Chapter 9: Dice

At the entrance of Le Tong Manor, a woman wearing an elaborate flower hairpin stopped Hé Yan, her voice dripping with practiced sweetness. "Young Master, this is a gambling house."

"I know," Hé Yan nodded, pulling out a piece of silver from her sleeve and waving it before the woman with casual confidence. "I'm here to gamble."

The woman stood stunned, mouth half-open. But before she could recover enough to speak, Hé Yan had already slipped past her and walked inside.

The women stationed outside gambling houses were gambling courtesans—professional gatekeepers with an eye for wealth. Le Tong Manor catered to wealthy families where silver flowed like water and meant little, so they'd learned to judge people accordingly. Those who appeared less affluent were persuaded to leave with honeyed words and subtle pressure.

Firstly, having poor people wandering around inside didn't look good and might dirty the embroidered carpets imported from the south. Secondly, poor people valued silver too much and couldn't afford to lose—once they lost, they might cause scenes and refuse to pay, disturbing the noble guests' enjoyment and ruining the establishment's reputation.

Hé Yan's worn-out clothes, with their frayed edges and faded fabric, certainly didn't look like they belonged to a young master from a wealthy family. Unfortunately for the courtesan, she couldn't stop this particular visitor before she had already entered uninvited, disappearing into the crowd.

The gambling house was a cacophony of noise—voices raised in triumph or despair, faces flushed with excitement and wine. Winners were naturally pleased with themselves, preening like peacocks as they collected their winnings. Meanwhile, losers wore frustrated expressions twisted with barely-contained rage as they pulled out stacks of silver notes from their robes, shouting with desperate fervor, "Again!"

As Hé Yan walked and observed, drinking in the sights, she thought to herself that people weren't wrong when they called gambling houses and brothels money pits. Fortunes disappeared here faster than snow melting under summer sun.

After teaching Wang Jiugui a lesson today, she'd asked him one question: which was the largest gambling house in the capital? Street thugs like Wang Jiugui would certainly know such things—the underworld always knew where money changed hands—and indeed, he'd told her about Le Tong Manor without hesitation.

Hé Yan had never been to a gambling house before. Before surrendering to the Yue army, her special identity meant she couldn't go to crowded places, let alone gambling houses where loose tongues and sharp eyes might recognize her. After surrendering and returning victorious to the capital, He Yunsheng had returned as well, and she'd become the legitimate young lady of the He family's second branch—even more reason not to visit such disreputable places. She hadn't even known where gambling houses were located until now.

Le Tong Manor had everything—pai gow, Chinese checkers, Chinese chess, grass fighting, cockfighting… She felt dazzled looking at it all, amazed by the variety but also somewhat regretful that she didn't know how to play any of these games. She'd spent her youth learning warfare, not entertainment.

The largest crowd had gathered where people gambled with dice, guessing the numbers of dice hidden in bowls—this was the simplest game and had the most participants. Silver flowed freely after each round, changing hands with dizzying speed, the piles of coins and notes dazzling Hé Yan's eyes. Finally, a smile spread across her lips.

The He family was too poor, but He Yunsheng still needed to enter school and the martial arts academy. Pawned jewelry brought little money, far from enough for tuition and living expenses. Even selling Da Nai cakes would take too long to save up the necessary sum. After much thought, Hé Yan could only think of going to the gambling house—using money to make money. Though it was taking advantage of her particular skills, she couldn't worry about propriety now.

"Hey brother, why are you standing here? If you're not gambling, don't block the way," someone pushed Hé Yan roughly, their eyes showing undisguised contempt.

Why come to a gambling house without money? Wouldn't it be better to buy decent clothes? How distasteful to have such poverty on display.

Hé Yan said calmly, "I'll gamble."

The surrounding people were all wearing gold and silver, dripping with obvious wealth—either rich merchants or minor nobility. Suddenly seeing a poorly dressed youth enter their midst, they all turned to look with varying degrees of curiosity and disdain. Hé Yan pulled out her only two pieces of silver from her sleeve and placed them on the table with deliberate care.

Someone mocked, his voice loud enough to carry, "Kid, think carefully. This isn't child's play. I see you don't have any other silver—better not gamble. If you lose and cry, no one will return your money!"

Such things happened often. Gambling was addictive—the more you lost, the more you gambled, driven by desperate hope, and the more you gambled, the more you lost in an endless spiral. Some people lost everything including their property deeds and family heirlooms. When they finally regretted it and tried to renege on their debts, they were thrown out by Le Tong Manor's burly guards. This happened frequently enough that no one was surprised anymore.

They looked at Hé Yan with pity—poor people had no future in Le Tong Manor. This lamb was walking into a slaughterhouse.

Hé Yan smiled slightly, her expression serene. "It's fine, just playing for fun."

The crowd burst into laughter—whether this laughter held any kindness or was merely cruel entertainment, no one could tell anymore. In places like this, empathy was a luxury few could afford.

The dice went into the bowl with a hollow clatter. The dealer turned it over with practiced ease, then shook it left and right with fluid movements. The clear sound of dice rattling against porcelain rang out, one collision after another, accompanied by the lively voices around them. The noise seemed almost musical in its rhythm. Faintly, one could hear rough men laughing and talking loudly at nearby tables.

Hé Yan remembered her days in the military camp.

She had entered the army at the bottom, rising from common soldier to deputy general, from deputy general to general, without the He family's connections or influence—purely earned through her own blood, flesh, and countless battles.

In the bitter cold borderlands, where winter winds cut like knives and summer brought choking dust, there was no other entertainment. When the men in the camps couldn't stand the boredom anymore, driven half-mad by monotony, they would secretly gamble in hidden corners.

Hé Yan would punish them according to military law every time she caught them, maintaining discipline as any good commander must. But they gambled so joyfully in private, with such desperate need for distraction, that she eventually gave up and just stipulated they couldn't gamble with silver—they could bet other things like chicken legs, dried rations, or animal pelts.

They weren't interested in gambling for its own sake—they were just desperately bored. Besides training and fighting, besides watching their brothers die and wondering if they'd be next, this was perhaps their only entertainment. Hé Yan couldn't bear to take it away. They would invite Hé Yan to join, and sometimes when she felt like it, she would play a round or two, always losing badly.

She'd lost almost all the small trinkets she owned, but she wasn't annoyed. She just felt that truly every field had its specialists—not everyone was good at gambling.

Or so she'd thought.

The clear sound of dice suddenly stopped, the silence almost startling. The dealer set down the bowl with a soft thud and looked at her expectantly.

"Big," Hé Yan said.

"Open—"

The bowl was lifted with theatrical flourish, and two dice lay quietly on the table. Everyone held their breath and looked—one five and one six—indeed big.

The crowd was slightly surprised, murmurs rippling through them. After a moment, the man who had mocked Hé Yan earlier laughed loudly, slapping his thigh. "You're lucky! Take this money and get yourself some decent clothes!"

A scattered pile of silver and notes accumulated in front of Hé Yan, glinting in the lamplight.

Hé Yan pushed the entire pile back out without hesitation.

Everyone looked at her, surprise registering on their faces.

"Again," she smiled.

Someone couldn't hold back anymore and said with disbelief, "Hey, this kid's getting arrogant!"

"Brother, you should quit while you're ahead. Winning is good enough." This was well-intentioned advice from an older gambler who'd seen too many fortunes lost.

"You think your luck will hold? Haha, children are so naive!" Another voice, thick with condescension.

Amid the mockery, advice, and spectators' mounting interest, Hé Yan's eyes were fixed only on the two dice—on the sound of their movement, the weight of their fall.

He Yunsheng needed tuition for school and the martial arts academy. Qing Mei couldn't handle all the housework alone as a single maid—the He family should add some male servants for heavier tasks. In a few months, summer would arrive, bringing the rainy season, and the missing tiles on the He family's gatehouse would surely leak, causing water damage to the rooms below… Inside and out, everything needed money.

She needed money to inquire about Xu Zhiheng and He Rufen's matters too, to uncover the truth behind the deaths that haunted her.

Money wasn't something you needed mountains of, but you absolutely couldn't have none. Otherwise, when you couldn't take a single step forward, when doors closed in your face and opportunities slipped away, you'd know how difficult life could be.

"Have you decided?" The middle-aged man shaking the dice stroked his beard, smiling kindly and gently—the expression of someone who'd seen countless fortunes won and lost at his table.

Hé Yan returned a polite smile, her eyes clear and determined.

"Again."

The dice rattled. The crowd leaned in. And Hé Yan listened.

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