Chapter 32

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng bet one hundred taels of silver with her, and he managed to win. Then, he listened to her for the subsequent two rounds. He only bet twenty taels of silver in each round, and he lost both rounds. Then, he alternated between losing and winning, but at the end, they still won money. 

“Ah, we’re changing tables again?” the young man who had carved the Kun-peng asked as he was dragged off to another table. Weren’t they winning money?

“That table doesn’t suit the eight characters of your life, Master. We lost a few rounds,” Chu Yue said loudly which provided a compelling argument. 

The others did not care about them, because all of them were busy throwing their money away. Chu Yue brought the young man who had carved the Kun-peng to continue spending money. They lost and won, but they always won big amounts of money while losing only little amounts. Of course, they would occasionally lose a lot of money. Over the night, Chu Yue managed to earn around fifty taels of silver. 

But even the veterans might not be able to tell that she managed to earn fifty taels of silver from the gambling house. At most, they would think that she was not losing money, but she should not have earned much. 

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng had a huge capital and decided to listen to her, so he also switched his style. Instead of playing as if he would not leave the gambling house unless he lost all his money, he started listening to her. So, he earned quite a lot. He earned more than two hundred taels of silver, which was counting in the large amount of money he had lost on his own in the beginning. 

Otherwise, he would have earned a lot more. 

Chu Yue used fifty taels of silver in exchange for a silver note that was worth fifty taels. “I won’t be returning this set of clothes to you. I helped you win so much money, so treat this as a gift to me.”

“I don’t mind giving it to you, but you have to tell me. Have you ever played the games before?” the young man who had carved the Kun-peng asked while staring at her. 

“Never. I’m a good woman, so how could I have ever played these sort of games before?” Chu Yue said with the perfect picture of innocence. 

She had truly never played in this life. Even if in her previous life, the underground gambling centers in China never welcomed her much. 

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng did not believe her. It was clear that she was even more experienced than him, since he did not lose completely. In fact, he had even won two hundred taels of silver. 

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng was in a good mood. 

“It’s late now. You should go and sleep.” 

Chu Yue waved her hand at him before she returned to her room. She changed her clothes and hid the set she got from the young man so that Hupo would not find it. Then, she ate two pieces of dessert to fill up her stomach before she went to sleep. 

She only came back with the young man who had carved the Kun-peng during the early hours, so the next day, she naturally slept in. Besides, it was winter. The blankets were incredibly comfortable. There was just no way she would wake up early. 

She slept until it was nearly noon, and she missed breakfast. 

Hupo found herself feeling resigned. She had tried waking Chu Yue up, but her mistress ignored her. Chu Yue only got up to wash herself when it was noon. 

The master-servant pair ate lunch, and Chu Yue went out with Hupo. The desserts they bought yesterday were pretty tasty, so she intended to buy more after she was done strolling around. Then, right after they left the entrance of the restaurant, Chu Yue saw money on the ground. It was a silver note worth fifty taels of silver!

Hupo was so delighted that she was stunned. She picked the money and said, “Milady… did we just pick up money?”

“Pipe down.” Chu Yue nodded calmly to show that she understood what Hupo said. 

Hupo was incredibly happy. She immediately put away the money. The person who lost a silver note worth fifty taels of silver at the entrance of the restaurant was either rich or an aristocrat. This could be considered an act of stealing from the rich to help the poor. 

“What a strange woman.”

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng had opened his window to allow better ventilation at that moment and saw Chu Yue tossing the silver note on the ground while her maid was not paying attention so that her maid could pick it up. 

Chu Yue did not know that he would open the window when it was still so cold outside and that he would do it while she threw the note on the ground, so she just led Hupo away to play. 

The ice sculpture festival had happened the day before, but there were still a lot of people continuing to carve ice sculptures. After all, it was the end of the year, and there was excitement everywhere. 

Many of the ice sculptures were only half-done before, but when they went to the center of the city to look at the exhibition on that day, they found that plenty of the sculptures had already been completed. 

The carps they saw yesterday now looked like symbols of fortune and could guarantee a life without hindrances; the Kun-peng was a symbol of fortune and wealth gathering together; and the peonies were crystal symbols of fortune. 

There were also lively eagles spreading their wings. They stood on ice mountains with their wings spread. 

Some were houses carved out of ice. They were like palaces seen in mirages, which were beautiful and graceful. 

Chu Yue came over to look at the Kun-peng. The skills of the young man who had carved it were really good. She had never seen a Kun-peng before, but the sculpture looked really good. 

Many sculptors wanted to be acknowledged since then the rich people of Xiang City would be willing to spend good money to hire them for carving ice sculptures in their courtyard.

That was a high-paying job. 

The top-class ice sculptors could even be recommended to the capital, where they could carve ice sculptures for the rich people in Beijing. Those who were truly skillful could even go to the palace. 

One could say that the end goal of the ice sculptors was to master their craft and offer it to the emperor. 

The master-servant duo wandered around the ice sculptures for more than two hours and spoke to some of the ice sculptors who were still commoners. They rewarded them with a tael of silver on their way out and went to buy desserts. 

Since they had picked up fifty taels of silver out of the blue, they did not need to be so frugal anymore. 

They bought a few types of desserts. The ones made by the dessert shop they were in were fresh and tasty, and their business was really good. Chu Yue was a picky eater, but she loved them, so Hupo loved them even more. 

Once they finished shopping, Chu Yue bought two sets of clothes for Hupo, making Hupo so touched that she started crying. 

The master-servant pair went out only after lunch period, so they only came back when it was evening and it was time for dinner. 

When they returned, they asked for a private room so that they could eat dinner. 

This time, Chu Yue did not order steamboat. She ordered a few other dishes. Since she picked up fifty taels of silver out of nowhere, even if she spent a little when she went out before one o’clock in the afternoon, Hupo did not say that her mistress was being very spendthrift when they spent five taels of silver for their meal. 

Even though it was expensive, the food tasted good. The braised pork balls in brown sauce were especially delicious. Their taste was extremely good. 

“It’s no wonder why there are so many people ordering it even though it’s so expensive,” Hupo said once they returned to their room. 

“It’s fine as long as it’s tasty. We’re near the end of the year, so there are a lot of rich people outside. We might be able to pick up money again tomorrow,” Chu Yue said nonchalantly.

“We’re already very fortunate to have been able to pick up money once. How could we pick up money a second time?”

“When luck comes to you, you won’t be able to stop it even if you want to.”

Since Chu Yue could not stop her luck from coming to her, while Hupo went to sleep at night, she locked the door and went out with the young man who had carved the Kun-peng. 

“If you win money again, what sort of excuse are you going to use to give your maid money?” the young man who had carved the Kun-peng asked in the carriage. 

When Chu Yue heard this, she knew that he saw her, and she answered in an unbothered fashion, “What other excuse would I use? I’ll just continue making her pick up money. There are plenty of rich people in Xiang City. Are we not allowed to pick up money a few more times?”

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng smiled as they went to the gambling house to spend their money again. 

The young man who had carved the Kun-peng continued to listen to Chu Yue, so he won more than five hundred taels of silver. Even though that money was nothing in his hands, since he got it with no effort whatsoever, he was in a good mood. 

As for Chu Yue, she did not get much. She just managed to exchange two silver notes worth fifty taels of silver from him. 

But after that night, she asked him to go to another gambling house.