A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After that, Gui'er continued to work as an apprentice every day. Before she knew it, the summer vacation was almost over, and the fourth concubine also returned from Shanghai with Sha Lili and Sha Yanwen.

They brought a lot of souvenirs, which were distributed to each courtyard and each house. They also took their two children to visit Ji Yiru in the small courtyard. They really did a lot of favors.

Sha Lili heard that Ji Yiru complained to them, saying that the environment of the small courtyard was too bad and the medicine prescribed by the doctor in the mansion was ineffective. Of course, the shrewd Fourth Concubine would definitely not care, and just laughed it off.

Then one day, a notice suddenly arrived saying that the Madam had ordered the stewards of each courtyard to bring their maids to clean up their respective courtyards. She specifically told the steward of Sha Yanxiao's courtyard, "The small courtyards must also be cleaned. Make sure they are neat, tidy, and presentable."

Gui'er felt as if her superiors were coming to inspect her in the modern world, so she asked Dingxiang to find out the news. She found out that it was the mother-in-law and the husband of the family that her lady was planning to marry that were coming with their daughter to visit.

Gui'er rolled her eyes countless times in her heart, but because it was an order given by the lady herself, the manager and the maids still got to work enthusiastically.

There was nothing much to clean up in Sha Yanxiao's yard, mainly the small courtyard, which was cleaned again, the furniture replaced, and some ornaments added. Ji Yiru's original jewelry and clothes were moved there. I don't know why she still needed to dress up even though she was so injured.

After working for most of the day, when Sha Yanxiao returned in the evening, the steward came to him smugly and said, "Madam has personally visited the small courtyard and is very satisfied."

Sha Yanxiao said calmly, "I understand."

Gui'er went to play with Taohua, and Taohua told her about the Madam asking the Third Concubine to clean the house. Taohua said, "I really want to leave here soon. We are always outsiders here. Sister Sanmei told me to be careful that when I grow up, my father will use me as a bargaining chip to marry me off. You still have Brother Yanxiao to help you. I don't know what to do."

Gui'er was silent. In fact, she was not sure what would happen at that time, so she could only try her best.

While chatting with Taohua in her room, they suddenly heard a noisy noise outside. Taohua and Guier came out. It turned out to be a servant in the Third Concubine's courtyard. He said to the Third Concubine breathlessly: "Madam, this is terrible. Something big has happened up there."

Usually, the front they mentioned refers to the Marshal and his wife. The third concubine asked quickly, "What's wrong?"

The servant said, "The Marshal has called the Eighth Concubine back from Shanghai. It's said that she was having an affair with one of her classmates there, so the Marshal had that man lured over as well. As soon as he entered the Marshal's residence, he shot him without a second thought. The Marshal is now interrogating the Eighth Concubine."

Everyone present was shocked. The Third Wife was stunned for a moment, then said to the servant, "You unruly thing! How can a servant like you discuss such a matter?" Then she said to everyone, "No one of you is allowed to gossip about this matter. Just pretend you don't know anything. Do you understand?"

Then he turned to Gui'er and said, "Guier, you should go back first. If anyone talks about this matter, please don't say that it was spread in my courtyard."

Gui'er finally reacted at this time and quickly said, "Yes, Third Aunt, I know the seriousness of the matter." Then she went back.

Back in Sha Yanxiao's courtyard, he was sitting in the hall reading a newspaper. Gui'er told him what she had heard. Sha Yanxiao frowned and thought for a moment before saying to Gui'er, "No one can explain this kind of thing clearly. I remember this Eighth Concubine is the aunt of your classmate, right? Don't get involved in this when the time comes. Father will show no mercy."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. She had not thought of this. However, the Eighth Concubine was Tong Yujun's aunt, and her family would definitely try their best to save her. As a good friend of Tong Yujun, it seemed unreasonable if she did not help at all.

Gui'er said to Sha Yanxiao, "What will father do with the Eighth Concubine? He won't just execute her, will he? At worst, we can just get a divorce."

Sha Yanxiao shook his head and said, "Do you think father is as easy to talk to as I am?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment before she realized that Sha Yanxiao was talking about him and Ji Yiru, so she asked, "Brother, are you planning to divorce my sister-in-law?"

Sha Yanxiao sighed, nodded, and said, "Let's wait until she's healed. Actually, when my father found out she couldn't have children, he asked me to get rid of her. The Ji family doesn't have much power now anyway, but she seemed to have noticed. When she went to Guanyin Temple that day, she tried her best to drag you along. I was afraid of scaring you, so I didn't do it."

Gui Er was shocked. It turned out that day was indeed full of turbulent tides. No wonder she had always felt that the atmosphere was so strange. She said, "Then my sister-in-law got hit by a car..."

"It wasn't me," Sha Yanxiao said. He looked at Gui'er's face and said, "I didn't want to act in front of you when I was on the mountain, so why would I ask someone to do it after I came down the mountain?"

Guier also thought it made sense, so who did it?

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "I haven't found out yet, but I have a feeling this person knows us very well. He knows our route and precisely waited for us to get out of the car before hitting us. It's almost like he's deliberately seeking revenge on Ji Yiru."

Gui'er was also a little confused after hearing this, but she still told Sha Yanxiao: "Brother, you must be careful when you go out in the future."

Sha Yanxiao smiled, touched her head, and said, "Okay."

The next day, she was suddenly notified that she had to have dinner with the Marshal. Gui'er asked the manager and was told that Song Xichen's blind date had arrived.

Guier was very curious. Everyone said that she was beautiful, had a good family background, and was well-educated. What kind of young lady should she be?

When she and Sha Yanxiao arrived at the restaurant in the Marshal's Mansion, they found that many people were already waiting there. The Fourth Concubine and her two children were all dressed up. Gui'er was puzzled and quietly asked Sha Lili, "Why are you dressed so formally today? Is there something going on?"

Sha Lili said, "My mother said that if I want to establish a good relationship with this young lady, I must dress appropriately. After all, everyone knows that respecting the clothes first and the person second is important."

So that's how it is. Gui'er glanced at herself and saw that she was wearing the imported dress that Sha Yanxiao brought back for her from Shanghai. However, because she was going to be an apprentice at Zhenxiufang, she didn't bring any jewelry. Anyway, she was not the protagonist, so it shouldn't matter.

After a while, the lady and the Marshal came in with a few people. First came a couple, who were about forty or fifty years old and well-maintained. The material of their clothes was not available on the market. The lady only wore a simple pearl necklace, but the pearls were relatively round and large. Guier had never seen pearls that big before, because there were no artificially cultivated and imitated fake pearls in this era, so these should be genuine products, which can be said to be a low-key luxury.

The young lady walking behind had almond eyes, a pretty nose, a cherry mouth, and short hair that reached her shoulders. She was charming with a hint of elegance. She was wearing a small Fengxian cheongsam. The style was relatively ordinary, but the fabric was not available on the market. She was wearing a pair of small leather shoes on her feet. Guier took a closer look and found that they were made of crocodile leather. She only wore a pair of earrings and no other jewelry, but the pearls on the earrings were larger than the pearls on her mother's pearl necklace.