A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The Marshal glanced at Sha Lili and said seriously, "Be smarter next time."

Sha Lili nodded fearfully.

Gui'er felt a little strange. Obviously the Fourth Concubine could handle it herself, so why did she have to drag Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er into it?

At this time, the fourth concubine spoke again: "Marshal, this matter is all thanks to the second young master. He worked hard to investigate this matter for me, found the negatives, and arrested the person. It's really great."

The Marshal nodded and looked at Sha Yanxiao with admiration.

The fourth concubine continued, "That's why I said at the beginning that after the 600 small yellow croakers arrive, I'll give him 100 of them. Isn't Gui'er grown up now? It's time for her to find a husband, and the dowry will be a huge sum. Yan Xiao did a good job this time, and I'm willing to pay for it from here. Marshal, what do you think..."

The Marshal glanced at Gui'er, nodded, and said, "That's right. I heard from Yan Yao that Gui'er has excellent grades in school and is willing to contribute to the family. She is a good child. Okay, I will give you another 100 gold bars, and then use them to prepare your wedding."

This series of operations confused Guier, and she looked at Sha Yanxiao in confusion.

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "I understand, Father."

Afterwards, the fourth concubine was taken by the housekeeper to get the gold, and Sha Yanxiao took Gui'er back to his own courtyard.

Gui'er asked Sha Yanxiao: "Brother, don't you need to go and get the gold?"

Sha Yanxiao patted her head and said, "Someone will bring it over later. I'm letting you participate in this whole thing this time so you can see how shameless these rich and powerful men are. You must be more careful in your daily life and don't let others take advantage of you. Of course, you have always been very stable, and I am very relieved about this. It's just that I can't take care of anything that happens while you are studying in Nanjing."

Gui'er quickly said, "Don't worry, brother. I don't want to get married at all. You can use the 100 gold bars my father gave you to marry a wife."

Sha Yanxiao frowned and smiled, saying, "These 100 gold bars can be used to marry not only one wife, but ten. But I don't want to make the same mistake again. Let's see. But you, a child, how can you say you don't want to get married?"

Gui'er said seriously, "I'm telling the truth. After seeing the marriages of my three brothers and my sisters, I feel that getting married isn't a good thing. If it's not a good thing, why do we have to do it?"

Sha Yanxiao looked at Gui'er in surprise. After a long while, he said, "I'm really sorry for not being a good role model as a brother."

Later that day, the housekeeper of the Fourth Concubine's house indeed delivered a small box of gold bars and even some pastries and cream cakes, saying that it was a thank-you gift for Guier.

Gui'er was very happy and thought to herself, "This Fourth Concubine is really good at dealing with people. She asked Tang Yaozu for so much money and even thought of giving 100 gold bars to Sha Yanxiao. No wonder she can thrive under the First Lady."

Sha Yanxiao handed Gui'er two gold bars and said, "I heard that your monthly allowance was deducted when you arrived in Nanjing. This little money should last you for a while."

Gui'er did not refuse. She took the gold and said, "Thank you, brother." Then she turned around and gave a piece of gold to Song Xichen, saying that this was as revolutionary funds, and told him what happened to Tang Yaozu.

Song Xichen patted her head and said, "It's good that you have this intention, but isn't this the living allowance given to you by the young marshal?"

Guier smiled and said, "I still have one left, which is enough. Oh, I wish I could make money myself."

Shopkeeper Zhang hugged Gui'er and said, "You are still a child. Why are you in such a hurry? You will have plenty of opportunities to work and earn money in the future."

The next day, Gui'er received a notice to return to Nanjing, saying that she would leave in two days. She finally breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, the school had already started for a few days, but there were many things to do in the mansion, and even if she told them, no one would follow her schedule.

She had packed her luggage long ago and informed Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu. They were both reluctant to let her go. Shopkeeper Liu specially picked some herbs to prevent colds and asked her to take them with her. If she felt unwell one day, she could boil a packet and drink it.

Sha Lili knew that Gui'er was going to Nanjing soon, so she came to see her specially. Gui'er thought she had something to do, but she brought her some fashionable gadgets, like stockings, gloves, hairpins, and some imported chocolates, which all looked like things that Lili liked.

Sha Lili rarely set foot in Sha Yanxiao's yard. Now she not only came but also brought gifts. This made Gui'er a little confused, but she still asked Dingxiang to pour two glasses of milk and send some small cookies to her room to entertain her.

Sha Lili waited until Ding Xiang left before saying to Gui Er, "Thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you, this wouldn't have been resolved so smoothly."

Gui Er suddenly realized and asked, "Have you already settled the matter of breaking off the engagement?"

Sha Lili nodded and said, "Yes, but the engagement is not cancelled. Mother invited the elders of that family to come over to take a look. When they asked him to take the 300 gold bars, he refused. We went back to discuss it, and when they saw how much money we had, they suddenly changed their minds. Later, we agreed to buy a courtyard outside, and the girl's parents could come live in that courtyard, while the girl would live in the mansion and the courtyard for a few days."

This is a bit like a double marriage, which is very rare in this era.

Gui'er asked, "What about you? What about your engagement?"

Sha Lili said: "I won't withdraw from my engagement. My mother said that out of the 300 gold bars, 200 will go to my brother and 100 to me. The other party saw that we were financially sound, so they didn't withdraw from the engagement."

Guier smiled and said, "Congratulations, you've finally settled on it."

Sha Lili shook her head and smiled, "What's there to congratulate? Now that I have this money, even if I marry someone else, I won't have a bad life. I really have to thank my second brother and you for this."

Gui Er smiled and said, "No, in the end it was Fourth Aunt who persuaded Father, wasn't it?"

Sha Lili shook her head and said, "If Mother and I were the only ones going, Father probably wouldn't agree so readily. Now Second Brother has officially taken over many affairs in Jiangcheng. Father only holds the purse strings, and the army is mainly in the hands of Second Brother, so he's still a little wary of Second Brother."

Gui'er had no idea about this. It seemed that after going to Nanjing, she really didn't know a lot about Jiangcheng.

Sha Lili said, "You and my second brother are both good people. You are the ones who sincerely help us. If you need us in the future, we will help you."

Guier nodded and secretly took note. Both of Sha Lili's uncles were government officials. Maybe she could really use them in the future.