Perfect Encounter - Chapter 99.2

PROOFREAD BY AFREANA

Chapter 99.2

“There is no news about An Ruofang, and I don’t know if it is An Ruochen’s ploy to test the waters.” Mr. Xie gave the man a wary look and said, “With the war getting imminent on the frontline, Long Teng is not allowed to leave, and once the inspector arrives, Yao Kun won’t be able to even protect himself. An Ruochen is in Zhonglan City, which means she is under our control. Don’t get into trouble. I won’t bother about your mistakes earlier, but don’t be reckless again.” After thinking about these heavy words, afraid that the other party may be uncomfortable after hearing them, he added: “I mean, hold back for some time. When the matter is over, or An Ruochen is no longer useful to us, I guarantee I will hand her over to you. Do whatever you want to her, how about it?”

The man smiled, “That’s good. You can do things better than Min Dongping.”

At this moment, An Ruochen was sitting in Cao Yihan’s room, continuing their conversation. Cao Yihan was silent and did not react to An Ruochen’s sentence, ‘You can only rely on me.’

An Ruochen waited patiently and continued, “I’m willing to help you meet General Long. I won’t tell anyone about the missing paper. As you know, when Mr. Huo came here, General Long and the Lord Governor arranged for tight defenses because there were spies in Zhonglan City and perhaps even inside the county government offices or the governor’s residence as well. I’m willing to trust you for now because Mr. Huo entrusted you with the aftermath of his suicide note, and he had faith in you. But I don’t know you, and I know nothing about you except that you are Mr. Huo’s attendant. So if I don’t know the contents of Mr. Huo’s posthumous letter, if I can’t determine whether it’ll be detrimental to the General, bring him trouble or put him in danger, then I won’t be able to help you.”

Cao Yihan gritted his teeth and squeezed out a sentence, “There is no letter. Mr. Huo only wrote a suicide note. What’s your purpose in speculating wildly about it?”

An Ruochen ignored his remark and added, “I didn’t let anyone scour your room because if you have important evidence, I want to protect it. But if you are a traitor and Mr. Huo has trusted the wrong person, the Lord Governor will keep detaining you here anyway. I don’t care what happens to you after that and how he intends to deal with you.”

“What a big mouth! What is your status? Can you care about it?” Cao Yihan said, “I do not know you either. General Long came to Pingnan to guard the border. How come a fiancée popped up for no reason? I have never heard General Long mention it. Madam Governor says you are his fiancée, so you are? Even just taking it as you are, so what?”

An Ruochen didn’t care about his sarcasm and only said, “It’s good to be defensive. You keep that letter well. Next, you can observe the situation. See whether the Lord Governor holds you or allows you to meet the General. And see how long Mr. Huo’s funeral arrangements will take.” She stood up, “It’s not good for me to linger here for too long, or I ought to make people suspicious.”

Cao Yihan hesitated and struggled, unable to decide whether to believe her. If she leaves, would the opportunity be gone?

“If you are certain that you won’t be able to see the General and need my help, don’t ask anyone to find me. After all, you don’t know me well, and I’m not in charge here, so you should go to the Governor’s wife if you need anything. I will come back again, and that will be your only chance to ask me for help.”

An Ruochen finished speaking and turned around to go out. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Tian Qing standing outside, raising his hand to knock on the door. Seeing An Ruochen come out, he hurriedly said, “The officer said you were inside for quite some time, Miss. I was about to ask.”

An Ruochen said, “Don’t worry. I was just talking to Mr. Cao, advising him to restrain his grief.”

Tian Qing and the officers guarding the door all looked inside, and Cao Yihan turned his head away with a stern face. An Ruochen closed the door behind her, “Let him stay quiet for a while. Anyone would have a hard time with this.”

An Ruochen and Tian Qing prepared to return to the Purple Cloud House. As she walked outside with her hands behind her back, Tian Qing looked at her walking posture and wondered if there were thoughts in her mind as she unconsciously showed the General’s stance when he was deep in thought.

An Ruochen was indeed hesitant about whether she should put some pressure on Cao Yihan. She finished playing a good cop and did not ask for the truth violently, and after this, she should play the bad cop. But she was not sure. In case it resulted in a big commotion, causing the spies to get suspicious and put their hands on Cao Yihan, killing people and searching for things —

An Ruochen abruptly stopped her footsteps and turned back to ask the officer, “After the guards withdrew last night, how many guards stayed in this courtyard?”

The officer replied, “Four. Two guards at the door of Mr. Cao’s room and two at the courtyard gate.”

“How long does one shift last?”

“One night. The guards change at dawn.” The officer asked, “Why is Miss An inquiring about this?”

“Nothing, it’s just that Madam Governor asked me to persuade Mr. Cao, fearing that he couldn’t get over it. I don’t think Mr. Cao will do anything. However, he is very dissatisfied with General Long and I’m worried that he may do something hurtful in his anger, so it would be good to have someone stay on guard to deal with him promptly if he shows any movements.”

“That’s for sure. The Lord has instructed there should be guards at the room’s door.”

An Ruochen smiled, politely said a few words about their hard work, and then left.

Her heart was beating chaotically. She suddenly thought of a possibility, but then she shook her head at herself. It doesn’t make sense either. What if an assassin hid in the room beforehand, forcing Mr. Huo to write a suicide note and then killing him, disguising it as a suicide? Naturally, no one would search for him, so he waited for all the guards to leave and then took advantage of the middle of the night when everyone was slacking off to escape. But if that really was what happened, why would the assassin allow Mr. Huo to write another letter?

Was she wrong in guessing that Mr. Huo used that paper, or was it the assassin? That’s not right either. An Ruochen took a deep breath. There was a reason why Mr. Huo specifically explained in his suicide note that Cao Yihan must handle his remains for him, and Cao Yihan’s reaction confirmed it.

So it was really suicide?

An Ruochen felt like her heart was scratched by a hundred claws, and she wanted to rush to that room to do a proper search. Although the assassin was gone, it would be good for her to confirm whether there was any hiding place. But no, she couldn’t show the slightest bit of doubt about the house. She couldn’t let the spy think that Cao Yihan was a threat.

That’s right. If there was an assassin, it meant the person had known that Mr. Huo would hide in that room before the guards’ surrounded that courtyard. Not in the main house, not with his attendant, Cao Yihan, but alone in that room.

That spy’s identity might be more frightening than she dared to guess. Was it the Governor? He had always sheltered Qian Pei. If it was indeed Qian Pei, then the Governor might not be able to get away with it either.

An Ruochen didn’t dare to think. If it was really the Governor, then many things would make sense. In Liu Ze’s case, why did Lou Zhi know the arrangements in advance and go to silence Liu Ze so timely? Why did Jiang Man lie and slander Chief Li? Then, he was coincidentally assigned to the river, and as a result, drowned.