A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 119 The Young Marshal Deals with Young Ladies from Famous Families

The day after the banquet, the Marshal happily announced at dinner that he would solemnly marry the three Miss Zhangs when he returned to Jiangcheng after the New Year. He also said to the three Miss Zhangs in a gentle voice, "It must be a grand ceremony, and you three will never be wronged."

The three Miss Zhangs stood up and thanked the Marshal. The Marshal was very happy. He glanced at his wife and then said to the fifth and sixth concubines, "Look, this is the manners that a wealthy family should have."

The fifth and sixth concubines said obediently, "Yes."

But for some reason, Guier always felt that the three Miss Zhangs were unhappy. But then again, who would be happy marrying a man in his fifties or sixties at such a young age? And he was the one who had taken over her father's territory.

The Marshal also asked Gui'er to spend more time chatting with them. He smiled and said to Gui'er, "You have a gentle and clever personality. Chatting with them more often can also ease their sadness about leaving home. If they need anything, they can ask for it from Butler Liu."

Whenever Gui'er was free, she would run to the three Miss Zhangs' rooms and tell them about her experiences outside. The youngest, Miss Zhang Si, always listened with great interest, while the two older Miss Zhang Er and Miss Zhang San just smiled and didn't express any opinions. Gui'er couldn't tell whether they liked her presence or not. However, they didn't reject Gui'er's presence.

And with the Marshal's order, Gui'er asked Butler Liu for money every now and then in the name of buying things for the three Miss Zhangs. Only then did Gui'er know that all the Marshal's various properties, shops, real estate, and even opium dens in Shanghai were managed by Butler Liu. Although Butler Liu ran around in the villa like a servant, he was also a superior steward in front of the guys in the shops outside. So even though Butler Liu had one leg broken, he still worked very diligently every day, perhaps because he was afraid that the Marshal would replace him.

After Gui'er grew up, she gave the small items she bought at Sincere Department Store to the local servants in Shanghai and learned more inside information. It turned out that Butler Liu was a servant who came with the lady's dowry, so his heart must be on the lady's side. He had always done a lot of things for the lady, and almost all the money earned from the property in Shanghai was controlled by the lady, which made the Marshal a little dissatisfied.

After Butler Liu's leg was broken, he was very polite to Gui'er. Gui'er bought him a small snuff bottle at Sincere Department Store. Actually, with his income, he probably wouldn't have considered it, but he was very grateful, probably because of Sha Yanxiao's face.

In the past, Sha Yanxiao was just the Marshal's favorite son, but after this land grab, he became a powerful figure. Sha Yanxiao privately told Gui'er that the people he had assigned to Marshal Zhang's territory were all brought from the mountain stronghold by him, not the Marshal's own people. Therefore, the Marshal fully respected Sha Yanxiao's opinions in their meetings. Even when choosing a marriage partner, the Marshal told Sha Yanxiao, "As long as you like it, I have no objection."

Gui'er thought Sha Yanxiao would definitely choose Miss Rong, but unexpectedly Sha Yanxiao smiled and said, "Let's wait and see if we can find someone better." At the same time, he politely gave Miss Rong gifts, flowers, and invited her to dinner and movies, but he did not refuse Miss Ji's invitation.

Although Gui'er was a little surprised, she thought that in modern times, marriages between wealthy families still depend on the family strength of both parties, the ability, character, and appearance of the other party, not to mention in this era. Sha Yanxiao doesn't seem to be a love-brained person.

However, Gui'er secretly hopes that Sha Yanxiao and Miss Rong will be together. It's not because Miss Rong is a beauty, but because Miss Rong has been very friendly to Gui'er since she met her through Sha Yanxiao's introduction. She often gives her small gifts such as chocolates, cream cakes, toys, comic books, etc., and occasionally she will specially ask Gui'er to watch puppet shows and circus performances that children like. It seems that she sincerely wants to get closer to Gui'er.

Miss Ji was very polite and considerate to Gui'er in front of Sha Yanxiao, but as soon as Sha Yanxiao turned around, her expression would change. She also asked Gui'er several times when Sha Yanxiao was not around, "Even though you are an adopted daughter, your other siblings all live with their own parents. Why do you live with your second brother?"

Gui'er had no choice but to explain to her how she entered the Marshal's Mansion and how she became the Marshal's adopted daughter.

Miss Ji smiled meaningfully and said, "Sister Gui'er is very ambitious, but I don't think your temperament is suitable for the life of a wealthy family. I'm afraid you want to start your own family in the future. How about when you grow up, I can use my family connections to find you a job and arrange a place for you to live? "

Gui'er was startled. What she was talking about was indeed the life she had always dreamed of when she grew up: leaving the Marshal's Mansion and becoming independent, with her own life and work. But coming from Miss Ji's mouth, there was always a feeling that was hard to describe. Especially since Miss Ji's family was Shanghai's largest gang. Gui'er didn't think she was truly thinking about her, but rather a subtle threat: she could let Gui'er get the life she wanted, but also make him unable to gain a foothold in Shanghai.

Gui'er had previously told Sha Yanxiao about Song Xichen's invitation to see a foreign song and dance troupe. Sha Yanxiao was very unhappy and said, "I could have taken you there, too."

Gui'er stammered, "But you've been so busy lately, with work and dates with those young ladies. Before coming to Shanghai, you said you'd take me to the zoo, but I haven't even seen the fur of an animal yet."

Sha Yanxiao was stunned for a moment, and after a long while, he said helplessly, "Okay, you can go if you want, but you can only watch performances by foreign song and dance troupes and come back immediately after. You can't go anywhere else."

Guier agreed happily, then hurried back to her room and put a big check mark on the calendar.

The next day, Song Xichen came to pick her up as agreed. Gui'er was wearing the velvet plaid and cotton cheongsam that Song Xichen gave her today, so that she didn't look too conspicuous. She also wanted Song Xichen to take her to the civilian area after watching the performance of the foreign song and dance troupe, and she believed that Song Xichen would agree.

When they arrived at the Paramount, they found out that this dance troupe was actually from Broadway in the United States. Guier smiled bitterly. She had never seen a musical performance in modern times, but she actually saw it in the old times.

After entering and sitting down, she discovered that the musical was the famous "Phantom of the Opera", so she began to enjoy it with great interest. Seeing that she was watching with relish, Song Xichen smiled and touched her head, saying, "Do you understand it?"

Guier nodded and said, "Art has no borders."