A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Fortunately, they arrived safely in Fengcheng. As soon as they entered the city, they stopped the car in front of a small restaurant. Sha Yanxiao said to Guier, "Let's have breakfast here."

Gui'er led Dingxiang out of the car. When she looked back, she realized that she was so sleepy when she got up in the morning that she didn't notice the car. It turned out that it was not the Marshal's mansion's car.

Looking at Sha Yanxiao and Acheng again, Acheng looked no different from usual, still dressed like a servant and driver. Sha Yanxiao was wearing a suit and tie, and a top hat, a bit like those wealthy young men.

It was then that Guier realized that Sha Yanxiao wanted to go to Shanghai in disguise.

After breakfast at the inn, the group drove directly to the train station. A very tall man came forward to greet them. Sha Yanxiao asked Ah Cheng to hand him the car keys and said, "Adjutant Zhang, I'll leave this car to you for safekeeping. Don't let anyone else find it."

Adjutant Zhang was also wearing casual clothes, but anyone with a little experience in the underworld could see that he had a gun on his waist.

After Sha Yanxiao gave instructions to Adjutant Zhang, he took Gui'er on the train. This time, the area was not cleared, so he got on the train among other passengers.

But this time they still booked a train suite. Once inside, Gui'er asked Sha Yanxiao, "Brother, can't we let anyone know we're going to Shanghai this time?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Yes." Then he turned to Ding Xiang and instructed, "When you get to Shanghai, you will stay in our mansion there. My lady and I will have our own places to go. You will just follow the orders of the housekeeper there."

Ding Xiang was stunned when she heard this and said, "Then who will serve the young lady?"

"I'll take care of her."

Gui'er always felt that something was wrong, but it was not convenient for her to ask Sha Yanxiao in front of Dingxiang.

When they arrived in Shanghai, Wu Mingqiang drove a car to pick them up and first sent Dingxiang to the Sha family's mansion in Shanghai and handed her over to the housekeeper.

Then the car drove around and arrived at a small villa near the mansion that Sha Yanxiao had taken over from the Ji family.

After getting off the car, the housekeeper and the maid in the villa helped to move the luggage out of the car. The maid walked up to Gui'er and said with a smile, "Miss, I will take care of you during this time. Please come this way."

Then he took her to the room on the second floor of the villa, which was a very elegant small suite decorated in European princess style. The suite included a bedroom, study, bathroom and toilet.

"Do you like this room?" Sha Yanxiao walked in and asked Guier with a smile.

Gui'er had originally thought she'd followed him here to help track down those antiques, but now she felt like she was on vacation. She smiled and said, "The room is beautiful. Thank you, brother."

At this time, the old woman put Gui'er's luggage away and turned to leave. Gui'er asked, "Brother, aren't we here to look for those antiques of Director Shen?"

Sha Yanxiao walked in and sat down on the sofa in the study, crossed his legs, and said, "Of course, I'm here to look for the director's antiques. You could have come without me, but I wasn't too sure about leaving you alone in the mansion, so I brought you along."

"What happened in the mansion?" Gui'er immediately grasped the key point.

Sha Yanxiao looked at the clever Gui'er and said with a wry smile, "Haven't you noticed something's wrong with Father? Ever since he started smoking this thing, he's been paranoid, always thinking someone's out to harm him. He even sent people to spy on me before, and not long ago he beat up the Seventh Concubine like that. I was afraid he'd cause trouble for you while I was away, so I just brought you out with him."

Gui'er was shocked. When she came back to see Dashuai, she felt that he was no different from usual. She had never expected his condition to be so serious. She said, "I see that my father is no different from usual. Is he like this because of smoking opium?"

Sha Yanxiao sighed and said, "Father had originally delegated power to me, but now he's secretly formed a small group with some of his old subordinates who had followed him from the beginning to build his empire to suppress me. He hasn't shown it on the surface, and he thinks I haven't noticed." After a pause, he said, "I didn't let you live in the mansion because I was afraid he might have people there. You should stay home for the next few days. If you feel bored and want to go out for a walk, ask the old lady and Ah Cheng to accompany you."

Guier said quickly: "Brother, let me help you find the whereabouts of the antiques. In fact, it will be more convenient for you to act with me here. I will be careful. I also brought out the pocket pistol you gave me. Look." Then she took out the pocket pistol from her small handbag.

Sha Yanxiao glanced at the pistol that fit perfectly in her hand and smiled, saying, "Well, if I need you somewhere, I'll take you there."

Gui'er actually really wanted to participate in the investigation. She felt that these things did not belong to Director Shen, but to the country, because many of the things in them were stolen by tomb robbers. At that time, China was in chaos and there was no special agency to manage these things, so they were all lost to the people. It would be a pity if they eventually flowed out of the country.

However, since Sha Yanxiao said that, he probably didn't plan to take her there. The courtyard of this small villa was also small, with only two parking spaces, a small fountain and a small pavilion. There was really nothing fun to do there. Guier could foresee that it would be quite boring.

As a result, when Gui'er got up the next day, Sha Yanxiao had already taken Wu Mingqiang and Acheng out.

I came back at noon and said to Guier, "Guier, get dressed up this afternoon and come with me. I think we've found the approximate location and need to go confirm it."

Guier immediately became excited and said, "Okay." Then she went to change into a nice dress she brought with her, put on a pearl necklace, and dressed up like a young lady.

The old maid looked at it and said with a smile, "Miss, you look so beautiful dressed now. Why were you so plain when you first arrived? I see, it must be because you don't want to be too conspicuous in the Marshal's Mansion, right?"

Gui'er was stunned for a moment. This old woman knew a lot.

The old woman noticed Gui'er's surprised look and said with a smile: "I am too talkative, miss, don't mind it. The housekeeper here is my wife, who has been helping the young master with things all the time."

Only then did Guier feel relieved.

There are very few servants in this villa, just a housekeeper, a maid who cleans the bathroom and works in the kitchen, and a gardener and doorman. Lunch is takeout ordered by the housekeeper from Dasanyuan Restaurant.

Shortly after I made the call, a neatly uniformed waiter arrived, carrying a multi-layered lunch box. Opening the box, he found steamed hilsa on a silver platter, its flesh tender and succulent, the scallions complementing the soy sauce. Braised pork, richly smothered in rich sauce, was a vibrant crimson. Crystal shrimp, translucent and juicy, were also served. There was also a dish of crispy stir-fried seasonal vegetables, paired with a soft, glutinous sweet osmanthus lotus root for dessert. The flavors were, to be honest, incredibly authentic.