A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The Marshal's Mansion was also decorated with lights and colors. Each room had received the monthly allowance for the New Year and had started to decorate.

Sha Yanxiao went to Fengcheng and came back after arranging the defense. He finally had some free time. Shopkeepers Zhang and Liu also told Guier not to go there, saying that everyone pays attention to good omens during the New Year. They were so busy before the New Year because they were preparing good medicine to avoid running around to bring bad luck during the New Year. There should be nothing to do in the next few days.

Gui'er ran to meet He Ruizhu and reminisce about the past. When she told her that Tong Yujun and the second young master of the Song family were about to get married, Gui'er was a little surprised, but it seemed reasonable. She quickly wrote a greeting card and asked He Ruizhu to send it to her when she wrote to Tong Yujun.

Just after meeting with He Duanzhu, she ran into Duanmu Heng. Guier is now 100% sure that he must have been following her.

Duanmu Heng said to Gui'er with a smile: "Guier, you just came out to meet a friend. The person just now seemed to be Miss He, the famous female shopkeeper in Jiangcheng. I didn't expect that she was also your friend. You are usually quiet, but you have a wide range of social contacts."

Gui Er frowned and said, "She is my classmate. I didn't expect Mr. Duanmu to know them. Does he have business dealings with them?"

Duanmu Heng smiled and said, "Not really, but my parents like socializing a lot, and they know Mr. He's husband and his father."

Gui'er looked at Duanmu Heng. He was always pestering her like a sticky candy, which really made her feel very dissatisfied. She had asked him to help her get those antiques back before, but for some reason the Marshal had shipped such a large batch of antiques to Hong Kong. It was such a waste of effort. Now that her marriage to him was imminent, she decided not to pretend anymore.

He smiled and said to Duanmu Heng: "Mr. Duanmu, there is something I don't understand."

Duanmu Heng smiled and said, "I wonder if there's anything Miss Gui'er doesn't understand? We can discuss it."

Gui Er said bluntly, "I feel that I am plain and unremarkable. Putting aside my family background, I'm really no match for Master Duanmu. This time, I was thinking of getting those treasures back so I could ask my father for a share so we could have enough to live on. I didn't expect my father to have other plans. Now I've become just a daughter of a general with an empty title. I wonder if Master Duanmu will still be optimistic about us in the future?"

Duanmu Heng thought Gui'er was feeling inferior because she had no dowry, so he smiled and said, "Miss Gui'er, you must not underestimate yourself. Just because you are so highly regarded by the Marshal and the Young Marshal in the Marshal's Mansion, it is impossible for us to have no income. We will definitely not have to worry about our life. Don't worry."

Gui'er originally wanted to use the excuse that he couldn't get the gold, silver and treasures to make him back off, but now she didn't expect that from what he said, he was planning to let her cheat people outside under the name of the Marshal's daughter?

She was even more disgusted, but she could never bring herself to say the words "cancel the engagement".

Gui'er adjusted her thoughts and said with a smile, "I've never been very good at business, unlike Mr. and Mrs. Duanmu. Besides, Jiangcheng is just a small place compared to Shanghai. In terms of business opportunities, I'm afraid it's far less than Shanghai."

Duanmu Heng shook his head and said, "There's nothing to worry about. The Marshal has also agreed to hand over the management rights of the mine to my parents. My parents have already written to my eldest brother in the Northeast, asking him to come over and take charge. My eldest brother will be leaving soon."

After hearing this, Gui'er knew that no matter what she said, the Duanmu family would not give up much benefit, so she found an excuse to say goodbye and return to the Marshal's Mansion.

After that, with nothing to do, Gui'er stayed in the Marshal's Mansion all day, reading books and playing chess with Sha Yanxiao, listening to the radio, and occasionally going out to watch a movie.

On the first day of the new year, Sha Yanxiao brought Gui'er to the main room early in the morning and kowtowed to the Marshal to wish him a happy new year. The Marshal was very happy and gave him a big red envelope. Gui'er touched it and found that there should be several silver dollars in it.

At this time, the other brothers and sisters had not yet arrived, so Gui'er took the opportunity to say to the Marshal, "Father, we agreed to the engagement with the Duanmu family so that they would help us. Now that the engagement has been completed, shouldn't we find a way to cancel the engagement? It's impossible for us to really get engaged to the Duanmu family after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, right?"

The Marshal was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Guier, my dear daughter, among all my children, you are the most ambitious and the most independent. I have thought about it and I must find you a good family. But how should I put it? You are at a disadvantage because you don't have a mother. I can't bear to let you suffer in this ordinary family."

Gui'er smiled and pretended to be grateful, but she was actually sneering in her heart. She knew the Marshal too well. He allowed his own daughter to be married to an old man of the same age as himself as a concubine, so how could he care about these things for his adopted daughter?

The Marshal was very pleased to see Gui'er's well-behaved appearance and said, "The situation is unstable now. I am guarding Jiangcheng and Fengcheng and have the responsibility to protect the people from war. I have thought about it for a long time and I think that since the Duanmu family has such a good relationship with the Japanese, we can win them over. In case we can't win the battle in the future, there will be someone to come out and mediate."

Gui'er and Sha Yanxiao were both stunned. Sha Yanxiao narrowed his eyes and said, "Father plans to surrender to the Japanese?"

The Marshal waved his hand and said, "How is that possible? I just want to keep my territory. No matter who comes, as long as they don't touch my Jiangcheng and Fengcheng, I will follow them. This way we can preserve our strength and take advantage of the situation."

Guier could tell that the Marshal was trying to be a fence-sitter, so she quickly said, "Father, your idea is good, but how could the Japanese not take anything? If we surrender, first of all, we won't be able to protect the two mines in Jiangcheng, and then our wallets will fall into the hands of others. We don't have any money ourselves, and these days, the army will only listen to you if we have money to pay them. Then I'm afraid the army will be taken over by the Japanese. Father, you will become a mere commander, and they will be able to kill you or cut you up with just a word."

Gui'er hadn't intended to make the matter so serious, but she felt that the Marshal still underestimated the strength of the Japanese, so she had to explain the pros and cons to him directly.

When the Marshal heard Gui'er say this, he was stunned for a moment, looked at her straightly, and laughed: "You see, that's why I said I value you. You are really the smartest of all my daughters. But don't worry, your father is not stupid. How could I give him the mine? But if I don't give him the mine, the engagement must still be fulfilled. But it doesn't matter. The Duanmu family is in our Jiangcheng. I don't think they dare to treat you badly."