MTL - Perfect Encounter-Chapter 16

An Ruochen lowered his eyes and remained silent. There can't be conflicts with the second sister, she needs to get through this half a month in peace. But the second sister's reaction was really weird. No wonder what happened? An ominous premonition floated in An Ruochen's heart.

Seeing that An Ruochen was bored, An Ruoxi was even more angry, but there were some things she couldn't say, so she paced back and forth in anger, cursed a few more words, and then left.

An Ruoxi left, and the old nanny and girl who had been dismissed by An Ruochen hurried into the house. The old nanny wanted to protect An Ruochen, but she also understood that An Ruochen didn't want to cause trouble, but she felt distressed when she heard her daughter being scolded for no reason.

But when they entered the house, the first words An Ruochen said to her were: "Nurse, after Matchmaker Xu died, Master Qian replaced Matchmaker Li to discuss the marriage, what happened?"

The old nanny was stunned for a moment: "I don't know about this. Every time Matchmaker Li comes back, she goes to the Tan's courtyard to discuss with each other."

An Ruochen thought for a while, and then asked: "What happened recently in each aunt's courtyard?"

"Nothing special, it's still the same as usual."

An Ruochen stopped talking. Something must have happened, but she didn't know it.

For several days in a row, An Ruochen stayed at home and honestly closed the door to think about her mistakes, but she asked the girl and the old nanny to pay attention to the movement in Tan's courtyard. The girl came to report, saying that the second girl took the fourth girl out to play today, An Ruofang also came to visit An Ruochen quietly that night, and brought some snacks for An Ruochen, saying that the second sister gave her to An Ruochen when she took her to play. She bought it.

An Ruochen asked An Ruoxi if she had said anything, and if she had taken her to meet anyone.

An Ruofang shook her head: "It's just ordinary playing and shopping, and I haven't seen outsiders."

An Ruofang comforted An Ruochen: "I heard that the second sister lost her temper when she came to the eldest sister's place, so the eldest sister ignores her. She is always fierce for a while, don't let her think that you are taking advantage of her, she is right People are still good."

An Ruochen smiled and patted Simei's head. Even a twelve-year-old girl can see what Second Sister is thinking. If her interests are not touched, she will not be too bad to others, so she came here and scolded her for no reason. Almost a bad thing. Could it be that if she was divorced, the second sister would have to marry her instead? Did father and second aunt discuss this matter?

An Ruochen became vigilant.

What about the fourth sister, why is the second sister so nice to the fourth sister all of a sudden? The second sister relied on the Tan family to be in charge of the family, and she was always proud and arrogant, always dominating the sisters, but she suddenly became friendly to the fourth sister, why?

"Elder Sister." An Ruofang suddenly whispered: "Must Eldest Sister marry Master Qian? Doesn't it work if you don't marry?"

An Ruochen smiled: "What stupid things did you say? After making an appointment, how can you not marry?"

An Ruofang bit her lip, lowered her head and twisted her fingers, and then whispered: "I think, eldest sister..." She paused, "Eldest sister has no mother since she was a child, we have a mother who loves her, eldest sister doesn't have one, and eldest sister should marry One that hurts, that, that Master Qian is terrible."

An Ruochen didn't speak. She knew what the fourth sister swallowed back the word.

Pitiful.

She wanted to say that the elder sister was pitiful.

But An Ruochen didn't think so, she wasn't pitiful, she was pitiful only if she was willing to live on. She put her arms around Fourth Sister's small shoulders, not knowing how to explain it to her, and did not dare to explain it. If you say too much, it is easy to attract doubts.

"Eldest sister, I, I have saved some private money." An Ruofang lowered her head and whispered, "Although it is not much, but at least it can last for a while. Or else, elder sister, run away."

When An Ruofang finished speaking, her voice was barely audible. She raised her head and looked at An Ruochen.

An Ruochen was shocked, she never expected that the fourth sister would say such a thing. The first thought in my heart is whether her plan has been known?

She quickly calmed down, put her arms around An Ruofang and said: "Silly sister, don't think like this, you must never have such thoughts. The sky is big and the earth is big, where can I have a home, the outside is extremely dangerous, a daughter's house , where can I escape to? Isn’t that a suicide attempt?”

An Ruofang frowned, opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by An Ruochen: "Stop talking stupid things. How can we disobey the orders of our parents and the words of a matchmaker?"

An Ruofang bit her lip, looked at the eldest sister, her eyes gradually became moist, the tears were rolling, but she didn't seem to dare to fall. "It would be great if I had the ability. I have the ability to earn money and manage affairs. If my sister is bullied, I can protect her. Unfortunately, I can't do anything. I only saved a little money..."

An Ruochen hugged the fourth sister into her arms, and stopped looking into her eyes, feeling mixed emotions in her heart.

An Ruochen dare not forget, that year An Ruofang was five years old, she was eleven, and her mother had just passed away for a year, and each house bullied her when she was young, and took away all her mother's jewelry. There is one thing that her mother told her to leave for her when she was leaving, and it belonged to her grandmother. So An Ruochen went to Sanfang Xue's and stole that piece of jewelry back, hiding it well so no one would know. No matter how much Ren Gefang asked, she said she didn't know. But later when An Ruofang talked about her mother when she was with her, she had no defense against her little sister, so she leaked the matter, saying that at least she still had something to miss about her mother. Unexpectedly, An Ruofang was taught by her mother to make clichés.

When the matter was revealed, An Ruochen was severely beaten by An Zhifu, and the jewelry was also robbed by the third-fang Xue. The hateful thing is that Mrs. Xue didn't care about that thing, and she pawned that jewelry on purpose in order to get revenge.

Afterwards, An Ruofang cried bitterly. She didn't know what happened, but she cried because her sister was beaten. An Ruochen can't blame An Ruofang, but she has learned one thing since then, some people don't want to harm you, but others will use her to harm you.

An Ruochen hugged An Ruofang tightly, and said: "Don't think like that, don't have such thoughts." She lied to her sister in a gentle voice.

On the second day, An Ruochen was summoned by the yamen. Anping was ordered to accompany the eldest lady.

When I arrived at the county government yamen and was questioned, I realized that the identity of the man in the dark blue clothes was found that day. That man's surname was Xie, and his first name was Xie Jin. He was the owner of the Laijin Tavern in the west of the city. He had some martial arts skills and often bullied the neighbors, young and old, but he had never committed any serious crimes. There are two clerks in his shop, the clerks don't know that Xie Jin has this kind of clothes, they say that the material is good, Xie Jin usually can't afford to wear them. But the Yacha searched Xie Jin's house and found a box of silver under his bed, new and old, it seemed that he had saved it for a while. There are also several Chinese clothes, all of Xie Jin's size. The two guys were taken aback, saying they didn't know that Xie Jin had hidden these things. And after thinking about it carefully, sometimes I really don't know where Xie Jin went, it's quite mysterious. However, Xie Jin did not find an invitation post for the swearing-in meeting, and his staff did not hear that Xie Jin was going to attend the swearing-in meeting, so it is unknown how Xie Jin entered the venue.

Yao Kun asked An Ruochen to come because he wanted to ask An Ruochen, but he still remembered something. Have you ever had contact with Laijin Tavern before, or heard anything from others? What did Xie Jin do on the day of the swearing-in meeting? Did she find anything wrong? Have you ever seen Xie Jin in contact with other people? Are there any associates?

An Ruochen's heart skipped a beat when he heard that the person's surname was Xie. According to her confession that day, she was unwell, lost her way and left alone, and ran into a thief by chance. Don't know Xie Jin, never heard of him. Yao Kun asked her repeatedly and asked her to go back.

An Ruochen sat in the sedan chair, carefully thinking about the intention of Yao Kun's question. Could it be that Yao Kun thought Xie Jin was doing it carefully? According to what Long Da said earlier, Xi Zuo usually hides poison, and if there is nowhere to escape, he will take the poison and kill himself. That was the case when Xie Jin died. But if he is the meticulous Mr. Xie...

A thought flashed in An Ruochen's mind, but at this moment, someone shouted, "Manager An."

The voice is quite familiar. Like Zong Zeqing.

An Ruochen lightly lifted the sedan chair curtain and found that Zong Zeqing was waving at them by the window of a private room upstairs. When she saw her poking her head out, she only nodded her head to say hello, but it was a greeting to them. Looking at An Ping, he said: "What a coincidence, what is Guan An going to the yamen for? How is Master An doing recently? How about coming up and explaining?"

It was too late for Anping to curry favor with Zong Zeqing, so he naturally agreed. He asked the bearer to wait for a while, and without greeting An Ruochen, he left her and went upstairs by himself.

The appearance of this general was too coincidental. An Ruochen's heart moved, he looked around and got out of the sedan chair. The bearer hid under the eaves of the restaurant to avoid the sun and was talking, not paying attention to this side, An Ruochen also entered the restaurant as if nothing had happened. After entering, I took a look around, and it was not time for meals, and there were hardly any customers on the first floor. There is a corridor on the right, and there is a private room inside. An Ruochen thought for a while, then walked in the corridor, the door of a private room inside was half closed, An Ruochen knocked.

Someone in the room responded, "Come in."

The voice was very familiar, An Ruochen pushed open the door.

Long Da sat alone in the private room, drinking soup. Seeing that An Ruochen came in, she put down the bowl, the corners of her mouth slightly curved. An Ruochen felt that he should be smiling. I don't know if it's because the soup is so delicious, or because I saw her.

"You're here." Long Dao said in a tone as if he had made an appointment with her.

"General." An Ruochen saluted, secretly glad that she guessed right.

"I haven't sent you a letter, but you can find it, which is quite a bit of wit."

"Thank you, General, for your compliment." An Ruochen thought that General Zong Zeqing was a big "letter".

"That man's surname is Xie, what do you want to say?" Long Da asked directly without talking nonsense.

An Ruochen hesitated.

Long Da didn't rush her, but just looked at her quietly.

An Ruochen thought about it, sighed inwardly, and said, "I guess, he's not that Mr. Xie."

"Didn't you never see Mr. Xie's face? He followed you and wanted to kill you when you placed an order. Why isn't he that Mr. Xie?"

An Ruochen asked back: "The officers and soldiers searched in the forest, fought with Xie Jin, and chased along the blood trail for a while, and finally found his body. Before finding the body, did the officers and soldiers clearly see the face of the person who fought?"

"I haven't seen it clearly."

An Ruochen pursed his lips, knowing that Long Da had studied the details carefully, so he already had a conclusion in his heart, and now he was really testing her by asking her like this. She continued: "Matchmaker Xu is so exquisite, who has never seen anyone before, how can she be respectful to someone like Xie Jin? And in the venue, since the other party has already tricked me into the woods, why don't you wait patiently for me to enter the forest before doing it? This is different from that The prudence of Mr. Xie is really different. After I hid in the forest, someone searched everywhere, trying to lure me out. But Xie Jin disappeared. I guess Xie Jin was restrained at that time. The other party wanted to kill two birds with one stone and kill me. I killed him, and waited for the officers and soldiers to enter the forest to search for them, and then pretended that Xie Jin was invincible, fearing that he would be arrested, so he took poison and committed suicide. So I was killed by Xie Jin, and Xie Jin killed himself."

Long Da nodded solemnly: "It's clear and logical, quite reasonable. Why did you hesitate before?"

"I'm afraid the general thinks that since this is the case, it's better to keep me as bait."

"Then why did you tell the truth again?"

"The general is extremely smart and decisive. Since I have asked this question, I must understand the doubts. If I lie to the general, I am afraid that the general will be annoyed, and I will not even have a chance to be used as bait to lure the enemy."

Long Dashi said calmly: "The flattery is not bad, but it is quite useful."

"..." An Ruochen tried hard to maintain a dignified expression.

"Now there is another problem. If your guess is correct, then the person who lured you out led the guards to hunt down Xie Jin. If they want them to find Xie Jin's body, how will he escape?"

An Ruochen opened his mouth and froze.

"More and more officers and soldiers gathered inside and outside the forest. Everyone scattered to search the forest, and you were also found. What about that person? How to escape?"

An Ruochen became more and more nervous when Long Da stared at her. "Uh..." She tried hard to think, "Maybe, maybe he didn't escape at all. Hide first, and he will leave after everyone disperses."

Long Da raised his eyebrows.

An Ruochen looked at it and wanted to rub his eyebrows, "If, if I have martial arts skills, I will jump to the tree. Commander, have you searched for the tree yet?"

Long Da raised his eyebrows high.

An Ruochen swallowed, didn't he? The big trees in the forest are dense with leaves, it is definitely a good place for Tibetans, it is much better than her squatting in the bushes.

Long Da didn't comment, but suddenly said: "Remember the time, October 15th, Shenshi, South City Gate. If you miss it, there will be no more." After Long Da finished speaking, he waved his hand, indicating that An Ruochen could gone.

An Ruochen was still a little confused when she left the restaurant, so she let her go like this, what did General Long mean when he saw her?

Zong Zeqing was also unclear. After An Ruochen and Anping's master and servant left, Zong Zeqing asked in the private room: "General, you have met Miss An secretly many times, why?"

"I think it's a pity." Long Da sipped the soup and answered after a long time.

"What's the pity?" Zong Zeqing's eyes glowed, and he smelled the breath of important gossip.

"It's a pity that she is not a man."

Zong Zeqing's face is turning green, what is the profound meaning behind these words? The general likes Miss An, but wants her to be a man? Ah, the gossip once said that the general has a habit of cutting off his sleeves, otherwise why would he not marry a wife at this age. It's fine if you don't marry a wife, and there are not many concubines in the house. It's fine if you don't have a concubine room. Usually, there are beautiful girls who show affection, and the general has never looked at her directly. Not feminine, old-fashioned and serious.

Are the rumors true?

"If she is a man, if she is cultivated well, she will definitely become a useful talent."

"..." Zong Zeqing's face collapsed. The general was extremely puzzled by the style, not to mention marrying his wife, he might not be interested in breaking his sleeves. Seeing a girl who is happy to admire, she only cares about cultivating her into a talented person.

"It's been a long time since I saw such a brave, resourceful and calm person."

Zong Zeqing really wants to point to his nose to show the general, there is one here! It's a pity that the general didn't even look at it, he just drank the soup.

A few days later, An Ruochen heard that the magistrate had closed the case, and judged that Xie Jin usually wore fancy clothes and Qiao pretended to be a rich man and went out to cheat and extort money. Xu Shi planned to repeat the old trick at the oath meeting, and picked a single lady who was ready to strike, but the soldiers who were patrolling discovered that Xie Jin committed an attack in a panic and was killed instead.

An Ruochen listened quietly and didn't say anything. Even if the government suspected that it was a spy, there was no evidence, so it had to close the case like this. But General Long must have understood what was going on. But what she was worried about didn't happen, and the general didn't make any request to her to lure the enemy. He promised her that she could really leave here.

An Ruochen was secretly happy. That day, seeing that An Zhifu was happy, she asked him to visit her mother's grave. An Zhifu took back the two boxes of jade goods that day, and he was in a good mood, so he agreed without hesitation. So An Ruochen took the maid and the old nanny to her mother's cemetery to worship.

There are still seven days until October 15th, An Ruochen counts the days quietly, now to visit her mother, praying in her heart that this is not the last time in this life. An Ruochen stood in front of her mother's grave for a long time, and said a lot to her in her heart. She told her mother that she was going, away from here.

"Live as you wish."

An Ruochen thought of what Long Da said, and couldn't help smiling. She told her mother that she was also a blessed person. Although she was born in such a family, had such a father, and was promised such a marriage, she met a noble person.

At that time, I met such a person.

An Ruochen remembered that her mother met her father when she was young and youthful, and from then on her life was depressed and ended in a hurry. And she went far away, still don't know what will happen. She knelt down in front of her mother's grave and kowtowed three times.

When An Ruochen returned home, he met An Ruoxi and An Ruofang returning from picking flowers in the garden. The two of them were holding a large bouquet in their hands, smiling all over their faces. An Ruofang saw the eldest sister, and rushed over to give An Ruochen several branches. An Ruoxi's face was a little ugly. When the three of them were walking back together, An Ruofang couldn't hold the flowers in her hands, and a few branches fell off. She squatted down to pick them up, but fell behind.

An Ruoxi looked back, and taunted in a low voice: "She is also not familiar with it, I bring all the food and play, but she has always been thinking about the eldest sister."

An Ruochen didn't say a word, but in her heart she praised the second sister for using the word "also" well. Everyone kisses sisters, and no one owes anyone for food and play. Why doesn't she see if she is not familiar with it? Know to say someone else. Besides, she's only been courting Fourth Sister for a few days, so it's as if she brought up Fourth Sister.

Although An Ruochen didn't say anything, An Ruoxi felt that the eldest sister seemed to be mocking her, so she couldn't help but stare at her. An Ruochen still ignored her, but she was thinking in her heart, the second younger sister suddenly showed affection to the fourth younger sister, why? Could it be that father has arranged a good marriage for the fourth sister, and the second sister knows, and intends to curry favor with the fourth sister for a few years, so that after the fourth sister gets married, he can help her later?

An Ruochen was a little uneasy. Seeing that An Ruofang had already picked it up and walked towards them with a smile, she knew that this was not a good time to try. She hesitated to find out before she left. But so what if she inquired, she couldn't change anything, it just added to her worries.

An Ruochen decided not to ask. She smiled at her two younger sisters, and was about to say "Let's go back and find a vase", but she heard a woman crying for help in the yard not far away.