A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

On the way, Sha Yanxiao asked Ah Cheng: "The eldest wife suddenly went on a killing spree, but what happened?"

Ah Cheng shook his head and said, "It seems that the servants of the main courtyard and the eldest house have been ordered by their master not to reveal a single word these days. This time, Dingxiang was in Nanjing and had a good relationship with a maid in the eldest house. When she heard that her family was in trouble, she offered to lend her money. She was moved and came to tip off. By the way, Master and Miss, when we return to the Marshal's Mansion, can you two pretend that you don't know? Because Dingxiang specifically told me that if the eldest house knew that it was one of their servants who tipped off, that maid would definitely be killed."

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on."

After returning to the Marshal's Mansion, Sha Yanxiao drove directly to the main courtyard, got out of the car and took Gui'er to meet the Marshal.

The Marshal was practicing calligraphy in his study, and the people from the main house were serving him. When they saw Sha Yanxiao come in, there was a hint of panic in their eyes.

"Father is fine. How are you feeling today? My second brother had time to come back from the military camp early today and specially went to the hospital to pick me up. He said he wanted to come and spend some time with father." Guier asked obediently.

"Okay." The Marshal raised his head, glanced at the two of them, and suddenly stared at Gui'er and said, "Guier, didn't you marry Zhao Yingwu? Why didn't you bring him with you when you went back to your parents' home? He's a good young man and can be trained."

Everyone present was stunned for a moment, and everyone knew that the Marshal was confused again.

Sha Yanxiao asked the servant who was serving nearby, "Where is Zhao Yingwu?"

The two servants hesitated, not daring to say a word. Sha Yanxiao pretended to notice something was wrong, looked around, and said to them, "Call Butler Zhao over here. Didn't he arrange for his son to stay with his father all day? He also said that Zhao Yingwu is a skilled warrior, and his father only trusts him to serve."

The two servants were so frightened that sweat broke out on their foreheads and they couldn't utter a single word.

"What's going on?" Sha Yanxiao raised his voice.

Still no one responded.

Sha Yanxiao turned and walked downstairs, loudly calling out to the servants sent from his own courtyard, saying, "What's going on? Where are Chief Steward Zhao and Little Steward Zhao?"

Upon hearing this, the two servants knelt down in fear and cried, "Master, calm down. It seems that Butler Zhao was called away by the main house and never returned. When Chief Butler Zhao heard about it, he also went to look for the main house. We were forbidden to go outside, so we couldn't report to you in time."

Sha Yanxiao took Gui'er and Acheng and turned around and walked towards the main courtyard.

Gui'er thought for a while and said to Acheng, "Brother Acheng, these two people are not capable. Ask them to go back to our courtyard and we will transfer two more people over." She actually wanted Acheng to ask those two people to go back to their courtyard to inform them, because now is a sensitive period for fighting for family property, and she was afraid of any accidents.

Ah Cheng nodded and said to the two men, "Didn't you hear? Go back to the courtyard and tell the housekeeper to send two more smart people over. The young master and I will go to the main house first."

The servants who were chosen by Sha Yanxiao to be sent to the main courtyard were usually smart and smooth-talking. They understood what he meant as soon as they heard it, and immediately nodded and said, "Yes, yes, we will go right away, right away." Then they turned around and ran towards their own courtyard.

Arriving at the main courtyard, Sha Yanyao, Miss Tian, ​​and Jin Bao were all there. Jin Bao greeted him warmly and said, "Second brother is here. What a rare guest! Come and sit down."

Miss Tian said sarcastically, "Who is your second brother? Are you from this family?"

Jinbao had no choice but to smile awkwardly and sit back.

"Why did you come back suddenly? Is there something wrong?" Sha Yanyao asked first.

"I finished my work at the military camp early today. I haven't been able to properly fulfill my filial duties to my father since he fell ill, so I specially asked my sister to go to the main courtyard to see him. I found that Chief Butler Zhao and Little Butler Zhao were not there. I heard that they came to the main courtyard. Did something happen?"

"Zhao Yingwu and the Eighth Concubine committed adultery. I've already dealt with them both." The wife came down from upstairs and said in a cold tone, "Old Zhao is also ignorant. He actually came to argue with his son. I told him to stay in the dungeon and calm down."

As the lady spoke, she observed the expression on Sha Yanxiao's face. Sha Yanyao and Miss Tian both looked alert. Jinbao seemed to realize the seriousness of the matter and looked around nervously.

"How did Mother know about this? In the past, Father always handled matters like this personally. Now he's ill, and when I went over just now, he was still muttering about Zhao Yingwu. And Chief Steward Zhao is the chief financial officer of the Marshal's Mansion, so he's very busy. If Mother locks him up, who will be responsible for the military's food and wages?"

The lady was a little speechless after hearing what he said. After a long while, she said, "Manager Zhao is a poor parent. His son made such a serious mistake, so he must be punished. Moreover, he defended his son and is definitely not allowed to work anymore. If he hadn't refused to hand over the account books and the warehouse keys, I would have punished him as well."

Sha Yanxiao waved his hand and said, "Butler Zhao is very loyal to Father. Otherwise, someone as suspicious as Father wouldn't have let him stay with him for so long. He's refusing to hand over the account books and keys now because he's probably afraid he'd have nothing to say if Father found out. How about this? I'll talk to him. If we force it, after all, Butler Zhao has been working in our mansion for so many years. If word gets out, people will say we're heartless."

The lady said coldly, "Second brother, you might have some hidden agenda. You want to earn more money, don't you?"

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "How could that be? Mother, if you're worried, you could have sent someone to go with me to see Manager Zhao."

The lady smiled and said, "Since you said so, then all right, Steward He, you and the Second Young Master go and see Steward Zhao."

Butler He is the manager of the main courtyard. It is said that he was also the lady's dowry servant. The lady even betrothed her own mother to him. Now the couple are both capable assistants to the lady.

Gui'er frowned. This matter was really difficult to handle. If Sha Yanxiao was not careful, he would offend the first wife. Both the lady and Sha Yanyao were ruthless characters who would never let go of any grudge.

Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go and persuade him now. Butler He, please go."

When they arrived at the dungeon, Sha Yanxiao said to Gui'er, "Why don't you stay outside? I don't think it's going to be very nice in there."

Gui'er thought for a moment and said, "Brother, please let me go in with you. If anything goes wrong, I can mediate between the two sides."