Ge Chunru quickly walked over.
She took out the painting scroll and reached for the bottom of the vase.
She touched a folded piece of paper and took it out.
It was a piece of brown paper.
She opened it and saw that it was a map, very similar to the one the burly man had shown her.
She felt that this map must be very important, otherwise, Xiao Yuanshi wouldn't place it in this vase.
He had once said that the most dangerous place was actually the safest place.
Indeed, if an outsider had come in to look for the map, they would not have thought that he would dump such an important thing in the vase for storing scrolls.
Most importantly, Xiao Yuanshi deliberately placed a few secret compartments in the study room.
If others came to look for them, they would only think that there were secret compartments here.
She quickly stuffed the vellum into her arms and put the scroll back.
Then, she cried and smashed the study again.
When Xiao Yuanshi's personal attendant came in, she glared at him a few times and ran away in tears.
The personal attendant touched his nose, his eyes filled with disdain.
Concubine Ge was getting more and more unpresentable. No wonder she was demoted from a wife to a concubine.
Seeing the mess in the study room, he could only let someone in to clean it up.
Ge Chunru's heart beat faster as she ran back to the yard.
She looked at the chrysanthemums that had been prepared in the room.
She deliberately said that she didn't like them and asked the servant girl to move them under the window outside the room.
She washed her face, washed away the tears, put on her makeup again, and walked out of the room.
Suddenly, a maidservant walked in and helped Ge Chunru.
"Concubine Ge, did you get the item?" she asked in a low voice.
The head maidservant behind Ge Chunru blinked and listened carefully.
Ge Chunru knew this maidservant. Although she was not the head maidservant who served her personally, she was still a second-rank maidservant who often served her.
She didn't expect her to be their people.
A chill ran down her spine.
That person's identity was definitely not as simple as being the manager of the gambling den.
She wondered if she should delay it until tomorrow.
After all, tomorrow was the agreed time limit.
The servant girl seemed to have seen through her and said, "Concubine Ge, I know you've got it. Before the deputy governor finds out, quickly send it out now and exchange it for your brother. If you came late, your brother will suffer another day."
Ge Chunru was extremely flustered. Now that she knew that she was on a pirate ship, she could not get off unless she did not care about her brother's life.
Otherwise, these people would never let her brother go.
She took a deep breath and said, "Okay, but I want to go by myself."
"Then I'll go with you," the maidservant said with a smile.
Her servant girl wanted to follow her, but Ge Chunru refused and only brought the second-rank maidservant who was supporting her.
She was really scared now and didn't want the people around her to know that she had stolen the map.
Ever since this second-rank maidservant's identity had been exposed, she no longer trusted the people around her as much.
Thus, Ge Chunru brought that maidservant along and quickly left the deputy governor office.
After they left, the head maidservant who had been serving Ge Chunru immediately returned to her room and wrote a note with special ink.
She tied it to the leg of a carrier pigeon and released it.
The carrier pigeon quickly flew toward Heyang County.
The servant girl went to the kitchen again and gave a look to an assistant chef, making a few inconspicuous hand gestures.
After she left, the kitchen assistant left the kitchen with the excuse of having a stomach ache.
After he returned to his room, he immediately changed his clothes and jumped over the wall to chase Ge Chunru's carriage.
On the other hand, Ge Chunru and that maidservant arrived at the gambling den and were directly led to the room she was at previously.
The burly man was the only one in the room.
Ge Chunru's servant girl took the initiative to leave and close the door.
The burly man looked at Ge Chunru with a smile. "Give it to me.
Ge Chunru pursed her lips. Where's my brother? "
"Don't worry, I'll let your brother go after I've verified that the map is real," the man replied.
"You're already here, and you're still afraid we'll run away?"
He comforted her again, "I don't want Deputy Governor Xiao to know about this, so I won't do anything to you and your brother."
Ge Chunru also thought that it made sense.
No matter what, Xiao Yuanshi's position in Northern City was still very high.
These people would not dare to do anything to her.
Hence, she took out the map from her pocket and handed it to him.
"I hope you will keep your promise!"
The burly man took the map and looked at it carefully. He then laughed. "Concubine Ge, you really know Deputy Governor Xiao well. You found the map so quickly."
They had all underestimated Ge Chunru.
It seemed that she was very familiar with Xiao Yuanshi's style and habits, otherwise, she would not have been able to find the map so quickly.
After all, they had sent quite a number of people to secretly search Xiao Yuanshi's study room and bedroom.
They had found a few secret compartments, but they had not found the map.
"This seems to be the map you're looking for." Ge Chunru said anxiously.
"Can you let my brother go now? "
The burly man smiled. "No problem.
"By the way, if you bring your brother back, how are you going to explain it to Xiao Yuanshi?"
He narrowed his eyes and said, "He definitely knows that you won't be able to take out thirty thousand taels. I don't want him to find out that the map is missing so quickly."
Ge Chunru wasn't stupid.
She had already thought it through. "I'll say that I've made a deal with you. My younger sister will pay for the money, and she will give you double the interest.
"My younger sister is the second prince's concubine and will soon give birth to the second prince's child. You didn't want to offend her, so you agreed."
This was the reason she had thought of before coming here.
She said it in order to intimidate the burly man.
It meant that apart from Xiao Yuanshi, she and her siblings also had the second prince to back them up.
How could the burly man not see through her thoughts?
He chuckled and said, "You are very smart, Concubine Ge. This is a good idea. Our gambling house will also use this reason to release Ge Chunyi."
He laughed in his heart.
His master even dared to kill Prince Yi, so the second prince was nothing.
However, he didn't show it.
He opened the door and walked out.
Very quickly, someone brought Ge Chunyi and Mdm Niu over.
Seeing that his brother was fine, Ge Chunru heaved a sigh of relief.
She felt sorry for his haggardness and walked over to support him. "It's alright. I'll send you back."
Ge Chunyi could not help but sigh in relief. "Sister, thank you for your hard work!"
Mdm Niu supported him on the other side, thinking that Ge Chunru really had a way to get them out even though they owed so much.
She had to ask Ge Chunyi to get some money from Ge Chunru.
Otherwise, they would not have any money to live on.
On the surface, however, she was very enthusiastic.
She kept calling Ge Chunru 'elder sister'.
Those who didn't know would think that Ge Chunru was really her elder sister.
Ge Chunru was disgusted and didn't bother with her.
After sending them back to the courtyard she had bought, Ge Chunru took the maidservant back to the deputy governor's manor.
When Ge Chunru left the mansion, Xiao Yuanshi's men knew and followed her to the gambling house. They also knew that they released Ge Chunyi.
After asking around, they found out that Ge Chunru had mentioned about the second prince's concubine, so the people in the gambling house temporarily let Ge Chunyi go.
They then reported this matter to Xiao Yuanshi.
Xiao Yuanshi kept feeling that something was wrong.
Then he saw Liu Ru's head maidservant running over in a hurry.
"Deputy governor, Madam requests for your presence."
Seeing the maidservant's expression, Xiao Yuanshi guessed that she must have something urgent to attend to, so he quickly went to Liu Ru's courtyard.