Perfect Encounter - Chapter 52.1
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 52.1
Lu Daniang frowned while listening.
Qi Zheng said: “Father Yang had found out that something was wrong. That day he asked me to find you. Then, he wanted me to follow you to make a living. Father Yang had to go to the city. He was afraid there would be no one left to take care of me. I asked him why, but Father Yang said I was too young to understand. When I bugged him about it, he said something big had happened in the city. He had to go to the Liao City garrison to find General Mu to report the case.”
“General Mu?” Lu Daniang froze. Her husband, her child and Brother Yang were serving in the Mu army. What was it that he had to drag his lame limb to such a faraway place?
Qi Zheng continued: “I did not understand. Why didn’t he report the matter to the authorities? Father Yang said there were spies in the city. Who knows whether the governor could be relied on? It was better to report directly to the Army.”
Lu Daniang was dumbfounded: “When did this happen?”
“Two years ago. Just before Father Yang died.”
Lu Daniang was overwhelmed by surprise that someone had already found out about the spy so early. She immediately had a bad premonition. “How did Brother Yang become ill?” She was the one who took care of the aftermath and buried him in a cemetery, in a plot of land she bought outside the city, where she buried her husband and child. She had also left a place for herself there.
Qi Zheng’s eyes were red: “I don’t think it was an illness. After explaining to me, Father Yang went to his vigil. He intended to set off after I left. I didn’t think much about it and slept as he told me. But early the next morning, they told me Father Yang had suffered from the chill. After falling ill, they put him in another house. When I saw him, Father Yang was pale, sleeping heavily. There was a doctor next to him, saying that he had come to see Father.”
Lu Daniang nodded. She knew this. When Qi Zheng cried and came to her, she rushed to visit, and he was gravely ill. The doctor said that his old disease had resurfaced, and combined with the cold and wine, he suddenly became worse. The doctor prescribed him medicine to drink every day but there was no improvement. Three days later, he died.
Qi Zheng said: “At that time, they did not let me attend to my father. They said that I was too young and could be easily infected with diseases. But I once sneaked in when no one was around. It so happened that my father was awake. He struggled to speak with me. He told me to leave this place and said to keep his body. He could not speak clearly at that time. I struggled to hear anything.”
“Keep his corpse?” Lu Daniang asked, “Therefore after he died, you came to beg me to collect his body and bury him?”
Qi Zheng nodded: “I had no money. If I couldn’t bury him, I could only have burned him. But Father Yang said to keep his body.”
Lu Daniang understood. “You thought there was something strange about the death of Brother Yang, so you did not want to leave and wanted to find out the truth.”
Qi Zheng nodded again.
“Child.” Lu Daniang wrapped Qi Zheng into her arms, “You should have told me earlier.” Lu Daniang’s tears spilled on her lapel as she thought of Brother Yang.
“If I told you, you wouldn’t be able to just sit back and do nothing. In this world, you are the only person who treats me well. I was afraid that they would kill you.”
“Naturally, I will not sit idly by. If someone murdered Brother Yang, we must seek revenge for him.”
Qi Zheng nodded his head forcefully. “I’ve been pretending not to know anything for two years, always following Brother Niu and the others. I also found out about some things.”
“What is it?”
“Daniang should not be concerned about it. These things are dangerous. It’s not good for you to know.”
“You are but a child with no one to help you. How can you take revenge for Brother Yang? I am not afraid of the dangers.” Lu Daniang stroked Qi Zheng’s head, “I have to protect you. Otherwise, when I see Brother Yang in the underworld, how can I explain it to him? You are young and always stay in this gambling house. You do not know many people, but I am different. I can find helpers. Qi Zheng, you must tell me what happened.”
Qi Zheng bit his lip: “If you promise not to force me to leave and not to stop me from investigating.”
“Then you have to promise me you will be careful and won’t take risks.”
“I won’t.” Qi Zheng looked proud: “I’m pretending well. In these two years, no one suspected me. They don’t know I’m checking things out.” Qi Zheng looked around again. This place was secluded. Only a few people were coming and going, so he lowered his voice and continued: “I did not find any traces of the spy for the time being, but I saw them kill someone. This matter is also related to the Xu Matchmaker.”
Lu Daniang was shocked. There was Xu matchmaker involved. “What kind of person was killed?”
Qi Zheng said, “I didn’t recognize him. He was a gentleman. The gentleman followed Boss Liu and the Xu Matchmaker. After I finished serving tea to the guests in the hall, I saw Boss Liu lead someone in, followed by the Xu Matchmaker, whose face was not quite right. They kept going to the secret room. This secret room is also a mystery. It looks like an ordinary room with an ordinary exterior. But, I once saw someone go in and when I tried to eavesdrop on them, I saw no one inside. They disappeared like magic. And later, I saw those people come out of the room. I knew there was something odd about that room. I saw Boss Liu and the others go in, followed by Brother Niu and the others. I wanted to see what was happening. Then, I peeked at the door. It turns out that there is an object in the cabinet that serves as a hidden mechanism. As soon as it turned, the cabinet opened. Brother Niu twisted that gentleman’s arms, covered his mouth, and pushed him into the cabinet.”
Lu Daniang asked, “Do you know his name and appearance?”
Qi Zheng shaking his head: “I didn’t hear them say his name. He looked like a clean and gentle scholar with good-looking eyebrows.”
“And then what happened?”
“Then I left. After a while, I did some odd jobs and thought that quite a long time had passed and they should have come out. I then wanted to explore what was in that secret room.” Qi Zheng said and was glared at by Lu Daniang.
Qi Zheng waved his hand and said, “Don’t be angry. I am very cautious. I wanted to find evidence of the spy and Father Yang’s assassination and go to General Mu to report the case.” He added: “I twisted the mechanism and found that behind the cabinet there is a passage which goes down. I don’t know how, but I didn’t feel suffocated inside. The aisle looked quite deep. So I went in. It was quite a long way down, and there were several rooms there. I was afraid and wanted to go back. Then, I heard their voices. They had killed the gentleman and wanted to cut him to throw his remains outside of the city. To throw him into the mountains and let the beasts eat him clean, so no one would notice. Boss Liu said to mix the body with the restaurant’s daily trash bucket thrown outside of the city, so no one would know.”