The Empress’ Livestream

“There’s so much to play around with here. If you all are interested, I can tell you more,” the servant replied.

“Go ahead,” Meng Liang replied calmly. In his heart, however, he was elated.

“All right! Listen up! One-two dice roll, four-direction leaves, big-small pigsty war, chicken, duck, and quail fight…” the servant recited more than ten different play styles without stopping for a breath.

“Not playing!” Jiang Pengji interrupted and turned to leave.

The servant was dumbfounded and stopped reciting the plays.

Since they had arrived at a gambling den, would Meng Liang just let her leave without playing? “Lanting, since we’re here, let’s play a bit before we go. Other than those outside, there’s nothing else to play.” Meng Liang smiled and rested a hand on Jiang Pengji’s shoulder.

Jiang Pengji frowned and her expression was impatient. She replied, “You said you wanted to come in and take a look. Why are we playing? Gambling leads to an unhappy end for all. It is best to just listen and watch. I think you shouldn’t be too curious about it.”

Meng Liang secretly rolled his eyes. All those who spoke of such teachings were just bumbling fools with no concept of “fun.”

Meng Liang released his hold on her shoulder and pouted. “But I don’t want to leave,” he whined.

Meng Liang was sure that Jiang Pengji would not leave him, “a weak girl,” behind in the gambling den.

In the end, Jiang Pengji stayed and that left Meng Liang with a sense of accomplishment.

The servant was prepared to fleece them, but he was not so dumb as to rush them and had left them to sort themselves out. He may have looked sincere on the outside, but in his mind, he had already rolled his eyes at the two young masters.

What sort of place was a gambling den?

It was a place where people could strike it rich, and where one could lose their family fortune. It was also a place where others sold their children or pimped out their wives.

Even the god of fortune would be stripped of his clothes in such a place––much less three children.

There was a saying amongst gamblers: “Enter as a lord; hit the tables as an old man; leave the den as a beggar.”

All the servant needed to do was entice the three to enter and they would be fleeced by the others.

Meng Liang curiously approached a table and asked, “How do you play this?”

The gamblers that had finished their round were in various stages of emotions: The winners were so excited that they were sweating buckets; the losers showed it in their expressions and postures; the ones who lost the most looked like they could not continue living.

“This table is playing big and small. The dice cup will have three pieces of dice. You bet whether the numbers are big or small,” the servant said.

The rules were simple and direct. Even amateurs without any experience in gambling would be able to play.

Jiang Pengji gave a cursory glance at the dice cup in the dealer’s hand. There was no lid on the dice cup at that moment and she could see three dusty looking pieces of dice in the cup. She raised a brow and a small smile slowly curled up on her lips. “If you bet on the numbers, then what’s so hard about it?”

“Exactly! This is the easiest to earn from, which is why so many people are playing it,” the servant replied with a smile.

Most gamblers thought that it would be easy to win from the game, as their chances were fifty-fifty. Once they start playing, however, was when they started losing.

There were three pieces of dice. Four to ten points were considered small, while eleven to seventeen were big. If they got a three or an eighteen, that meant all three dice pieces got one and six respectively, so the dealer won. The payout was one to one.

To Jiang Pengji, it was child’s play.

“Lanting, what are you betting on?” The dealer had shaken the dice cup and was accepting bets.

Jiang Pengji insisted on being an upstanding citizen and refused to play, while Meng Liang had full confidence in his charm. After much pestering and coquettish acts from him, Jiang Pengji “relented.” They placed their bets––one on “big” and the other on “small.”

The dealer opened the dice cup and the results were clear. Jiang Pengj had lost her bet.

“We’ve played. Can we leave now?” Jiang Pengji grumbled unhappily.

“This doesn’t count as having ‘played.’ You lost a tael and you’re happy that your money went to others? If you’re not playing, I’ll play. You’re not in need of money, anyway. Money can’t buy me happiness. As long as I’m having fun, who cares about the rest.” Meng Liang refused to leave and played another two rounds. He won all of them.

Most gamblers started to heckle them. Jiang Pengji looked calm, but she was tempted. The moment Meng Liang noticed that, he started fanning the flames.

“Standing around is boring, right? Play with me for awhile.”

Jiang Pengji used that as an excuse to sit down and play. Meng Liang couldn’t tell whether she was playing because he asked her to, or if she was playing because she wanted to.

Compared to Meng Liang, Jiang Pengji had the worst luck. She lost five times in a row––that was five taels to the dealer.

Nongqin watched on anxiously while she wondered what sort of people the men in the gambling den were.

If one had money, they sucked up to them; once one had no money, they ignored them.

“Don’t worry, my luck has always been good.” Jiang Pengji played her last silver tael while she gave a mysterious smile.

This shoddy play style was about luck to others. But for her? It was about whether she wanted to win.

When Meng Liang noticed that she was in her element, he smirked and quickly grabbed his winnings before he moved to another table.

“Young master, are you still playing?” the dealer asked.

“Of course.” Jiang Pengji nonchalantly tossed the last tael to “small.”

It was as though the wheel of luck had turned and Jiang Pengji was finally able to win. The result was “small.”

The payout was one to one and she had two taels in her hands. She quickly tossed both taels towards “small.”

“You’re still betting on small?” The dealer smiled.

Most gamblers had placed their bets on “big” since the results had been “small” for eight rounds straight.

“Hmm.” The dealer opened the dice cup: one, three, four––eight points. It was small again.

Jiang Pengji had four taels.

“This round, all on big.” Jiang Pengji placed all her taels on “big”.

The dealer opened the dice cup: four, four, five––thirteen points. It was big.

“I’ll continue betting on big,” Jiang Pengji said and left her winnings on “big.”

Once the results were revealed, she won sixteen taels.

“Young master, your luck is good,” the dealer replied stiffly, but he kept his smile.

This is called good luck? Jiang Pengji thought happily.

Once she really started gambling, even she was afraid of herself.

Back in her old life, she would sometimes make her way down to the black market’s casinos and close down a few shops. Due to her status, even when those casinos emptied their bank accounts because of her, they could not do anything to her. They all knew that if they did, she would kill those who opened or backed the casinos. She was that unruly.