MTL - Perfect Encounter-Chapter 7

After a while, Long Dao said: "Now there is neither evidence nor physical evidence to prove that your words are true. You said that the granary was burned, but the granary was fine. You said that Matchmaker Xu was weird, but Matchmaker Xu did not behave abnormally."

An Ruochen gritted her teeth: "How can the general believe it?"

"I heard that Qian Pei came to your house a few days ago, what did he say to your father?"

So you still suspect they settled down? If so, then her every move is really like a spy. An Ruochen thought about it, and replied: "I haven't heard the specifics, but my father asked me to come over when I was enjoying flowers and having tea in the plum garden. Then Master Qian stayed at my house for a long time and then left. I heard it was a discussion About the opening of the shop. The last time the general rewarded my dad with enough face, he became a famous figure in the city for a while. He wanted to open the shop while the iron was hot and make a lot of money. When they were discussing, my younger brother An Ronggui, My second aunt, Mrs. Tan, is on the side, and there are maids and servants waiting on her. Master Qian also has a mansion in Zhonglan City, so he will probably live in this city for a while. If the general wants to ask them if there is anything suspicious, I don't know. All I know is that my father cares about li and Mr. Qian cares about color, and they made no secret of it when they met."

"How did this jade business come about?"

"The price of jade is getting higher and higher. My father thinks it is profitable and has been looking for a way. The whole Pingnan County knows that Mr. Qian has the best way in Nanqin. My second aunt's natal family is in Fu'an County, so I asked the relationship Climbed with Mr. Qian. My father sent many gifts, and even gave him two maids as he liked, but Mr. Qian never let go. Later, Mr. Qian said that if the relationship between the two families can be closer, he will feel relieved to help me Dad arranged it. So in the end my dad agreed to marry me to Master Qian to fill in the house."

"Then you invited Matchmaker Xu to talk about the marriage?"

"Yes." An Ruochen looked at Long Da carefully, and suddenly felt that the general was actually willing to believe her, otherwise how could he talk so much nonsense with her. "General." She said boldly: "If I can help the general find out some news, can the general help me leave home?"

"I've already answered that, no."

An Ruochen bit her lip, and said again: "General, if he wants to catch a big fish, he must need help. The general is worried that the government will startle the snake, and cut off the line of Xu Matchmaker. Then I am the best candidate. I take risks for the general, of course. Gotta ask for something in return.”

"Miss An, if you want to negotiate bargaining chips, there are some things you need to understand. First of all, you have no status to make demands on me, and threaten me with important military affairs, and I can punish you. Secondly, you have nothing to do and only rely on words Kungfu, there is no bargaining chip at all. Besides, in the current situation, how do you think I can trust you? As I said just now, I found nothing suspicious at Xu Matchmaker's place, and nothing happened to the granary. I caught you running away from home I only reported the news out of desperation. If I suspected that you deliberately lied in order not to expose your escape from home, it would be reasonable. You have pondered the laws and regulations these days, but you have come to ask me to help you escape from home. Think about it, does this look like a trap?"

"trap?"

"I am a dignified military general who came here to guard the border, but meddled in the family affairs of the people, robbed people's daughters, and robbed other people's unmarried wives. At the least, I would lose my official position, and at worst, I would be imprisoned. If I agree to you, I will fall into your hands."

An Ruochen hurriedly said, "I definitely would never have such a thought."

"You threatened me just now, remember?"

An Ruochen opened his mouth wide, speechless.

Long Da looked at her, and said again: "Also, have you ever thought about how to find out the news? The matchmaker goes in and out of various houses, and is used to seeing different faces, so naturally she has a lot of skills in observing faces. She has managed many big households The marriages of officials and squires must be exquisite when they travel around the city. If she wants to talk about marriage, she must inquire about the family background and gossip. She can find out a lot of things. This is probably because she can be a spy. The reason for being able to control some girls by talking about her relatives. Her ability to inquire is definitely better than yours. You live in a deep boudoir, how many people have you met, how many things have you experienced, how can you deal with her?"

An Ruochen was speechless. She looked at Long Da, her mind was a little confused.

"Get up. The money is yours, you just take it. Think about what I said."

An Ruochen didn't know what else to do for a moment, she thanked Long Da, and walked out frowning.

"That's right. One more thing."

An Ruochen stopped.

"When you fled, do you always have to tie your chest, thinking it's so convenient?"

"!!" Isn't it too outrageous to speak like this? General!

"But in this way, others will be able to see your intentions from the change in your figure."

"..." So he stares at places he shouldn't be looking at from time to time, is it the intention of studying her? An Ruochen's face flushed red, but she couldn't get angry again.

"If you want to get things done, you can't just look for convenience." After finishing speaking, Long Da waved his hand: "You go."

An Ruochen gritted her teeth and walked out, looking for her second sister. Halfway through the walk, the temperature of the face dropped, and the mind became much calmer, and it was only then that he realized, hey, what the general said just now, was he pointing at her?

An Ruochen and his second sister returned home. An Ruoxi was still excited, holding An Ruochen's hand all the way and talking non-stop. From the moment she stepped into the Ziyun Tower until she left the Ziyun Tower, what she saw, who she met, who said what, in An Ruoxi's view, they were all friendly and beautiful with a bright future.

While An Ruochen was distracted, she quietly looked outside the car curtain. The general sent people to watch Matchmaker Xu, so he must have sent people to watch her. I didn't see anything unusual on the road, but I found it when I was close to home. There was a sugar seller at the street corner, and a tea stand outside the side door.

Could it be them? An Ruochen was not sure. She took a few more glances and secretly paid attention.

For the next few days, An Ruochen struggled to figure out Long Da's thoughts. He questioned her but didn't arrest her. He put on a cold face but talked too much. If she was of use to him, would he help her?

An Ruochen tried to go in and out of the mansion, and sometimes deliberately walked in the direction of Xu Matchmaker's residence, or in the direction of Pinghu East Lane, and then she finally found out that a customer from the tea stand was following her. She didn't see him when she went out, but she did see him sitting and drinking tea at the tea stand yesterday. When she was approaching Pinghu East Lane, she saw this man looking at the signboard of a shop not far from her. She pulled the maid to talk and pretended to enter a shop. Not far ahead.

So An Ruochen made sure that she was indeed being followed, and it should be more than one person. It's just someone sent by the general, so she doesn't panic. It was good that they kept an eye on her, so they could tell the general she was innocent. Even Xu Matchmaker is not abnormal, and of course she is not.

An Ruochen took another opportunity to chat with Aunt Lu when she came to deliver the food, and wanted to confirm whether the owner of the house in Pinghu East Lane had made an appointment.

"Don't worry, girl. I met him yesterday and chattered a few more words. He said don't worry, it's not a big deal. No one has ever lived in it. Who would know that someone has paid rent for this house?" Money. But two days ago, someone actually came to ask about the house, saying that they wanted to rent it, but the house has been abandoned for too long, so it is not auspicious. I asked who rented the house before. Old man Chen was alert, and he answered that there was no one. I have rented it, but it is popular to be cleaned from time to time, so it is not a waste. The man left and said to think about it. By the way, old man Chen still complained, and I don’t know who made the trouble, but actually broke the good lock. , he was so tired that he had to make another call."

An Ruochen secretly thought that someone came to check the house after she left that day. This made her a little scared, if she walked half a step late that day, wouldn't she be caught right away.

Aunt Lu was about to leave, but she suddenly remembered: "By the way, miss, it was also because I didn't think carefully about the condition of the vacant room next door. I just heard old man Chen say yesterday that another person came to ask who the owner of the next room is. Whoever said that he wanted to rent a house, old man Chen knew that it was the old house of Mrs. Xu Mei, and later she had money and moved to a big house. She has never taken care of this remote dilapidated house. I didn't plan to rent it out either. If you stopped renting because you were worried that Matchmaker Xu would come and go there, don't blame me, I was negligent."

An Ruochen quickly thanked him politely, saying that it was just a friend who changed his mind, and it had nothing to do with the house. Aunt Lu frowned and nodded, and said goodbye.

An Ruochen is sure now. In fact, Aunt Lu knew she was lying all along, but she didn't expose her and was willing to help her. An Ruochen sighed inwardly, she guessed that the two groups of people who inquired about the house should belong to Xu Matchmaker's group, and the other group might be people from the government. Maybe after she told the general the address of the rental house, he also sent someone to check it. But the house was Matchmaker Xu's old house, so there was nothing suspicious about it. If she had a good house and secretly rented a small old house, she could still say that she had caught the handle. Now the house was originally owned by others, so there was nothing wrong with them at all.

An Ruochen was worried, thinking that she couldn't think of any way to get information from Matchmaker Xu without making her suspicious.

But today, Matchmaker Xu actually came to their Anfu.

Not long after Aunt Lu left, Matchmaker Xu came to visit, which made An Ruochen a little nervous. An Zhifu deliberately asked his servants to come to her, saying that Matchmaker Xu was here to give gifts on behalf of Master Qian, and to discuss the details of the wedding banquet by the way. An Zhifu also asked An Ruochen to tell Matchmaker Xu in person, and let Matchmaker Xu convey her apology to Mr. Qian on her behalf, saying that she was sorry for the rudeness of pulling her hand away a few days ago, so Mr. Qian would not be surprised.

An Ruochen was disgusted after hearing the request, who was being rude. She was actually asked to apologize for this kind of thing, and she could even spit out the overnight meal.

An Ruochen went. First of all, she didn't want to make An Zhifu unhappy, she had to make her father feel that she was honest, obedient and sensible, so that she might have a chance to escape. Secondly, she happened to be able to meet Xu Matchmaker and test her out.

Matchmaker Xu, as usual, smeared honey all over her mouth and talked about it.

"Hey, I just said that the eldest girl is very lucky. You see, Master Qian really loves you. This set of gold inlaid jade jewelry is hard to find. Take a look, how beautiful it is. There is also this fabric, but it is not in the capital. It’s unique. Not to mention Zhonglan City, even Pingnan County can’t find the exact same one. Mr. Qian said that it seemed that he had offended the eldest lady at that time, so he asked me to give him gifts, eldest lady. But don't blame him."

An Ruochen smiled dignifiedly, saw her father staring at her fiercely from the corner of her eyes, and hurriedly said: "Mother Xu has worked so hard to run this trip, I'm not unhappy, I drank too much at that time, I just felt a little dizzy."

Matchmaker Xu covered her mouth and smiled: "If you drink too much, you will be a little petty. I know, I know. Master Qian must have understood in his heart, no, I have prepared some etiquette for girls to be happy."

An Ruochen continued to smile, happy with pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and geese. At this moment, An Zhifu coughed heavily, An Ruochen hurriedly said: "Please go back and tell Master Qian that I was drunk and disrespectful that day, I hope Master Qian will not blame me."

Matchmaker Xu laughed so that the flower branch trembled, she took An Ruochen's hand and said, "Okay, okay, don't worry, I will tell Master Qian. Don't take it to heart. No, Master Qian is in a hurry Barely asking me to set up a wedding banquet with Mr. An, it shows that she loves the girl very much in her heart. Look, the materials of these jewelry are also carefully selected, look at this hairpin, these earrings..." She picked up the earrings, and in An Ruo Chen gestured in his ear: "Girl put it on..."

Before Xu Matchmaker could finish her sentence, she paused suddenly, her smile froze on her face.

earrings!

earrings! !

Looking at An Ruochen, she suddenly remembered who owned that jade rabbit earring.

Matchmaker Xu quickly came to her senses, laughed again and said, "Young girl must be very beautiful wearing it."

An Ruochen kept smiling, but her heart sank to the bottom. Matchmaker Xu knows. The earrings were indeed picked up by them. Maybe she hadn't thought of who the earrings belonged to before, but An Ruochen was sure that at the moment when Matchmaker Xu's smile froze just now, she thought of it.

An Ruochen didn't know what to do, she continued to smile gently and looked at Matchmaker Xu.

Matchmaker Xu kept smiling, took two steps back, put the earrings back into the brocade box, then turned to An Zhifu and said, "Master An, then the matter is settled like this, I will talk to Master Qian. I have something else to say today. I will leave first. If Mr. An has other orders later, he will send someone to come to me at any time. "

An Zhifu nodded his thanks. Matchmaker Xu saluted, took her leave and left.

An Ruochen saw her walking fast and seemed a little flustered, so she became more sure of her guess. She recognized her, and she was afraid that she would go straight to Mr. Xie's place after she left the gate of their Anfu. When they talked that day, they were silent, just as casual as talking about the weather. They even dared to burn granaries and horse farms, so they would not be soft when dealing with a weak woman like her.

An Ruochen hurriedly bowed to An Zhifu and withdrew. Follow Xu Matchmaker closely.

She couldn't let her leave like this, she had to stop her and fight for a chance for herself.

"Mother Xu, Mother Xu, please stay."

She hasn't figured out what to do after stopping her.

"Mother Xu, I have something important to tell you."

Matchmaker Xu stopped, turned around, and smiled at her as usual: "Miss, what's the matter with you?"

What should she do? An Ruochen's heart beat extremely fast.

"It's rare for Mammy to come, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"

Matchmaker Xu's eyes flickered, and she said with a smile: "The Chen family is still waiting for me to urge the Li family to give me an answer. What's the matter, young lady?"

"Apart from being a matchmaker, Mammy also sells maids to some people, right?"

Matchmaker Xu hurriedly said: "Miss is in need of a girl? What kind of person do you need? I don't do the business of rough servants, that's what people do. If I lack some clever and intelligent people, I can replace the girl Looking for someone. I’m in a rush to do things right now, and when I turn around, the eldest girl asks Manager An to tell me who is missing, and I will do it right away.” After Xu Matchmaker finished speaking, she saluted and turned to leave again.

"Is Mammy in a hurry to report?"

Matchmaker Xu paused.

"Don't worry, talk to me first before making a decision." An Ruochen said calmly.

Matchmaker Xu turned around and smiled along with her: "Young girl's words are getting more and more profound, I don't understand."

"Mommy is a smart person, how could she not understand?" An Ruochen smiled, still thinking about what to do. "If Mammy doesn't mind, why don't you come and sit in my yard?" She looked around and said softly with a smile, "I'm fine, but I'm worried that what I say will make Mammy feel uncomfortable."

Matchmaker Xu was puzzled, and said with a smile: "Why don't we change it to another day, today is really urgent."

An Ruochen looked into her eyes for a long time, then suddenly said: "Well, I'm kind enough to help Mammy, after all, life and death are at stake, but since Mammy can't attend to urgent matters, then I'm not good Let's keep Mammy again. Mama can go now, I hope to see you again."

The last sentence was spoken softly, but Xu Matchmaker was a little flustered. She tried her best not to show her face, made a puzzled expression, thought for a while and said: "Young girl is right, I am even more confused, which makes people curious. Well, let me listen to what the girl said first." What, if I can help, I should serve the girl."

An Ruochen smiled, turned around and led the way. She walked very slowly, General Long's words went through her mind again, it was a little bad, she actually felt that she might not be matchmaker Xu matchmaker. But when things got to this point, she had to take a gamble. Matchmaker Xu's expression changed when she thought of the earrings, which proved that she was afraid. Although she pretended to be calm and calm afterwards, she had already revealed her thoughts at that moment. An Ruochen felt that he could gamble, and that was all.

An Ruochen led Matchmaker Xu for a long walk, which became more and more quiet. Matchmaker Xu said, "Miss, this is not the direction of Miss's yard."

An Ruochen stopped in her tracks and asked with a smile: "Every time Mother Xu comes back to my house, she just sits in the hall. How do you know which direction my yard is in?"

Matchmaker Xu was taken aback.

An Ruochen said again: "Or maybe the mother is well-informed, no matter which house you go to say that your relatives recommend people to do business, you will inquire about the movements in that house in detail. Mammy will be ready when it is needed."

Matchmaker Xu said with a smile: "I don't have such supernatural powers, but it's a matter of marriage for each family, so I naturally have to do my best. I don't know where the eldest girl's yard is, but it's a bit secluded here, not like the master's house. living."

An Ruochen ignored her words, and said to herself: "If it's useful, but the girl is disobedient, how will the nanny silence her?"

Matchmaker Xu couldn't laugh anymore.

An Ruochen stopped laughing, she stared at Matchmaker Xu without speaking.

The two of you looked at me, I looked at you, and finally Matchmaker Xu lost her composure: "The girl was outside the window that day?"

An Ruochen didn't answer, but was still looking at Matchmaker Xu. That day the general was staring at her like this, she felt guilty, so she made all kinds of guesses. Now that Matchmaker Xu is being stared at by her like this, she must be trying to figure out her intentions in every possible way.

Sure enough, Matchmaker Xu swallowed her saliva from being stared at, and then asked: "How is the girl?"

This question has to be answered, otherwise the momentum that has been built with great difficulty will collapse. An Ruochen raised her chin and said: "Mammy cherishes life, and I do the same. Mammy did some things in the past, and some girls died because of it. I don't know who. You and I both know it in our hearts." In fact, she I don't know, but seeing Matchmaker Xu's expression, An Ruochen knew that she was mistaken. "When I heard this, I was afraid that I would have the same result, so I inquired carefully about Mammy, and saw Mammy meeting someone so coincidentally." This sentence erased my attempt to run away from home, no matter what happened later, She couldn't let her father know that she was going to run away.

Matchmaker Xu's heart skipped a beat, but she said calmly, "I meet people every day, and the girl sees them when she sees them."

"Not only did I see, but I also heard some important things. I was also afraid of being murdered, so I reported it to General Long."

Matchmaker Xu said with a smile: "Who is General Long, how can he pay attention to these jokes."

"Of course I paid attention to it. But you changed your mind and didn't burn the granary. But General Long already knew about the plan of Mammy and Mr. Xie. He said that Mammy would definitely come to me. If he saw Mammy, Send him a few words."