A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Originally, Gui'er wanted to take advantage of the banquet to run to each room to see if she could find any trace of the map, but there were too many people and she would run into them everywhere. If her behavior was too suspicious, it would easily arouse suspicion.

She wanted to see who was the undercover agent sent by Song Xichen. She had heard that they could only work in the garden outside the house, so she stared at the servants in the courtyard and found that she could not tell them apart at all. They were all wearing cotton gowns and white aprons.

Gui'er tried many things but made no progress until the end of the banquet. She had no choice but to go back with Sha Yanxiao in a car in dejection.

When they left, Miss Shen and Mrs. Shen unexpectedly saw them off to the gate in person. Miss Shen, in particular, took Guier's hand and said, "Call me later and we'll make an appointment." She then gave Guier the phone number of the Shen Mansion. In fact, Guier knew it all because they lived here last year. But it seemed that Miss Shen didn't know that this house originally belonged to the Sha Mansion?

They got in the car and started it. Gui'er was in the same car with Sha Yanxiao, with Dali driving. Seeing that no one else was around, Gui'er asked Sha Yanxiao, "Director Shen, why are they living in the same yard we lived in last year? Is this a gift from our family? I saw Miss Shen just gave me her phone number. It seems she didn't know this was originally our house."

Sha Yanxiao said, "Director Shen is a government official. He originally lived in an apartment building that was assigned to him. It was full of colleagues, and the apartment was indeed spacious enough. However, my father, in order to curry his favor, let his family live here when they first came to Shanghai. He didn't specifically explain it, but the deed to the house is still in my father's hands."

"Oh, did father reach an agreement today?"

Sha Yanxiao pursed his lips and chuckled, saying, "Father has tried to talk to Director Shen several times, but isn't there just too many people?"

Gui'er looked at Sha Yanxiao's mouth and couldn't suppress the smile. She said, "Brother, why do I feel like you're gloating?"

Sha Yanxiao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "No, I just don't want to see my brother get too cocky. Recently, my mother even asked someone to find him a doctor who said he could cure his leg."

Gui'er understood immediately that if Sha Yanyao's leg was cured and he married the daughter of a high-ranking official, he would be on the fast track to success and the position of Marshal would definitely be given to him instead of Sha Yanxiao.

Before Gui'er could say anything, Dali, who was driving, spoke up: "Boss, this doesn't look good. If the eldest young master's leg is healed, whether he marries Miss Shen or not, he will take back the position of Young Marshal. Then, do we have to give up what we have now?"

Sha Yanxiao sneered and said, "How is that possible? Are you willing to spit it out?"

Dali said, "That's not possible, but shouldn't we think of a way out?"

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "It's time to prepare for a rainy day. Gather all the gold bars, silver dollars, and other receivables we have on hand and deposit them in the bank."

Gui'er finally reacted and realized the seriousness of the situation. She quickly asked Sha Yanxiao, "Second brother, if Big Brother's leg heals and he wants to be the Young Marshal again, what will happen to us?"

Sha Yanxiao remained silent. He spoke forcefully, "Sha Yanyao's character is the same as the Marshal's. He will definitely try his best to extort money and then exclude us brothers in the army. Then life will be difficult for us."

Gui'er was silent.

Sha Yanxiao patted her head and said, "Don't worry about one thing. They won't do anything to you. I think my eldest brother and father like you very much."

Gui'er frowned. The Marshal and Sha Yanyao liked her only on the basis that she had not harmed their interests and could even make them look good. She was not sure whether these two people would be willing to let her go out and be independent after she grew up.

Dali suddenly said angrily, "This is too much. You are the Marshal's biological son after all. Moreover, he has been guarding Jiangcheng for more than ten years without making any progress. It was only after you came back that he helped him to open up the situation. The governance has improved and he even took over Fengcheng. Are you trying to destroy the bridge after crossing the river?"

Sha Yanxiao pondered for a moment and said, "Da Li, when we first conquered Fengcheng, we placed our people in important positions, right?"

Dali said, "By the way, we have arranged all those who can be arranged. Although those who cannot be arranged are the Marshal's old subordinates, they are not his confidants. We should be able to mobilize them."

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "Then we still have bargaining chips."

Gui'er watched them discuss this, then recalled the history books she'd read. She sighed and said, "Brother, the north has been invaded, and there's talk everywhere that they'll attack us in a few years. When the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact? By then, it won't just be brothers fighting each other. It's better to conserve our strength and fight the invaders together."

Sha Yanxiao looked at Gui'er and smiled a little sadly: "Sister, it's not that I want to compete with him. Now that I'm here and I'm in this position, I can't give up easily. Do you know how many illegitimate children our father has outside? In the end, I'm the only one who came back to recognize my ancestors. Why? Because those people were either killed by the madam and the eldest young master, or they escaped for their lives. If I didn't have a bandit adoptive father, the group left to me would probably have died. I didn't want to let you know so early, for fear of scaring you." As he said, he gently stroked Gui'er's face.

Gui'er was so shocked that she didn't know what to say for a moment. She felt that she might not be able to face Madam and Sha Yanyao as calmly as before.

The next day, the Marshal rarely went out. His wife, Sha Yanyao, and Sha Yanxiao all stayed in the villa. During dinner, the Ninth Concubine said to the Marshal in a coquettish manner, "Master, you could have gone to the banquet yesterday. We were so bored at home. Why don't we have a banquet at home too?"

The Marshal smiled and said, "We made some money this year, so we brought you to Shanghai for the New Year. If you feel bored, you can go shopping. You get your monthly allowance anyway, but forget about the banquet. The war is tight right now, and the country advocates frugality. Don't be the first to stand out when things are tough."

The Ninth Concubine still refused to go, twisting her body and saying delicately, "But Director Shen did it. I heard it was a big event, even the Fourth Concubine went, but I can't go. I don't agree."

The Marshal still smiled and said nothing in a good-tempered manner. Then he said something in the ear of the ninth concubine Qiuju. The ninth concubine stopped acting coquettishly, turned around, twisted her butt and walked away happily.

Gui'er looked at her frivolous behavior, and then looked at the other concubines who all had expressions of disdain and contempt. She couldn't help but secretly pray that her identity would not be discovered, otherwise she would be implicated, which would be too embarrassing for her.