A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After Gui'er heard about Taohua's family, she was speechless. Wu Dahua saw this and quickly comforted her, saying, "Sister, don't worry too much. This kind of thing is very common in the face of natural disasters. In our village, more than a dozen people starved to death that year. Except for the wealthy families, many who had land had no choice but to sell their children. No matter what kind of business they took, at least they could keep alive."

Guier smiled and said, "How do they know they can at least survive? I almost died."

Wu Dahua was speechless for a moment after hearing this.

Gui'er didn't want to embarrass everyone, so she smiled and said, "But second brother, you're always thinking about me, which is really thoughtful of you. Now that you've left home, you and little brother should take care of each other. Who knows, you might become successful in the future, and I can benefit from your help."

Wu Dahua perked up after hearing this and said with a smile, "Don't worry, sister. I will definitely work hard to learn the craft. When you get married, I will make you a set of furniture."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay." In fact, she had no intention of getting married and starting a family. In a social environment where a husband could sell his wife and daughter at a low price, getting married would undoubtedly mean handing over her life to others to dispose of, and she was unwilling to do that.

Seeing that she had said enough, Gui'er decided to call it a day. Wu Dahua seemed a little reluctant and said, "Sister, can I still come to see you in the future?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. She had no intention of meeting him again, but it didn't seem right to refuse outright. So she said, "If you ever want to see me again, come here and find Shopkeeper Zhang and ask her to find a way to notify me. It's just that it will be troublesome."

Wu Dahua was very happy to hear this, and kept saying, "Hey, hey, I know, I wouldn't come here if I had nothing to do." Then he tactfully stood up and said goodbye.

Song Xichen asked Zhang the shopkeeper to send him out, then turned around and asked Gui'er, "Did you have a good chat?"

Gui'er sighed and told Song Xichen what she had just said.

Song Xichen touched her head and said, "I did ask someone to go to your hometown to investigate, and what he said is basically true. He really loves you very much."

Gui'er didn't expect Song Xichen to do such a thing for her. Thinking that Wu Dahua really loved her, she felt a little comforted and said with a smile, "Thank you, Brother Xichen."

When they returned to the Marshal's Mansion that day, Gui'er came to the Third Concubine's courtyard. After much hesitation, she finally told Taohua about the situation at her home. Taohua was stunned for a moment and cried, "Actually, I guessed it too. At that time, Dad said he had to sell us off to save Mom, but he didn't expect he couldn't keep us. This is good. I won't have anything to worry about in the future."

Gui'er was deeply moved by this. She was in a gloomy mood. When she was doing homework in Sha Yanyao's courtyard, Sha Yanyao noticed it and asked, "Gui'er, you are in a bad mood today."

Gui Er then forced a smile and said, "No, I'm just a little tired today."

Sha Yanyao smiled and said, "In that case, you should go back and rest early."

Guier nodded.

When they returned to Sha Yanxiao's courtyard, they felt something was wrong. The servants in the courtyard all looked unusual, and Sha Yanxiao was not there. Guier said to Dingxiang, "I'm thirsty. Please bring me a glass of water." Then she went back to the room.

When Dingxiang came in with some water, Guier asked her, "What's going on?"

Dingxiang said: "Miss Lulu seems to be seriously ill and was sent to the hospital by the Marshal."

Gui'er was a little puzzled: "He was so full of energy just the day before yesterday, how come he suddenly became seriously ill after just one day of absence?"

Ding Xiang said, "I'm not sure either. It seems Miss Lulu didn't leave her room all day and all night, and no servants came to check on her. The young marshal found it strange and went to check on her himself."

Gui'er also sensed something was wrong, so she asked, "Didn't Wu Mingqiang say anything to you?"

Ding Xiang said, "After the young marshal sent the person to the hospital, he told me that the young lady asked them to leave Miss Lulu alone for the next two days."

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's afraid the servants will notice something unusual?"

Gui'er thought about it for a while but couldn't figure it out, so she said to Dingxiang, "Okay, just keep an eye on it. Let me know when Brother Yanxiao comes back."

Dingxiang agreed and went out.

Gui'er was in her room, reading books and newspapers, waiting for Sha Yanxiao to come back.

Around seven or eight o'clock in the evening, Gui'er suddenly heard a quarrel, mixed with the voices of Sha Yanxiao and Ji Yiru. Gui'er wondered why Dingxiang didn't tell her that Sha Yanxiao was coming.

When Guier opened the door, she saw Sha Yanxiao and Ji Yiru in the living room on the first floor. She quickly went downstairs and said to Sha Yanxiao, "Brother, you're back."

Sha Yanxiao saw her and smiled and said, "Have you finished your homework?"

Gui'er nodded and walked in front of Sha Yanxiao, thinking about how to ask about Lulu.

Suddenly, Ji Yiru picked up a teapot and threw it at them. Sha Yanxiao reacted quickly, nimbly pulled Guier over, and waved his hand to knock the teapot away.

Sha Yanxiao yelled at Ji Yiru, "What the hell are you doing?"

Ji Yiru said, "Who told you to quarrel with me over a servant? In my house, if a servant is killed, then so be it."

Only then did Guier notice that there was a circle of servants standing around, including Dingxiang, and there was a pile of broken glass on the ground.

Sha Yanxiao suppressed his anger and said, "This is not a gang. This is not a place where you can kill people if you want."

Ji Yiru was furious after hearing this and pointed at Sha Yanxiao and said, "How dare you look down on my family."

As he said that, he picked up a cup and threw it at Sha Yanxiao. Sha Yanxiao dodged it and the cup fell to the ground and shattered, with fragments flying everywhere. Gui'er was so scared that she didn't know where to hide. Suddenly, she felt someone picked her up, avoided the fragments, and then landed steadily on the ground.

"Gui'er." Sha Yanxiao quickly stepped forward and hugged Gui'er in his arms, saying, "Are you okay?"

Gui'er shook her head, still in shock. When she turned around, she found that the person who had just picked her up was Wu Mingqiang.

Sha Yanxiao said to Ding Xiang, "Take the young lady back to the house."

Dingxiang came over quickly and said to Guier, "Miss, shall we go back to the house?"

Gui'er also felt that it would be better for her to hide for a while, so she went back to the house.

There was another quarrel outside. Sha Yanxiao dragged Ji Yiru back to the bedroom, while the other servants were cleaning up the debris on the floor in the living room.

Dingxiang and Guier went into the house and closed the door. Guier asked Dingxiang, "What's going on? Why are you arguing again all of a sudden?"

Ding Xiang said, "I heard that Miss Lulu might not be able to be saved. It happened in the past two days. She was poisoned by the young lady. The doctor discovered it after the young marshal sent her to the hospital."

Gui'er took a breath of cold air. Isn't Ji Yiru too unscrupulous?

Ding Xiang said, "I wanted to go and tell the young lady, but as soon as I entered the room, they started arguing. The young lady threw things all over the floor, and we didn't dare to move."