A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Dali didn't doubt it and said with a smile: "Okay, then get in the car."

Guier waited until the car drove out of the handsome mansion before she spoke to Dali in a chatty tone, "Speaking of which, Dali, you've known my brother since childhood, right?"

Dali said proudly, "That's right. When the young master first returned to the village, it was the same day that the eldest master saved me. The eldest master said it was fate and asked me to stay with the young master in the village."

Guier smiled and said, "It is indeed fate. The boss had good intentions back then and didn't let you two do some banditry. Otherwise, you would have ended up like the other bandits now."

Dali's face turned pale after hearing this. He said, "Little girl, you're wrong. Qingfeng Village never did anything bad under the leadership of the leader. It was only after the leader died that the people under his command started to do things that were not their proper duties. When the young master came back from outside, he found that the situation had gotten out of control, so he had no choice but to flee with those who were willing to submit to him."

"So that's how it is. If they don't do bad things, how do they make a living?"

"That's a lot. There were escorts, mines, casinos, and several inns. At the time, the eldest brother was planning to take his brothers down the mountain to live a good life, but he suddenly fell ill and passed away."

Gui'er was very surprised. She had originally thought that the boss had died a violent death. "Did the boss die of illness? I thought he was beaten to death by the government?"

"What are you talking about? When the boss was here, our village was so prosperous that there was no need to commit murder and robbery. We also had a lot of dealings with officials."

"Eh, that's strange. If the big boss died of illness, his property should have been handed over to Brother Yanxiao. Why did the people in the village become real bandits after his death?"

Dali frowned and said, "I don't know either. When the young master was away, I was actually in charge of the escort. I don't know much about other things. Anyway, as soon as the eldest boss died, the other bosses started making a fuss, saying that the mines were gone, the casinos were gone, and the inns were gone. They worked so hard to earn so little money as escorting, so they might as well rob. So they started banditry. Later, when the young master came back, he couldn't control them. They even wanted to rob the Song family, the richest family in Jiangcheng. It was the young master who tried his best to stop them, so they kidnapped Miss Song instead. However, this also attracted the police and the army. Those of us who followed the young master were able to survive. A small number of the others were caught by the police and are still in jail, and most of them were executed on the spot by the army."

After hearing this, Gui'er felt her heart pounding. She felt that her guess was correct. If the boss had died a violent death, it was most likely done by the Marshal, otherwise the army would not have been sent out to clear him out. But now Dali said that the boss died of illness. So, the Marshal simply wiped out the entire stronghold because the boss died and his subordinates were out of control?

She glanced at Dali and said cautiously, "So that's how it is. I met the head of the family called Lord Long back then. In my opinion, he was a very hateful villain. However, if he didn't do bad things before, but became a bad person because of lack of discipline, it would be a pity to have him beaten to death. It would have been better if the head of the family hadn't died."

After hearing this, Dali frowned and said, "Why are you asking about these things all of a sudden?"

Gui'er had prepared her words long ago: "Didn't someone from the Duanmu family come to our house recently? The eighth concubine wanted to match me up with Duanmu Heng, but I didn't want to, so my brother spoke for me. Father was very angry at the time. These past two days, I saw that they seemed quite estranged from each other. If they had been raised by their side since childhood, they probably wouldn't be like this. I'm quite worried. If the eldest boss was here, it would definitely not be like this, right?" What she said was based on facts. These two days, when she accompanied the Marshal for dinner, Sha Yanxiao went to say hello with a smile on his face, but the Marshal ignored him.

Dali heard this and said, "Of course. The young master grew up riding on the neck of the eldest master. The eldest master never married in his life. It is said that he had a lover who gave birth to a daughter. But he died later. I went to look for her, but she was gone. Anyway, the young master was like his only son in this life. He wanted to come down from the mountain because he thought that the young master had grown up, and if he stayed in the mountain, his reputation would be bad."

"So that's how it is. He was such a good father. It's a pity that he died so early."

After hearing this, Dali seemed to open up and sighed, saying, "That's right. The boss was in great shape. He was about the same age as the Marshal, but he had more muscle than the Marshal. I don't know how, but he suddenly became weak, as if he had caught a minor cold. Then he fell ill and couldn't get up. He took medicine intermittently, but his condition only got worse. In the end, he was a little confused."

Gui'er felt that these symptoms seemed familiar. She quickly said, "Your young master is a medical student, so why don't you ask him to come back for a checkup? At the very least, you can send him to the hospital with the foreign doctors here."

"Yes, our eldest master was very wealthy and powerful back then. Even the Marshal came to visit him in person. Everyone felt very proud at that time. However, the Marshal asked everyone not to tell the young master, saying that his studies were more important. Later, the eldest master was completely confused and almost died, so he hurriedly sent someone to Shanghai to send a message. The young master rushed back but couldn't see him for the last time. He was cremated."

Gui'er was very surprised. It was the Republic of China, not modern times, so how could it be cremated?

"Does the boss believe in Buddhism? Why did he choose cremation?"

"No, it was the Marshal who said that the eldest brother had offended many people in his lifetime and was afraid that someone would dig up his grave, so it was best to cremate him. The other brothers didn't dare to say no, but the Marshal also looked down on these people. As soon as the eldest brother was cremated, he said that the mines would no longer bother our village, directly cutting off a source of income. He did give them some money, but the brothers were used to spending lavishly, so it was all spent soon. Some brothers started to engage in petty thefts, which eventually attracted the bandit suppression."

Gui'er couldn't help but feel that the Marshal was responsible for the boss's death. However, his actions were so flawless that even if the whole world suspected him, there was no evidence. Furthermore, he was Sha Yanxiao's biological father. Even if Sha Yanxiao was smart, he was still her biological father, and a powerful warlord in the army. Even if it was found out that he was the one who killed the boss, what could he do? He couldn't possibly kill his own father for revenge.