A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui Er looked at Song Xichen and noticed a hint of fatigue between his brows. She said to him, "Then you must take good care of yourself. Your health is the capital of the revolution."

Song Xichen nodded, glanced around, and said to Gui'er, "We've been out long enough, let's go back quickly."

Gui'er nodded and said, "Let's go separately. I'll go in through the door over there, and you go in through the door in front."

After the two men finished their discussion, they looked around to see if anyone noticed and then went their separate ways to the banquet hall.

Guier chose the back door of the banquet hall, which mainly leads to the bathroom and housekeeping department, but the distance is a little farther than the front door, and you have to go around a corner.

She walked forward for a while and when she passed a guest room she suddenly heard a familiar voice. She stopped and looked inside through the half-open door.

It was indeed the Marshal and Mrs. Song. They were hugging each other and chewing on each other in the guest room as if no one was around. They were so anxious that they even forgot to close the door.

Gui'er was also speechless. She shook her head, pretended not to see it, and walked away.

I took two more steps forward and saw Miss Tian coming out of the bathroom, so I wanted to take two quick steps forward to say hello to her.

Suddenly, a man came out of the men's bathroom next door, walked up to Miss Tian and walked side by side, and then pinched Miss Tian's butt.

Gui'er was stunned on the spot. She looked up at the man, whom she didn't recognize, so she quickly hid behind a pillar.

Miss Tian and the man were seen talking and laughing as they walked to the door of the banquet hall. The man took a step ahead and Miss Tian took two steps slower, pretending that they were going back at different times.

Guier watched as both of them entered the banquet hall before coming out.

Could it be that Miss Tian has another lover?

Back in the banquet hall, Sha Yanxiao came over and asked her, "Why did you take so long? Are you feeling unwell?"

Gui'er quickly said, "No."

She glanced around and finally found the man she had just seen. She then whispered to Sha Yanxiao, "Brother Yanxiao, who is that person standing over there eating cake from a plate?"

Sha Yanxiao looked in the direction she pointed and said, "That should be a friend of Director Tian. He's also coming from Nanjing to Shanghai. He originally had an appointment with Director Tian, and we happened to have a banquet at home, so we invited him to come along. What's going on?"

Gui'er whispered in Sha Yanxiao's ear, "I just saw that man and Miss Tian behaving very intimately."

Sha Yanxiao was very surprised to hear this and said to Gui'er, "I understand, but don't tell anyone else about this."

Guier nodded obediently.

After the banquet, Director Tian went to Shanghai to take up his post. Gui'er didn't know whether Sha Yanxiao had told Sha Yanyao about Miss Tian and that man, but she didn't bother to care.

Seeing that Director Tian had gone to Shanghai, she became eager to go find Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu.

That day, she was thinking about what excuse to make when Taohua came to play with her.

Gui'er then remembered that Wu Dafu had asked her to help arrange a marriage between him and Taohua.

So he told Taohua what Wu Dafu meant.

Taohua was overjoyed when she heard this, and shyly said to Guier, "Brother Dafu, are you really going to marry me?"

Guier nodded and said, "But don't you think you're still young now?"

Taohua shook her head and said, "Anyway, this mansion isn't our real home. Gui'er, you're favored by your second brother and can go out to study, so you might not think it's a big deal. But I've been here all these years, neither the master nor the servant. I've had enough of the awkward status. Especially in the past two years, every time I go to see my father, I'm terrified. The way he looks at me always makes me feel uneasy."

Gui'er thought about it and realized that Taohua had not been treated well by the Third Concubine these years. Marrying her off early might be a good idea. So she said to Taohua, "If you're willing, I'll go talk to my second brother."

Then he found an opportunity to say to Sha Yanxiao, "Brother Yanxiao, my brother Dafu mentioned to me before that he and Taohua were originally engaged in the village. Now that they are about the same age, they want to get married."

Sha Yanxiao frowned and said, "Why haven't I heard him mention this before? Taohua was raised in our house, and he wants to marry her off just by saying so sweetly? I'm afraid father won't agree."

Gui'er actually knew that it would not be so smooth. Even if an ordinary family raised a daughter, they would have to collect some gifts for weddings and funerals. What's more, she was now the adopted daughter of the Marshal's Mansion. She could get benefits through marriage, so she would not let her go so easily.

She had no choice but to act coquettishly and said, "Brother, this is what I think. Taohua and I grew up together as sisters, and I hope she will be happy in the future. But even if father finds her a wealthy young man, Taohua is cowardly and timid. I'm afraid she won't be able to be the mistress of the house and will be bullied. In this case, it's better for her to marry a rich man. Although he's a little poor, he'll definitely be good to her and won't have the rules of a wealthy family."

Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "That's because you think he's your brother, so naturally you're on his side. All men are actually the same. Take Miss Zhang Si, for example. Do you think she's doing well? If she hadn't married your third brother, I don't think your second brother would be good enough for her. I went over there the other day and her life wasn't exactly enviable. Luckily, she has two concubines to help her along, so she's barely getting by."

Gui'er didn't know what to say for a moment. She knew that people like Sha Yanxiao, who had suffered hardships in their birth but had never lacked money since childhood, must think that Wu Dafu and Wu Dahua were very poor and could not even afford to eat. Her sisters' families would definitely not be willing to marry into their families and suffer. However, in this era, such families actually accounted for the majority.

Moreover, she didn't expect that Sha Yanxiao had little contact with Taohua and they had hardly spoken to each other, but when it came to the time of marriage, he would actually think about Taohua. She couldn't help but feel a little touched.

Gui'er hesitated for a moment and said to Sha Yanxiao, "Second brother, I think Taohua is so lucky to be so considerate of you. However, Taohua has grown up a lot in the past few years, and she has told me some things. I think she really shouldn't stay in this mansion anymore. It's easy for something to happen."

Sha Yanxiao was stunned for a moment, then asked seriously, "She's in the Third Concubine's room, and she doesn't have any male relatives. Could it be that someone wants to bully the Third Concubine?"

Gui Er felt a little embarrassed to speak up at this point, so she said, "Third Concubine is nothing, it's just Taohua. In fact, she's been telling me since last year that my father is even more affectionate with her than when they were little, and he even touches her. She feels it's unnatural, but she doesn't know where to start. After all, girls avoid their fathers when they grow up, and Taohua isn't my father's biological daughter, so it's better to let her go out and get married."