A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Guier knew that although Sha Yanxiao's words were harsh, he was telling the truth in this era.

She asked Sha Yanxiao worriedly, "What should we do now? We don't want to cause any deaths."

Sha Yanxiao paced back and forth in the study room in frustration, saying, "Eighth Concubine is seeking death herself, who can stop her? I'm worried now that the Tong family is clearly trying to use the fact that I'm asking him to take back the mining rights as a threat to get me to clean up their mess. Father doesn't know about this yet, and I'm afraid he'll be furious."

After hearing this, Gui'er became a little worried and asked, "What should we do now?"

Sha Yanxiao sat there upset and said nothing.

Guier asked again, "If my father knew about this, would he be very angry?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled wryly and said, "Everyone calls me the Young Marshal, but in reality, the military's power is still in my father's hands. The only people I can fully control are the hundred or so men I brought from the mountains. Besides, I don't have a mother, so I can only rely on my father's trust in me. I have no support from my maternal family, which puts me at a disadvantage in the Marshal's Mansion. If my father hadn't had so few sons, it wouldn't be my turn to preside over military affairs."

"My eldest brother may seem disabled, but he never misses any of Father's important meetings. I feel like neither he nor Mother has ever given up. Father is in his prime, and if he has a few sons who grow up, I'm afraid I'll have to step down and let him take over."

After listening to Sha Yanxiao's words, Gui'er couldn't sleep for several days. She originally thought that he was a noble young marshal, but she didn't expect that he had such a hard time. Gui'er decided to try again to persuade him to join Song Xichen's team.

So Gui'er acted coquettishly and said that she wanted to go to the park and go boating on Sunday, and asked Sha Yanxiao to take her there.

Although Sha Yanxiao was worried about the Tong family's affairs, he smiled and agreed when he saw Gui'er acting like a spoiled child, which was rare for her.

I came to the park on Sunday. The weather was clear and cool, and there were many visitors. Most people were walking around, some were flying kites, and some were rowing boats.

Next to a place with better scenery, there is a photo studio where the owner hangs a camera and takes pictures for tourists. After taking the pictures and paying the money, the owner will issue a receipt stating that you can pick up the photos in the store with the receipt a week later.

Gui'er was very curious about these old-fashioned photos with film, so she pulled Sha Yanxiao to take a lot of them.

Afterwards, they went boating on the lake. Dali came out with them, but because the boat was too small, he did not get on board. Instead, he waited for them on the shore.

Seeing that it was just her and Sha Yanxiao now, Gui'er thought the timing was perfect, so she said to him, "Brother, when you mentioned the Tong family incident last time, you were worried that Father would blame you. I've been thinking about it for a long time. Actually, can't we tell Father about this news in advance? That way, when the Tong family incident is exposed in the future, Father will already know about the mine incident, and we won't be implicated."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and touched Gui'er's head: "I didn't expect that this matter made you worry for so many days. You are still young and shouldn't worry about these things."

Gui'er pursed her lips and frowned as she said, "I know it's against the rules for a little girl like me to get involved in those matters, but I live with you after all. I'm afraid my father took Taohua and me in because of you. We're in the same group, so how could I not consider you?"

Sha Yanxiao was touched and a little amused when he heard her say that. He patted her head and said, "It's not that simple. My father is suspicious by nature. If I tell him first, he might immediately ask someone to verify it. Then I would be accused of acting first and reporting later."

Gui'er lowered her head and pretended to be sad. "Father is your biological father. I'm adopted, so forget it. But you're his biological son. He won't do anything to you, right?"

Sha Yanxiao sighed and said nothing.

Gui'er, unwilling to give up, began to cautiously probe again: "Father is now in the prime of his life. If the other concubines, or even Mother, give him a son, how will Brother cope when he grows up in ten years?"

Sha Yanxiao put down the boat pole, took Gui'er's hand and said, "It seems that little Gui'er doesn't feel completely safe in our family. I'm incompetent, but I really can't do anything about it. The reason I want to seize the management rights of the mine is because I'm afraid that my father will have another heir or change his mind in the future. Then my brothers and I will not be left without food and drink. Don't worry, as long as I have a bite to eat, you won't be left without it."

Gui'er was very moved and said to him, "Brother, I read in the newspaper that the country is now divided into pieces and various forces are checking each other. Why don't you find a few more ways out?" Gui'er was trying hard to think of how to lead the topic to joining Song Xilun's team.

Sha Yanxiao looked at Gui'er and said with a smile, "Guier has really grown up. She actually thinks about this kind of question. In fact, I married Ji Yiru with this in mind. Who else would want to find someone like her? I just didn't expect her uncle to die so young. This time, big brother's marriage to the Shen family must have been based on this idea. The world is in chaos now. Who can predict the future situation? If we act rashly, we will easily bring disaster upon ourselves."

Gui'er said, "I think China is only temporarily impoverished and weak. In the future, it will surely recover its former glory. History shows that every prosperous era is preceded by chaos. I believe this is the time. In the end, whoever wins the hearts of the people will rule the country. Whoever can bring stability to the poor and ensure that ordinary people have enough food to eat and clothes to wear will surely win the world. Brother, you should side with them."

Sha Yanxiao looked at Gui'er in surprise and smiled thoughtfully.

Seeing him just smiling and not saying anything, Gui'er felt a little guilty and whispered, "What's wrong, brother?"

Sha Yanxiao said, "It's nothing. I just didn't expect Gui'er to have her own ideas. You're right, but now there are so many political parties and the situation is chaotic. Who knows who will ultimately win? Since I'm your son, no matter what, I can only advance and retreat with you. Even if I want to start my own faction, I don't have the capital yet, and you won't allow it."

Gui'er felt that what he said was right, but his thoughts had already loosened, so there was no need to rush.

After rowing the boat back to the shore, I saw Wu Mingqiang and Dali waiting for me on the shore. It must be something urgent that they came to me at this time.

Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "We've had enough fun today, let's go back."

Guier nodded sensibly.

As soon as they got back into the car and closed the door, Wu Mingqiang couldn't wait to tell Sha Yanxiao, "Young Marshal, my people have reported that Director Shen seems to want to sell the road and mineral maps of many inland areas to the Japanese."

Everyone else in the car was shocked. Sha Yanxiao said seriously, "Do you have any evidence?"

Wu Mingqiang said, "I sent a well-trained female assassin from the Ji family to infiltrate their home as a servant. She discovered that Director Shen had brought many topographic maps and mineral maps of inland cities with him on his new assignment. This had nothing to do with his duties. Recently, I noticed that Director Shen often went out in mysterious ways, so I informed him. I sent someone to follow him and found that he was negotiating the price with the Japanese and wanted to sell these things."