A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

After a while, the weather became colder and colder. The school was about to have winter vacation. The classmates were discussing where to go for vacation. Tong Yujun told Guier that their family planned to go to Shanghai early, and the whole family went out to persuade the eighth concubine.

Gui'er was unable to react for a moment: "Why should I convince her?"

Tong Yujun stammered, "It's about what I told you before."

Gui'er just remembered that Tong Yujun herself had said before that the Eighth Concubine wanted a divorce. It seemed that after weighing the pros and cons, she felt that it was better not to divorce.

But Gui Er was in no mood to care about the Tong family's affairs. She was only thinking about what to do about Director Shen. After so long, there was still no news.

From time to time, she would ask Sha Yanxiao if there was any latest news from Director Shen.

Sha Yanxiao assured Gui'er that Director Shen had not contacted the Japanese recently, and he was competing for a position. If he won, he would return to the central government and be promoted to a higher level. At this critical juncture, he should not be so desperate as to contact the Japanese.

Gui'er felt a little relieved and hurried to tell Song Xichen.

Song Xichen said to Gui'er, "After research and investigation, the higher-ups have decided to approve your second proposal, which is to replace the map in Director Shen's hands. This winter break, the Marshal's Mansion will probably be in Shanghai for the New Year. We will send a team to take action. If necessary, we may need your help. Are you willing?"

Gui'er quickly said, "Of course I do."

Song Xichen patted her head and said with a smile, "You are a child. We won't ask you to take action unless it is necessary."

Gui'er didn't care. She felt very happy to be able to do something for the country. She just felt her blood boiling.

Song Xichen changed the subject and said to Gui'er, "You must be careful about Wu Mingqiang, whom you mentioned earlier. Although he is young, our investigation has revealed that he is ruthless and lives an extravagant lifestyle. He often frequents dance halls and brothels and keeps dancers. Several girls in Chun Man Lou also consider him their patron."

This was completely beyond Guier's expectations. Wu Mingqiang was not even 20 years old yet. The first time she met him was still vivid in her mind. At that time, she thought he was a fatherless and motherless descendant of a famous family, and he was quite pitiful. Later, she found out that he was very capable and just thought he was trying hard to climb up. She didn't expect that he would fall so quickly. Guier sighed softly in her heart.

Gui Er thought of a problem and said to Song Xichen, "Brother Xichen, we're planning to replace Director Shen with his maps, but we need to know what maps he has. At best, we can modify the details, like changing the locations of roads or mines. Otherwise, he'll find out when he sees them."

Song Xichen smiled, patted Gui'er's shoulder in appreciation, and said, "I didn't expect Gui'er to be such a smart kid. We're already planning to send someone to sneak into the Shen residence. We'll secretly take a photo of the map he brought with him, and then we'll modify it based on the map and replace it with the modified one. We'll be done, but I'm afraid there might be some difficulties along the way. So if you go to Shanghai with the Marshal's Mansion, you should stay with the Shen residence more often so that you can pick up our comrades when necessary."

Gui'er suddenly understood and said, "Okay, I know what to do."

Now that she knew Song Xichen's plan, Gui'er thought about leaving for Shanghai as soon as the winter vacation came, so that she could go there earlier to pick up the people lurking in the Shen residence.

She went to talk to Sha Lili and asked her to suggest going to Shanghai early, saying, "Jiangcheng is so boring. I really hope to go to Shanghai as soon as the holiday starts. Many classmates in my class are planning to go there the next day. Do you think our family should leave early this year?"

Sha Lili was a smart person. She smiled and said to Gui'er, "Yes, I also want to leave early. But then again, you always didn't care in previous years. Why are you so enthusiastic this year?"

Guier smiled and said, "That's because I was young and couldn't move around freely before, and I didn't have any friends in Shanghai. Now we're all grown up. Besides, Miss Shen is our future sister-in-law, and her father, Director Shen, is a high-ranking official. Their family should be doing well in Shanghai. I'll move around more and get to know more people. Didn't you also ask me to get to know more people for the future?"

Sha Lili was delighted to hear this and said, "Ah, you finally listened. My words were not in vain. You've finally gotten the message. This time you're more thorough than I thought. I guess I should hang out with their family more often. After all, they know many central government officials. If we could marry one of their older sons, we wouldn't have to worry about anything. Who knows? Father might even consider our behavior."

Gui'er was actually just making up an excuse. She had come to understand clearly in the Marshal's Mansion that when a wealthy family gets married, they all have to consider whether the families are well matched. The fourth concubine had a powerful maternal family, so she could challenge the Madam. The other concubines were of commoner origin, so they could just let the Madam decide for them.

Sha Lili has two uncles who are officials in the central government. She can easily marry the children of those officials, but she shouldn't join in the fun.

Sha Lili told Guier that she planned to ask the fourth concubine to suggest going to Shanghai earlier this year when she accompanied the Marshal for dinner next time. Guier happily said that she would persuade Sha Yanxiao to help persuade the Marshal.

Afterwards, back in Sha Yanxiao's courtyard, Gui'er made some tea and poured it for Sha Yanxiao, who was reading the newspaper. She said, "Brother Yanxiao, when are we leaving for Shanghai this year? I heard Lily say she wants to go there sooner."

Sha Yanxiao read the newspaper and said, "It depends on the situation. At least we have to wait until the Ninth Concubine is married."

"What? Ninth Concubine?"

"Yes, there's a pawnshop owner named Liang. Normally, he had no connection with our family before, but recently he's been able to curry favor with father through the Song Mansion. Mr. Liang simply gave his favored concubine to father, saying she's very good at serving people. Father likes her very much, so he specially had someone choose a date to bring her in. It might be a few days late, considering the back and forth."

"Oh," Gui'er was a little depressed, but there was nothing she could do. She always felt that Mr. Liang, the pawnshop owner, sounded so familiar. So she asked Sha Yanxiao, "What's the ninth concubine's name?"

Sha Yanxiao thought for a moment and said, "I think her name is something like Qiuju?"

Gui'er felt dizzy and remembered that Qiuju was the girl she had just traveled to this world and was the one she met when she was sold to that flower boat. She was the top girl on that flower boat. After she was taken in by Song Xichen, she met her and Boss Liang going to the theater together. She just didn't know if they were the same person.

That night, Gui'er couldn't sleep. She remembered that when she was in the Song family, she was often ridiculed and belittled by others because she came from a flower boat family. Song Xichen had repeatedly told her that Gui'er had never done such a job, but it was of no avail. Later, when she came to the Marshal's Mansion, the people here didn't know about that past. They just thought that Gui'er was the daughter of a tenant farmer, bought by the Song family, and kept as a servant in Song Xichen's room. The Song family didn't dare to say anything, so although she was not of high birth, she could still hold her head up high.

Now, if Boss Liang and Qiuju were the two people she knew, and they came to the Marshal's Mansion, then the fact that she had been on the flower boat would be exposed, and her experience in the Song Mansion would have to be repeated all over again. Thinking of this, Guier was upset and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.