Perfect Encounter - Chapter 56.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 56.2
The couple argued on the street over this. Mrs. Jiang was unforgiving and decided that Li Xiu’er had done evil. Boss Jiang Wei was bent on searching over the corpses and retrieving Li Xiu’er’s remains.
Yao Kun, the governor, had a headache listening to this issue and sent someone to Li Xiu’er’s mother’s house. She would have returned to her mother’s house after committing the crime. The neighbors all spoke up for Li Xiu’er, saying she was a good and filial girl. It should be a thief who wanted to enter the store to rob money and accidentally touched the candle. Many neighbors have reported that someone burglarized their homes, while others provided clues that they saw robbers dressed in black and masked.
Lu Daniang listened around, and her heart sank. They predicted the attack but did not expect the methods would be this brutal. Burning the whole street, robbing and killing people, outrageous. In this case, the purpose of killing Li Xiu’er can be buried clean, without anyone noticing.
Lu Daniang finished prying, looked around, and wondered if any eyes were watching her movements. She didn’t dare to show her face, put on a gossipy look to inquire through a few more rounds of small talk, then sent vegetables to each family as usual. On her way to send the vegetables, she took a detour to the house she spoke about to Li Xiu’er and saw that the door was closed with a bamboo basket with a lid placed outside. Lu Daniang recognized the basket as the one she stored in the house. Her heart settled down.
An Ruochen also heard about the incident. The case involved many families and victims, so the military had to send people to investigate and prevent spies from taking advantage of the chaos to attack the city. The Purple Cloud House also strengthened its protection and dispatched more guards. Soon, the Purple Cloud House received the case records.
Thus, An Ruochen went to see Li Mingyu, the Chief. Likewise, he rejected her again. It was the same as the last time, the same expression, the same reason, and even the same posture. An Ruochen went through all the same drama including anxiously stamping her feet. Then, she quietly went to find Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan was very reliable. Without saying much, he quietly helped her get the case record again.
An Ruochen carefully looked at the file. Thirteen corpses, including four from the ruins of the Jiang’s clothes store, one of which was a woman that got burned beyond recognition. An Ruochen’s heart was beating like a drum, wondering whether this female corpse was Li Xiu’er.
The case record also stated that five people claimed to see black-clad masked men committing crimes but were unable to specify how many there were, neither could they determine how tall, short, fat, or thin they were. There was panic and noise. One of the people was confirmed to be lying and didn’t see the men in black.
The Jiang’s clothes store was the initial place of the fire, but not all the flames originated there. Some people confessed that when their homes were on fire, they were still separated from the Jiang’s clothing store by some distance.
There was no autopsy record because it was not yet done at that time.
An Ruochen pondered while reading it, trying to deduce some clues from it. At this time, Chun Xiao suddenly reported that Li Mingyu, the Chief, came to visit her.
An Ruochen was startled, thinking that Steward Fang has been exposed for stealing the case records. She put the things away and prepared to defend herself. But when she got outside of the room, she saw Li Mingyu with a stern face saying, “I heard that you have been interacting with your sister quite often lately.”
An Ruochen was stunned.
Li Mingyu said: “The Purple Cloud House is the military court and the General’s residence. It’s a military place where people can’t come at will. You’re serving the army. Concentrate on your task with all your heart and soul. It’s not right to be involved in family matters.”
An Ruochen hurriedly responded, “Lord Li is right.”
Li Mingyu asked, “Steward An has tried to get the case records twice. What are your plans?”
An Ruochen was confused about Li Mingyu’s meaning and hesitated to answer.
Li Mingyu said: “This question is because Steward An, after all, is under Lord Xie’s leadership. According to the General’s instructions, when Lord Xie is not here while Steward An has urgent matters, you must inform me and let me help to handle the matter.”
This tone of voice choked An Ruochen. “There are no urgent matters. I’ll wait for the lords to return.”
Li Mingyu stared at her for a long time: “That’s good. I have asked for clarification. When the Lord returns, Steward An should not say that I am making things difficult for you.”
An Ruochen knew that her words were weak, so she had to respond with a smile.
After Li Mingyu left, Chun Xiao comforted An Ruochen: “Don’t take it to heart, Miss. The chief secretary is like that. He always has a stern face and watches everywhere, as if he sees everyone as lazy.”
An Ruochen answered with a few words, her mind still circling around the case. She thought about it and wondered if Lu Daniang had sent news. So, she said she wanted to take a walk to relax. She seemed to stroll casually, avoiding the guards on patrol. When no one was around, she came to the corridor she had agreed on with Lu Daniang, lifted the third brick, and saw a piece of paper pressed underneath.
An Ruochen quickly put the paper into her sleeve, put the stone brick back in its place, and returned to her room.
After entering the room, she pulled out the piece of paper and looked at it. A “three” was written on it, and then a checkmark on the word “An Place.”
An Ruochen was excited, “three” refers to Li Xiu’er, and “An Place” means she successfully hid at the place they had arranged. She is alive!
An Ruochen burned the paper and paced back and forth in the house, trying to figure out what to do. Li Xiu’er couldn’t hide like this for long. She missed her mother so much that she couldn’t stay. She should meet her as soon as possible.
An Ruochen went out without Chun Xiao, but it was necessary to inform Tian Qing and Lu Zheng. It’s Big Long’s rule. No matter where she is, there must be someone to protect her. It would be suspicious if she did not even notify Tian Qing and Lu Zheng and sneaked out.
Today, Tian Qing accompanied her. On the way, she heard people talking about the Jiang’s clothes store case, and Tian Qing asked An Ruochen if she wanted to take a look.
An Ruochen said: the clothes store must be full of government officials and soldiers. The burnt store will also have a lot of things to deal with. She will only add to the chaos and cannot do anything useful. Today, Chief Li reminded us to wait for Lord Xie and the General to return and give instructions. She did not want to cause trouble.
Tian Qing listened and made a ghostly face, “Chief Li.” He seemed to have a lot to say about this person. An Ruochen smiled and didn’t respond to the words.
After that, An Ruochen wandered towards the vicinity of the An Residence and found a teenager to send a message inside. Not long after, An Ruoxi led the maid out, walked to the street to see An Ruochen, and said: “Huh? Are you here on your own today? Don’t you have the authority to call me over? Is it possible that you want to go back to the residence?”
An Ruochen made a disgusted expression: “I don’t want to go back to that damned place. Let’s find a place to talk alone. Don’t bring the maids. Are you coming?”
An Ruoxi naturally went.
The two sisters strolled along and finally stopped at the Qing Shui Pavilion, a teahouse, a place to enjoy tea and listen to music. An Ruochen said she was tired of walking and proposed to sit there.
An Ruoxi had no opinion. She had a stomach full of questions, wondering what tricks An Ruochen was playing.
Tian Qing saw them stop and stood across the street waiting. An Ruochen gestured with her eyes. Tian Qing understood and nodded.
An Ruochen took her sister to sit in the private room of the Qing Shui Pavilion, ordered a pot of tea without listening to the music, and soon only the two of them were left inside. An Ruoxi suddenly stopped pretending and asked with a sunken face, “What do you want this time?”
An Ruochen said slowly: “I said I would tell you something the next time we meet.”
An Ruoxi sat up straight: “Go ahead.”
“Have you heard about the fire in the Jiang’s clothes store, which involved the whole street? Over ten people died tragically, and half of the street burned down.”
“Yes.” Speaking of this tragic case, An Ruoxi’s expression was grave.
“Some fabrics in the Jiang’s clothes store come from South Qin. Did you know?”
An Ruoxi froze. “Did the fire have something to do with the South Qin shipments?”
An Ruochen shook her head: “I don’t know the details. At least the case record does not specify this. But there are rumors that the Department of Commerce and Customs is under investigation. Then this matter is profound.”
An Ruoxi frowned.