Perfect Encounter - Chapter 8.2
PROOFREAD BY AFREANA
Chapter 8.2
In the evening of that same day, the An House has suddenly welcomed a valuable guest. General Zong Zeqing came uninvited from the army. An Zhifu was surprised, but welcomed him happily. Zong Zeqing, dressed in civilian clothes, only brought two guards along. He said that previously he had played too much in the city and was punished by the general, who cast him off to patrol the front line. Now he misses the meat and wine, but as he just got back, he does not dare to go to a restaurant for fear that the general would learn about it and punish him again.
“I can’t be thrown to the front line again to live a hard life before I even warm my seat here in the city. I thought Master An was a good person to talk to, so I dared to come over and ask for a drink.” Zong Zeqing said.
“No, no, General Zong is too polite. General Zong’s willingness to come here is a great honor to my home. We have good wine and meat, there’s no need to be polite.” An Zhifu welcomed Zong Zeqing to the hall and urged the kitchen to hasten the preparations and serve all the dishes and wine.
“Then, I will disturb you. Master An must help me keep it a secret from General Long.”
An Zhifu laughed loudly and agreed. He felt a few points closer between himself and Zong Zeqing.
The news of General Zong Zeqing’s visit to the residence soon spread to all the courtyards. An Zhifu called An Ruoxi and An Ruolan to accompany Zong Zeqing in the Chrysanthemum Garden, even 12-year-old An Ruofang was being called. An Ruochen sighed helplessly when she heard the maid. Was her father planning to catch General Zong in case he failed to catch General Long? Regardless, right now, this is not the point. The point is that she also wanted to see Zong Zeqing.
An Ruochen started grinding ink when she thought of a way.
Today, Mrs. Tan was in a bad mood and picked on her. After stopping her at the gate, she came to her courtyard to see what she was doing. When she saw that she was embroidering the pillow as ordered, she scolded her for not putting her heart into it. Mrs. Tan said she was lucky to be married to Master Qian and if Master Qian hadn’t wanted her, she would have died of old age at home without anyone requesting to marry her, bringing shame to the An family. In short, she humiliated An Ruochen with her words until she was satisfied.
An Ruochen asked the maid to inquire. It turned out that when Xu Matchmaker came today, Mrs. Tan pulled Xu Matchmaker to ask about General Long’s situation, wanting to know whether the General had concubines and children at home in the capital. She said the general favors An Ruoxi and his attitude is quite unusual. She wanted to ask the Xu Matchmaker if the matter could be completed. But to her surprise, Xu Matchmaker refused, saying Mrs. Tan shouldn’t think much because a man like General Long came to Zhonglan City with an imperial order to defend the border counties, not to marry a wife and take a concubine. If she as a Matchmaker inquired about this, provoking the General’s taboo and getting her head chopped off with a blade, there would be no place to complain. She told Mrs.Tan to wait in peace. If the general had his mind set on An Ruoxi, there was no need for a matchmaker to persuade him, as the general himself would make the arrangements. Xu Matchmaker said: “If Madam is not convinced, why don’t you find some official lady to be a matchmaker? If the governor’s wife is willing to mention the matter to the general, it will be much better than me, the granny.”
When she heard these words, Mrs. Tan felt the matchmaker was ridiculing her for dreaming of climbing up the ranks. She did not have the guts to ask the governor’s wife for a match. Even the governor’s side could not be reached, let alone General Long. Mrs. Tan is a proud person, and she couldn’t stand it. In the afternoon, she lost her temper several times in her courtyard and took people around the residence to pick on the mistakes of the servants. Mrs. Tan caught An Ruochen on her way out to play, thus the latter also suffered.
When An Ruochen heard this, she knew it was hopeless for her to find any excuse to go out today. She thought about running to the tea stall and asking the scouts there to help her pass on the message, but she didn’t know those people and didn’t dare to entrust them with such important information. Suddenly, she thought, what if she was wrong? What if they are not the general’s people but Mr. Xie’s? Her bluff with Xu Matchmaker today will have been exposed! Xu Matchmaker is probably already discussing with Mr. Xie how to silence her.
An Ruochen was distracted all afternoon, struggling with uncertainty. She wanted to take a gamble and run to the tea stall but was afraid that it would cause Mrs. Tan to be suspicious.
Now, suddenly, she heard Zong Zeqing has come. An Ruochen was instantly revived. She has a chance and she must grasp it.
Zong Zeqing drank and ate a meal at the An House, talking about east and west with An Zhifu. He got to meet An Ruochen’s three sisters, but not An Ruochen herself. He pretended to mention this unintentionally, but Mrs. Tan explained that the eldest girl had been promised to someone else and was busy preparing for the wedding, so she regretfully could not come out to greet the General.
Zong Zeqing secretly laughed at Mrs. Tan’s mind. He is not half interested in An Ruochen, but if he can’t see her, how can he report to the General? The Great General took the whole matter lightly, saying that when he’s there, she will find a way to see him.
Zong Zeqing did not understand where Big Long’s confidence came from. How can he be sure An Ruochen will take the initiative to see him? Besides, what if she wants to come but can’t? In fact, from his point of view, it would be more convenient for him to sneak into An Ruochen’s courtyard and see her directly. But Big Long refused this suggestion. He said he didn’t know the situation on her end and didn’t want them to get into trouble in case others saw him. In short, he will meet her when he gets there, and if he can’t see her, they would discuss it again when he gets back.
Zong Zeqing waited patiently but still failed to see An Ruochen when he finished eating. He used Big Long’s method from last time, saying he wanted to go to the privy to give An Ruochen a chance to cut him off halfway. An Zhifu thought about how the last time General Long got lost on the way to the privy, thus he accompanied him, surrounded by several servants. It was not like going to the privy at all, if one did not know better, one would think it was a kind of celebration.
After going to the privy, Zong Zeqing sat again, drinking tea and listening to two songs, but he still did not catch any glimpse of An Ruochen. As he ran out of ways to prolong his visit, he said his goodbyes. Anyway, he was only acting as instructed. He will report to the General after he returns and ask him what to do.
An Zhifu took his servants to see him off, accompanied by Mrs. Tan from the second house taking An Ruoxi along and Mrs. Xue from the third house taking An Ruolan. Zong Zeqing was followed by a string of tails behind him as he arrived at the side courtyard’s horses pen.
When he reached the place, his eyes lit up. Who else can it be if not An Ruochen?
He never expected to see her here in the end.
An Ruochen was stroking Zong Zeqing’s horse, talking to Zong Zeqing’s guards, asking what the war horses are eating, and so on. When she saw Zong Zeqing coming, she gave a salute.
When Mrs. Tan saw An Ruochen, she was furious and said, “What are you doing? I’ve told you to do your embroidery in the room. Talking to a stranger is not how a decent girl acts, and you have disturbed an honored guest. Where are your manners?”
An Ruochen hastily admitted her mistake: ”Second Mother, don’t be angry. I was bored in the room, so I came out to do something. Before I noticed, I wandered here and saw the General’s horse resting here full of elegance. I was interested and asked about it.”
“It’s nothing.” Zong Zeqing rounded up. “We are soldiers. Both the person and horses are tough. It is not so easy to be disturbed. No need to take it to heart.”
Hearing this, An Ruochen hurriedly said, “General Zong is generous. Thank you.” She patted the saddle on the back of Zong Zeqing’s horse and said, “Then, General Zong should ride slowly, and please pass my greetings to General Long. Father, Second Mother, I will leave first.”
After speaking, she gave a salute and retreated.
An Zhifu and Zong Zeqing exchanged some more courtesies. Zong Zeqing then said goodbye and left.
The whole way back Zong Zeqing was thinking about An Ruochen. After galloping back to the Purple Cloud House, he did not directly hand over the horse to the coachman but unloaded the saddle himself. Under the saddle, he found a piece of paper. There were only twelve characters written on the paper: know know, left-right, follow the vine.
T/N: 12 in Chinese characters.
What kind of poem is this? Zong Zeqing was confused, did not dare to delay, and quickly handed it to Big Long.
After listening to Zong Zeqing, Big Long nodded his head.
Zong Zeqing asked, “General, what is the meaning of this poem that has no literary value?”
”Xu Matchmaker knows that An Ruochen heard the secret and that she ratted her out to me. She had two choices, either cooperate with us or look for her mysterious boss to kill An Ruochen. No matter which path she chooses, whether she believes An Ruochen or not, we have a chance to follow her to catch the person hiding behind the curtain.”
Zong Zeqing opened his mouth and froze: ” General interpreted this much just from these twelve words?”
“She had no way to avoid people’s ears when getting close to you to report the news, so she had to do it this way.”
“She could have written more clearly.”
”It is written very clearly. She would have been in trouble if this letter did not fall into your hands.” Big Long looked at the letter, the corner of his mouth curved. This girl is extraordinary.
Zong Zeqing was surprised. Is this a smile? Does the Great General smile?
“She must have encountered something that forced her to show her cards to Xu Matchmaker, and I guess she must have spouted some nonsense again. She knows I have sent someone to keep an eye on Xu Matchmaker. She is hoping we will catch her when she makes a move.”
She was putting her life in his hands.
Zong Zeqing asked, “So what are we going to do now?”
“Wait.”
As soon as the matchmaker made a move, they would make progress.