A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Sha Yanxiao asked someone to help his brother-in-law to rest. Two servants came forward and were about to help him when Sha Yanxiao asked, "Where is your box of money?"

Ji Yiru's brother looked at his hands blankly, then looked at Sha Yanxiao, like a drunk man, muttering words that no one could hear.

Sha Yanxiao's eyes were almost blazing with anger. He waved his hand and said, "Take him down and find someone to keep an eye on him." Then he said to Wu Mingqiang, "When you found him, did you see a box of gold bars and silver dollars?"

Wu Mingqiang's eyes widened, and he quickly said, "God knows, Young Marshal, when we went there, he was alone, without even a piece of luggage."

The people around were shocked again when they heard this. Guier heard people standing nearby talking about it: "This uncle is obviously a heavy smoker. How can he have any money left after he gets it?"

"You don't know, that was a whole box of gold bars and silver dollars. I saw the young marshal hand it over to my uncle in front of the coffin in front of everyone yesterday. Logically speaking, a daughter who dies after getting married shouldn't have her dowry returned. Our young marshal is so kind-hearted. It's a pity that the silver was so precious. Maybe some thief stole it while my uncle was dazed by his opium."

"Oh, is this true? That's such a pity! Our young marshal is such a handsome and capable man, how could he have found such a wife? His wife looks like a man, and that's enough, she's also mean and cunning. I heard she had an affair with an actor. Now she's dead, so it's all over. And then he finds a brother-in-law like this. Isn't this torture?"

"Well, you see, the eldest young master has found a good in-law. They got engaged that day, and I thought the girl was a fairy. I heard she's well-educated and has studied abroad. Her father-in-law is a high-ranking official in the central government."

"Really? Why is it so far off?"

"Don't you know? The eldest young master is the wife's legitimate son. The second young master is our young marshal. He was born to the eldest marshal outside. To this day, we still don't know who his biological mother is. If the eldest young master's legs hadn't been broken, the young marshal might not have been born."

"Is there still such a thing?"

Gui'er listened to the people around her talking and looked at Sha Yanxiao worriedly, afraid that he would be sad.

Sha Yanxiao's expression was quite calm. He said to Wu Mingqiang, "Go and get that box back."

Then he said to the manager, "Send a telegram to inform my father-in-law and mother-in-law, tell them what's going on here, and tell them that we can't let him go back alone now. Let's see if they want to come and pick him up, or should I find someone to take him back?"

The manager agreed and went out. Sha Yanxiao sat back in his position as the vigil keeper and looked at the people around him calmly. Everyone suddenly became quiet for some reason, and then continued to do their own things.

The body was kept for three days, and the funeral was held on the fourth day. The third concubine sent Taohua again, and Guier took her to sit in a sedan chair with her. The other courtyards sent their stewards. Sha Yanxiao rode a horse beside the sedan chair. The funeral procession was not very long, but it was still a little more grand than that of the two Miss Zhangs. There were probably several roadside sacrifices along the way. Sha Yanxiao told Guier not to get out of the sedan chair, and he would attend to the funeral alone. On the way, only the sound of blowing and beating could be heard. When the curtain of the sedan chair was opened, only the soul-calling tent was seen at the head, and white paper money was flying in the sky. There were crowds of people watching the fun. There were military and police guarding all the way, and they were sent to a selected Feng Shui treasure land outside the city. After the burial, they returned to the city and held another banquet. The whole mansion gathered together for a meal.

Sha Yanxiao was visibly tired at this time. After dinner, he took Gui'er back to the yard and said to the servants, "You have been tired these two days. If you have nothing to do today, prepare breakfast for tomorrow and take a rest. We can talk about it tomorrow if there is anything." After that, he went to his room to sleep.

Gui'er was bored, so she read the newspaper for a while and prepared to go back to her room to rest.

The steward suddenly walked in and said, "The madam has sent someone to deliver something."

Gui'er was very puzzled as to what the purpose of delivering something at this time was, but she still said to the steward, "Let him in."

The housekeeper from the Madam's courtyard walked in and said to Gui'er with a smile, "I've come here on Madam's orders to deliver four pieces of clothing to the maids left behind by the Young Madam. Are they here?"

Gui'er was stunned. What was going on? She turned to the steward and asked, "Where are the four maids? Ask them to come over."

The manager immediately sent someone to the small courtyard to call the four maids over.

The housekeeper in the Madam's courtyard smiled and said to them, "Madam said that now that the young mistress has left, you four should serve the young master more attentively. Since your usual clothes are too plain, I've sent each of you a new set of clothes so you can look a bit more presentable."

The four maids smiled happily after hearing this and thanked the lady repeatedly.

Gui'er had already sensed that something was wrong. Ji Yiru's funeral had just passed, and the lady, who was the grandmother in charge of the Marshal's Mansion, was sending clothes to the maids left behind by her. What she said was so vague, as if she wanted these four maids to become Sha Yanxiao's concubines or maids directly.

She felt very troubled. She had suffered a lot when Ji Yiru was around, not to mention the four personal maids trained by Ji Yiru.

Gui'er took a look at the four maids. Ji Yiru herself was not good-looking and did not allow her maids to dress up, but she could still tell that they were between fifteen and sixteen years old, with rosy lips and white teeth, at the peak of their youth and beauty.

After the mistress's housekeeper had delivered the things, he went back. The steward of the courtyard came over and said to Gui'er, "Miss, according to the mistress's wishes, these four maids should serve the young master. They are still living in the small courtyard. Do you think we should move them back?"

Gui'er didn't want to go against her lady's wishes, so she nodded.

At this time, a maidservant said shyly, "We originally lived next door to the Young Madam and Young Master's bedroom, so it was more convenient for us to serve them."

The room next to Sha Yanxiao's bedroom was originally Gui'er's room. It was Ji Yiru who made trouble for Gui'er and asked her to move to a small suite in a more remote area. However, she let her four maids sit in the original master suite. Gui'er got angry when she thought about it.

She smiled and said to the four maids, "You girls have been in our courtyard for a long time, but you still don't know how to address them?"

The four girls quickly introduced themselves, "My name is Chun Guang."

"Hello Miss, my name is Xia Yu."

"My name is Qiu Shuang."

"My name is Dongxue."

Gui'er said, "Interesting. Since you are staying to serve, then why don't you move back? However, your former master has just passed away, and it's not appropriate for you to live next to the male master. How about this, housekeeper, arrange for them to stay in the servants' rooms in the courtyard. In the past, you only did things in front of your sister-in-law, but now that she is gone, you have to learn to do other things as well. As for my brother and me, the original people will still serve us. I roughly understand what the lady means, but my brother can't be a widower forever. He will remarry in the future, and it's not appropriate for him to keep the maids of his previous wife around to serve him. You should learn well and wait until the new wife comes in and takes a liking to one of you. Then you can recruit her to serve you. You don't have to come into the house normally."

After hearing this, the housekeeper nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, Miss, you have considered it carefully."

The four maids suddenly became dejected.