A Girl Traveling Through Troubled Times

Chapter 81: Concubine 4 Returns Home and is Ignored Concubine 8's Child Dies Young

The next day, when Gui'er went to see Taohua again, Taohua excitedly told her that the old maid had come to her to apologize, saying that as a servant, she shouldn't have neglected the young lady like that. She had three very rich meals today. Gui'er realized that Sha Yanxiao must have gone to the housekeeper to give the old maid a hard time, and she finally felt relieved.

Just after meeting Taohua, I met Sha Lili on the way back. Sha Lili has not been to school since the accident of the fourth concubine. When Guier met her, she was walking on the road alone with a lunch box.

Because Sha Yanxiao saved the Eighth Concubine, he was actually against the Fourth Concubine, so Gui'er hadn't been to the Fourth Concubine's place recently. Now that she saw Sha Lili, she hesitated for a moment whether to greet her. But after a closer look, she saw that she seemed to be struggling to carry the food box. She softened her heart and called out, "Lili."

Sha Lili turned around and saw that it was Gui'er. She immediately turned around and walked forward quickly. Perhaps the food box was too heavy, so she slowed down after taking two steps. In the past, Sha Lili would never have needed to do such a job. Gui'er was very puzzled and stopped to ask, "Why are you carrying such a heavy thing by yourself? Where are the servants in the yard?"

Sha Lili said coldly, as if holding her breath, "Those people are just flatterers. Seeing that my mother is no longer favored, they are all slacking off. Some are even using their connections to try to leave our courtyard and go to other courtyards."

Gui'er sighed. Seeing that the lunch box was too heavy for her, she took it and hung it on the handlebars of her bicycle, pushing it. This way it was much lighter. As she and Sha Lili walked towards Jinxiu Hall, she asked, "How is Fourth Concubine now?"

Sha Lili saw that she was really concerned, so she let down her guard and said dejectedly, "I've been out of the hospital for several days. I'm fine, just very weak. My father hasn't even come to see me." Her eyes were red as she spoke.

Gui Er quickly comforted her, saying, "Father has been very busy lately. I can't see him except when I eat. Fourth Concubine, please take care of yourself first. Your health is the most important thing."

Fortunately, this place is not too far from Jinxiu Hall where Si Si's concubine lives, and it can be reached in a short walk.

Only when she entered the courtyard did Gui'er truly feel what it meant to be deserted. On weekdays, when she came here, she would always see the doorman coming out to greet her, and the servants in the courtyard were in groups of three or four, either busy or coming up to greet her and warmly invite her into the house. Now, in such a large courtyard, there was not even a single person in sight, and Gui'er could not help but be shocked.

Guier asked, "It's not like there's no one left, is it?"

Sha Lili said helplessly, "Those people saw my mother fall from favor and left to find other ways out. Those who didn't leave were just lazy. The two maids who came with my mother as a dowry did their best, but you can see how much work there is to do in such a large courtyard, and they have to take care of my mother at the same time. They are really too busy. Now our small kitchen is not cooking, and when they go to the main kitchen to ask for food, they just give them some random food. I have no choice but to go and ask for it myself."

Gui'er pushed the bicycle directly to the door, and Sha Lili took the lunch box from her hand and carried it in with great effort. Gui'er thought, since I'm here, I might as well go and see the Fourth Concubine before leaving.

Sha Lili took out some food from the lunch box, which was quite delicious. Then she went to a bedroom on the second floor and said to the people inside, "Mom, it's time to eat."

Gui'er was sitting on the sofa in the first floor hall waiting for the fourth concubine to come out. Sha Yanwen came out first, still smelling sweet. This time he was very clear-headed. When he saw Gui'er, he smiled and said, "Sister Gui'er is here. Let's have dinner together."

Gui Er quickly said, "No, I didn't tell Brother Yan Xiao when I came out. He probably won't start the meal until I get back. I went back after seeing the Fourth Concubine."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw two maids supporting the fourth concubine slowly walking down from the second floor. Apart from her pale face and weak steps, the fourth concubine was fine otherwise.

When the fourth concubine came to the first floor and saw Gui'er, she smiled weakly and said, "Guier is here."

Gui Er quickly stood up and said, "Hello, Fourth Auntie."

The fourth concubine said, "Okay, okay, you haven't been here for a long time."

Gui'er thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth: "Before, I was afraid that the Fourth Concubine had annoyed Brother Yanxiao and me, so I didn't dare to come to your house."

The Fourth Concubine was visibly stunned for a moment, but she quickly recovered. The maid helped her to the seat of honor at the dining table. After she sat down, she sighed deeply and said, "People outside say I was trying to harm the Eighth Concubine, but in fact, I was really thinking about the Master. Ever since I married into the Marshal's Mansion, I've only thought about the Master wholeheartedly, not caring about anything else, yet I've ended up like this."

Gui Er thought to herself, "This Fourth Concubine is such a good actress! If she hadn't known that the man was brought in by the Fourth Concubine, she would have believed it."

So she smiled and said, "Of course I know this. In fact, Brother Yanxiao doesn't want to meddle in other people's business. There are no outsiders here, so I'll tell you the truth. He went to the water dungeon and accidentally saw the Eighth Concubine and her child. He found that the child was all sallow. He felt that it was not good. If someone really died, the child looked like the Marshal. He didn't know who would be blamed. So he reported it to the Marshal."

After hearing this, the Fourth Concubine quickly asked the Third Young Master, Sha Yanwen: "Is this really the case?"

Sha Yanwen said, "When I went to their courtyard to give them a gift, the steward said that the Eighth Concubine was not feeling well and could not see anyone, so they just accepted the gift and that was it. However, I did see the doctor from our mansion going in and out of their courtyard."

The Fourth Concubine hurriedly asked Gui'er, "How is the child now? Is he feeling better?"

Gui'er said, "I'm not sure about this. The child was not brought out during the full-moon banquet, and we don't see him on weekdays." She was telling the truth. The Marshal only had dinner with them once a week now. It was said that he went to the Eighth Concubine's courtyard to accompany her and visit his newborn son. He was really doted on her. However, in order to avoid any more trouble, Gui'er was too lazy to say it.

Seeing that they had almost finished talking, Gui'er stood up to say goodbye. The fourth concubine smiled and said, "Gui'er go back and tell your brother Yanxiao that you don't have to worry about it. We are all family and the misunderstanding will pass."

Guier also smiled and said, "Okay," and went back.

When I mentioned this to Sha Yanxiao at the dinner table, he said, "I'm afraid I can't raise that child. Don't mention this to others in the future."

Guier was shocked and said, "Isn't that baby just jaundice?"

Sha Yanxiao said in confusion, "What jaundice? The doctor said he absorbed miasma in the dungeon. He's taken many medicines, but it hasn't improved. I'm afraid it's going to happen in the next few days."

The next day, as I walked to the main gate of the Marshal's Mansion after school, I saw a small coffin being carried out from the side door. The coffin was made of solid wood with carvings and was very exquisite. However, apart from the two people in front and behind who were sprinkling paper money and the four people carrying the coffin, there was no one else.

Gui'er felt deeply uneasy and asked Dali, "Who is this? How did they carry him out of the Marshal's Mansion?"

Dali said calmly, "The fourth young master is gone."

Gui'er was very shocked after hearing what Sha Yanxiao said yesterday and he was gone today.

At this time, their car had already entered the gate. To get from the gate to their yard, they had to pass through the eighth concubine's yard. Before they reached their door, they saw black smoke rising into the sky.

It turned out that the Eighth Concubine was burning baby items at the gate of her yard: a crib, a cradle, small clothes, toys. Servants were frantically carrying things out of the house and throwing them into the fire. Some servants and stewards from other courtyards were standing outside the gate, watching and pointing. Guier saw through the car window that the Eighth Concubine was standing on the second-floor balcony, watching, her face ashen...