596 Aren’t you a joke?
Sure enough, after taking a few more steps, she saw Ge Chunru asking the manager of the gambling den some questions with an ugly expression.
The manager snorted. “If you don’t have money, then I’ll have no choice but to break your brother’s hand.”
Although Ge Chunru was angry at her brother for sneakily coming to the gambling house and losing five thousand taels, she panicked when she heard that this man wanted to break her brother’s hand.
“No, you can’t break my brother’s hand.”
Ge Chunru’s voice trembled as she said, “State your conditions. As long as it’s within my means, I’ll agree.”
She really didn’t have five thousand taels.
Before she came, she had asked her sister, but her sister couldn’t take it out.
The manager was unmoved.
He even looked at Ge Chunru with some disdain. “You are no longer the concubine of a deputy governor. What use do you have?”
“There are only two options now. Pay me back or I’ll cut off his hand,” he said coldly.
They didn’t need Ge Chunru at all, so they only wanted to collect money.
The Ge family still had a courtyard and a shop.
If they sold them, they would be able to raise enough to pay off the debts.
Ge Chunru felt humiliated, and her face turned pale.
However, she couldn’t refute him.
She felt she had hit a wall everywhere after leaving Xiao Yuanshi, and her life was becoming less and less satisfying.
Seeing the manager’s firm attitude, she could only clench her teeth and say, “Then give me some time. I’ll try my best to gather them.”
In fact, even if the manager wanted her to steal something from Xiao Yuanshi, she couldn’t do anything as she couldn’t even enter the deputy governor’s office.
However, she couldn’t just watch her brother’s hand be broken.
The manager had achieved his goal and smiled. “Okay, I’ll give you three days to raise the money, but the interest will double with every additional day.”
It was useless for them to break Ge Chunyi’s hand, so of course they wanted money.
What he did today was also to force Ge Chunru and her brother to raise money so that they could take the bait.
Ge Chunru’s heart ached, but she had to protect her brother’s hand. “Okay, three days it is,” she agreed.
The manager then waved his hand, and the two thugs released Ge Chunyi.
The manager continued, “Take your brother and leave. If you don’t return the money in three days, we’ll have to go to your house personally. Your brother’s hand will definitely not be saved.”
Ge Chunru advanced and assisted Ge Chunyi. “I understand.”
This was not the first time Ge Chunyi had been caught.
He believed that his sister would not leave him alone, so he was not bothered.
Ge Chunru also pulled Ge Chunying here.
Just now, she stood at the side and did not say anything, nor did she plead for mercy.
Now, seeing Ge Chunyi’s appearance, she knew that he would never change. There was no hope of him changing for the better.
He was completely a piece of trash.
If she had to deal with it, she would just let it be.
Only by teaching him a real lesson would he not dare make the same mistake again.
Her elder sister had really spoiled her useless elder brother too much.
To gather more than five thousand taels of silver within three days, with interest included, even if they sold their house and the shop, it might not even be sufficient, so how could they pay for it?
However, she didn’t have to pay for it, so she chose to watch.
They were about to leave when they came across Shi Qingluo and the others, who were standing nearby and about to enter.
Ge Chunru’s face turned even paler when she saw Shi Qingluo.
She just wanted to find a hole to hide in right now.
It was really too embarrassing just now.
Because she saw Prince Yi and the fourth young master from Prince Jin’s residence, Ge Chunying’s expression changed.
This fourth young master was originally a target she wanted to get close to.
She felt a little regretful.
She should not have followed them.
She even cursed Ge Chunyi in her heart for dragging down her reputation.
The manager was stunned when he saw Liang Mingwen.
He immediately came forward with his men and saluted, “Master!
Liang Mingwen really didn’t know that the manager was doing this kind of thing in the backyard.
He wouldn’t have invited Prince Yi and the others to tea if he had known.
He only felt embarrassed.
He frowned. “In the future, when you deal with these things, do it up front. Don’t do it in the backyard.”
The last time he brought Ge Chunru to the backyard, it was for the treasure map. Now, this woman had no value, and it was too much for the manager to bring her here again.
The manager suppressed his panic, collected his expression, and immediately nodded. “Yes!”
However, Shi Qingluo accidentally saw the panic on his face.
Liang Mingwen didn’t even look at Ge Chunru and her brother.
He turned around and said to Prince Yi and the others, “Imperial uncle, I’m really sorry. I’ve made a fool of myself.”
Liang Yulin smiled nonchalantly. “Let’s go and have some tea.”
Liang Mingwen politely made a gesture of invitation, “Imperial uncle, everyone, please!”
He led a few of them straight inside.
Shi Qingluo followed him after averting her gaze from Ge Chunru.
When they passed by Ge Chunru, Ge Chunru suddenly looked at Shi Qingluo and said, “Are you laughing at me?”
Xiao Hanzheng’s wife had seen her most miserable side, and she was very upset.
Shi Qingluo was aware that Ge Chunru was questioning her.
She turned to look at her. “Aren’t you a joke?”
Ge Chunru choked, “You!”
She was suddenly at a loss for words, and it was even more embarrassing than before.
Ge Chunying was on the verge of breaking down.
How could her sister be so brainless?
She pretended not to see her, but she had to come to her door to be humiliated.
Her heart was filled with jealousy and hatred as she looked at the high-spirited Shi Qingluo.
Her sister was about Shi Qingluo’s age, but she had become like this, falling to the bottom and struggling to climb back up.
Shi Qingluo, on the other hand, had not only become the magistrate’s wife, but also transformed from a village woman to a princess.
She could not accept such a difference.
Especially when she was in the second prince’s manor, she had heard from the other secondary concubine, who had always been on bad terms with her, that the second prince had a great interest in Shi Qingluo.
Fortunately, Shi Qingluo didn’t enter the second prince’s estate, or she would be their biggest opponent.
At that time, she was still very “dovetailed” by the second prince, so she was very disdainful of these words and treated them as a joke.
Now, looking at the beautiful and outstanding Shi Qingluo, for some reason, she suddenly believed her words.
She couldn’t help but recall the time when the second prince had brought her to a restaurant for a meal and she had met Shi Qingluo and the others.
Shi Qingluo had been rude to her, but he not only did not help her, he actively encouraged her.
Ironically, she didn’t see it clearly at that time, but now she suddenly saw it clearly.
If there was a chance, she would definitely let Shi Qingluo have a taste of falling into a quagmire.
She took the initiative to walk forward with a normal expression and held Ge Chunru’s arm.
She looked at Shi Qingluo with a weak expression.
“Princess Fubao, my sister offended you just now. She is at fault. I apologize on her behalf. Please forgive us!”
Then, she tugged at Ge Chunru’s arm. “Sister, let’s go back first.”
Despite her dislike for Shi Qingluo, she was not as foolish as her sister in confronting her.
Moreover, the fourth young master seemed to be so friendly to Shi Qingluo.
If she were to jump out and pick a fight with Shi Qingluo, wouldn’t she leave a bad impression on him?
She also didn’t want Prince Yi to have a negative impression of her.
It just so happened that she could use this matter to make Prince Yi and the fourth young master to change their opinion of her and find out that she was a well-educated woman.
Ge Chunru was pulled by her sister and realized that she had been too impulsive just now.
As Shi Qingluo saw her in a sorry state, she was embarrassed and couldn’t help but inquire.
She gave Shi Qingluo a long look before nodding to Ge Chunying. “Okay, let’s go.”