A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

As the banquet was drawing to a close, Gui'er looked at the bustling crowd and sighed: These people are in such good spirits, they are not tired even after tossing and turning all night long. Listening to those jazz music now seems like a lullaby to her.

At this time, Song Xichen came over again. He glanced around. No one was paying attention to them now. He lowered his voice and said, "It was inconvenient to tell you because of the crowd just now. The superiors will be sending a leader to pass through our Jiangcheng soon. We are responsible for the security and escort."

Gui'er looked around nervously when she heard this, picked up a cup and put it to her lips, pretending to drink the drink while whispering, "Brother, how can you say something like this here? Are you confused?"

Song Xichen chuckled and said, "Don't worry, I've observed everything. There aren't as many people paying attention to me right now as there were at the beginning of the banquet. If anyone asks, just say I was asking about the condition of the patrol officer who was taken to the hospital earlier."

Gui Er was relieved only after making sure no one noticed her. "Are you telling me this to signify my participation in this operation? When will that colleague come over? I'm accompanied by Sha Yanxiao's designated bodyguard, Ah Cheng, every day when I go to get off work or go shopping. I'm afraid it's not convenient for me to carry out my mission of escorting my comrades."

Song Xichen shook his head and said, "I'm not asking you to carry out this mission. I just feel that this mission will be very difficult, so I'm telling you the business content first. If we encounter any unexpected circumstances, you must find a way to take over and complete this mission for us, okay?"

Gui'er was shocked. Song Xichen had never said such words to her before: "Would you mind telling me the identity of the comrades you are escorting this time?" She thought to herself that they might be some revolutionary leaders she had known in modern times.

"The one you met was Comrade Lao Meng from before. The last time we escorted him, our comrades in Nanjing suffered heavy losses and nearly failed the mission. Lao Meng has already registered with the secret agents, so we're being so serious this time."

Gui'er immediately realized that this mission was extremely dangerous. Unable to suppress her pounding heart, she said to Song Xichen, "I understand. What can I do?"

Song Xichen glanced at Sha Yanyao in the distance and said, "We should build more relationships with them. At this critical juncture, Sha Yanyao showed up in Jiangcheng. I have a bad feeling."

"You suspect Sha Yanyao is using the excuse of a family holiday to investigate Lao Meng's whereabouts, but how do they know Lao Meng's itinerary?"

Song Xichen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Do you still remember the comrades who were arrested in the incident involving Comrade Lao Meng in Nanjing?"

Gui'er frowned and thought for a moment. The people who were arrested at that time were all comrades from the liaison station whom she had not contacted. She was not familiar with them and did not even know their names. She just looked familiar. It was precisely because of this that the Military Commission had no evidence to prove that she was in the same group as them, so she escaped.

"I have some impression, but I don't remember the details. I haven't had any contact with them."

"We suspect someone here has betrayed us. The enemy already knows the entire transportation route, but they don't know the specific address of the contact point. Moreover, most of our contact points have been relocated after this incident. However, they still know which city Lao Meng will pass through."

"That's easy. Let Lao Meng go from another city. Why does he have to go through Jiangcheng?"

Song Xichen smiled and shook his head. "No, other cities have stricter inspections. Jiangcheng, under Sha Yanxiao's rule, is actually quite tolerant. Any other city would definitely treat this as a top priority. Perhaps the local warlords would have already set up checkpoints and arrested Old Meng. In Jiangcheng, Sha Yanxiao himself is not interested in these things, and he is not very friendly to the central government's secret service stationed here. So after discussion, the higher-ups decided to go this route. Gui'er, if you can win over Sha Yanxiao, it will be a great contribution to our revolutionary cause."

Gui'er said with a sad face, "I thought about it and tried it, but he really doesn't seem interested. And he really hates you."

Song Xichen smiled helplessly and said, "Why does he hate me? Is it because of the time I led people to attack Qingfeng Village? That happened so many years ago. He was indeed a bandit back then, and he also kidnapped my sister and took her to the village. How could I not attack him?"

Gui'er said quickly, "My dear brother, please don't tell anyone about this. It's a taboo no matter where you are. He's now the Young Marshal of Jiangcheng, and recently someone named Zhao Yingwu has appeared, claiming to be the Marshal's illegitimate son, to compete with him for power. He's already fed up with this. I don't think he'd even bother trying to get him to join us at this point."

Song Xichen sighed and said, "Well, please keep an eye on Sha Yanyao at the Marshal's Mansion."

Guier nodded and said solemnly, "Don't worry, I will try my best to find out."

At this time, some guests had already started to leave, and Mrs. Song also asked Song Xichen to go back. Guier stood up and said to Mrs. Song politely, "Goodbye, Madam Song."

Mrs. Song was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Miss Gui'er, you are so thoughtful. Thank you very much."

As soon as the mother and son left, Sha Yanxiao came over and said, "I heard that when you were young in the Song Mansion, you were often bullied by Madam Song. It seems that when I saved you, it was because this woman wanted to harm you. Why are you so willing to say hello to her now?"

Guier smiled and said, "Maybe it's because I've let it go. Before, she was like a creator, with the power to control everything. Now, her life isn't much better. Her daughter found a gigolo like that, and her husband doesn't really love her. And... forget it."

Moreover, for the benefit of the family, she maintained a mistress relationship with the Marshal even at her old age. However, Gui'er did not say this. After all, she was Sha Yanxiao's biological mother, so Gui'er decided to save some face for Sha Yanxiao.

"Wait for me a moment, I'll go say hello to my parents and then we'll go back." Sha Yanxiao said and walked away.

Gui'er was also tired, so she walked to the door of the banquet hall in advance. The courtyard at the door was quiet. It was dark and the guests were all in the banquet hall. Gui'er suddenly smelled the faint fragrance of osmanthus floating over. She looked up and saw a sturdy osmanthus tree in the courtyard, so she walked over.

"I've decided to ask the Marshal to marry Gui'er to me."

As Gui'er walked under the osmanthus tree, she heard a voice coming from not far away.