CH 17

Chang Sheng Gambling House

From the palace came the news that the empress had summons.

Handing over the business to the guards, telling them to inform the people of the An and Wang families, Ye Zhao hurriedly changed clothes and entered the palace.

On the streets, Xia Yujin was busy trying to figure out Ye Zhao’s tastes. He stood outside the tavern for a while before forcing the two servants beside him to grab a Xinghua House’s Shehongchun and Huwangjiang House’s Daughter’s Red, respectively while he passed through the alleys and streets without hesitation in his casual clothes, creeping up to Old Gao’s lamb shop.

Old Gao had been in the business for decades. His lamb was savory like no other. But because the out-of-the-way location of the little storefront, the laziness of the boss, the meanness of his wife, and their lack of sufficient help, they sold premade lamb to all the surrounding restaurants while the store itself remained closed year-round. So few actually came.

Xia Yujing was one of those old customers that, regardless of whether it was the middle of the night or in the midst of a raging storm, Old Gao would greet him in person.

But today, he didn’t.

From inside the house came the sound of him cussing out the heavens and earth alike, and his wife wailing and sobbing.

“Is this a funeral?” Xia Yujin was the type that was happy when others were happy, but felt a bit uncomfortable in the face of someone wailing. He was preparing to go in to give them a short lecture, but when he saw what was happening inside, he couldn’t help but stop short in his tracks.

The small lamb store was in total disarray. Old Gao’s only son had blood all over his face and was lying on the ground moaning. His single-eyed wife had her hair down and was on the ground as well, crying out loud. From the kitchen nearby came the sounds of someone sharpening a knife, and soon after, his ugly daughter charged out and shrieked, “I’ll fight them!”, scaring Old Gao so much he jumped over and tried to hold her down.

Xia Yujin’s jaw had dropped. Cui Hua seemed about to charge at him, so he shrunk to the side to avoid being cut alongside whoever her would-be victim was, and asked in a small voice, “What happened here?”

“Duke!” Old Gao finally realized that he was there. Glancing quickly at his wife and daughter, the three of them threw themselves at him, wrapping their arms around his legs and wailing, “You have to speak out on our behalf!”

“S-stop this, say whatever you have to say! I’m not a god, I can’t help you with anything!” Writhing in the six desperate arms, Xia Yujin kicked at them, “Dammit! Stop crying, don’t get my clothes dirty! If you keep crying I’m leaving right now!”

Hearing this, Old Gao immediately stopped crying, his expression becoming calm again. He shouted at his wife and daughter to stop as well, telling them to go take care of his son while he picked up a bench from the ground and wiped it, inviting Xia Yujin to sit as he started telling his story with anger.

He had a son called Gao Tianxiang, who was a short man with a pockmarked face. All told, he was a pretty honest fellow, aside from the fact that he had a little bit of an obsession with chess. Every time he saw others playing, he couldn’t stop his own hand and would also play for ten or so coins. Yesterday, as he was cleaning the coat off of a lamb and buying spices, a friend of his made a deal with him to go out and have some fun. When they were passing the Changsheng gambling house, they saw a few people there playing chess and shouting at each other, yet they seemed terrible at chess. Next to them were a few coins, laid there as a bet.

The more he watched the itchier his hands were, and he wanted to join the game.

The person setting up the game said, “Sir Lu here hates the people who bail on their debt. If you’re going to play, then you need to play by the rules. One game, three chess pieces. You’re only allowed to leave after five games!”