Perfect Encounter - Chapter 3.1

PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 3.1

An Ruochen did not leave the residence for the past few days. She did not even step out of her room for the first three days.

She knew the principle of avoiding the limelight and not drawing attention to herself by heart. In the past three days, no one bothered her. But on the fourth day, her father suddenly came to her door and scolded her.

The reason for scolding her was actually quite simple. It became clear to An Ruochen after being scolded three times. General Long arrived in Zhonglan City for three days, but apart from the first day when he discussed matters with the governor and others, he stayed in the military camp to train the soldiers and refused all banquet invitations. These three days, An Zhifu hasn’t been able to get in touch with the general and those who have teamed up with him to try to curry favor have also failed, making everyone upset.

The fourth concubine, Mrs. Duan, took the opportunity to put some ideas in An Zhifu’s ear last night during pillow talk, saying it was because An Ruochen had bumped into the general that day, so there was this result. She said An Ruochen read dirty books all day long, thus becoming impolite, unethical, and causing serious trouble.

An Zhifu could not withstand provocation. Therefore, he accumulated a bellyful of anger, without considering first that General Long has spent the past few days training the soldiers and dealing with military affairs and that he was not the only one unable to meet with the general. Even the irrelevant officials haven’t met him, not to mention he, who is only a merchant and does not have any rank. In short, the anger spilled on this eldest daughter.

As An Ruochen found out the reason, she was relieved she was not suspected of running away and escaping from the marriage. These days she worried and stayed quiet, afraid her father would realize something was wrong. Fortunately, it’s okay. Her father, as always, has maintained his level of intelligence.

An Ruochen, as usual, hid her face and sobbed as she listened obediently to her father’s scolding. She knew the Fourth Concubine would seize the opportunity to put her on the spot, and it was indeed the Fourth Concubine’s regular tactic to use her reading of random books to get her lectured. When she was a child, she scolded the Fourth Concubine as “illiterate and a village woman.” The Fourth Concubine held a grudge until now. She hated her for reading books, as if An Ruochen read them not as a hobby, but to remind the Fourth Concubine that she can neither read nor write.

An Ruochen looked at the Fourth Concubine, Duan shi, leaning at the door of her room with a sneer on her face. She sighed in her heart. When she was a child, she was ignorant, did not know how to bend and stretch, her temper was too big and her patience lacking. Fortunately, she awakened early. It will be better in the future.

An Ruochen saw that An Zhifu almost finished his scolding and busyly interjected: “Father, I was wrong. Father did not let me read those legendary stories, and I have long stopped reading them. Did father not burn them all last time?” While she said this, she looked at the desk with slight weakness. The direction of the gaze was too obvious and was instantly caught by An Zhifu. He raised his eyes to see the corner of his daughter’s desk. There were several books there.

“If you’re not reading it, what are you so afraid of!” An Zhifu shouted, thinking he had caught his daughter in the act, and waved his hand, “Bring me those books from her desk!”

One of the old servants went over and got them.

An Zhifu took a look. The first book is “Women’s Commandments”, and the bottom one is “Internal Training”, which seems to be lined with the rules. But then the next book turned out to be “General Long’s Biography.”

An Zhifu was furious: “Bastard!” How dare you lie and say you don’t read leisure books.

Wait, what General? General Long!

An Zhifu flipped through the book, and it was really General Long. The book recorded the various folklore anecdotes from Long Teng’s youthful expeditions with his father, the young hero with the golden sword and iron horse, describing his heroic war achievements and the admiration of millions of people.

“Where did you get it?”

An Ruochen timidly mumbled: ” I bought it from the street vendor some time ago. It is a handwritten book by a storyteller from outside the county.” The fact is, after she got punished, she rushed to create it overnight and made it all up. It was a thin book and it looks decent. She thought if her father got suspicious and raided her room, she would show him the book. The evidence was conclusive. She was a man-chaser, who left home to meet the General. She just needed to use this method to push the evidence into the light, then follow the water. Flawless.

An Zhifu turned it over again and read a few paragraphs. Then “hummed” and scolded: ” Spending all day to get this mess, give me ten copies of the Buddhist scriptures, cultivate the body and purify the mind, reflect on it.” After saying this, he brushed off his sleeves and left.

He confiscated the book.

An Ruochen let out a sigh of relief. She was supposed to reflect, and so she did. The failure of this escape, besides her bad luck, was because she was in too much of a hurry and did not properly think it through. She had no helpers, was alone, and her feet were not fast enough. This direct escape naturally had little chance of success. She should hide first, wait for the wind to pass, and only then find the opportunity to leave the city.

An Zhifu took the book back to read it and did not realize he finished reading it in one breath. It was well written, and the wisdom and bravery of this General Long have been expressed to the fullest, literally a great talent, unparalleled in the world. One will definitely be happy to see him. An Zhifu came up with an idea. He summoned An Ping and asked him to go to various bookstores in the city to search around. An Ping returned and told him there was no such book in all the bookstores in the city.

 An Zhifu was happy. Very good, just what he wanted. He found a copywriter to make a new copy of the book and have it restyled, replacing the existing script with a silk one, then paired the book with a sandalwood box, and finally wrote a formal invitation, asking for someone to send it to General Long.

When An Zhifu was doing this, An Ruochen was also busy. She started to implement her second escape plan.

The people in the house were unreliable. It’s not about loyalty. For example, the old nanny and her two maids have been genuinely good to her, but they panic and cry at every turn and can’t accomplish anything. They were right under the noses of the people in the residence. If something goes wrong, all her efforts will go to waste.

An Ruochen wanted to find a helper outside the residence.

That person cannot know too much, needs to be steady and competent. Finally, An Ruochen chose Lu Daniang, who delivers vegetables to the An House.

T/N : Lu Daniang = A middle age woman surnamed Lu.

Lu Daniang was a widow. She had a military family, her husband and son got drafted into the army and never returned. She did not remarry, nor did she return to her mother’s family, but chose to lived in a house alone. She did not own any land, but could read, write, and calculate accounts. She helped send vegetables and grain to various families to earn money.

An Ruochen observed Lu Daniang for a while. She did not like to gossip, did not get involved in the wrong things, understood accounting, and made a clear list of the goods sold. The An House sometimes needed some rare ingredients and she was able to find them. She was not fawning over people but has compassion for the suffering servants. An Ruochen saw her secretly bring food to the servants in the residence, who were being punished and were not allowed to eat. When she was leaving, she did not say a word, as if nothing happened. An Ruochen intentionally blocked her, but she remained calm and collected and did not show any fault.

An Ruochen decided to seek Lu Daniang’s help.

At first, An Ruochen was hanging around the residence, looking for people to chat with and complain. People would think the young miss does not dare to go out, is bored, and can only nestle in the residence gossiping. Later, An Ruochen found an opportunity to intercept Lu Daniang and chat with her in the secluded area of the backyard. No one was surprised by her finding people to spill her grievances. No one cared and paid attention.

An Ruochen said to Lu Daniang that she had a female friend who married a grumpy husband, who sometimes beat her when drunk. The woman was beaten and abused. She did not dare to go back to her mother’s house. She wanted to find a house where she could hide once in a while. She asked Lu Daniang to find a quiet and inconspicuous house for her friend to take shelter in when she needed it.

Lu Daniang knitted her brows and listened but did not pursue her friend’s identity. She asked if the other party considered it and whether it was possible to do so. How can she go back after escaping from home? What if she gets beaten more? Are there children? Will they be abandoned because of this escape?

An Ruochen felt Lu Daniang was considerate and said: “My friend’s husband can not control his temper. When he hits, it really hurts. My friend suffers from injuries from time to time. I have also asked what you’re asking. She said she did consider it. If she does not avoid it, she fears she will lose her life. What else is there to be done? She has her own way of dealing with things. She did not say much to me. I think she has some reservations. But a human life is at stake. I can not stand and watch. I can’t just wait until she dies and goes to her grave, regretting that I didn’t help her before.” An Ruochen said while showing sadness, with tears in her eyes.

Lu Daniang showed a soft expression. An Ruochen slipped her a small amount of silver: “My friend asked me to find someone to rent a house for her, saying this is a token of appreciation. If the matter is completed, there will be another reward.”

 Lu Daniang looked at the silver and accepted it.

An Ruochen was relieved, it seems things can be done.

Lu Daniang said: ” Young miss should not say anything about this. If the word gets out, both your friend and the young miss will get into trouble.”

An Ruochen nodded her head and agreed. If this was done, she expected Lu Daniang would keep her mouth shut. After all, a person helping a woman to hide from her husband’s family will be prosecuted by the authorities. She made up this story because of this point, it is a dangerous move, but it must be done.

Within two days, Lu Daniang slipped a key to An Ruochen when she sent the vegetables. She said the room was already rented, in Ping Hu East Lane, the innermost house. The door was broken and locked with a red thread, so it was easy to identify.

An Ruochen thanked her, slipped some money and asked Lu Daniang to send food to the house every day. Since her friend was hiding, it would not be good to show her face.  They agreed that if her friend is living in the house, she will set up a brick and a bamboo basket at the door, and Daniang will put the food into the basket every day and take the money from under the brick.

Lu Daniang did not say anything and agreed.