A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Gui'er had just returned to the Marshal's residence, got off the rickshaw, and walked through the gate when an attendant from the main courtyard ran out and said to her breathlessly, "Miss Gui'er, you're back! The Marshal is looking for you."

Gui'er was very surprised and asked quickly, "What does father want to see me about?"

The other person said, "I don't know either. I've been talking about it all afternoon. You should go quickly." Then he led the way.

Arriving at the main courtyard, the Marshal was not in the hall. The attendant said, "Maybe he is in the study. Please come this way."

Gui'er had no choice but to follow him to the study. Sure enough, the Marshal was inside. The attendant bowed and said, "Marshal, the young lady is here." Then he went out and closed the door.

Gui'er hadn't been to the study in the main courtyard for a long time. She suddenly remembered that Taohua had been taken advantage of here by the Marshal. She felt very uncomfortable and couldn't help but be a little more vigilant.

"Father, are you looking for me?" Gui'er saw the Marshal sitting behind the desk, and deliberately stood a little further away, asking politely but respectfully.

Dashuai sat on the leather chair behind the desk. Compared with his previous crooked and trembling mouth, he looked much more normal now, but there was still a big difference from before the onset of the disease. He had gained a lot of weight due to lack of exercise, and he didn't have much hair on his head. He looked like an ordinary fat, bald rich old man.

He saw Gui'er put away her usual serious expression for the first time, and waved her hand, saying, "Guier, come here."

Guier took two steps forward and came to the desk.

The Marshal said kindly, "Guier, now that you've completed your studies and returned, what are your plans?"

Gui'er said truthfully, "I still want to continue my studies or learn medicine, but I'm afraid of causing trouble for the mansion."

"Not bad, you're very ambitious." The Marshal said as he leaned forward and took Gui'er's hand. He held her hand with one hand and patted the back of her hand affectionately with the other hand. He said, "If you want to continue studying, that's fine, but have you ever thought about your lifelong plans?"

Gui'er wanted to pull her hand back, but was afraid it would be too obvious. After all, the Marshal was just holding her hand and didn't do anything else extreme.

She said quickly, "Eighth Concubine recently brought a roster to our courtyard to tell us about the partner she had chosen for Second Brother. I'm young, so I should let Second Brother get married first. Otherwise, it would be inappropriate."

"You are indeed the daughter I love. You have always been so considerate. It's worth it that I have loved you so much over the years. Well, this way you can stay with me for two more years." The Marshal held Gui'er's hand, while his other hand stroked the back of her hand over and over again. As he stroked, he stood up from the stool and wanted to walk over here.

Gui'er had clearly sensed his ill intentions by this point. She quickly feigned worry and said, "Father, be careful." Then she turned and shouted toward the door, "Butler Zhao, Butler Zhao, hurry up, someone come and help me."

An attendant suddenly pushed open the door, walked in, and asked, "Marshal, are you okay?" He quickly walked to the Marshal and wanted to help him.

"You bastard, don't you have eyes? I didn't fall, why are you so nervous?" The Marshal scolded angrily.

The follower only reacted at this time, looked at the Marshal, and saw that he was indeed fine. He bowed quickly, turned around and went out again, not forgetting to close the door.

Guier realized that if she stayed in this room any longer, no one would come even if she shouted again. She quickly said, "Although father's health has improved a lot, he still needs more care. My second brother and I have an appointment and need to go out, so I'll take my leave now. You should get some rest and see you later."

Then, without waiting for the Marshal to react, he slipped away.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she ran to the hall. When she looked up, the follower was staring at her.

Noticing Gui'er's gaze, he quickly turned his head away. Gui'er took a look and felt that he looked very familiar. She couldn't remember where she had seen him for a moment, but the most important thing now was to get away quickly, so she didn't care about anything else and went straight back to her yard.

Before reaching the gate, Sha Yanxiao suddenly ran out of the yard in a hurry.

Gui'er rarely saw Sha Yanxiao so flustered, so she asked curiously, "Brother, what's wrong? What happened?"

When Sha Yanxiao saw Gui'er, he grabbed her and looked her up and down.

Gui'er felt a little confused by his gaze.

Sha Yanxiao breathed a sigh of relief, took her hand and walked into the yard until they sat down in the hall, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"As soon as I came back, I heard that my father had called you away. Is there something wrong?"

Guier said, "My father asked me what my plans were. I said I wanted to continue studying, so he said I also had to think about my lifelong plans. Sigh."

"Why is Father suddenly concerned about this?" Sha Yanxiao frowned and asked, "Is there anything else?"

Gui'er was a little hesitant, not knowing whether she should tell Sha Yanxiao what had just happened, but after thinking about it, she decided to tell him. After all, if anything happened, Sha Yanxiao would definitely be the only one in the mansion who would protect her.

She stammered, "It's nothing, it's just..."

Sha Yanxiao's expression changed drastically when she saw him like this. He grabbed her arm tightly and asked, "What did he do to you?"

Guier said with some embarrassment: "It's nothing, it's just that my father keeps pulling my hand and touching it again and again. I'm not a child anymore, so I always feel weird."

Sha Yanxiao was stunned for a moment, and his eyes suddenly became sharp. Guier had never seen him look so ferocious before and was a little scared.

After a few seconds, Sha Yanxiao's expression softened. He said to Gui'er, "Father has been a little confused since he fell ill. Don't take it personally. But he hasn't recovered yet, so it's inevitable that he might behave inappropriately. If you want to visit him in the future, remember to bring someone from our hospital with you. Anyone will do. I'll give them instructions."

Gui'er felt relieved after hearing this. Sure enough, Sha Yanxiao was on her side. She said happily, "Okay, thank you, brother."

Sha Yanxiao asked again: "I heard that you went to see Taohua today. How is she doing? Is she okay?"

Gui'er sighed and said, "One of Marshal Zhang's concubines is gone. He said he had emergency care but was holding it in. He didn't say anything and ended up passing away quietly in his sleep. My brother's furniture workshop is doing badly, so he's looking for odd jobs to help with the family expenses. He sometimes goes fishing in the river. Taohua and Miss Zhang are both a little malnourished. Taohua said they have money, but they don't dare spend it freely, fearing the Japanese would attack and what would happen if they were left without money."

She did not mention Taohua's request for her to help find jobs for her two brothers in the Marshal's Mansion. One reason was that she did not want to make things difficult for Sha Yanxiao. On the other hand, she really did not want Wu Dahua and Wu Dafu to work in the Marshal's Mansion. If someone used this to threaten her, she would have no way to deal with it.