A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

On the afternoon of the third day, when it was time for the funeral procession, Sha Yanxiao took Gui'er out of Marshal Zhang's residence and into a busy area. They saw a colorful tent set up on the roadside, with an altar and offerings on it. Marshal Sha and his wife were also there. Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "This is a roadside memorial service set up by our family. We'll be done once the funeral procession arrives and offers their respects."

Guier noticed that besides the soldiers guarding the altar, some guards were also wearing civilian clothes and milling around, looking for any suspicious individuals. Some of the buildings around the altar even had second floors, and officers were already stationed at the windows. The security was truly impeccable.

Soon, the sounds of suona and chanting were heard from afar. Gui'er turned her head and saw soul-calling banners at the head, followed by prayer flags, umbrellas, paper houses, carriages, boys and girls, and various daily necessities. There was even a paper car that was almost 1:1 in size, and a bunch of white paper money scattered all over the sky by slaves and servants in mourning, making the whole street white. There were three coffins. The first two should be the two Miss Zhangs. The coffins were obviously made of good wood. The last one should be the mother of Miss Zhang IV. Even someone who knew nothing about it like Gui'er could see that the coffins were of very poor quality because the thickness was different.

The two Miss Zhangs had no offspring, so two temporary servants were adopted by them as filial sons. They were walking in front of the coffins, holding their photos.

When they arrived at the roadside memorial shed set up by the Sha Mansion, the two filial sons knelt down, paid their respects and cried. Marshal Zhang did not come. Although Miss Zhang Si followed behind in a sedan chair, it was not convenient for her to come out, so the steward came out to thank Marshal Sha and the Young Marshal.

Gui'er took a look and saw several sacrificial sheds on the road. They should have been built by people in Fengcheng who had connections with Marshal Zhang.

After the funeral procession passed, Sha Yanxiao was about to take Gui'er back to Marshal Zhang's residence. Suddenly, an adjutant walked up to Sha Yanxiao and whispered something to him. Sha Yanxiao's expression became serious. He pulled Gui'er into the car and came to the Fengcheng military camp.

It was Guier's first time to visit a military camp. She looked around curiously. It seemed to be no different from modern military camps, except that the buildings were still old-fashioned.

Gui'er asked Sha Yanxiao: "Why are we here?"

Sha Yanxiao said: "They caught a suspicious person."

As he spoke, he came to an interrogation room. A man who looked like a servant was tied to a pillar. There were many wounds on his body and face, and blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Sha Yanxiao put his hands on his hips, walked up to the man and said, "Who ordered you to sneak into Marshal Zhang's mansion and kill people?"

The man said weakly, "Young Marshal, I'm Mr. Ji's man. He said it's inconvenient for you to take action, so he asked me to help you. We are all on the same side. Tell your men to release him."

Sha Yanxiao's expression changed, and he smiled and said, "I see. What about the others?"

The adjutant said: "When we went to arrest them, they resisted. He was the only one left out of five or six people. We killed the others."

Sha Yanxiao asked the killer, "Did Mr. Ji leave any message, or any special contact information for you?"

The man said, "No more, Mr. Ji, let's go and come back quickly."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and hurriedly asked his attendants to help untie him. He said, "Thank you for your hard work, brother. It's all a misunderstanding. I'll call a doctor to treat you later."

The man thanked him repeatedly.

Sha Yanxiao dragged Gui'er out and said to his adjutant, "We can't keep this man alive. Once we're done, report this to Marshal Zhang and say it was his eldest son-in-law's bandits who did this to frame us."

Then he paused, then continued, "Spread the word that those who arrested these people were Marshal Zhang's personal soldiers."

The adjutant said, "Yes." Then he glanced at Guier.

Sha Yanxiao said: "It's okay, this is my sister."

When the adjutant heard this, he looked at Guier.

Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "This is the brother I brought down from the mountains. He's now in Fengcheng watching over him for me."

Gui'er said obediently, "Thank you for your hard work, brother."

The adjutant was originally very serious, but immediately laughed innocently: "Our sister is so cute."

Sha Yanxiao looked a little unhappy and said, "Okay, you can go back." Then he took Gui'er and left in the car.

Gui'er thought they were going back to Marshal Zhang's residence, but the car slowly drove out of the city. Sha Yanxiao said, "Let's go back now."

Gui'er was surprised and asked, "Don't we have to say goodbye to Marshal Jiang?"

"Father, mother has already been there. They are waiting for us outside the city."

When we got outside the city, we saw Marshal Sha and his wife's car, and a large truck with soldiers on it parked there.

After the three cars met, they headed straight back to Jiangcheng. Guier looked through the rear window at Fengcheng, which was getting farther and farther away from her sight, with mixed feelings in her heart.

Although she and the three Miss Zhangs could not be said to have a deep relationship, they had known each other for a while. The three Miss Zhangs had always been polite and considerate to her. She did not expect that two of the Miss Zhangs would pass away during this trip.

Because the journey wasn't far, they arrived back in Jiangcheng around eight or nine in the evening. The motorcade arrived at the Marshal's residence, where his wives, concubines, and children stood at the gate to greet them. After getting off the motorcade, Marshal Sha said, his face full of weariness, "I'm tired too. Let's leave it at that for today. You all go back and rest."

After everyone had dispersed, the Marshal said to his wife and Gui'er, "You two must be tired, go back and rest early."

Gui'er knew that he would probably talk to Sha Yanxiao about something, so she said, "Then Dad and Mom should get some rest early. I'll be leaving first."

The Marshal and his wife both nodded, and Gui'er was sent back to Sha Yanxiao's courtyard by the steward.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the servants standing neatly at the door to greet her. Dingxiang said, "Miss, you're back. We were wondering why you were gone for so many days when you were supposed to be gone for a day."

Gui'er said, "Don't mention it. Something happened. You should prepare some simple food first. My brother and I haven't eaten yet."

The servants in the courtyard immediately got busy and soon brought a bowl of hot lean meat porridge. Dingxiang said, "Miss, please eat first. The kitchen is still cooking."

After a while, Sha Yanxiao also came back. At this time, the side dishes made in the small kitchen were ready and served. Sha Yanxiao and Guier ate while chatting.

Sha Yanxiao said, "Tomorrow, the three beauties will be there, and then in a few days we'll send the engagement gifts to Marshal Zhang, and then the wedding will be held in a few months."

Gui'er nodded. This kind of thing wasn't really her job as an adopted daughter to take charge of. However, Fengcheng was not safe, and sending a pregnant woman there now might not be safe. She said, "I don't have a say in this matter, but Sister Sanmei is pregnant, and Fengcheng is so unsafe. Is it safe for her to go there?"

Sha Yanxiao took a sip of porridge and said, "It's okay. Send her a few more people. She must give birth at Marshal Zhang's place, otherwise people will gossip. Besides, now we have a reason to suppress the bandits. Starting today, we will increase our efforts. I believe that Marshal Zhang's son-in-law's bandit group will be defeated soon."

Now that things have come to this, Gui'er can't say anything more.