Mentioning the gambling den, Xu Mingzhi was already itching to go. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Dad, I want to go with you too."
Xu Jingui hesitated for a moment, but then he thought that since Xu Mingzhi had already become the second-place scholar in the imperial examination, he should reward him. Besides, the prize money was his too, so he agreed.
Moreover, taking Xu Mingzhi to the gambling den would allow him to show off that he has a son who has become the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination. Why not?
He couldn't stop smiling at the thought, and put his arm around Xu Mingzhi's shoulder as they headed towards the gambling den.
"Alright, today your father will take you to broaden your horizons." The two strode towards the gambling den, their steps extremely arrogant, displaying an attitude of not recognizing anyone, not even their own family.
Xu Mingzhi followed closely behind him, and the two soon arrived at the gambling den. Perhaps due to good luck, they did win a lot of money.
"Dad, you're amazing!" Xu Mingzhi's eyes were already red with envy. He had never seen so much money before; the gleaming silver was almost blinding him.
Xu Jingui, while listening, couldn't resist boasting, "That's nothing! I have something even more amazing."
The Xu father and son were overjoyed, and soon they won five hundred taels of silver, unable to stop.
Unbeknownst to them, someone had been watching them all along—the head of the gambling den.
Gambling dens have always had inside stories. How could they let five hundred taels of silver slip through their own pockets?
Moreover, Xu Jingui and his son don't look like rich people; I don't know where their incredible luck came from.
The second-in-command was often in charge of the place, so the first-in-command called him over and asked, "Second brother, do these two come here often? Do you know them?"
The second-in-command looked at Xu Jingui and his son and thought to himself, "Isn't this Xu Yuehuai's father?"
"Boss, these are Manager Xu's father and younger brother from Tianxiang Restaurant," the second-in-command replied truthfully. "And that younger brother just won second place in the imperial examination today."
"Oh?" The leader was unimpressed, but the second half of the sentence caught his attention.
He also knew about the incident where Xu Yuehuai and the Xu family father and son had a falling out in the street, so he immediately decided to arrest the man.
"Second brother, take some men and bring them here," the leader said, his eyes gleaming with shrewdness.
The second-in-command was a shrewd man; he immediately accepted the order: "Yes."
He returned to the game and walked towards Xu Jingui and his son with a smile: "Brothers, you're having a good day. I have an even bigger game to play, want to join in?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Jingui became even more smug. The two of them were already quite pleased with their wins that day, and they agreed without even thinking about it.
"Alright, I'd like to see how big of a game this is." Xu Jingui said, and then followed the second-in-command, with Xu Mingzhi following closely behind.
The second-in-command thought they were two idiots and then led them to a separate hut in the backyard.
"How are we supposed to play this?" Xu Jingui noticed something was wrong as soon as he came in. The room was pitch black and there wasn't even a lamp on. He angrily began to ask.
With a sneer, the second-in-command clapped his hands, and the fire inside the room lit up. The two men were momentarily stunned, and then four burly men rushed in from outside, pinned them down, and tied them up.
"What are you doing? Let me tell you, my son is the second-highest scorer in the imperial examination!" Xu Jingui shouted while rubbing his eyes.
Xu Mingzhi was also furious: "Let me tell you, if you know what's good for you, release me right now, or you'll be sorry when I become an official."
When you become an official?
The second-in-command scoffed, "You guys are so noisy."
They were quickly gagged and could only make muffled noises.
Just then, the head of the gang arrived. He walked in and looked the Xu family father and son up and down.
"The second-place finisher, I'm going to catch the second-place finisher." He reached out and patted Xu Mingzhi's face.
The second-in-command quickly brought a chair for the first-in-command, and after the first-in-command sat down, he stood behind him with his hands at his sides, waiting for orders.
Xu Jingui and Xu Mingzhi were completely bewildered. They didn't know when they had offended the man in front of them, let alone how he dared to arrest the second-ranked scholar in the imperial examination.
The head of the gang signaled to the second-in-command to loosen the grip on the person. After breaking free, Xu Jingui immediately started cursing: "Do you know that what you did is illegal? If my son reports this to the imperial court, you'll be in deep trouble."
The second-in-command slapped Xu Jingui across the face: "You shut up, or I'll cut out your tongue and feed it to the dogs."
Xu Jingui immediately deflated, but still glared venomously at the person in front of him.
The head of the gang still had an unfathomable look on his face. He rolled his eyes and said to Xu Mingzhi, "You said you were the second-place scholar, right? Come on, compose a poem for me right now, using your current attire as the theme."
The second-in-command and the other burly men burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Xu Mingzhi was at a loss for words. What did he know? He knew that the fallen carrying pole represented the character "一" (one), but he was even composing a poem about it. Even if he racked his brains, he wouldn't know what to say.
He was sweating profusely with anxiety, wanting to speak but not knowing where to begin, and could only stand there dumbfounded.
Seeing this, the leader walked over, patted his face again, and said mockingly, "What a useless piece of trash. You must have bought your second place with money."
"No, I am the runner-up." Xu Mingzhi denied it and even started shouting. At this moment, he was very clear-headed.
Xu Jingui also confidently stated from the side, "My son will be the second-place finisher."
The two seemed to be trying to cover up their true intentions, but the first and second leaders exchanged a glance and understood each other perfectly.
"Alright, I like stubborn people, otherwise it would be too boring. But you have to find a way to make me believe you." The leader sat there with his legs crossed and made a serious joke.
The second-in-command then took a dagger and a red-hot branding iron from the stove next to him.
Only then did Xu Mingzhi dare to take a closer look at the house and discover that it was filled with torture instruments, and that something he didn't know was hanging from the beam, completely dried out.
"Choose one of these two to use on yourself, and I'll believe you're telling the truth." As soon as the leader finished speaking, the second leader took the two items and walked towards Xu Mingzhi.
He held the dagger in his left hand and moved it over Xu Mingzhi's body, which scared Xu Mingzhi so much that he got goosebumps all over.
The right hand holding the branding iron was brought close to his face, and the scorching temperature immediately made him break out in a cold sweat.
Xu Mingzhi had never seen such a scene before. He was so frightened that he wet his pants on the spot. He stammered, "I'll talk, I'll talk. I... I got this second place in the imperial examination with the help of Marquis Ningyuan."
"Hmph, you should have done this sooner." The leader snorted coldly, then got up and left the room. A light voice came in afterward, "Second brother, take their money and then throw them out."
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