A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The next morning, Gui'er and Sha Yanxiao were eating breakfast on the small balcony on the third floor when suddenly, the housekeeper, Zhou Bo, ran over breathlessly and said, "Second Young Master, Miss Gui'er, the Marshal told you two to get ready and go out with him later."

They were both stunned for a moment, and Sha Yanxiao asked, "Did you say where you were going?"

Zhou Bo said vaguely, "It seems like they were talking about going to the Shen Mansion."

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "I understand. You can go down."

Then he said to Dingxiang, "Go, prepare clothes and jewelry for the young lady. She wants the newly made peach blossom silk cheongsam to go with the emerald flower-shaped diamond brooch."

Dingxiang responded and hurried off to get ready. Guier said, "We're just going to the Shen family, why are you dressing so formally?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Father probably wants the two of us to go and support him."

After they finished breakfast, Gui'er hurried back to her room to change her clothes and put on her brooch. When she came out, she found that Sha Yanxiao had also changed into a military uniform, looking handsome and tall.

The two of them came to the first floor. The Marshal, his wife, and the eldest young master also came down, all dressed in their best. The Marshal glanced at Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er, nodded approvingly, and said, "Let's go."

When we arrived at the Shen residence, we found that the Shen family actually lived in the same courtyard where Marshal Sha brought his family to celebrate the New Year last year. The doorplate at the entrance, "Sha Mansion", was changed to "Shen Mansion", and the imprint of the word "Sha" was still on the doorplate.

At this time, a row of cars were parked at the door. The manager said to the Marshal and the others, "There are so many people coming to the banquet today that there is no room in the cars. We can only ask you to park at the door."

However, the area near the entrance was already full of parked cars, so the Marshal asked everyone to get off and let the drivers find a place to park themselves. Only then did the manager welcome everyone in.

After entering the gate of the courtyard, Guier found that there were really a lot of people today. Whether inside the house, outside the house, or on the first and second floors, guests were chatting in groups of three or four. Guier recognized at a glance that many of them had appeared at the New Year's party they held here last year.

As she was walking, Gui'er suddenly heard someone calling her. She turned around and saw that it was Sha Lili, the fourth concubine and Sha Yanwen. The fourth concubine's two brothers were also there. When the Marshal held a banquet here last year, the brother-in-law who had a higher position and was not from the same mother as the fourth concubine did not come. It seems that Director Shen really has a wide network of contacts.

Guier said to Dashuai, "Father, I want to go play with Lily."

The Marshal smiled and nodded.

Sha Lili asked Gui'er, "Is the house lively these past two days?"

Gui'er didn't quite understand what she meant. Sha Lili glanced at her and said, "I'm talking about the new ninth and seventh concubines. Are they jealous of each other? My mother was sure there would be a lot of drama, so she moved us out early to have some peace and quiet."

Gui Er suddenly realized and smiled, "It's okay. Actually, Father wasn't home yesterday. They were all playing mahjong there, but it seems that the Ninth Concubine didn't play with the other concubines."

Sha Lili shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly, "Whatever."

Guier noticed that she seemed a little depressed, so she smiled and said, "What's wrong with you? Didn't you have a good time at your uncle's house?"

Sha Lili glanced at Gui'er and said helplessly, "I really envy you for being so optimistic. The situation is not good now, don't you know?"

Gui'er didn't understand.

Sha Lili said with a hint of disappointment, "After 918, the war in the north intensified, and people were saying it would spread to our area in the future. Now people don't like marrying into military families anymore. My pen pals have all turned cold. My mother even wanted to check the financial situation of the daughters of wealthy families who were friends with my brother before, but they ended up getting engaged to the sons of wealthy families without a single word. We siblings are in such a state, let alone you. You still act like it's none of your business."

Gui'er really didn't expect this to be related, but she didn't really want to get married anyway, so she smiled and said, "Anyway, I'm only eleven or twelve, still young."

Sha Lili said helplessly, "You don't even know anyone now. When you're fifteen or sixteen and ready to get married, do you think a partner will just fall from the sky?"

Gui'er said naively, "Then just let it be."

The two were discussing heatedly when someone suddenly called them from behind: "Lily, Gui'er."

The two turned around and saw that it was Miss Shen. Sha Lili immediately changed her expression and said to Miss Shen sweetly, "Sister Feng Shu, you look so beautiful today."

Miss Shen was wearing a dignified crescent-white jacquard dress today. She did not wear a lace hat, but she combed her bangs down a little to cover the scar on her injured eye, which was not too obvious and made her look more charming.

Miss Shen pinched Sha Lili's cheek affectionately and said with a smile, "You have such a sweet mouth."

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. When they were in Jiangcheng before, Miss Shen was closer to her, but now it seemed that Sha Lili was more familiar with her. It seemed that Sha Lili's social skills were indeed good.

Gui Er thought that she had to help Song Xichen complete the task and get closer to Miss Shen, so she smiled and said, "I also want to call you Sister Feng Shu like Lily, but it seems like you are about to become our sister-in-law."

Miss Shen lowered her head and said shyly, "It's still early." Then she pulled Sha Lili and Gui'er into the house, saying, "I'll take you two inside to eat something."

This was exactly what Gui'er wanted. She was just trying to find out which room the map was in.

When we arrived at the hall, we found that this banquet was a completely Western-style buffet. Everyone took a basin and chose what they wanted to eat. There were also waiters carrying various wines, sodas, and juices, shuttling among the guests. The guests who came here all had ulterior motives, such as wanting to curry favor with Director Shen or expand their network of contacts.

In order to get closer to Miss Shen, Gui'er said to her, "I heard you say before that you were a screenwriter for a theater troupe. What kind of plays do you write?"

When Miss Shen heard this topic, her eyes lit up and she began to talk non-stop: "We are rehearsing plays that expose the darkness of society and encourage everyone to rise up and resist aggression. If you want to see them, I can take you to our rehearsals. After the rehearsals are completed, our troupe will go on a national tour."

After hearing this, Gui'er felt more respect for Miss Shen. She couldn't believe how a fence-sitter like Director Shen could give birth to such a patriotic daughter.

She said happily, "Okay, you must take me to see it next time you rehearse."

Sha Lili probably had little interest in this kind of drama and just laughed along.