A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er later heard from Dingxiang that the three women upstairs were telling the neighbors that Mr. Zhang had taken a liking to Gui'er and couldn't help but touch her hand, and then Sha Yanyao, using his power, had them arrested, leaving the three women unsure what to do. They also said that Mr. Zhang was planning to marry Gui'er as his fourth concubine, saying she was young, beautiful, and fertile, and that she looked like someone who could give birth to a son.

Originally, Gui'er thought that Sha Yanyao had already arrested Mr. Zhang, and there was nothing she could do. But now that she knew these women were still doing something behind her back, she couldn't just sit back and watch.

She called Ah Cheng and said, "Ah Cheng, although I have dealt with Mr. Zhang upstairs, at most I will lock him up for a while and extort some money from him. Those women of his still dare to make up rumors about me in this situation. When that Zhang comes out, there will be chaos. Please help me check their background and see if there is any good way to deal with him. It would be best if we can find out the bad things he did in the past and the people he harmed. He even dared to touch me, and some decent women would suffer even more."

Ah Cheng nodded and said, "Don't worry, I've already asked someone to investigate, but their hometown is far away in the Northeast, so it will take some time."

Gui'er said, "It would be great if we could find out before that Zhang guy gets out of jail. He's too proud of himself. I don't think he's a good person."

The next day after he finished speaking, Ah Cheng came over happily with the news. He said to Gui'er, "I found out. It turns out that they were indeed wealthy people before, but after the Japanese came, they also surrendered to the Japanese. Later, they made a fortune by exploiting the country's difficulties and specialized in collecting food to sell to the Japanese. At that time, his father was the head of their family. Later, local patriots disguised themselves as long-term workers and went into his house to cut off his father's head. It is said that his father's head was specially placed on the table in the main hall, and a note was left on it, which wrote the end of traitors. This is very famous in the local area. After that, their family did not dare to work for the Japanese anymore. The Japanese would definitely not let them go, but if they worked for the Japanese, he was afraid of further retaliation, so he hurriedly sold his property, forged his identity, and fled here."

Gui Er smiled and said, "Great! They're traitors, then there's no need to be soft-hearted. Tell Big Brother about this and let him slowly deal with them. Oh, and do you have any evidence? It would be best if it were some written evidence. Otherwise, with those women's mouths, they might turn around and accuse us of framing them."

Ah Cheng took out a brown paper bag and handed it to Guier. When Guier opened it, she found some photos of Zhang and his wives and concubines with Japanese people. The Japanese were wearing officer uniforms, and there was a person wearing kimono standing next to him, who might be the family member of a Japanese officer. In that era, taking photos was a rare thing. The fact that he was standing with Japanese people, especially Japanese officers, was very telling.

Gui'er was very happy to see the photo. Without waiting for Sha Yanyao to come over, she took Acheng to Sha Mansion to find Sha Yanyao.

Madam and Miss Tian were very surprised by her arrival. Since being driven away, Gui'er has never returned to the Sha Mansion. In fact, she has seen through the fact that Madam is a hypocrite and it is useless no matter how warm-hearted she is.

But this time, the lady was very polite when she saw her, and she told the housekeeper attentively, "Why are you still standing there? The young lady only comes back once in a long time. Hurry and bring out the fruit snacks and her favorite milk tea."

Gui'er was surprised. She had prepared herself for the lady's sarcasm, but unexpectedly, the lady was quite welcoming. She politely said, "Mother, that's not necessary. I'm here to look for my brother. He hasn't come back yet."

The lady said, "It should be soon. Are you doing well at Jinbao's? Oh, I thought you were old enough and would be more reasonable. Your sister-in-law is quite harsh, as you know. She would like to see only her and your brother survive in this world. By the way, since you live at Jinbao's, your second brother hasn't sent anything here. I guess he sent everything to Jinbao, right?"

After Gui'er moved to Jinbao's place, their meals did become much more luxurious. Jinbao smiled and said, "This is all thanks to Gui'er." Gui'er didn't ask any more questions. It seemed that Sha Yanxiao had indeed transferred the things to Jinbao's apartment.

"Gui'er is here! Are you living well at Jinbao's place? If you're not used to it, come back. She's neither a wife nor a concubine, so it's inevitable that people will gossip about her. Maybe they'll gossip about you too, and then it will be difficult for you to find a husband. I've even told mother that the most important thing is to let your sister move back as soon as possible." Miss Tian came down from the stairs at this time. She obviously didn't know that the lady had just said bad things about him. What the two said contradicted each other, and the lady was a little embarrassed listening to it.

"Thank you, sister-in-law. I came here to look for my brother. I found out that the man surnamed Zhang was actually a traitor who had worked with the Japanese before."

"Really? That's great. I've heard a little bit about it. I heard that Zhang has a lot of properties. He just came to Nanjing not long ago, but he has already bought a courtyard and is renovating it. He also has a lot of money in foreign banks. If you don't squeeze the marrow out of him, your eldest brother will not be considered capable." Miss Tian said happily.

The wife was delighted when she heard this: "Such good news, why didn't you tell me just now? You are so patient."

At this time, Sha Yanyao came back. Guier quickly took out the photos from the brown paper bag and told Sha Yanyao the situation.

After listening to her and looking at the photos, Sha Yanyao smiled and said, "Guier, your information is incredibly timely. It must have been Ah Cheng, right? He's quite capable. He actually found something we couldn't. We've tried everything these days, but he insists he's a legitimate businessman. We can't go too far. We originally wanted to fine him and let him go, but now all his property should be confiscated. I've done a great job."

Gui'er knew that the reason why Sha Yanyao and the others were so happy was that when the time came to confiscate Zhang's property, the Military Commission would definitely seize most of it, and they would be able to get a share of the profits. However, Zhang was not a good person anyway, and by then he would become a pauper and might even go to jail, so his wives and concubines would naturally have no chance to spread rumors about him again.

Seeing that their goal had been achieved, Gui'er was about to say goodbye when Sha Yanyao said, "Don't be in such a hurry to leave. You've come all the way here, so of course you should eat before leaving. Oh, by the way, Ah Cheng has done a great job this time. I'll have the kitchen make you a chicken. I think you're quite capable. Would you like to work for me in the Military Commission?"