Translator: Pika
All the gamblers who had been eagerly anticipating Zu An’s shameful downfall now sensed an even greater drama about to unfold. The atmosphere rose to a new high as they pressed Plum Blossom Seven to reveal the outcome.
At the urging of his disciples, Plum Blossom Seven finally snapped out of his daze. He swallowed hard and cursed himself for being so foolish as to actually roll a triple. If it had been any other combination, he wouldn’t have lost so badly.
He could already imagine the tragic plight that awaited him.
That’s seven-and-a-half million silver taels! We wouldn’t be able to raise that much money even if we sell all of the Plum Blossom Sect’s businesses!
The sect master will dice me up and feed me to the dogs!
The vividness of that image steeled his resolve, and he discreetly slipped his hand beneath the table. A switch was cleverly hidden there, that would trigger a mechanism to change the outcome of the dice.
Given the current circumstances, there was nothing to do but gamble and pray that Chu Chuyan wouldn’t notice.
Unfortunately, he had no understanding of just how powerful a fifth rank cultivator was. His action wasn’t a gamble at all, but a guaranteed failure. As soon as his hand started moving, he found himself shrouded by a white aura, and in an instant, his entire hand had frozen up, becoming completely immobile.
“What are you trying to do over there? Cheat?”
Chu Chuyan had been watching him like a hawk, especially since she was personally invested in this round of gambling. She couldn’t possibly allow anyone to tamper with the outcome.
Zu An sighed deeply and said, “I warned you not to cheat, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
He casually pointed to one of Plum Blossom Seven’s disciples. “You over there, open it!” he ordered.
“Open it! Open it! Open it!”
The eyes of the gamblers around had turned red in agitation. Will we be seeing a miracle today?
Plum Blossom Seven, on the other hand, was in a state of utter panic. He was just about to say something when an unseen pressure crushed down on him, preventing him from uttering a single word.
The disciple that Zu An had pointed to hesitated, at a loss as to what to do. He looked around fearfully, but there was no one else around to back him up. In the end, he stretched forth a trembling hand and removed the cap from the dice shaker. Three brilliant red dots stared upwards at him.
There was a moment of breathless silence. Then, the casino erupted in an uproar.
Even Chu Chuyan’s breathing hastened!
At a payout of 1:150, that made a colossal sum of seven-and-a-half million silver taels! How could anyone wrap their head around that number?
The Chu clan was renowned for its vast fortunes that rivalled the wealth of a country. Its salt and arms businesses brought in huge amounts of money every single day. Even so, its annual profits paled in comparison to what Zu An had just won.
The Chu clan wouldn’t make that much even if they saved up three years of profits!
Zu An looked at Plum Blossom Seven gleefully. “Thanks a lot. If you hadn’t stopped me earlier, I would have walked away with only fifty thousand silver taels. Never in my wildest dreams did I see myself winning seven-and-a-half million silver taels here. I must say, your mouth really brings me good luck! Here’s a tip of ten silver taels for you. Use it to buy yourself a cup of tea or something to quench your thirst.”
Those words reminded Plum Blossom Seven of how desperately he had tried to keep Zu An from leaving, and made him feel like an utter fool. In the end, it was he who had brought about his own downfall!
The ten silver taels shone dully in the muted light of the casino, silently mocking him for his naivety. Unable to take any more, he spurted a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
You have successfully trolled Plum Blossom Seven for 1024 Rage points!
His collapse only fueled Zu An’s displeasure. “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t think that you can escape from this just by fainting. You, come here and settle the debt!”
Just like how Chen Daozai was able to earn 27,000,000 HKD with just 20 HKD, I, Zu An, have earned seven-and-a-half million silver taels with just a thousand silver taels today! Converted into the currency of my previous world, that would be 13,500,000,000 RMB![1]
This is what being the God of Gambling means!
...
Meanwhile, over at the headquarters of the Plum Blossom Sect, Mei Chaofeng let out a leisurely laugh. “Say, Miss Qiao, you really need not worry so much. From the moment that trash decided to enter the Silverhook Casino, he fell firmly into my grasp! It’s impossible for anything to go wrong! Once he rakes up a debt of tens of thousands of silver taels, you can rest assured that there would no longer be a place for him in the Chu clan.”
Snow nodded in agreement. “Indeed. The Chu clan is extremely strict on its clan members, and Madam Chu has never had a high opinion of her useless son-in-law. Even if he made a loss of several thousand taels, not to mention tens of thousands of taels, I reckon that Madam Chu would do everything she could to evict him from the household!”
Mei Chaofeng thought for a moment. “The only problem facing us is that Chu First Miss. She wouldn’t turn a blind eye as he rakes up a huge debt. Miss Qiao, may I ask you to head over there and find a way to distract her? We need to lure her away before our brothers in the casino can work on Zu An.”
Snow shook her head in response. “It’s too risky. Chu First Miss already harbors some suspicion toward me. If I lure her off at this juncture, I’ll surely give away my identity. We can’t mess everything up just to deal with Zu An.”
Mei Chaofeng nodded slightly before bursting into laughter. “Indeed. The young master will only be able to rest easy with Miss Qiao keeping an eye on Chu First Miss, to ensure that she isn’t sullied by other men.”
Snow’s face immediately turned cold. “Don’t gossip about the young master behind his back.”
“I’m just joking, I’m just joking!” Mei Chaofeng replied with a laugh. On the inside, however, he bristled at how rudely Snow was talking to him. A mere lass like you dares to strut about just because you have the young master’s favor. Hmph! It’s only a matter of time before I get the young master to betroth you to me. Then, you’ll know what fate awaits those who offend me!
Snow stood up and looked in the direction of the gambling den. She recalled all the bickering she’d had with Zu An over the last few days, and a hint of worry crept into her eyes. “Why do I have an ominous feeling about this?”
“You’re worrying too much! That wastrel can’t possibly pull off anything!” Mei Chaofeng replied casually, amazed at how much women liked to worry about pointless matters. “If I’m not wrong, it should be about time we received news of our success.”
Just after he said those words, there was the sound of approaching footsteps. A sect member rushed over while shouting anxiously, “Sect master, b-bad...!”
Mei Chaofeng’s face immediately darkened. “Who are you calling bad? Slap your own face!”
The sect member was stunned, but out of fear of Mei Chaofeng, he knelt down immediately and slapped himself viciously without protest.
Meanwhile, Mei Chaofeng leisurely picked up his teacup and blew across it lightly. “Remember, don’t act in such an uncultured manner in the future.”
“Yes...” The sect member felt unfairly maligned, but he dared not refute the sect master’s words.
Mei Chaofeng finally nodded his head in satisfaction. “Speak. What’s happened?”
The sect member got around to his report. “It was a loss of fifty thousand silver taels.”
“Fifty thousand?” Mei Chaofeng burst into laughter. It wasn’t as much as he’d imagined, but Plum Blossom Seven still performed immaculately this time around, especially since he had done it right under the nose of the Chu First Miss. “Fifty thousand silver taels should be enough to get Zu An kicked out of the Chu clan.”
Snow’s lips betrayed the barest hint of a smile. She concurred that a debt of fifty thousand silver taels would be enough. With some subtle nudging, she was certain that Madam Chu’s patience with that detestable fellow would wear out, and she would not hesitate to kick him out.
The sect member realized that his words had been misinterpreted, and anxiously clarified the matter. “Sect master, I meant that we have lost fifty thousand silver taels!”
“Ah?” Mei Chaofeng’s smile froze instantly. His eyes slowly turned back to the sect member, and his gaze became murderous. “What did you just say?”
The sect member had no choice but to suppress his fear and repeat his report once more. “It was the Silverhook Casino that has lost fifty thousand silver taels to the young master of the Chu clan.”
*Bam!*
The teacup in Mei Chaofeng’s hands shattered as he flew into a state of rage. “What the hell is Plum Blossom Seven doing? How could he lose that much money to that wastrel? Even if I were to put a pig on the gambling table, it wouldn’t be so inept as to lose fifty thousand silver taels!”
“Actually, it was all lost in a single round,” reported the sect member.
“In a single round?” Surprised, Mei Chaofeng quickly demanded the details of the matter, which the sect member duly provided.
After hearing the full story, Mei Chaofeng lapsed into silence, but his complexion slowly lost its angry red hue. He dismissed the sect member with a wave of his hand, then leisurely made his way back to his chair to sip on yet another cup of tea.
Snow couldn’t stand how Mei Chaofeng could remain unfazed by news of the loss. She barged forward and demanded, “Why are you still sitting down here, sipping on your tea? Aren’t you going to head there to take a look? You’ve already lost fifty thousand silver taels!”
“There’s no rush,” Mei Chaofeng replied calmly. “Miss Qiao, don’t let your anxiety get ahead of yourself.”
“How can I not be anxious? You won’t be the only one to bear the responsibility for ruining the young master’s plans!” Snow pointed out coldly.
Mei Chaofeng clenched his fists furiously at her use of the young master’s name to threaten him, but he quickly composed himself and explained, “It would have been a serious problem if Plum Blossom Seven had lost fifty thousand silver taels after a series of bets. However, just as you have heard, they had only gambled a single round. It’s obvious that Zu An had simply been lucky.
“Luck might save him once, but it won’t save him every time. Rest assured, Plum Blossom Seven will earn the money back very quickly and place Zu An in debt.”
“What if Zu An refuses to continue gambling?” asked Snow with a frown.
Mei Chaofeng burst into laughter. “I’ve seen countless people like him over the years. They lose themselves as soon as something good comes their way. He doesn’t have the wisdom to quit while he’s ahead. Besides, Plum Blossom Seven is there. Even if Zu An wanted to stop, he has his own ways of keeping him there in the casino. I wouldn’t have placed him in charge of the casino otherwise.”
“You seem to trust Plum Blossom Seven a lot,” Snow observed.
“Of course! He’s one of my most trusted aides.” Mei Chaofeng revealed a hint of triumph. “I have nurtured quite a few talents over the last few years. Just wait and see, good news should be coming in very soon.”
His statement was followed by a flurry of footsteps at the door. Mei Chaofeng pointed and remarked with a laugh, “See what I just said? Looks like they’re here now.”
Snow’s lips slowly parted in a faint smile. It looks like the Plum Blossom Sect is still quite reliable after all.
After a moment, a sect member scrambled into the room, his face completely pale. He rushed to Mei Chaofeng and panted, “R-report... Lost... Lost seven-and-a-half million silver taels!”
Mei Chaofeng’s face darkened immediately. “What do I always tell you all? Why do none of you ever learn? If you can’t even keep your composure, you’ll never be able to achieve great things!”
Mei Chaofeng suddenly twitched, and he asked sharply, “Hm? What did you just say?”
“Seven... seven-and-a-half million silver taels...” reported the sect member once more.
Ravenous joy broke out on Mei Chaofeng’s face. “Hahaha, seven-and-a-half million silver taels! That brat is done for! Even if the Chu clan sells all of its properties, it won’t be able to raise that much money!”
It’s no wonder why my sect member is so agitated!
Mei Chaofeng had already forgiven his subordinate for his breach of etiquette. Even he could hardly keep his cool after hearing such a shocking number.
Snow was floored by the report. “That fellow actually lost seven-and-a-half million silver taels?”
For someone to lose so much money within such a short period of time was beyond her imagination.
Despite it all, the news put her heart at ease. If Zu An had racked up a debt of tens of thousands of silver taels, there was an outside chance that the Chu clan would be willing to clean up after him. However, a debt as huge as seven-and-a-half million silver taels was absolutely out of the question.
Not just the Chu clan; if one threw in the Yuan clan, Zheng clan, and Wang clan as well, it might still be impossible to raise such a huge sum.
Mei Chaofeng poured a cup of wine and passed it to Snow. “Miss Qiao, your mission has been successfully accomplished. May you be able to return to the young master’s side soon.”
1. Chen Daozai was a character played by Andy Lau in the 1989 action-comedy film God of Gamblers.
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