"What kind of scandalous rumors is that bastard Gu Fang spreading to ruin my reputation?!"
Jing Xuan clenched his fists, his molars grinding with an audible "creak, creak."
His expression was so murderous that Hua Ting nearly died of fright. "Wait, why are you mentioning Prince Xiangding now?"
"None of your business." Jing Xuan was beyond irritated. "What does this have to do with you? All you do is ask, ask, ask. How much longer until we reach the Golden Jade Pavilion?"
Just as the words left his mouth, the horses at the front of the carriage came to a timely halt with a drawn-out "Whoa—"
"Young Master, we've arrived at the Golden Jade Pavilion."
The driver, dressed as a steward, was none other than Fuchang.
Gambling dens were filled with all sorts of unsavory characters—too many people could complicate matters.
Jing Xuan ordered, "Go pick out some rouge for the Grand Consort and bring back some sugar figurines for Jing Yi."
"Got it."
Fuchang disappeared into the bustling crowd of Dongshi.
Jing Xuan pointed to the grand, opulent entrance before them. "This is the Golden Jade Pavilion you were talking about?"
Hua Ting nodded. "Yep, this is the one, one of the top gambling dens in all of Chang'an. The back exit leads straight to Zhangtai Alley. That Liu Chou’er practically lives here, he gambles all night barely ever goes home. I guarantee we’ll find him."
Jing Xuan looked slightly reluctant, clearly unimpressed by the gaudy façade, but in the end, he still stepped inside.
He was already striking in appearance—skin fair as porcelain, brows dark as ink, and a pair of phoenix eyes that slanted slightly upward at the corners. Just by standing there casually, he exuded an air of proud brilliance, dazzling yet untouchable.
Tonight, he was dressed in a new tribute from Goldridge, flowing robes of cloud-patterned brocade, crimson wide sleeves, black hair bound in a golden coronet. In his hand, he lazily fanned himself with a delicate jade-ribbed fan.
With just his presence alone, he completely outshone the gold and jade splendor of the Golden Jade Pavilion.
Anyone could see at a glance that this was someone raised in the lap of luxury, a walking embodiment of wealth and nobility.
The head of the gambling den quickly came forward with a beaming smile. "Honored guest, you seem unfamiliar. What pleasure might you be seeking tonight?"
"Not pleasure, I'm looking for someone."
"What kind of person?"
Jing Xuan repeated Hua Ting's description: "A short man with a scar on his face who loves wearing an incredibly ugly mask."
"Oh, you mean Liu Chou'er," the gambling den head suddenly understood. "What a coincidence, he's gambling right now."
With that, he raised his chin in indication.
Sure enough, Jing Xuan followed his gaze and spotted a small, well-dressed man in the most crowded part of the main hall, cursing loudly as he suffered a losing streak.
Across from him, a young master in purple robes was dressed in the finest yunjin from Jiangnan, stepping on freshly crafted official boots. Even the jade pendant at his waist was of such rare quality that even Jing Xuan had seldom seen it. Before him, silver taels were piled high like a small mountain.
Hua Ting leaned in and whispered, "That Liu Chou'er has terrible skills, a bad temper, and a gambling addiction despite being dirt poor. On top of that, he's eccentric, so he's notoriously difficult to do business with."
Yet, Jing Xuan’s gaze remained fixed on the purple-robed young master. "So you're saying that even if I offer Liu Chou'er a fortune, he still might refuse to make medicine for me?"
"Exactly."
"Alright then." Jing Xuan snapped his fan shut and pointed. "I'll gamble with him, the one in purple."
Jing Xuan’s voice was not low, and in the midst of the noisy gamblers, its crisp, jade-like tone stood out.
As a result, the only person wearing purple in the entire room immediately lifted his head. He first froze at the sight of Jing Xuan’s breathtaking beauty, then loudly retorted, "Who the hell are you? Why should I gamble with you?!"
Jing Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Because you’re uglier than me."
Purple-robed unlucky guy: "???"
What the hell?!
To be fair, he indeed wasn’t as stunning as this sharp-tongued beauty in red, but he was still undeniably handsome, refined, and charming. Never before had anyone dared to insult his looks to his face!
Where did this blind brat come from?!
The purple-robed unlucky guy stomped his foot. "Fine! A gamble it is! If I don't make you lose so badly you’ll be searching for your teeth on the floor, I’ll write my name backward!"
A young master like this in Chang’an?
Jing Xuan searched his mind but found no match.
Not that it mattered.
He walked over, used his fan to push aside the dumbfounded Liu Chou'er, and smoothly sat in his seat. "So? What are we gambling on?"
Xie Buzi: "..."
Liu Chou'er: "..."
What the hell?!
Liu Chou'er was the first to protest. "This is my bet! What are you butting in for?!"
Jing Xuan didn’t even think before replying, "Do you even have any chips left?"
Liu Chou'er: "..."
Jing Xuan pinched his fingers together and held up a silver note. "Here, 100 taels. Sit here and clap for me."
Liu Chou'er: "..."
Jing Xuan casually stretched out his long legs, resting them on the table. "By the way, I’ll win back your losses for you and then discuss a business deal with you. Otherwise, don’t even think about walking out of this gambling den in one piece."
Liu Chou'er: "..."
Face dark, he snatched the silver note and obediently sat beside Jing Xuan, conceding for now.
Meanwhile, Xie Buzi burst into laughter from sheer disbelief. "So you’re putting on airs in front of me? Well, you’ve picked the wrong opponent! Of all things, if there's one thing I, Buzi, never lack, it’s money. May I ask your esteemed name, brother?"
Ah, His dialect is from Jiangnan.
Jing Xuan smirked. "My esteemed surname is Xuan. No need to be so polite, my humble little brother."
"..."
"Surname Xuan! You son of a—"
"Ai, ai, ai, Young Master Xie!" The gambling den attendants hurriedly grabbed Xie Buzi as he was about to explode. "A gamble is a gamble. Winning is what matters, isn’t that right?"
That was true.
Xie Buzi waved his hand and placed a firm grip on the dice cup. "Do you know how to roll for patterns?"
Jing Xuan snapped his fan shut, his bright eyes blinking. "Nope."
"Alright, then let me teach you the rules."
Xie Buzi lifted the lid, revealing three dice inside the bowl-shaped base.
"See this? There are three dice in the cup. If all three dice land on different numbers, that means there’s no pattern, and we re-roll."
"If two of the dice match, that’s considered a pattern. The remaining die determines the point value, whoever has the higher value wins."
"Additionally, rolling a sequence of four, five, and six doubles your winnings. If all three dice match, that triples the payout, and three sixes are the highest, paying out five times the bet."
"Players take turns being the banker. Lose, and you step down; win, and you stay on until someone admits defeat. Got it?"
"Got it."
Xie Buzi sneered. "I’ll let you be the banker for the first round. How much are you betting?"
Jing Xuan asked in return, "How much has he lost?"
"176 taels—enough to cover a labor contract. That means he has to work for me for an entire year."
"Alright, then I’ll bet 176 taels. If I win, he works for me for a year. If I lose, my servant will work for you for a year."
Liu Chou'er: "?"
Hua Ting: "??"
Jing Xuan rolled the dice and lifted the lid.
Six points, just enough to beat Xie Buzi’s five.
"Looks like my luck is pretty good today. Let’s make it 500."
The entire room erupted in shock. 500 taels is enough to support an ordinary family for three whole years, just thrown out like that?
Only Xie Buzi remained unfazed, merely curling his lips into a smile. "Call."
Jing Xuan: Five points.
Xie Buzi: Four points.
"Won again?" Jing Xuan arched a brow. "Then I’ll raise to 1,000."
Xie Buzi called again.
Jing Xuan won.
Jing Xuan raised to 2,000.
Still won.
Raised to 4,000.
Won again.
Just like that, the stakes had risen to 8,000 taels.
That was more than many people could earn in a lifetime. Even the onlookers, accustomed to the lavish wealth of Golden Jade Pavilion couldn't help but clench their fists.
And yet, despite losing nearly 10,000 taels, Xie Buzi remained completely at ease. "Young Master Xuan, luck doesn’t last forever. If you keep betting like this, one loss and you’ll have nothing left."
"It’s just 8,000 taels." Jing Xuan casually tossed in another 2,000. "Might as well make it an even 10,000."
"Bold!"
Xie Buzi laughed, swiftly shaking the dice and slamming the cup down before lifting it with practiced ease.
The crowd gasped.
Jing Xuan: Six points.
Xie Buzi: A four-five-six sequence.
Not only did he beat six points, but with a straight, his winnings were doubled.
That meant Jing Xuan had just lost 20,000 taels.
An amount equivalent to the entire fortune of an average wealthy merchant.
The onlookers broke into cold sweat.
But before anyone could try to stop him, Jing Xuan simply called out, "Again!"
"Alright." Xie Buzi’s smirk deepened. "Another 10,000."
He rolled the dice and lifted the lid.
Six points—Xie Buzi won again.
Jing Xuan bet another 10,000.
Four-five-six—double payout.
Another 10,000.
Three fours—triple payout.
After three rounds, Xie Buzi had won a total of sixty thousand taels from Jing Xuan.
Even for the truly wealthy families of the capital, this was an amount worth breaking into a cold sweat over.
Liu Chou'er and Hua Ting's faces had turned deathly pale.
Xie Buzi, seemingly ready to wrap things up, gathered the remaining principal in Jing Xuan’s pile and said, "Five thousand."
With that, he covered the dice cup, intending to end the game.
However, just as he was about to lift the lid, three cool, jade-like fingers clamped onto his wrist.
"Since this is the final round, why not let me lose with some clarity?"
Jing Xuan smiled casually, his expression as effortless as peach blossoms on spring water, making the onlookers' hearts waver involuntarily.
But Xie Buzi's face instantly turned pale.
The gambling den master, a seasoned veteran who had spent years in the industry, immediately understood what was happening. Without hesitation, he muttered a quick "Forgive me," took the dice cup from Xie Buzi’s hand, and lifted the lid.
Inside, sure enough, were the numbers four, five, and six once again.
The surrounding crowd, still unaware of the truth, couldn't help but exclaim:
"Not once in these past few rounds has Young Master Xie rolled anything lower than four—what incredible luck!"
"Oh, it's incredible luck, alright."
Jing Xuan withdrew his hand and leaned lazily against the chair’s backrest. "Any of you would have the same luck if you were using dice like these."
The crowd was puzzled, but the gambling den master picked up the dice cup and held it up for everyone to see.
Only then did they realize, each of the three dice had only three numbers on all six sides: four, five, and six. The bowl-shaped base, combined with the raised rim, had obscured the other faces, so no one had noticed before.
No wonder the rolls had never landed below four. It had been a rigged game all along.
The crowd erupted into outrage.
Xie Buzi, humiliated and furious, was about to defend himself when Jing Xuan spoke first.
"Relax. I don’t need you to return the money."
"?"
Catching a cheater but not demanding a refund? What kind of logic was this?
Jing Xuan tapped the dice cup lightly with his fan. "A bet is a bet. If you have the skill, let’s keep playing but this time, we both use rigged dice and see who wins. Sound fair?"
That, of course, sounded fair.
For Xie Buzi, this was the best possible way out.
He picked up the dice cup, preparing to continue.
But Jing Xuan stopped him with a flick of his fan.
"Hold on."
"What now, you menace?!" Xie Buzi was utterly exasperated.
But Jing Xuan seemed to be enjoying himself.
"Look, we’re both people of status. If we’re only betting on filthy silver, how boring is that? Why not add a condition? Whoever loses must convert all their lost silver into ingots and personally deliver them, house by house, to the refugee settlement in the west of the city—three days from now. What do you think?"
He did not think well of it.
But at this point, Xie Buzi had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree.
The game resumed.
Jing Xuan tapped his remaining silver notes and pushed them all forward.
"Five thousand, all in."
"Call."
Xie Buzi gave the dice cup a fierce shake.
Three fives.
The entire gambling hall erupted into another uproar, at this rate that Young Master Xuan was going to lose everything.
But Jing Xuan merely smiled slightly. “Sorry, I win.”
With that, he lifted the dice cup. Three sixes. Absolute victory.
The entire hall was in complete shock.
Everyone knew that rolling triple sixes meant a fivefold payout—which meant that in a single round, Jing Xuan had won back twenty-five thousand taels.
Xie Buzi gritted his teeth. “Again!”
Jing Xuan: “Alright. Then let’s continue with twenty-five thousand.”
Xie Buzi lifted the lid—three sixes.
He let out a long sigh of relief, a smug smile creeping onto his lips.
Then, his triumph crumbled.
Because Jing Xuan also had three sixes.
Jing Xuan bet another twenty-five thousand. Xie Buzi rolled three fours. Jing Xuan three sixes.
Jing Xuan bet another twenty-five thousand. Xie Buzi rolled three fives. Jing Xuan still three sixes.
Jing Xuan bet another twenty-five thousand. This time, Xie Buzi slipped—only rolling a four. But Jing Xuan, as always, three sixes.
With nearly three hundred thousand taels lost in total, Xie Buzi finally snapped. He snatched Jing Xuan’s dice cup, yanked off the lid and saw,
Every single face of the three dice bore a six.
“You bastard, this is too much!”
Xie Buzi slammed the dice down hard on the table.
But Jing Xuan only fanned himself lazily, arching a brow as he drawled, “How is this ‘too much’? I only said we’d both use rigged dice I never said we had to use the same type of rigged dice. How is that unfair?”
“You—!”
Xie Buzi was furious, but he had no argument, Jing Xuan never once specified that they had to use his type of rigged dice.
This man had been toying with him from the start!
Enraged, he grabbed Jing Xuan by the collar. “Don’t get too cocky!”
Dressed in opulent robes, flanked by a row of household guards, towering over him with an imposing aura.
Yet, Jing Xuan, still lounging idly in his chair, seemed utterly unbothered. He lifted his gaze lazily, peach-blossom eyes flickering with a hint of winter’s frost.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of getting cocky.” He spoke lightly, slowly, unhurried. “It’s just that this summer, the Jiangnan region suffered devastating floods. The court has been allocating silver nonstop, yet the local offices claim their treasuries are empty, leaving the refugees with nowhere to go. I wonder what noble house’s son are you, that you can travel all the way to Chang’an and still flaunt such wealth?”
His tone remained casual, effortless as if he were still his usual carefree self.
Yet, in his gaze and demeanor, it felt as if he had become a completely different person.
Xie Buzi was momentarily stunned.
Jing Xuan, satisfied with his own theatrics, finally lifted two fingers and effortlessly pried Xie Buzi’s grip from his collar. He turned to the gambling den master and said, “I hear Golden Jade Pavilion is the largest gambling house in Chang’an. Surely, you can oversee the fulfillment of our agreement?”
The master snapped out of his daze and hurriedly nodded, his tone suddenly much more respectful. “Of course, of course.”
“Good. Ah Hua, bring Liu Chou'er. We’re leaving.”
“Yes, Young Master! Liu—wait! Young Master! Liu Chou'er is gone!”
“???”
Jing Xuan turned sharply—only to find that the boy who had just been cheering beside him had vanished without a trace.
Before he could react, a sudden clamor erupted outside the gambling house—the clash of armor and swords, followed by a thunderous, commanding voice:
“The Silver Crane Guards, under orders from Prince Xiangding are here for a raid! You wretched civilians, kneel at once!”
The moment the words rang out, Jing Xuan’s gaze cut through the crowd and past Golden Jade Pavilion’s gaudy entrance.
And there, beyond the chaos, astride a jade-white horse, framed by a formation of soldiers clad in silver armor and wielding frost-chilled swords,
Sat a man.
He wore a silver coronet and a black cloak, which made his already aloof, delicate features appear even colder and more distant.
The kind of cold and distant that could, without blinking, sentence Hua Ting to scrubbing chamber pots for three months.
Hua Ting: "…"
Jing Xuan: "…"
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