A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Sha Yanxiao's words gave everyone a message. First, he had already rectified the morale of the troops outside. Second, he brought people back to the Marshal's Mansion and replaced the guards of the Marshal's Mansion. Now all the people inside and outside were his, and the eldest wife basically had no chance.

Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief. Sha Yanxiao, seeing her relieved expression, touched her face and said with a smile, "You're tired today too. Come back to the courtyard with me to rest." Then he turned to his wife and said, "Mother, as the mistress, will be meeting many guests tomorrow. Please rest well, too. We'll take our leave now."

"Wait, where is your brother?" the lady suddenly asked.

"What's wrong, brother?" Sha Yanxiao was confused.

"Don't you know? You won't be able to find anyone after dinner tonight. Even though you two are separated by a mother, you are still brothers. If something goes wrong, it won't be good if it gets out."

Gui'er was shocked to realize that her wife actually thought that Sha Yanxiao had taken the initiative and done something to her son. However, when she thought about it, she realized that she had not seen Sha Yanyao.

She quickly said to Sha Yanxiao, "Second brother, didn't you see eldest brother outside? I haven't seen him tonight, and mother is worried about something happening."

Sha Yanxiao frowned, turned around and said to the guard beside him, "Go to the gate and ask when the young master left."

The guard stood at attention quickly and said, "Yes." Then he turned and left.

The hall was unusually quiet. Guier only then noticed that Miss Tian had returned to the main room at some point and was sitting quietly in a corner of the hall without making a sound.

After a while, the guard came back and said, "Report to the young commander, the guards at the gate said that the young master had not left. When I came back, I passed by the main courtyard and took a look. The servants inside said that the young master was not there."

Sha Yanxiao turned around and said to his wife, "Brother, you are so old, nothing should happen to you. It's probably just in one of the courtyards in the Marshal's Mansion." Then he pulled Gui'er and wanted to leave.

"No, today is the first night of vigil. Your brother is the eldest son and should be on guard. Now he's missing. Something must have happened. You have to find him for me."

Sha Yanxiao stopped, looked back, and said impatiently to the guards, "Pass the order to go to each courtyard to find the young master and bring him out."

The two guards stood at attention, saluted, turned and ran out.

Sha Yanxiao pulled Gui'er to sit on the sofa and crossed his legs.

Seeing that his wife's face was getting worse, Gui'er patted his legs and signaled him to put his legs down, but Sha Yanxiao ignored her.

About ten minutes later, Sha Yanyao came back, followed by two guards. His face didn't look very good, but it wasn't that of unhappiness, but more of embarrassment.

When the lady saw this, she hurried forward and asked, "Where did you go so late at night? We can't find you anywhere." Then she glanced at Sha Yanxiao.

Sha Yanyao cleared his throat and said, "I was feeling down, so I took a walk nearby."

Guier suddenly realized that his clothes were worn strangely. The collar of his shirt was not turned up properly, and the hem of his shirt, which should have been tucked into his pants, was loose and exposed, making it look as if he had taken off his clothes and put them back on.

And Miss Tian seemed to have noticed it as well, her face turning pale.

Sha Yanxiao said to Sha Yanyao, "Mother was very worried. It's good that big brother is back now. I'll go back to the courtyard first. I'll send out a supplementary notice tomorrow and many people will come to pay their respects. We'll be tired by then, so you all should take a rest." Then he took Gui'er and left.

Returning to his courtyard, he instructed the guards on how to deploy their defenses, and then, after letting them leave, he turned back to Gui'er and said, "How's it going? Are you scared?"

Gui'er nodded and said, "Brother, is everything okay out there?"

Sha Yanxiao nodded and said, "I've already made the arrangements. I had just finished settling in when Wu Mingqiang came over. I was just wondering, Big Brother shouldn't be so confused. However, in order to prevent anyone from making the wrong decision, I quickly brought people back."

"You mean, Big Brother doesn't want to fight with you. Is this just Big Sister's wishful thinking?"

"He took so much when the family property was divided. Most of the army is made up of my men. If he takes it over, will anyone listen to him? It will only attract wolves and tigers from outside."

Gui'er looked carefully and recalled what she had heard. It was indeed Miss Tian who instigated more. Now that things had calmed down, she suddenly felt tired and sleepy.

Sha Yanxiao noticed it and said to him, "Hurry up and go upstairs to rest. It's getting late. We still have to get up and go to the memorial service tomorrow."

Guier nodded and returned to her room. As she entered the room and was taking off her clothes to get ready for bed, Dingxiang slipped in.

"Miss, this is incredible, huge news." Dingxiang said exaggeratedly.

"What's wrong now?" Gui'er was very sleepy and didn't want to listen to any gossip.

"Miss, don't fall asleep yet. Listen to me. Do you know where the young master was found?"

"I don't know. No matter where he found it, maybe he was in a bad mood because his father died, so he went out for a walk."

"No, it's all over the place. It was found in the Seventh Concubine's courtyard."

"What? Seventh Concubine? Why is he going there?" Gui'er thought about Sha Yanyao's clothes just now and felt that she was asking a question even though she already knew the answer.

"Needless to say? Of course he's doing something shameful. And the guards' massive search has already alerted every courtyard in the mansion. Now it's an open secret."

Gui'er recalled the helpless look in the Seventh Concubine's eyes when she knew that the Marshal was dying, and the surprised expression on Sha Yanyao's face when he saw her in mourning clothes. Suddenly, she seemed to understand what was going on. One was tempted by her beauty, and the other was forced to submit in order to have a place to stay.

She sighed and said, "I'm afraid Seventh Concubine is also helpless. I just don't know how to end it. I hope nothing serious will happen. It's getting late, you should go and get some rest. You have to go to the funeral home tomorrow and you will be busy."

The next morning, before Gui'er got up, she could already hear the sound of chanting coming from the main room. Although she was very sleepy, she had to get up and opened the window to look out. The sky was a little gloomy and a little foggy in the morning. The sound of chanting seemed to come from a distance through the morning haze, striking her heart and giving her a feeling of horror and terror.

When they arrived at the first floor, they didn't see Sha Yanxiao. The servants said, "The young master said you were tired and asked you to sleep a little longer. You can get up and have breakfast before going over there slowly. He has gone to the main courtyard to take care of things first."

Gui'er didn't want to be gossiped about, so she quickly ate a few mouthfuls of breakfast, put on a linen cloth and came to the main courtyard.