, what happened just now?”
An Ruofang opened her mouth, unable to say anything.
An Ruochen shouted, “Repeat!”
An Ruofang’s lips trembled as she whispered, “I hid. My sister found me and told me to leave home with her. I refused. I was afraid. I couldn’t leave Mother.”
“That’s right! That’s it!”
“Sister!” An Ruofang’s tears were coming down again.
“You must remember! This is how it is! It is me who enticed you to leave home, and you didn’t want to. Then Rongkun heard about it and told our father. He is a child. He can’t remember exactly what we said. I was the one who wanted to take you with me and use you to blackmail father.”
An Ruofang fell into tears.
“Don’t cry.” An Ruochen said quickly, “Father must be furious. He will scold me. It does not matter. I am used to being scolded. I am not afraid. But father will definitely lock me up. You remember, hug your mother, and cry. Your mother will protect you. No matter what happens, you need to say that you do not want to leave home, that you will never leave your mother. Then say ou don’t feel well and have a headache, beg your mother to take you back to your room.”
An Ruofang nodded her head and wiped her tears hard.
An Ruochen continued: “Hide in your room for two days, then come find me. I will definitely be locked up in my courtyard. You have to be careful, avoid other people, don’t let them know you came to look for me.”
An Ruofang nodded her head again. An Ruochen asked her, “Do you remember? Tell me, when father scolds you and asks what’s going on, how will you answer?”
An Ruofang cried and repeated what she had said before.
“Then what?”
An Ruofang repeated An Ruochen’s instructions again.
“Very well, very well.” An Ruochen held An Ruofang in her arms. In her ear, she whispered, “No matter what, don’t let father and your mother lock you up, don’t end up locked up. Remember, if you stay in the green hills, you will not be afraid of not having wood to burn. There is nothing difficult that can’t be overcome, you remember! Remember that! The idea of leaving home, do not let anyone know, not even your mother. If you don’t change your mind after two days, you can come to me.”
As An Ruochen said this, she thought of General Long. He said he would never give her a second chance, and she couldn’t use that one chance anymore.
An Ruofang whimpered and cried and was about to say something when she heard the shouts of the household servants, “They’re here! Here they are!”
An Ruofang jolted and looked up at An Ruochen. An Ruochen smiled at her and stroked her bangs for her.
“Don’t be afraid.” An Ruochen said to her sister, pulling her up, patting off the mud, dust, and grass clippings, holding her hand, “Let’s go see our father.”
An Zhifu and the families had been waiting for a long time. An Rongkun was sitting on a chair with a smug grin. On the other side, there was Qian Pei. He watched with interest as the two sisters walked in and smiled.
“Fang’er.” Mrs. Duan cried as soon as she saw her daughter, opening her arms wide.
An Ruochen secretly pushed her sister, and An Ruofang obediently flung herself into her mother’s arms, sobbing. She did not dare to look at Qian Pei and her father.
An Ruochen did not wait for An Zhifu to say something, and fluttered down on her knees.
An Zhifu stared at her with a furious look on his face, and before he could speak, he came up with a slap. An Ruochen fell to the ground and cried, “Father, I have been confused for a moment.”
“A moment of confusion?!” An Zhifu stepped forward and gave her a kick, “You have a lot of nerve! Tell me! What happened!”
An Rongkun was shaking his leg and shouted, “I heard it all. Big sister said she wanted to take the fourth sister away from home.”
An Ruochen cried out with a frightened face, saying she became confused. Because of the anxiety of not being able to find her sister, when she finally saw her, her brain became muddled. It was only said to coax her sister, and her sister did not agree. She did not really want to leave home. It was only to persuade her sister.
Unfortunately, An Zhifu did not buy this explanation today. Qian Pei is watching from the side, and the two daughters awaiting marriage are actually saying they want to run away!
It is really something!
“Bring me the whip!” An Zhifu shouted. The servant hurried to get it.
An Zhifu pointed at An Ruofang and asked her, “Tell me what happened!”
An Ruofang was shaking like leaf. Only after a long time did she say what An Ruochen had taught her. An Ruochen crouched on the ground and listened to her finish her words, and her hanging heart was relieved.
Mrs. Duan heard her daughter say this and hurriedly added: “Master, this has nothing to do with Fang’er. It’s all the eldest girl that wanted to do it herself. Fang’er has never left my side since she was young. She is so young. How could she possibly want to leave home? Just now, they all said that it was the eldest girl’s own idea, and our Fang’er even advised her against it. This matter has nothing to do with Fang’er!”
An Ruochen wailed on the ground, sniveling and crying, saying she didn’t really want to run. She just said it casually. She had no guts to run. She really just coaxed her sister, talking nonsense.
“How dare you argue!” An Zhifu had no more doubts about An Ruofang and only hated An Ruochen to the extreme.
The whip was served. An Zhifu no longer asked questions and fiercely wielded the whip at An Ruochen. With An Ruofang still at the side, An Ruochen gritted her teeth and did not dare to cry out in pain. She was afraid that if she shouted, An Ruofang would plead for her and spit out the truth.
As soon as the whip went down, An Ruofang screamed, cried, and begged her father to stop. Mrs. Duan snapped herself awake, holding and dragging her daughter away.
As soon as An Ruofang left, An Ruochen began to cry, begging her father to spare her this time, saying she would not dare to talk nonsense again. An Zhifu had lost face when his youngest daughter vomited on Qian Pei. Then his eldest daughter instigated her sisters to run away together. How could he swallow this anger?
Whip after whip, An Ruochen’s skin opened until she couldn’t scream anymore.
The last one to persuade him to stop was Qian Pei, who seemed to have seen enough of the show and said: “Enough, Master An, calm down. I would be heartbroken if she died. I really like the boldness of this girl. A lesson is a lesson, do not kill.”
An Ruochen heard these words, holding onto her breath and looking up at Qian Pei. The corners of Qian Pei’s mouth were smiling, and his eyes were full of bloodthirsty excitement. An Ruochen quickly closed her eyes, not daring to look again.
An Zhifu stopped, gasping for breath, glaring at An Ruchen, then kicked her again and threw the whip to the ground, “My little daughter doesn’t know what to do. I’ve let Master Qian Pei laugh at me.”
Qian Pei got up and laughed: “Not laughing, I can’t wait to rejoice. I’ll go back and get ready, and when the day comes, I’ll have the palanquin come to pick the girls up.”
An Zhifu exchanged pleasantries with Qian Pei and sent him out the door. When he turned around and returned to the side hall, he scolded An Ruochen: “Bastard!”
An Ruochen held her breath, closed her eyes, and, covered in blood, fell to the ground without moving, not needing to pretend to be dead. An Zhifu waved his hand and summoned his servants: “Carry her back to her room, find a doctor to treat her injuries, and don’t let her die.”
As An Ruochen got carried back, the maids and nurses cried. An Ruochen did not open her eyes. Blood covered her body, and the pain was so intense that it seemed like half her life was gone when she took a breath. But she was alive, and her sister was okay for now, thankfully.