The Ice Lord Prime Minister's Black-Bellied Wife

Chapter 71 – Eloping (part 2)

Hong Xiang Pavilion

Although it was morning, there was singing, dancing, the sound of silk and bamboo, and laughter. This could make the people passing by curious as to what was happening inside. Hong Xiang Pavilion still had its doors closed in the morning, so why were the lights on inside?

Actually, the reason was very simple. This place had already been booked out by someone. No, it cost money to book a place. She, without any money, had already booked the entire Hong Xiang Pavilion.

In fact, this person was not someone else. It was at this time that Bai Xi should be on the way to Qing Cheng, or on the way to elope.

She was lying lazily on a chair. There were women kneeling on both sides, massaging her calves, and feeding her grapes, cherries, oranges, etc. In short, if she wanted to eat some fruit, someone would naturally feed her. On the stage, there were glamorous and charming women singing and dancing. These women kept staring at Bai Xi throughout their performance in order to attract her attention.

Bai Xi didn’t refuse the service and enjoyed it all. Anyway, it didn’t cost her a penny. Since it was the hospitality of the proprietor. Although she didn’t ask the proprietor why she did this, she could guess. The proprietor must have believed the rumours a few days ago and mistook Yue Hua to be Feng Ming’s lover, so she was treating her favourably.

She wasn’t going to clarify their relationship since she was actually Feng Ming’s lover. Yue Hua was just another identity for her. There wasn’t a need to explain any of this since Feng Ming continued to tease her. She was fine letting them misunderstand.

“Uncle Yue,” the proprietor called out as she hurriedly came over.

“Mm,” Bai Xi answered faintly.

“Uncle Yue, the person you sent out to inquire about some news has returned.”

Her beautiful eyes looked up. “Oh? What happened?”

“Master Yue guessed correctly. His Excellency, The Ice Lord is out of the city,” the proprietor reported truthfully. Early in the morning, Uncle Yue suddenly appeared in Hong Xiang Pavilion, which made her happy. A few days ago, rumours about this Uncle Yue and His Excellency, The Ice Lord had spread and caused a frenzy.

Although most of the rumours weren’t credible, she had personally seen the ambiguous relationship between Uncle Yue and His Excellency, The Ice Lord. She completely believed in those rumours, so no matter what Uncle Yue’s request was, she would do her best and treat him as an esteemed guest.

“Anything else?”

“Ju Cai Zhuang has also been operating normally. All the casinos in the capital have been operating as per normal.”

“Oh? The doors are open?” Bai Xi straightened. Very good. She was waiting for this day. This was, in fact, her real purpose for not leaving the city immediately.

When that man left the capital last month, he ordered all the gambling houses to close. But, since he had been back in the city for a few days, he left them alone. Sure enough, she had guessed right. That man was just afraid that when he wasn’t in the capital, she would bankrupt his Ju Cai Zhuang. Her appetite wasn’t that big. She wouldn’t devour Ju Cai Zhuang. Besides, it wasn’t something she could do if she wanted to since there was the big boss behind them. But, now the door was open so she was going to have some fun.

“Yes, I heard that the door was open early this morning.” The proprietor was full of questions, but she didn’t dare to ask anything. She had seen Uncle Yue’s temper. She didn’t want to anger him in case he ruined Hong Xiang Pavilion, which she had worked so hard to build. It would be the same as killing her.

“Good, just open the door.” The man was really stingy. He only ordered the opening of the doors after he knew she was out of the city.

“Uncle… Uncle Yue, what else do I need to do?” the proprietor asked cautiously, afraid that she would make a mistake.

“Nothing.” Bai Xi patted her clothes then looked up at the frightened proprietor. “The cost today…”

“No… No need. It’s my honour for you to come to my Hong Xiang Pavilion. Uncle Yue, how could I ask you to pay for it. Before I… I also said that this is all my Hong Xiang Pavilions feelings for Uncle Yue,” the proprietor said anxiously. Even if Uncle Yue gave her money, she wouldn’t take it.

“Thank you for the hospitality then.” Bai Xi took a step, then stopped as she remembered something. “I hope that when I come next time, you’ll have new tricks.” After she finished speaking, she turned around and left, not bothering to pay attention to the proprietor who suddenly stiffened behind her.

After Bai Xi left Hong Xiang Pavilion, she went to Ju Cai Zhuang. As the proprietor said, it was already open for business and there were a lot more people around.

Maybe it was because Bai Xi’s appearance was too eye-catching, or it was because she had left a deep impression on these people last time, but the noisy scene outside Ju Cai Zhuang immediately died down.

“Bet… The god of gambling is here,” a lone voice said. The quiet scene then erupted with noise. Everyone stopped betting and locked their eyes on the god of gamblers in their hearts.

The gambling god? Bai Xi smiled playfully. She didn’t expect that she would have such a title, but her little tricks couldn’t compare to the real god of gambling.

Bai Xi ignored them and went directly to the single-double1.”

Bai Xi didn’t place a bet directly, but smiled and looked at the flustered dealer. “Continue as if I don’t exist.”

It was a pity that what she said didn’t matter. When everyone saw that she didn’t move, they also didn’t move. They just looked at her closely as if waiting for her to place a bet.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man walked out of the crowd. “Young Master Yue.”

“You are…”

“This one is the manager of Ju Cai Zhuang.” The man was respectful, but not humble.

“Oh? It turned out to be the person in charge. What’s the matter?” Could it be that Feng Ming also ordered her not to come here?

“This one specially prepared a private room for Young Master Yue to play in.”

“Oh? VIP?” Unexpectedly, there was a VIP room here? This surprised her a bit.

“Young Master Yue, please.”

“Fine. This young master will enjoy your VIP treatment.” Bai Xi didn’t refuse and stepped forward. With the middle-aged man leading the way, she didn’t worry about the tricks that these people would do. According to the situation just now, it was estimated that Ju Cai Zhuang would lose a lot today, so no wonder the person in charge would come forward.

The so-called VIP room was just a box (like a theatre box) on the second floor.

“Young Master Yue, some snacks and refreshments will arrive shortly. What would Young Master Yue like to play?” the middle-aged man asked slowly.

“There is no atmosphere here.” This so-called VIP room was arranged temporarily. She was alone. The atmosphere made her not want to bet anymore.

The middle-aged man walked up to the window to the south and opened it. “Young Master Yue, look.”

Bai Xi raised her eyebrows and walked over to the window. She looked down and her eyes flashed with a little approval. “Oh, so that’s why this room is considered VIP.”

From this angle, she could see the single-double table clearly and she could feel the lively atmosphere below. That meant that she could bet from here and watch. The game was about to start.

“If Young Master Yue wants to play, that’s fine.” The middle-aged man opened the window on the other side. From that angle, she could get a glimpse of the dice.

“This room is really good,” Bai Xi praised sincerely.

“This one wishes that Young Master Yue has a good time.”

“Wait a minute. Manager doesn’t have to leave. I’ll just play a few rounds. Wait for me to bet.” In order to prevent those people from telling that person, she can’t stay here for too long.

The middle-aged man was startled, but soon recovered. “Yes.”

Bai Xi didn’t stay at Ju Cai Zhuang for long. She just played a few rounds and left. Even if the person in charge wanted to send someone to inform Feng Ming, it was too late.

However, he was very curious. Why did Young Master Yue leave after only playing 5 games? Even if he didn’t spend that long here, Young Master Yue won a lot of silver.

God of gambling? This title was really suitable for Young Master Yue. After only playing 5 games, he had won nearly 5 million taels. This was almost half a day, sometimes even a day’s worth of receipts. He finally knew why the master shut down the gambling house for a few days, but this Young Master Yue was well informed. He came just shortly after the opening today. He also won a lot of silver. It seemed like he had to pass the news to the master soon.

After Bai Xi left Ju Cai Zhuang, she first went to deposit the silver into her account, then rushed back to the city gate on horseback to begin her journey to Qing Cheng.

At this time, she finally took a sigh of relief. Five million was exchanged for five hundred thousand. She made a profit. She wondered what expression that petty guy would have on his face after hearing the news. Will he be angered to death? Haha, she really wanted to see it!

Sometimes Bai Xi didn’t know if she was too lucky. Now, as she left the city gates, she saw a black carriage parked less than 100 metres away and the coachman was quite familiar. That meant that the person in the carriage was…

1(單雙) dan shuang – From what I can understand, there are two die with the numbers 0-9 on them. Small numbers are 0-4 while big numbers are 5-9. Even numbers are called doubles and odd numbers are called singles.