A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er whispered to Taohua, "Didn't I tell you before that when you come to see the Marshal, you must be accompanied by the Third Concubine or the Third Beauty?"

Taohua said in a trembling voice, "The Third Concubine and the Third Beauty left first today, and then they sent someone to ask me to come over. I thought they were all there, so it should be okay. But when I got there, I found I was the only one there. As soon as I walked in, the Marshal told me directly that he wanted to take me as a concubine. I didn't care about anything else and told him directly that I was engaged to the rich man. He was so angry that he attacked me directly."

When Gui'er heard this, she knew there was no turning back. The Marshal would definitely hold her and Wu Dafu responsible, so she said to her, "Go back to the Third Concubine's courtyard right away and take your valuables. Don't bring a big bag; hide them on your body. Then tell her you're coming to see me. I'll go back to my courtyard to pack up, and we'll run through that secret passage."

Taohua's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she nodded and said, "Okay."

Gui'er looked at Taohua again. She had already cleaned up. Apart from the slap marks on her face and the broken corner of her mouth, there was nothing wrong with her. She quickly wiped the blood from the corner of Taohua's mouth and said, "You go out first. I'll be right behind you."

Taohua was worried and said, "No, we must go together."

Gui Er shook her head and said, "If we go together, those people will definitely come in to see the Marshal's condition and we'll be exposed. Don't worry, I have a gun."

Taohua glanced at the Marshal with fear in her eyes, nodded, and turned away.

Gui'er slowly walked forward. She could see blood coming from where she had hit Dashuai. She looked around and quickly grabbed Dashuai's shirt, crumpled it up, and used it to cover the bleeding area. She didn't know how serious the injury was, but she knew she would be held accountable no matter what. Taohua mentioned Wu Dafu again, so she had no choice but to run.

She straightened the Marshal a little and checked his breath with her hand. He was still breathing. At this time, his eyes were closed. Gui'er felt very complicated. From childhood to adulthood, although the Marshal didn't care much about her, he was still nice to her. This gave her the illusion that the Marshal was like an elder in a big family who she seldom met. She also thought that if she had the chance, she would be willing to repay him. She didn't expect that they would break up so soon. However, even if there was no peach blossom incident, her engagement with Duanmu Heng would have the same result if she escaped at that time.

She stood up and said to the unconscious Marshal, "I'm sorry, father. My own biological father is a terrible person and wanted to sell me. I really wanted to treat you as my biological father, but Taohua, I can't bear to see her follow the same path as the Seventh Concubine. If you can wake up again, I hope you can forgive us and give us a way out." Then she knelt down, kowtowed three times, turned and left.

As soon as I walked out of the study, I ran into Zhao, the steward of the Marshal's Mansion, walking over with the account book. Seeing Gui'er coming out alone, he asked, "Miss Gui'er, is the Marshal in there?"

Guier forced herself to remain calm and smiled as she said, "Oh, yes, my father just finished his work and said he was a little tired and wanted to rest. Butler Zhao, you must be looking for him for something. Why don't you wait a moment? He just lay down on the sofa."

After hearing this, Manager Zhao hesitated for a moment and then said with a smile, "Okay then." Then he turned around and walked out with Gui'er.

Guier saw the account book in his hand and asked, "Manager Zhao, are you going to reconcile the accounts with father?"

Manager Zhao smiled and said, "Yes, the New Year is over, and there are no expenses after the Lantern Festival..." At this point, he suddenly glanced at Gui'er and said with a smile, "Well, Miss Gui'er's engagement fee, I guess it should be taken from the Second Young Master's courtyard. Don't worry, it will also be a considerable expense."

Guier could tell he was trying to comfort her, so she smiled and said, "I see. But I don't mind. I don't have a mother anyway, so I'll just do whatever my father says."

Manager Zhao opened his mouth, wanting to offer some comfort, but Gui Er, pressed for time, quickened her pace, and when she reached the courtyard gate, she turned and said to Manager Zhao with a smile, "Then I'll be heading back first."

Manager Zhao also smiled and said, "Miss, take care."

Guier walked forward slowly until the people in the main courtyard could no longer see her, then she quickly ran.

She returned to Sha Yanxiao's yard. Seeing her sweating profusely, the people in the yard thought something had happened and they all came out.

Ding Xiang said in surprise, "Miss, what happened to you? You are sweating all over. Go and wash up quickly."

Gui'er panted and asked, "Is my brother back?"

Ding Xiang said, “Not yet.”

Gui'er actually had no idea what to do. On the one hand, she hoped that Sha Yanxiao could help her, but on the other hand, she felt that the Marshal was her biological father after all, and she had hurt him so badly, so Sha Yanxiao could not possibly take it lightly.

She smiled and said to Ding Xiang, "Oh, nothing, I was just playing with them. I'll go back to my room and change my clothes."

Then she returned to her room, quickly changed out of her dress, and put on a low-key khaki silk cheongsam with fur lining. She also took out all her family assets, a few gold bars and dozens of silver dollars. She thought for a while and took out a gold necklace, the heart-shaped necklace that could hold a photo inside. There was a photo of her and Sha Yanxiao in it.

When they were almost done cleaning up, Dingxiang came over and knocked on the door: "Miss, Miss Taohua is here to see you."

Gui'er agreed and took out the hidden pen, put it in her pocket, and walked out as if nothing had happened.

When they walked into the living room, Taohua was sitting there with a panicked look on her face. The servants around her could sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Guier hurriedly walked up to her, took her hand and said, "Did the Third Concubine scold you again? It's okay, I'll go with you to mediate." Then she pulled her out. The other servants thought they were really going to the Third Concubine's courtyard, so they all went about their own business.

Gui'er pulled Taohua forward for a while, looked around, and when she saw that no one was following them, she broke into a run.

The two ran to the secret passage that Gui'er had walked through when she was a child. It was already dark at this time. In that era, it was quite dangerous to walk outside at night, especially in the suburbs. It was easy to run into bandits, hooligans, or even some impromptu criminals.

Taohua held Guier's hand tightly. Guier could sense that she was afraid, so she said to her, "Don't be afraid, I have a gun."

The two of them ran forward desperately in the cold wind of the first month of the lunar year, and they didn't feel cold at all, and even felt a little hot.

After passing through the dense woods between the general's mansion and the village, they arrived at the small village. It was already seven or eight o'clock in the evening. Gui'er and Taohua had no luggage and just appeared here hand in hand. It was actually quite abrupt. Fortunately, it was still the first month of the year and it was close to the Lantern Festival. People would go out to visit relatives and friends. In addition, the village was passed through by a main road that led directly to the city, so there were quite a few pedestrians on the road.