Perfect Encounter - Chapter 57.1
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Chapter 57.1
An Ruochen said: “I think this is weird. If they were robbers, then they should have just robbed the place. Why did they need to burn the store? Is it to cover up any evidence?”
An Ruoxi immediately remembered about An Zhifu’s jade goods, which was reclaimed through improper means.
An Ruochen added: “Of course, these are just my blind guesses. The government will never say it explicitly. After all, they must investigate the Department of Commerce secretly. I need your help to investigate something. Naturally, I need to remind you of these things. But this is something you should only know for yourself. It’s just speculation anyway.”
An Ruoxi did not say anything. She couldn’t think of any usefulness in this matter.
An Ruochen asked her about the state of the An Residence, whether she continued to look for her fourth sister, and so on. An Ruoxi answered one by one.
After a while, An Ruochen said she had to go to the toilet and asked An Ruoxi to wait.
An Ruochen exited from the private room and quickly headed to the backyard of the Qing Shui Pavilion. As she walked, she swept a glance across the street. Tian Qing was sitting at a stall talking with the stall owner. An Ruochen took the opportunity to walk through the backyard, leaving through the back door.
After getting out, she ran wildly on the same road she ran wildly in the past. She clearly remembered the situation and feelings of that day, the time to change her fate in life.
Ping Hu East Lane.
Here, she witnessed the secret meeting between the Xu Matchmaker and Mr. Xie, and since then, everything has changed.
But this time, she was not going to the innermost house, but the one next to it – the house where the Xu Matchmaker met with Mr. Xie.
This house was the old house of the Xu Matchmaker. If she did not accidentally stumbled upon it, no one would have known that the abandoned house was still in use. After the death of the Xu Matchmaker, the government searched the house, then left it. An Ruochen needed a safe place for Li Xiu’er. Big Long had taught her that if you are in a city for a long time to spy, you’ll need a secluded place to avoid trouble. His teaching aligned with her plan of asking Lu Daniang to help her rent a house. But unfortunately, she couldn’t prepare in advance this time, so she had to take her chances. Luckily, it was available. Lu Daniang already made arrangements to save Li Xiu’er.
The most dangerous place is the safest place. Who would have expected someone using the house where the Xu Matchmaker carried out the spy’s operation before to hide from the spy’s own pursuit?
An Ruochen looked at the bamboo basket placed at the door and knocked on the door. “It’s me, An Ruochen.”
There were footsteps behind the door, but the latch remained closed.
“Hurry up. I don’t have time.”
Li Xiu’er stood behind the door, looked through the doorway, hesitated and struggled for a moment, then finally opened it.
An Ruochen squeezed in and quickly closed the door again.
“Did you get that old woman to come?”
“The point is that you are still alive now.” An Ruochen didn’t have time to exchange pleasantries with her and quickly told her about the Jiang’s clothes store and the situation in the neighborhood. Li Xiu’er heard the tragic results of the arson case and covered her mouth in fear.
“The officers went to your mother for questioning. Did you tell her anything?”
Li Xiu’er quickly shook her head: “I ran out last night. I did not dare to go back, so I came here.”
“That’s good. Now except for the murderer, no one knows whether you are dead or alive. If you still want to see your mother, listen to my words. Otherwise, I will kick you out and you will only have one of two endings. First, to be killed by the murderer before you manage to walk to the local government office to report to the authorities. Second, if you somehow manage to reach the local government office, the Governor will regard you as a villain who killed more than ten people by setting the fire to vent your anger, and will cast you into prison to await execution.”
Li Xiu’er panicked and cried.
An Ruochen held her shoulders and stared into her eyes, “There’s no time for you to cry. You must answer my questions properly! Only I can save you now.”
Li Xiu’er nodded her head vigorously, tears still dripping from her eyes.
“Do you know Mr. Xie? Did the Xu Matchmaker ever mention him?”
Li Xiu’er shook her head.
“Speak!”
“Never heard of him. The Xu Matchmaker never said there was anyone else, and I didn’t dare ask.”
“What information have you told her?”
“Nothing important. I have not killed anyone, I swear.”
“It’s not for you to say whether it’s important. Think about it. What news was the Xu Matchmaker interested in, what job did she praise you for, or who did she instruct you to pay special attention to?”
Li Xiu’er tried to think and said a few names. Among them was Meng Jiayue, the Governor’s wife. When she sent cloth to the Governor’s wife, the Xu Matchmaker tasked her with asking the Governor’s wife about her family life, whether the couple were on good terms and which madams she was close to, and to probe the relationship between the wives of the nobles under the pretext of soliciting business. Also, the Xu Matchmaker told her when she visits houses to deliver clothes, she needs to observe the house’s layout, the security, and so on. Another thing was when some girls came to make clothes, they would give Li Xiu’er some letters, which she passed to the Xu Matchmaker.
“Was the Zhaofu Restaurant’s Boss Liu ever mentioned?”
Li Xiu’er shook her head. “I only recognize Mrs. Liu. She often came to make clothes. She only made clothes and bought materials, and it was only after the death of the Xu Matchmaker that she asked me to do something.” Li Xiu’er repeated Zhao Jiahua’s instructions once more.
An Ruochen said, “Okay, you can hide here without fear. Except for me and the woman who looked for you yesterday, don’t trust anyone. If someone finds you, say that the Xu Matchmaker once gave you a piece of evidence, and you hid it. This way, you can save your life.”
Li Xiu’er was so frightened that she started to cry again.
“I will solve this problem quickly and let you go home.” An Ruochen instructed her with a few more words. Then, she quickly ran back to the Qing Shui Pavilion.
An Ruoxi had been sitting impatiently in the private room. When she saw An Ruochen return, she looked at her suspiciously: “Why did it take you so long to go to the toilet?”
An Ruochen sipped the tea and said, “I met someone and chatted for a few minutes.”
An Ruoxi frowned: “The conversation must have been quite laborious, ah. You are almost out of breath.”
An Ruochen smiled and did not say anything.
The more An Ruoxi thought about it, the more suspicious she felt: “You’re not using me for anything, right?”
An Ruochen sneered and asked in return. “What use do you think you can have?”
Her words ignited An Ruoxi’s explosive temper, and her face immediately sank.
“All right, all right, who are you showing your face to?” An Ruochen pretended to be displeased too. She threw the bill and left.
An Ruoxi came out with her and stared at her back as she left straight away, suspicion rising in her heart.
At the Purple Cloud House, Tian Qing asked An Ruochen, “Second Miss An did not look good when she left. She seemed a bit suspicious. Do you need me to find someone to monitor her?”
“Suspicious as in angry with me? It would be suspicious if she were kind and friendly. Now that so many things have happened, the city is in chaos, and there are not enough people to go around, no need to pay attention to my second sister’s side.”
Tian Qing didn’t say anything else and withdrew.
An Ruoxi returned home and felt shocked. Qian Pei had come.
An Ruoxi immediately had a bad feeling. The Jiang Clothes Store’s fire had implicated the whole street. If the arson case happened because the Department of Commerce received bribes, then was Qian Pei’s visit this time because of that batch of jade goods?
An Ruoxi failed to notice any clues that would indicate it. The reason was that Qian Pei did not mention the matter of the goods, at least not in front of her. On the contrary, he talked about family matters, praised An Ruoxi for becoming more beautiful and dignified, and asked whether An Zhifu had betrothed her to anyone.
An Ruoxi was so scared that her body stiffened.
It’s a good thing that An Zhifu only made polite remarks and didn’t hang a “for sale” sign on her.
After that, Qian Pei changed the topic and said, “The second girl seems to be close to the eldest girl recently. Are they in close contact?”
An Ruoxi had goosebumps again, not knowing what to say for a while.
Mrs. Tan said: “Speaking of this, I have to praise Xi’er. Because of Master Qian’s instructions to keep that bitch An Ruochen under control to find out some information from her, Xi’er has endured a lot of humiliation. That bitch is now so powerful that she speaks with thorns and sneers, but Xi’er has endured it all. She has maintained a relationship with that bitch and has some interaction with her from time to time.”
Qian Pei laughed: “Then the second girl is really suffering. But Madam’s words are not right. How can it be for me? An Ruochen wants to deal with the An family, and it would be good for you to find out about her and be on guard.”
One sentence skimmed their relationship clean, but An Zhifu and Mrs. Tan had to nod their heads in response.
“So, what did the second girl talk about with the eldest girl these days?”
An Ruoxi’s mind was in turmoil. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Mrs. Tan glared at her, “Didn’t you find out that she wanted to find faults against our family?”
An Ruoxi clenched her teeth and said, “Yes, it’s true. I heard that the government would investigate the matter of the Department of Commerce accepting bribes and breaking the law. My eldest sister was very proud of herself and felt she had caught hold of our family. She asked me how Father retrieved the jade goods. I pretended to agree to help her inquire and then told her there was no flaw to catch. She lost her temper but thought I was still useful.”