Perfect Encounter - Chapter 62.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 62.2
An Ruochen was embarrassed, but this was such a big deal, and it was more appropriate to go inside to discuss it.
An Ruochen sighed and stepped into Big Long’s room for the second time this evening.
After Big Long sat down, An Ruochen hurriedly began to introspect: “General, please forgive me. I was too reckless. I didn’t know when you would return or the situation at Lord Xie’s end. But after Lord Xie left, I felt that we have been deceived. I was afraid the spies would destroy the evidence in the next few days. I was too anxious, indeed too reckless. If I could keep it steady, wait for you to return, and then deal with it, Liu Ze would not have died, and we would have been able to catch Mr. Xie.”
Big Long asked, “Tell me, how was the decision made?”
“……” An Ruochen was nervous and didn’t know how to talk about it for a while.
Big Long refined the question, “Why did you let Liu Ze make an appointment today? Why did you ask for help from Lord Governor?”
An Ruochen hurriedly said: “There is a traitor in the Purple Cloud House. The traitor is aware of the military orders given by Lord Xie to his spies, so he will know that I am investigating Li Xiu’er and Zhao Jiahua. He knows that Zhao Jiahua left me a clue and that Zhao Jiahua and Li Xiu’er are in cahoots. After Zhao Jiahua’s death, Li Xiu’er is a threat, like the Xu Matchmaker. The arson case of the Jiang Clothes Store proved this. They wanted to kill Li Xiu’er to silence her. But the matter was too big. It shouldn’t be this big. The General has taught me; the most important thing in espionage, is to pry for information while remaining low-profile, steady, not causing any trouble, not leaving clues, and not acting rashly. Old Chen, the house owner, and the Xu Matchmaker, have died silently without any traces. But the assassination of Li Xiu’er is different. I guessed that Liu Ze has acted on orders, but the people he sent failed to complete the task. Then, to cover up their failure, they killed many people and burned many houses, to disrupt the line of sight.”
“How did you know that he failed in his mission?” Big Long asked: “The Lord Governor personally investigated and has not concluded whether Li Xiu’er is alive or dead. The Jiang family also didn’t decide on the corpse of Li Xiu’er. Based on the missing persons of each family, Li Xiu’er should be among the female corpses. But the coroner does not dare to give his conclusion in this matter, and the Lord Governor is still waiting for news.”
“I have Li Xiu’er. I’ve hidden her in a safe place.”
Big Long raised his eyebrows in surprise.
An Ruochen pursed her lips and went on to explain. She said she was using this to blackmail Liu Ze. Because Liu Ze failed the task, he must have done those things to stall for time. He couldn’t hide the truth that Li Xiu’er was still alive for long. Thus, he wanted to take advantage of the delay to do something. In other words, Liu Ze and the leader of the spies, Mr. Xie or Young Master Min, were in some kind of conflict, something that she can exploit. It was an urgent matter, so she was in a hurry to take the initiative.
“Liu Ze said he didn’t know who Mr. Xie was. The one who contacted him was Young Master Min. These two are quite similar in age and stature, but I can’t be sure if they are the same person. I have seen Young Master Min’s appearance in the restaurant. If I see him again this time, I will recognize him.” An Ruochen paused and said, “Liu Ze knew a lot of inside information. He said he helped Young Master Min gather information, find candidates, and process the money. But he said he would only report the details to you. Because I was too reckless and impulsive, not waiting for your return, he died, and now we’re not getting his clues. Lou Zhi is also dead. Important clues, all gone.”
An Ruochen looked apologetic and lowered her head. The General trusted her. She felt ashamed.
For a while, there was no sound in the room. Big Long did not speak. An Ruochen did not dare to raise her head. She decided that no matter how the General reproached and punished her, she would accept it well. In the future, she would never make the same mistake again.
After waiting and waiting, Long Da finally spoke, “Isn’t there still you?”
An Ruochen froze, could not believe it, thought she heard wrong, and raised her head to look at him.
“Who said the important clues are gone? Aren’t you still here? Liu Ze is dead. Lou Zhi is dead. But Zhao Jiahua and Li Xiu’er are still alive. The Liu Residence, the restaurant, the gambling house, many servants, the paperwork, and books are all still there. We know about the secret passage. We found a vault with a lot of money and a registry. Although the people inside the registry are hidden behind aliases and code names, they can no longer use that money. Poisons, weapons, etc., were all seized. These are all clues. If you did not handle it timely, perhaps all these would have been gone by the time I returned.” Big Long added: “The leader at the gambling house surnamed Niu is Lou Zhi’s right hand. He confessed that Lou Zhi and Liu Ze had plans to kill Young Master Min and you, block the secret passages, transfer physical evidence, and clean up the traces of what they had done for the spy. After that, they would have dealt with the relationships in the city. The intention was to let Liu Ze replace Young Master Min. But then Liu Ze betrayed Lou Zhi, so Lou Zhi changed his plans. Only, Lou Zhi did not expect Liu Ze to be planning to escape that day, so he summoned the fighters. That’s why the chaotic battle happened.”
An Ruochen was surprised that things were even more complicated than she thought.
Big Long said: “Although things did not turn out as expected, you have done quite well within the limits.”
An Ruochen was still dissatisfied: “But if I waited for half a day more, you would have come. If you ……”
“According to my plan, I shouldn’t have come back today. Besides, if I were here, Young Master Min would not have the guts to entangle with Liu Ze and the others. Many things would not end like this. It was because Xie Gang and I were not here that we have this result today.” Big Long looked at An Ruochen: “Your arrangement was correct. The only flaw in this matter is that you do not have the power. You cannot mobilize the workforce. You do not have authority and cannot control the resources.”
An Ruochen bit her lip. She is a runaway merchant’s daughter. What power is there to talk about? The General did not blame her but affirmed her actions, which already satisfied her. She did her best but blamed herself for not getting things done perfectly.
“You were isolated and didn’t know who the spy was in the Purple Cloud House, so you begged the Governor to send someone. Yao Kun told me that the spy probed into his wife and made him intimidated. If he doesn’t remove the spy, his wife’s safety will be at risk.”
An Ruochen blushed: “It’s true, but I exaggerated a bit. I think he will think more about this.”
“He did think about it. Today, when he discussed the matter with me, there was no more blaming over the matter of espionage.” Big Long added, “You could see through the Lord Governor, knew how to pinch his soft spot.”
An Ruochen wanted to say she was uncertain but needed to take a chance in an emergency. But before she could say anything, Big Long said, “Actually, my return at this time, it is also because of you.”
The topic changed too fast. An Ruochen was first bewildered, then suddenly realized, interrupting his words: “Did the General read the books and understand about the tiger moving away from the mountain? I thought your letter meant this. I replied to the letter thinking that the General instructed me not to act rashly, so I obeyed. Then, the traitor would be confused.”
Big Long’s words were interrupted, and his face was unpleasant. “Next time, you can write a few more words. Usually, you talk so much, yet write back only two words. If I were that traitor, I would be able to see that you did it on purpose.”
“You are not the traitor, but you can also see it.”
Her words choked Big Long. Is that the point? Is it?
An Ruochen was shocked to realize that her backtalk was inappropriate. She hurriedly corrected her posture and put on a docile appearance.
“Sometimes you are smart beyond my expectation, but sometimes I think you are too stupid.” Big Long said. An Ruochen didn’t understand whether it was a compliment or a derogatory comment, so she gave herself a fair word: “No one is perfect, General. I will try my best.”
“Try to do what?”
Right, try to do what? An Ruochen thought about it and expressed her loyalty loudly, “I will try to do a good job as a steward and help the General solve the problems.”
Big Long stared at her for a long time, then suddenly sighed: “You don’t even know what is wrong with you. How can I expect you to solve problems?”
An Ruochen didn’t understand, but this time she wisely said, “Please give me guidance, General.”
“You were right to deal with it decisively. It’s just that you don’t have much status in the Purple Cloud House. But because of this, the enemy despised you, so you had the opportunity to take advantage of it. So if you want to sum up the experience of this failure, you should ask me how to establish the power and ask me for more rights.”
An Ruochen’s face collapsed. Although she was thick-skinned and forced to be bold, how could she dare to ask the General for power and such things?