Upon hearing the Emperor’s words, everyone’s expression changed.
So had originally prepared written morials to impeach the Governor of Shuntian Prefecture for mismanagent of the Capital City’s security, resulting in every large and small gambling house in the capital being looted overnight.
Yet, seeing this unpredictable move by the Emperor, those morials were quietly withdrawn!
"Why is nobody speaking?"
The Emperor, seated high on the Dragon Throne, abruptly slapped the armrest.
"Have you all lost your voices?"
The assembly of civil and military ministers hastily knelt.
"We are at fault!"
"And how have you erred, my dear ministers?"
The Emperor spoke coldly. He then rose from the high Dragon Throne and walked directly to the large table. Without warning, he lifted the dice cup, pulled out a few pieces of broken silver from his pocket, and placed them on the table.
"Who amongst you has never played with these dice? Stand up."
The group of civil and military officials knelt on the ground, heads bowed, none daring to move closer.
"In all my years, I have never played this ga. Can anyone teach ? There will be a great reward for whoever can!"
The Emperor’s words were softly spoken, but everyone understood that his current calm had likely exhausted a lifeti of good temper.
"Is nobody coming forward?"
The Emperor’s voice was still soft, but no one stepped up to volunteer.
"Then I shall have to make a selection."
The Emperor’s gaze swept over everyone’s heads. So could no longer bear to kneel, their calves trembling.
"Whoever is willing to play with , please rise!"
A deathly silence filled the Great Hall, yet not a single person rose from the floor.
"Since no one is rising, then I will have to personally select soone."
As soon as the Emperor said this, everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats, terrified at the prospect of being chosen.
"Eunuch Ling! Summon the Princess and General Dugu!"
When these two nas left the Emperor’s lips, everyone kneeling heaved a sigh of relief, except for Master Duke Dugu, whose eyes nearly rolled back as he almost fainted.
"Master Duke, what’s wrong? Can you hold on?"
Minister Lu, beside him, hurriedly voiced his concern, seeing the old man’s face turn various shades of pale and green from the rapid turn of events. This reversal was too sudden.
"N-no... I’m fine! I... I can still hold on!"
As Minister Lu and Master Duke Dugu were speaking, two figures, one large and one small, walked in.
The larger figure exuded a steady aura and had heavy footsteps—a typical martial artist.
The smaller one was a chubby girl of about four or five, dressed in bright pink, with two exquisite pearl flower ornants in her hair.
As soon as the little darling entered the Main Gate of the Hall of Supre Harmony, she joyfully bounded over and hugged that prominent imperial yellow-clad leg.
"Righteous Father Emperor! Co on, let’s gamble so more!"
Xiaosuisui, hugging the Emperor’s leg and eyeing the gambling table—which His Majesty had specially ordered confiscated from Lu Ji’s gambling house last night—had eyes sparkling with unconcealed delight.
"My dear girl! After playing ’Big or Small’ at so many gambling houses last night, your Righteous Father is tired of it. Can we play sothing different today?"
The Emperor gently detached his precious daughter from his leg, lifted her into his arms, and asked softly.
Holding his precious daughter, the Emperor’s anger diminished a tiny bit.
"Sure! We can compare points! We both roll the dice at the sa ti, reveal them at the sa ti, and whoever has more points wins!"
"Alright! I don’t know how to play this ga. How about this: there are so many nobles and ministers here. Pick anyone you like to play with you. If any of you win, I shall reward you generously. But if anyone loses..."
The Emperor’s words caught in his throat.
The ministers listened with trepidation. But, they mused, all we have to do is win against this commoner Princess, personally ennobled by the Emperor. That would be too easy, wouldn’t it?
A four or five-year-old child, who hasn’t even handled dice proficiently, could actually beat us?
They all relaxed considerably.
"Okay, Righteous Father Emperor! Just sit back and watch your precious daughter sweep the board!"
Xiaosuisui, having picked up gambling habits after just one day, still maintained her roguish, street-urchin deanor even here in the Hall of Supre Harmony. She crossed her arms, one foot propped on a stool, the other on the table.
"Good! I’ll watch very closely, with my eyes wide open!"
The Emperor said this, then climbed back onto the Dragon Throne, sat down with composure, and waved his hand. Eunuch Ling imdiately stepped forward and said to Xiaosuisui,
"Princess, you may begin."
Xiaosuisui nodded, crossed her arms, and with a roguish tilt of her chin, gestured. The spot she indicated was, surprisingly...
General Dugu’s gaze followed hers. He sighed inwardly, but his expression remained impassive as he coolly called out,
"Lord of Pinnan! Please rise!"
Master Duke Dugu, who was General Dugu’s biological father, felt his scalp tingle and his body tremble when he heard his own son call his title.
"M-?" Master Duke Dugu pointed to his own nose, looking at this unfilial son of his.
"Yes! You, Grandpa. You’re clearly struggling to kneel, so why not get up and play with for a while!"
Upon hearing Xiaosuisui’s words, a single thought surprisingly echoed in the Lord of Pinnan’s mind: This little girl makes a lot of sense!
So he scrambled to his feet.
"Princess! But..." The Lord of Pinnan looked at the few pieces of broken silver in front of Xiaosuisui, pointed, and said, "I... I didn’t bring any money!"
Xiaosuisui blinked. "You don’t have a single copper coin?"
The Lord of Pinnan said, "N-no!"
Xiaosuisui thought for a mont. She rembered last night at the casino, there was a man who had gambled away all his money. His young servant urged him to go ho, but the man refused and sent the servant ho to get more money while he waited at the gambling house.
Recalling this, Xiaosuisui stroked her chin and said with a roguish air,
"That’s alright. You sit here and wait a bit. Have your servant go ho and fetch it."
The Lord of Pinnan incredulously cleaned out his ears. "S-send soone ho to fetch it?"
Xiaosuisui nodded. "That’s right! How can you play with if you don’t have money? Playing this is only fun when you have a small mountain of silver piled up in front of you!"
"A small... a small mountain of silver?" The Lord of Pinnan tried to imagine a small mountain of silver before him. How much would that even be?
No way! Given the Yunhang disaster, the Emperor had proposed donations, but those old ministers blocked it. If he now produced a mountain of silver to play with the Princess... Wait... donations?
The Lord of Pinnan suddenly recalled the private conversation he’d had with his unfilial son in the study just last evening.
Could today’s spectacle be a trap set by his unfilial son and the Emperor? Was it all to make them cough up the disaster relief funds themselves?
With this suspicion, he turned his gaze towards his unfilial son. To his dismay, his son kept his eyes downcast, feigning indifference and completely ignoring him!
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