Chapter 257 - Displeased

In the capital.

Xiao Yuanshi had received news from the northern border and a letter from Ge Chunyi.

When he knew that someone from the old Xiao family had stolen 30,000 taels of silver from the boxes containing books, his face darkened.

He was even more furious.

This time, it was not against the old Xiao family, but against Ge Chunru.

He thought that Ge Chunru had prepared at most a few thousand taels of silver for Ge Chunyi.

But she had prepared 30,000 taels of silver and valuable jade ornaments.

He called the butler over to ask.

Sure enough, Ge Chunru had sold a lot of porcelain and ancient paintings in their storeroom.

Together with some from her private room and a few thousand taels of silver from him, she had stuffed them all into Ge Chunyi’s hands.

He did have a lot of savings, but those were stolen from the war, and the rest were gifts from others.

Spending 30,000 taels of silver at one go was extremely painful for him.

Most importantly, Ge Chunru had been preparing the dowry for Ge Chunyi recently.

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She had taken another 10,000 taels of silver from his private room.

Xiao Yuanshi did some calculations.

Ge Chunru wanted to prepare 180 boxes of dowry for Ge Chunyi.

It was minimally tens of thousands taels of silver.

She had also added a lot of the things in the storeroom into her dowry, including the remaining items in her private room, as well as the precious jewelry that he had given her in the past.

Ge Chunru already knew the four shops and manors in the suburbs of the capital that he owned, so what else did he not know?

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His face could not help but look even uglier.

Just the money he spent on her younger sister-in-law was enough to dig out more than half of his savings in the general’s manor.

To a real aristocratic family, 100,000 over taels of silver was nothing.

But he was a peasant who had no foundation and started from scratch.

He had only been promoted to general and transferred to the capital a few years ago.

It was already very good that he had so much savings.

He had already accepted that he had to buy more dowries for Ge Chunyi.

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After all, he had boarded the second prince’s ship.

Ge Chunyi’s status was not high enough to begin with.

Sending more dowries would also show that he was generous enough.

But what did Ge Chunyi, a good-for-nothing, bring to his table?

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Fortunately, the people of the old Xiao family had stolen the money.

Otherwise, he would not have known that there was so much money and let Ge Chunyi off easily.

But how did the Xiao family know that the money was hidden in the boxes?

With a dark expression, he instructed his trusted aide, “Carry out the plan at the northern border.”

He arranged for someone to bring Eldest Grandson Xiao to gamble and then lose all the money.

The casino that Eldest Grandson Xiao visited in the county was his property.

This meant that the money would return to his pocket, and Ge Chunru and her brother wouldn’t know.

Thinking of this, he felt a little better.

However, his dissatisfaction with Ge Chunru did not disappear.

His trusted aide nodded respectfully. “Yes, I will make the arrangements right away.”

A moment later, Xiao Yuanshi walked toward an inconspicuous vase in his study room.

He directly took out a drawing drawn with animal skin from the vase.

Holding the animal skin, he was silent for a long time, but he still could not hold it in.

He spread out the animal skin and took out another piece of parchment.

He copied all the contents and drawings on it.

He folded the newly copied parchment and tied it up with string.

Then he threw it into the unremarkable vase that wasn’t worth much.

His study room naturally had a secret compartment.

But the things that were really important to him weren’t in the secret compartment.

Then, he stuffed the animal skin into his bosom and entered the palace in a carriage.

It had been too long. It was time to give the treasure map to the emperor.

He was very frustrated.

Originally, he had wanted to use this treasure map to exchange for great benefits at a critical moment.

Now, he was forced to use it to appease the emperor.

When the emperor heard that Xiao Yuanshi was going to meet him, he roughly guessed the purpose of his visit today.

After all, ten days ago, Xiao Yuanshi’s people had just put on a good show to capture the remnants of the previous dynasty.

Now, they were probably going to send the treasure map.

The emperor narrowed his eyes.

At least Xiao Yuanshi was tactful and took the initiative to hand over the treasure map. Otherwise…

However, he did not grant him an audience immediately.

Instead, he hung around for a while to express his dissatisfaction with Xiao Yuanshi.

Only then did he send the message to let him enter.

“Your Majesty, this is what I found after capturing the remnants of the previous dynasty.”

After Xiao Yuanshi met the emperor, he took out the treasure map from his pocket and handed it over.

The emperor took a map made from animal skin from the eunuch and looked at it.

Then, he asked the attendant to take the map and compare it with the Daliang map.

After the comparison, his face turned black.

“General Xiao, look at where the treasure map is. Where does it look like?”

Xiao Yuanshi was very perceptive.

He was unhappy when he saw the emperor’s black face.

After some consideration, he said honestly, “It looks like the northern border.”

He had returned from the war at the northern border, so he was more familiar with that area.

The emperor sneered. “It’s not just the northern border, right?”

Xiao Yuanshi braced himself and said, “It looks like King Jin’s fiefdom.”

The emperor resisted the urge to flip the desk over and said indifferently, “I thought it looked familiar. So it’s King Jin’s fiefdom!”

His father was really good.

A batch of treasures from the previous dynasty had been hidden by the royal family in advance.

This was not a secret at the beginning of the dynasty.

It was just that it was rumored that the treasure map had been destroyed during the previous dynasty.

When his father was on the throne, he was also looking for it.

It seemed that he had received some news and knew that the location of the treasure was near the northern city of the northern border.

That was why he had given the large area, including the northern city, to King Jin as his fiefdom.

What was the late emperor trying to do?

Was he giving the treasure to his precious son for self-defense, or was he using it to rebel?

For a more stable start, Xiao Yuanshi said, “It looks like it, but we still have to investigate the details before we can be sure.”

In fact, he had studied the treasure map for a long time when he obtained it, so he was very sure that the place the treasure map was referring to was the area at the northern city.

However, it seemed like he still had to search for the details based on the treasure map.

It would not be so easy to obtain the treasure.

He also thought of the late emperor.

Back then, the late emperor had given the manor at the northern city to King Jin as a fief. Was It really unintentional?

He quickly thought that way.

The emperor played with the animal skin. “Did you just get the treasure map?”

Xiao Yuanshi’s heart skipped a beat, but he was sure that he had done it very discreetly.

Hence, he nodded without changing his expression. “Yes.

“Very good. If you find the things on this treasure map in the future, I will give you a credit.”

It meant that he should not talk about the credit now.

Although Xiao Yuanshi knew what was going on, he was still a little disappointed.

He replied, “This is what I should do.”

The emperor’s attitude was a little better than before. He waved his hand and said, “Alright, you may leave.”

“Yes!” After Xiao Yuanshi left, he realized that his back was full of cold sweat.

The emperor was becoming more dignified, making it harder and harder for people to see through his thoughts.

Fortunately, he submitted the treasure map.

Otherwise, if the emperor knew that he dared to withhold the treasure map in the future, he would be in trouble.

Soon, a rumor began to spread in the capital.

“Have you heard? When the second prince saw General Xiao’s sister-in-law, he was shocked and insisted on taking her in as a side concubine.”

“I’ve heard. If it weren’t for Ge Chunyi’s low status and the fact that the second prince had a princess consort, he might have even married her.”

“Is General Xiao’s sister-in-law really that beautiful?”

“I heard that she’s very beautiful, and she’s proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She’s not inferior to the first daughter of a large family.”

“No wonder she’s able to charm even a prince.”

“That’s because the second prince is blessed to be able to attract a lot of women.”

These words quickly reached the second prince’s ears.