A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Song Xichen said casually, "When Feng Laoliu was a bandit, he followed Lord Long and committed many evil deeds, including killing people. Although he later avoided the bandit suppression, he was still young and strong at that time, and he also caused trouble everywhere, stealing and extorting money. However, in the past two years, he has grown old and changed his name. He also abandoned his ancestral surname and changed his name to He Laoliu. He ran away to Meixiangzhai to work as an errand boy. His accidental death this time can be regarded as retribution for his evil deeds."

Hearing that Feng Laoliu died unexpectedly, not only Gui'er, but even the shopkeeper Liu who was standing next to him was very surprised. They quickly turned around and said in a low voice, "This is impossible. Being strangled to death can actually be an accident."

Song Xichen said, "What's so strange about that? The string around his neck was a kite string. It's inevitable. Someone must have been flying a kite and it broke free, leaving it hanging in mid-air. He happened to be passing by and got tangled up in it, and the string kept getting tighter, leading to his death. If there was a conflict or murder for money, then why weren't the gold and silver treasures on him taken? Who wouldn't want money these days?"

Before Manager Liu could say something, Song Xichen lowered his voice and said, "This may be related to political struggles, because the Marshal's Mansion gave a direct order to the Chief of Police to close the case." The Chief of Police was Song Xichen's superior.

When Gui'er and Manager Liu heard this, they were both stunned. Manager Liu looked at Gui'er.

Gui'er quickly said, "It definitely wasn't Sha Yanxiao. He didn't have to do that."

Song Xichen also said, "Indeed, the Second Young Master doesn't interact much with people in the political world. He's mainly in charge of the military. The Marshal and Sha Yanyao are more likely. Gui'er, this Feng Laoliu was originally from Qingfeng Village. Now he's dead, and the people in the Marshal's Mansion won't allow an investigation. I think there must be something going on within the Marshal's Mansion. Feng Laoliu was a man who did many evil things anyway, so I didn't pursue it further. You should be careful and avoid getting involved."

Gui'er nodded, her heart full of questions. Why would Sha Yanyao or the Marshal kill Feng Laoliu?

In the blink of an eye, it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The Marshal held a sumptuous family banquet in his mansion and announced that the eighteenth day of the first lunar month was the day when Gui'er and Duanmu Heng would get engaged.

Guier knew that nothing could be changed now, so she could only accept it calmly and find a reason to break off the engagement after they got engaged.

Although the engagement was about to start, the Duanmu family hadn't sent any gifts. The third concubine felt responsible because the Marshal had said he would give her the management of the Marshal's Mansion. She kept muttering, "The Duanmu family is so ignorant of the rules. Before there was no engagement, they urged us to get engaged. Now that the engagement date is set, they haven't sent any gifts. What does this mean? Do they want to get engaged or not?"

The fourth concubine joked, "Third sister, you're overthinking it. They want to establish kinship with our family in order to take advantage of us. Now they haven't taken advantage of us even after all the effort, so how can they possibly contribute money?"

The fifth and sixth concubines laughed and interrupted, saying, "In our opinion, there's nothing wrong with what they did. Marriages have always been based on equal status. They sent gifts, but Gui'er didn't have anyone to buy a dowry to send back, so they simply didn't send any."

The eighth concubine was listening nearby, probably thinking that she was the one who introduced the Duanmu family to the Marshal's Mansion, and that the Duanmu family's behavior made her lose face. After returning home, she sent someone to deliver a set of gold jewelry to Gui'er. Although it was gold jewelry, the earrings were just two hoops, the ring was so thin that it could only fit on the little finger, and the necklace was as thin as a hair.

Dingxiang looked at it, her eyes red. She turned her head away and waited until Gui'er returned to the room before saying, "Miss, don't be sad. When the engagement banquet comes, we won't wear this set. The jade jewelry our second young master gave you, paired with that imported silk dress, will be so elegant. Although we don't have mother in charge in the mansion, we have to do our best and not lose face."

Guier smiled bitterly. She had never thought about these things because she didn't want to get engaged to Duanmu Heng at all.

At this time, Sha Yanxiao pushed the door open and came in with a jewelry box in her hand. When she opened it, she found a set of emerald jewelry, including earrings, rings, and necklaces. The pendant of the necklace was an emerald the size of a pigeon egg, surrounded by a string of crystal clear diamonds. It looked very noble and elegant. Even people who didn't know much about it could see that it was worth a lot of money.

Ding Xiang looked at it and said in surprise, "I knew that the Second Young Master loved our young lady."

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Go down first. I want to talk to your young lady."

After Dingxiang left, Sha Yanxiao picked up the necklace and helped Guier try it on. As he tried it on, he said, "Do you like it? I had this specially made by a jeweler in Shanghai."

Gui'er looked in the mirror. Wearing this set of luxurious jewelry, she looked like a lady from a wealthy family. She smiled and said, "I like it very much. Thank you, brother. However, I don't plan to wear this set of jewelry to the engagement ceremony. The Duanmu family is ambitious to begin with. If they knew I had these precious jewels, it would be even more outrageous."

Sha Yanxiao studied Gui'er in the mirror and said with a smile, "I didn't give you this set of jewelry for you to wear at the engagement party. I never thought of you marrying Duanmu Heng. I had this set of jewelry custom-made a long time ago and wanted to give it to you during the Chinese New Year. Who knew it would only be finished and sent to you now? As long as you like it, you can dress however you like for the engagement party. It's just a formality. I will definitely find a way to cancel the engagement."

Guier nodded happily.

At this time, Dingxiang knocked on the door and said that Taohua was looking for her.

Guier quickly took off her jewelry and went downstairs to see Taohua. Taohua was very reserved when she saw Sha Yanxiao.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "You guys chat, I'm going to the military camp first."

After Sha Yanxiao left, Taohua saw that there was no one else around. She anxiously grabbed Gui'er's hand and said, "Guier, you're getting engaged in a few days. What should we do? Why don't you tell your brother and let's find a way to run away? You really don't have to worry about us. I'm from a poor family anyway. The worst that can happen is that I can just go back to my old, poor life."

Gui Er smiled and said, "Don't worry, my second brother has already promised to help me cancel the engagement. Now I just want to hold a ceremony to deal with my father and the Duanmu family."

Taohua said anxiously, "Why are you still so careless and not worried at all? Have you forgotten that Miss Song had a hard time finding a husband because her engagement failed once and then again, and the rumors spread all over the city? I think her self-destruction later was actually related to this incident."

Guier smiled and said, "Isn't that just right? I don't want to get married anyway."