A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

The next day, after breakfast, Gui'er wanted to go to the hospital quickly. She felt that the matter of the Marshal's Mansion was about to come to an end, and Boss Meng's task had to be carried out quickly to avoid Sha Yanyao having time to go back to his old job after the matter was over. If he found out then, it would be troublesome.

Sha Yanxiao suddenly said, "Take a day off today. I'll take you somewhere."

Gui'er was a little surprised, but she didn't know what to say, so she nodded.

The two had just finished breakfast and were about to leave in the courtyard when a servant hurried over and said to Sha Yanxiao, "Young Master, something's wrong. I heard that Butler Zhao has died."

Gui'er was startled and quickly glanced at Sha Yanxiao, thinking that he had arranged it again.

As a result, Sha Yanxiao was also surprised and asked, "What's going on?"

The servant said, "After checking the accounts yesterday, Manager Zhao went back to his room to pack up. He's always lived in a side room in the Marshal's main courtyard. He told the other servants in the main courtyard that he was going back to his hometown to retire and said goodbye to everyone. But today, when they saw him before his usual wake-up time, they went to check on him and found him collapsed on the floor of his bedroom."

Sha Yanxiao frowned, turned and walked towards the main courtyard, and Guier hurriedly followed him.

Arriving at the main courtyard, the servants who had been stationed there in the past had disappeared without a trace, leaving only the maids, old women and servants who had originally been there.

When they saw Sha Yanxiao coming, they seemed to have found a backbone and ran towards him quickly.

"what happened?"

A servant about the same age as Steward Zhao said anxiously, "I don't know either. Steward Zhao usually gets up around five or six in the morning, but today he hasn't been seen since. It was almost seven, and I thought he might be feeling unwell, so I went to check on him. The door wouldn't open, so I peeked through the window and saw him slumped over beside his bed. I was so scared that I broke down the door and tried to help him up, but he was already dead."

As he spoke, he led Sha Yanxiao to a room next door. Although this room was also in the main courtyard building, it was located in a more remote location, and the interior layout was different from the luxurious style of the main courtyard. There was only a simple wooden bed, a table and some simple furniture inside.

Manager Zhao was lying on the wooden bed. He must have been helped up there by someone. There were a few pools of blood on the floor.

Sha Yanxiao and Gui'er followed the servant into the room. The other maids and servants in the main courtyard were so scared that they stood at the door and dared not come in.

Guier noticed at a glance that the skin on Manager Zhao's face was wrinkled, and there were dried black bloodstains on his nose, ears and corners of his mouth. It was very obvious that he died of poisoning.

"Master, what should we do?" asked the servant.

"Have you reported this to Mother and Big Brother?"

"Then they sent someone over. Um, what did the Madam and the Young Master say?"

A servant, also in his 40s, stepped forward and said, "The eldest young master wanted to come over to see what was happening, but Madam said he'd been working so hard the past few days and wasn't feeling well. She was afraid he might bump into someone dead, so she didn't let him come."

"Did mother tell me what to do with it?"

"Husband, the lady said that since this man is dead, we should send him back home and bury him properly, and then pay him some money as compensation." The servant said hesitantly.

Gui'er noticed that the servants in the main courtyard were all staring at Sha Yanxiao. Steward Zhao still held some prestige within the main courtyard, having served as the Marshal's steward for so many years. If he mishandled the matter, he might lose his credibility. But Steward Zhao's actions were clearly suspicious. He died right after settling the accounts. Wasn't that useless? If Sha Yanxiao hadn't killed him, then it must have been the eldest wife's. After all, they'd already killed their son, so what else was there to do?

Gui'er suddenly looked at the wrinkled skin on Manager Zhao's face and knew that she couldn't delay any longer. After a person dies, the skin becomes stiff, and the skin on Boss Jia's face might be exposed soon. Now those people haven't noticed it out of fear of death, thinking that maybe all dead people are like this. After a while, they will probably realize that something is wrong.

She said to Sha Yanxiao, "Brother, I think that maybe Chief Steward Zhao is too grief-stricken by his son's death and has lost his mind. Since Mother said that we should return the body to his family to handle the funeral and pay some compensation, then we should pay more. After all, he served Father in the Marshal's Mansion for so many years."

Sha Yanxiao glanced at her, nodded, and said, "You have a point." He then said to the older servant, "The Madam is in charge of the accounts at the mansion now. Before you go to Madam to collect the money, go out and buy a coffin and bury Mr. Zhao. Then I'll send someone to take him home."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone shouted, "The coffin is coming."

Everyone looked closely and saw that it was the housekeeper He from the main house. He was smiling as he led two people carrying a thin coffin into the main courtyard.

"Good morning, Second Young Master. You've worked so hard to take care of Steward Zhao's funeral. Madam has already told me to buy a coffin. I'll come and bury Steward Zhao right away."

Gui'er saw that the coffin was very thin, as if it were made of pieces of wood nailed together, but since the lady was in charge now, it was not convenient for her to say anything.

"Mother said that she had to pay compensation to Manager Zhao. How much has been withdrawn from the account? I have arranged for someone to send Manager Zhao back to their home. You can take him along." Sha Yanxiao said.

"Oh, about this. Madam said that Manager Zhao has worked hard and made great contributions, so he must be compensated, so as not to lose face. The amount of compensation will be decided by the second young master." What this means is that the madam said it, but Sha Yanxiao had to pay the money.

As Butler He said this, he walked into the house.

Gui'er was worried that he might notice the strange expression on the fake Zhao's face, so she quickly said, "The coffin is parked outside. Come in and straighten his clothes and cover him with a blanket. Don't make it so embarrassing."

Sha Yanxiao also reacted and called the two servants from the main house who had just responded, saying, "You two, Mr. Zhao, we've been treating you well. Take him out and wrap him in a blanket."

The older one said, "Do we need to invite a Taoist priest or monk to come over and chant some sutras or something?"

Before Sha Yanxiao could say anything, Butler He said, "How can this be? Madam said the Marshal isn't feeling well, and inviting these people into the mansion wouldn't be a good idea if they offended him. Just send him home with some money and let his family handle it themselves."

The two servants had no choice but to go into the house, wrap up Manager Zhao in the bed sheet he slept on, carry him in with great effort, and put him in the coffin.

Butler He stretched his neck, wanting to take a look.

Sha Yanxiao saw this and said, "Butler He and Chief Steward Zhao have a deep relationship. Why don't you escort his coffin home?"