Chapter 10: The dazzling lamplight shines with a golden clatter, the fragrance of intoxicating wine wafts through the air.
"I don't want to!"
When Su Jinxiu heard him ask her to give herself to him, she was so frightened that her heart was in turmoil. She struggled with her hands and feet, but he held her even tighter.
Ying Bumei carried Su Jinxiu forward, and just as they passed Yu Sheng's room, the door opened. Yu Sheng pushed the door open and saw Su Jinxiu being carried in Ying Bumei's arms. She was stunned and forgot to even wave her fan.
"Yusheng! Yusheng, save me!" Su Jinxiu cried out in a trembling voice, reaching out to try and pull herself toward Yusheng.
Ying Bumei was amused by her flustered plea for help. In this way, he felt like a philanderer who had kidnapped a virtuous young lady. He was inexplicably excited and quickened his pace.
Yu Sheng was still standing there, not having reacted yet, when Ying Bumei had already walked away. Su Jinxiu hurriedly reached for the hairpin in her hair, and just as her fingertips touched the head of the hairpin, she heard Ying Bumei's voice.
"What, you still want to stab me?"
Su Jinxiu paused, bluffing, "If you do something outrageous, I'll naturally stab you!"
Ying Bumei didn't respond. Seeing her flailing about in his arms, he just chuckled softly, not as if mocking her, but rather with a hint of delight.
He stopped teasing her and quickly put her down. After Su Jinxiu stood up, she looked around and realized that she had entered the gambling den in Zuichunfang.
Dozens of glass lamps burned brightly inside, illuminating the room as if it were daytime. Two rows of sandalwood gambling tables were neatly arranged at the end, each table covered with a dark-patterned brocade carpet. The chips were piled up like small mountains, some gold, some silver, and some inlaid with gemstones, gleaming under the lamplight.
The room was draped with embroidered gold curtains that swayed gently in the wind. Underneath, one could see gamblers banging on tables and shouting, or whispering and calculating. Even the maids serving them were dressed in fine silks and satins, with pearl hairpins in their hair, exuding extravagance and luxury.
After regaining her footing, Su Jinxiu looked at the noisy room and frowned, asking, "Why did you bring me here?"
Ying Bumei walked to the gambling table, shook the dice in her hand, and said with a smile, "Are you disappointed that I didn't bring you to repay my kindness with your body?"
Before Su Jinxiu could even scold him, Ying Bumei smiled and led her to him, saying "Open" to the dealer opposite.
As soon as he finished speaking, the dice were tossed into the blue-and-white porcelain bowl on the table, spinning rapidly. All eyes of the gamblers around him were drawn to the bowl, and shouts rose and fell in waves.
Ying Bumei shoved a die into her hand, but Su Jinxiu pulled her hand away abruptly. The die fell onto the bluestone slab and rolled to the feet of a bearded gambler.
The man picked up the dice while cursing, then looked up and saw her. His eyes lit up immediately: "Oh, Brother Ying, you've changed partners again today? You're quite the ladies' man! Little beauty, would you like to gamble with me for a couple of rounds? If you win, I'll give you all the chips!"
Ying Bumei held Su Jinxiu close to him, casually counting the chips on the table. Hearing the gambler's words, he glanced at him expressionlessly and said succinctly, "She's mine."
Upon hearing this, the bearded man's expression stiffened slightly, realizing that this woman was different from usual, and he quickly smiled apologetically and left.
Su Jinxiu then realized that the gamblers around her had stopped gambling at some point and were staring at them with a mixture of curiosity, greed, and undisguised awe in their eyes.
Ying Bumei suddenly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him: "You see, that's how the world is. Either you have money, or you have power, or..." His tone was seductive, "...you have a powerful backer."
Su Jinxiu didn't want to listen to his crooked theories, so she pushed him away hard, took two steps back, and accidentally bumped into a wooden table full of chips, scattering the silver chips all over the floor.
Seeing her at a loss, Ying Bumei suddenly chuckled, "Just kidding." He then bent down, picked up a handful of gleaming silver chips, and stuffed them into Su Jinxiu's hand without a word: "Take these, try your luck. If you win, they're all yours; if you lose, it's on me."
Su Jinxiu took a deep breath: "Reject pornography, gambling, and drugs."
Ying Bumei lowered his eyes to look at the person in his arms, pondering the meaning of her words. After understanding, he continued to entice her: "Hmm? Don't want to gamble?" He deliberately softened his voice, like a feather tickling the tip of someone's heart, "Just play a game with me. If you win, I'll send you back immediately."
Su Jinxiu struggled, but he held her even tighter. Helpless, she could only clench the cold chips in her hand, bite her lip, and nod: "Just one round."
Ying Bumei led Su Jinxiu to the gambling table. The dealer was laying out a set of dominoes engraved with flower and bird patterns and introduced, "Today we will start with a flower guessing game. There are twelve dominoes on the table, each depicting a different flower. I have one hidden in my sleeve. You will guess the flower. If you guess correctly, you will be paid out three times the amount."
As soon as Su Jinxiu understood the rules, she saw Ying Bumei casually point to a domino with a peony design on it, saying in a nonchalant tone, "I'll bet on this one; it looks like a sign of wealth."
When the dealer was setting up the tiles, he paused for a moment on the dominoes painted with camellias. When he pulled up his sleeves, there was a little bit of light pink paint from camellia petals on his cuffs, which must have gotten on him when he was hiding the tiles.
She tugged at Ying Bumei's sleeve and asked softly, "Ying Bumei, do you believe me?"
Ying Bumei glanced at her sideways, her peach blossom eyes curving upwards: "Of course I believe you."
“Then let’s change to this one.” Su Jinxiu pointed to the camellia dominoes with her fingertip. “Although the peony is expensive, it is not as cleverly hidden as the camellia.”
Ying Bumei raised an eyebrow and moved the chips over as instructed.
Seeing this, the surrounding gamblers laughed at the two for guessing blindly. But when the dealer revealed the dominoes in his sleeve, which were indeed the camellia, everyone immediately fell silent, and the dealer pushed over three times the chips.
A look of amazement flashed in Ying Bumei's eyes, and she smiled and said, "There are three rounds in a series, and there are still two rounds left. Don't rush off."
The second game is Liubo, where players roll dice and then bet on the seal characters on the wooden dice to determine the winner.
Everyone was stumped by the complex combination of seal characters, even the veteran gambler hesitated to place a bet. Su Jinxiu also stared at the bet for a long time; the seal characters were arranged in a chaotic manner, and she couldn't figure out the pattern for the time being.
Ying Bumei quietly leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Look at the corners of the Bozi. The side with more wear and tear will be more stable when it lands."
Upon hearing this, Su Jinxiu's heart stirred. She stared at the dice in the dealer's hand and saw that his wrist was indeed slightly off when he threw it. Looking at the worn edges of the dice, she immediately took the chips and placed them on the Sun and Moon Together.
"This 'Sun and Moon Shining Together' combination hasn't appeared even once in six months," a gambler whispered nearby. The dealer sneered and urged, "Are you sure you want to bet on this?"
Su Jinxiu nodded and placed her bet. The six dice were placed on the table, and they actually formed a combination of sun, moon, and seal script characters. The crowd was in an uproar and gathered around to watch the spectacle.
The dealer had no choice but to pay out the chips according to the rules. Su Jinxiu looked at Ying Bumei and said, "You've won the second round, shouldn't you send me home now?"
Just as Ying Bumei was about to speak, the dealer suddenly stepped forward, his tone tinged with reluctance: "Young lady, you have such good luck. How about we play one last round? This round is about the total points. Twenty ivory dice are rolled. A total of over sixty is considered high, and less than fifty is considered low. If you win, your chips double; if you lose, you lose everything. Do you dare to bet?"
Holding the heavy silver chips, Su Jinxiu was still basking in the joy of winning two rounds in a row. Coupled with the eager gazes of the crowd, she almost raised her hand to accept.
Ying Bumei spun the silver chips in her hand rapidly, a half-smile playing on her lips. Her eyes seemed to be watching a good show, or waiting for her to stumble.
That look in her eyes was really strange. She held her breath and carefully observed the scene at the gambling den.
The openwork rotating lanterns on the beams depicted gambling games where players could win all three prizes in a row, their flickering shadows dazzling the eye. In the corner burned a stick of incense, its swirling smoke causing a drowsy mind and stirring up greed with prolonged inhalation. The white porcelain cup the waiter had just handed me, its rim glistening with honey, made my guard quietly dissipate as the sweetness entered my throat.
Su Jinxiu belatedly broke out in a cold sweat. She had won money on her own in the first round, and Ying Bumei had given her some pointers in the second round. She thought she had the upper hand, but she never expected that she had fallen into a trap from the moment she stepped into the gambling den.
The silver chips were warm in her palm, but she suddenly pushed them onto the table, her tone turning icy: "I'm not playing anymore."
The brilliance in his eyes vanished instantly, leaving only clarity.
Those around her gasped in shock, feeling sorry for her.
The dazzling light from the glass lamp poured onto Ying Bumei, making him appear to move freely in the light and shadow, just like a magnificent peacock spreading its tail feathers.
"You won money, aren't you happy? Why do you suddenly not want to play anymore?"
His eyes held amusement, a mixture of surprise that his prey hadn't fallen into his trap and a hidden urge to lure her into reaching out again, as if he were about to use the silvery light on the table to drag her into the abyss of desire.
Ying Bumei smiled and leaned in, gently stroking the blush on her cheek with his fingertips, then looked at the silver lock around her neck: "Or... are you afraid of getting scolded by your wolf-like younger brother when you go back?"
That sounds strange, as if she were a gambling husband who was afraid of being disciplined by his wife.
Why should I be afraid of him?
"A little gambling is harmless, but excessive gambling is harmful. Knowing when to stop is always better than being greedy and suffering a setback."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a sudden change occurred in the gambling den. A gambler lost all his money and became emaciated and insane.
The gambler's eyes were bloodshot as he pointed at Ying Bumei and roared, "You heartless gambler! You must have set up a trap to make me lose everything!"
He then slammed the wine glass to the ground, grabbed the broken porcelain shards as a weapon, and charged forward fiercely. Clearly, having lost his life in a gamble, he wanted to drag someone down with him, becoming a shameless scoundrel who would perish together with them.
But Ying Bumei seemed to ignore it, only supporting himself on the edge of the table with his hands, his gaze still on Su Jinxiu, completely oblivious to the danger closing in from behind, as if the surrounding turmoil was nothing but dust.
"Watch out!" Su Jinxiu's heart tightened upon seeing this, and she instinctively cried out in alarm, forgetting her own safety, and reached out to push Ying Bumei aside.
The porcelain shard flashed with a cold light, piercing straight towards her, and Su Jinxiu closed her eyes tightly.
The expected sharp pain did not come; instead, she heard a muffled groan beside her. She opened her eyes and saw that Ying Bumei had grabbed the gambler's arm and twisted it with a slight effort, causing the man to cry out in pain. Then, she raised her hand and shoved him aside, leaving him unable to move on the ground.
"Isn't that stupid?"
Ying Bumei looked down at her, her brows slightly furrowed.
Su Jinxiu was both shocked and angry: "I did this to save you, and you're still criticizing me like this?"
Ying Bumei fell silent upon hearing this, his earlier flippancy vanishing without a trace. The dominoes slipped lightly from his fingers, and the candlelight flickered uncertainly in his eyes.
His emotions became increasingly difficult to discern; it seemed he had a thousand words to say, but they all remained stuck in his throat.
Without warning, he suddenly turned and walked out with Su Jinxiu, his dark robe sweeping over the mess of chips without the slightest hesitation.
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