A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

That evening, when Sha Yanxiao was still not home for dinner, the housekeeper suggested that Gui'er eat first. Gui'er said, "These are extraordinary times. It's dangerous for my brother to be out there. I'm not in the mood to eat. Let's wait for my brother to come back."

It was not until after 7pm, almost 8pm, that Sha Yanxiao returned to the yard, looking exhausted. Seeing this, Gui'er hurried forward to greet him.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "They said you had to wait for me to come back to eat. You must be starving. Let's go eat quickly."

After they finished their meal, Sha Yanxiao took Gui'er to the study and said solemnly, "I've recognized the man who assassinated Director Tian today. It was Shopkeeper Zhou. Do you have any other connection to him?"

Gui'er's heart tightened, but she shook her head calmly and said, "No, I just asked him to make Taohua a wedding dress." After that, she tentatively asked, "Brother, how do you plan to investigate this matter thoroughly?"

Sha Yanxiao didn't answer directly. He just looked at Gui'er and said seriously, "Remember, don't tell anyone about your acquaintance with Manager Zhou."

Gui'er nodded obediently, but she felt a little nervous, wondering how many clues Sha Yanxiao had.

The next day, the Marshal, leaning on a cane, led everyone in the Marshal's Mansion to the hospital to visit Director Tian. Miss Tian stood beside the bed, wiping her tears and cursing, wishing Manager Zhou a bad death.

In fact, Manager Zhou was already dead, but no one dared to speak out and correct her at this time.

Everyone took out their carefully prepared gifts. The maid beside the lady held an exquisite gift box, which contained high-quality Pu'er tea from Yunnan. The tea leaves were tightly bound, dark in color, and exuded a faint aged fragrance. This tea was not only good for the stomach, but also extremely rare.

The Marshal had someone carry an antique sandalwood box, which was said to contain an ancient jade carving of Guanyin. The carving was finely crafted, the jade was warm and smooth, and it was very valuable. This was to express the Marshal's apology and concern for Director Tian.

When Team Leader Tian opened the box and took a look, his eyes suddenly gleamed with a golden light and he said with a smile, "Brother Sha, why are you so polite?"

The Marshal said with some effort, "Tian, ​​Brother Tian, ​​I'm sorry for causing you harm in my territory. This jade Guanyin statue is from the Ming Dynasty, and I heard it's very effective and can bring peace. I hope you like it. This is a small token of my appreciation."

Sha Yanxiao said apologetically, "Director Tian, ​​this incident happened suddenly. I failed to do my best to ensure security. I hope you can forgive me. Don't worry, I will investigate thoroughly and give you an explanation."

As he spoke, he motioned to the people behind him to put aside the imported nutritional supplements they had brought. They were purchased at a high price from abroad and were said to have excellent effects on wound healing.

The fourth concubine also echoed, "Director Tian, ​​you must get better soon. If anything happens to you, what will we do? This is some imported canned fruit I picked out especially for you. It will whet your appetite."

The third concubine came forward, smiling but with a hint of flattery, and said, "Director Tian, ​​this is the bird's nest I asked someone to prepare. Please nourish yourself and get well soon."

The Seventh Concubine was not to be outdone and said, "Director Tian, ​​this box of Western ointment is very helpful for wound recovery. You should try it."

Other people in the Marshal's Mansion also expressed their concern, and for a while, the ward was filled with words of comfort.

However, Sha Lili whispered in Gui'er's ear, "The gifts our mansion gave out this time are enough to support two middle-class families for a lifetime. Normally, Director Tian extorts and loots money, so how can he get the money so quickly? If we weren't afraid that he would take the opportunity to let the central government intervene in Jiangcheng, we wouldn't have expended so much money."

Director Tian lay on the hospital bed, waved his hands slightly, and said, "Thank you all for your concern. I'm fine. I just wonder how the investigation of that case is going?"

Sha Yanxiao quickly said, "Director Tian, ​​after preliminary investigation, we've found that Shopkeeper Zhou is actually a gambler. The day before, he went to the casino to gamble and got into an argument with two of your men. That day, your men won a lot of money from him... The casino owner said he was cheating. This man used to run a tailor shop, but due to poor management, he was already heavily in debt. That was his last bit of wealth, and it might be because of this that he took the risk and came here to seek revenge."

Director Tian frowned, thought for a moment and said, "I see..." His face was a little embarrassed, and he said nothing more.

After leaving the hospital and returning to the General's residence, Gui'er couldn't help but ask Sha Yanxiao, "Brother, is the truth really as you said? Is this a dispute caused by gambling?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled nonchalantly and said, "As for Shopkeeper Zhou, according to investigations, he's suspected to be a revolutionary who fled back to Shanghai to avoid arrest by Director Tian. His target is likely Director Tian. But if we continue the investigation along these lines, it will definitely cause an uproar, and the central government will probably intervene. That won't do our region any good."

"Also, Director Tian's two subordinates do have a bad gambling habit and poor gambling behavior. Director Tian shouldn't be able to find fault with what I'm saying. The casino owner has already given instructions, and now they're dead, there's no evidence. It would be beneficial for Jiangcheng and Fengcheng if this matter were to be resolved quickly. As for the revolutionaries, these are chaotic times, and there are people with all kinds of ideas. However, this kind of discussion cannot be openly discussed."