Perhaps because Liu Wenju’s name contained the character for “chrysanthemum,” all the gambling halls under his name in Xinzhou City were called the Grand Chrysanthemum Casino. Yu Jiuling felt the name wasn’t great — he couldn’t quite say why, only that it just felt wrong.

There were now four Grand Chrysanthemum Casinos in Xinzhou City, situated in the north, south, east, and west of the city respectively. Each one was located not far from a city gate. Whatever you might say about the name, Liu Wenju certainly had a sharp eye for location.

Li Chi and Yu Jiuling made no effort to disguise themselves. They walked openly and directly toward the nearest Grand Chrysanthemum Casino. The moment they stepped out the door, the post station staff were already scurrying off to report to Prefect Cui Hansheng.

In truth, Cui Hansheng had already arranged for people to keep a close watch on Li Chi and his party. He didn’t dare do anything to them, but their every move had to be monitored clearly.

At the very least, he couldn’t let Prince Yu’s people run into any more trouble inside Xinzhou City. If something else happened, it would be an unpardonable offense.

Li Chi’s cart held two large chests packed full of silver — not just in coin, but also a considerable amount in silver banknotes.

As Yu Jiuling put it, the great kindness of Second-in-Command Bi Datong in impoverishing himself to fund their gambling and brothel enterprise was a debt that could only be repaid by a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

What they didn’t yet know was that the second-in-command would never live to receive their thanks in person.

The Grand Chrysanthemum Casino’s scale had to be admitted was genuinely impressive. Liu Wenju apparently had a great fondness for chrysanthemums — on the massive plaque hanging above the casino’s entrance, a chrysanthemum had been carved. A golden one, at that.

When the two arrived at the entrance, a doorman who spotted them as unfamiliar faces immediately put on his warmest smile.

“Two honored guests — care to come in for a few rounds?”

Yu Jiuling said: “Sharp eyes you have, little brother. How could you tell we were the sort who plays rounds?”

This left the doorman completely confused.

The doorman laughed awkwardly: “Both of you gentlemen have an exceptional bearing and a radiant look about you. If you played a few rounds today, I’m sure you’d come away with handsome winnings.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Jiuling felt it would be a disservice not to tip after such an enthusiastically insincere greeting.

He reached into his coin purse, pinched off a piece of broken silver, tossed it to the doorman, and said: “Lead the way then, little brother. My young master wants to have a look inside. Serve him well and there’ll be more for you.”

The doorman became even more attentive, pulled back the indigo printed cotton door curtain and bowed as he ushered Li Chi and company inside.

“Honored guests have arrived!”

The moment they stepped inside, the doorman announced this in a loud, carrying voice.

Yu Jiuling asked: “What sorts of games do you have here?”

The doorman smiled: “Whatever game the gentlemen know of, we have it all. At the Grand Chrysanthemum Casino, if it can be gambled on, we have it.”

Yu Jiuling said: “I’ll wager your pockets don’t hold as much money as mine.”

The doorman was confused again, privately wondering if this fellow might be touched in the head.

Yu Jiuling said: “Let’s start with something simple — but we want the stakes high. Anything too small is boring. At minimum, ten copper coins as the starting bet.”

The doorman replied: “Gongzi, our lowest-stakes games here start at one tael of silver. Ten copper coins…”

Yu Jiuling said: “You really have no experience. In my young master’s eyes, one tael of silver is roughly the same as one copper coin. When I say ten copper coins as starting bet, I mean don’t bother telling my young master about any game where the minimum wager is under ten taels of silver.”

Li Chi narrowed his eyes and looked at Yu Jiuling.

“What a generous gentleman!”

The doorman thought: looking at these two, I already knew they weren’t poor, and sure enough, they’re flush with money. He guided Li Chi and Yu Jiuling toward the back courtyard, saying as they walked: “The front hall is noisy. The back courtyard is quieter, and the stakes are higher.”

“No.”

Li Chi stopped: “I prefer this noisy atmosphere.”

He paused and looked around, spotting a high-low dice game being played nearby. He walked over: “Let’s start with a few rounds here.”

Dice high-low was one of the simplest gambling games in any casino. The dealer rolls the dice, and everyone bets on the outcome. With one die, four or above is “high” and below four is “low.” With three dice, the rules become considerably more complex.

The game at this particular table was the simplest version — one die only, betting purely on high or low. It lacked elaborate rules, but the rounds opened in rapid succession and it was quite thrilling.

The minimum bet here was one tael of silver. Li Chi and his companions had brought plenty, so their hearts were steady.

Li Chi found an open seat and watched one round first. He noticed the dealer’s technique for rolling the dice was very practiced. A game like this without some kind of trick would be extraordinary.

“That’s seven consecutive lows,” muttered a nearby gambler with a sour expression, as if talking to himself. “I refuse to believe I can’t win — I’m betting high again!”

He shoved all his remaining few taels of silver onto high. A few others at the table felt similarly — after seven consecutive lows, surely another low was defying the laws of heaven — so three or four of them followed with high bets, while four or five others bet low.

The dice cup came down. The dealer slowly lifted the cover. The die showed two. Everyone who had bet high was stunned. The man who had just wagered everything collapsed in despair, slammed the table with a thunderous crack, and roared red-eyed: “These dice are rigged! You’re cheating!”

The dealer said languidly: “My friend, no one put a blade to your throat and forced you to bet high. You chose this yourself. And if you’d bet low? The guests who won certainly wouldn’t agree with you. Everyone has bad luck sometimes — is that my fault?”

The several people who had bet low immediately chimed in, their general message being: stop embarrassing yourself, and if you can’t take a loss, get out.

Li Chi had only observed one round, but he had already seen enough. With high-low dice, the dealer could completely control the outcome. The technique wasn’t particularly sophisticated — it was just a matter of practice until it was second nature.

As for the few people who were winning, they were almost certainly casino plants. Every trade has its plants — it was just a matter of whether the effort was worth it.

The unfortunate people who bet high were the real suckers. The raging man who was now causing a scene might himself be a casino plant — someone whose job was to whip up the crowd’s emotions.

Sure enough, the man kept pounding the table and shouting, and shortly the casino’s enforcers arrived, grabbed him, and threw him out.

No sooner had he been ejected than a new face settled into his vacated seat, wearing a contemptuous look and muttering something about how paupers shouldn’t gamble.

This one was a plant too.

At this table alone, out of a dozen or so gamblers, seven were plants — not counting the dealer. The remaining five or six would have to be extraordinarily clear-headed not to get swept along. What they couldn’t possibly know was that more than half the “gamblers” at their table were fakes.

Don’t underestimate this seemingly small-scale swindle. With six or seven people working this one table — a mix of lures and tricks — over a hundred taels of silver a day was no problem. And with so many tables in the casino, it was no exaggeration to call the Grand Chrysanthemum’s income equivalent to striking gold every day.

Gambling in a casino was a con from the very first bet. Anyone who walked in with wishful thinking would, without exception, be swindled into ruin.

Li Chi suspected the new arrival at the table was also a plant whose role was identical to the man just ejected, so he felt fairly confident about what would come next.

The new plant was a middle-aged man of about forty. After sitting down, he declared he didn’t believe in bad luck and immediately bet high. Li Chi knew that in a rigged game like this, a freshly placed plant would win the first few rounds without fail.

He won. And others at the table would look to him as a beacon.

Li Chi deliberately bet low, not much — just two taels. The dealer revealed the die: six. High. Li Chi’s two taels were gone.

To properly set the hook, the plant needed to win at least three or four rounds before people would take notice. So Li Chi planned to try a few more, always betting opposite to the plant. The plant bet high again; Li Chi bet low, and another two taels vanished.

On the third round, Li Chi seemed pained by the losses and only bet one tael on low, though he looked to be in the same state as the man who’d been thrown out earlier — fixated, unwilling to switch.

The die was revealed: five. Li Chi lost again and had his silver swept away.

The plant who had now won three rounds in a row looked over at Li Chi with a grin: “Friend, your luck’s not holding. Why not follow my lead? You’re sure to win — my luck today is simply unbeatable.”

Hearing this, the other gamblers at the table felt they ought to try following along. Li Chi could tell it was nearly time for the net to be hauled in. He still bet opposite the plant — the plant continued with high, this time pushing fifty taels onto the table. The other gamblers, unwilling to commit too heavily, bet less, but all followed with high.

The die was revealed: high again. Everyone except Li Chi erupted in cheers.

“See that, friend?” the plant said, looking at Li Chi. “I told you to follow my lead. You wouldn’t listen, and now you’ve lost again. This time follow me — I guarantee you’ll win!”

Li Chi gave a polite, noncommittal smile and said nothing.

The dealer rattled the dice cup again. The gamblers placed their bets. With this beacon shining bright, everyone at the table followed the plant, who had just made a nice profit and shoved a hundred taels on the table. Others added ten, twenty, some as much as fifty.

Li Chi had lost about five or six taels in total. He took out a ten-tael banknote — and still bet opposite.

The plant narrowed his eyes and glanced at Li Chi. Li Chi pretended not to notice.

Just then, a commotion broke out not far away. Li Chi turned to look — an argument seemed to have erupted over there. Someone was surrounded by a crowd, and a young girl’s voice was woven through the noise — she was crying, and begging.

Li Chi stood and looked in that direction, struck suddenly by the feeling that the girl’s voice sounded familiar.

At that exact moment the dealer called out: “Opening!”

Li Chi’s expression shifted. He cried out: “Yuan Jiabei?!”

The dealer jolted: “Double it?”

The die was revealed: one. Li Chi alone had bet low; everyone else was on high. The dealer was thoroughly displeased — but the dice cup had already been set on the table, and it was too late to manipulate anything now.

Besides, the total bets on high from genuine gamblers — not counting the plants — amounted to a hundred seventy or eighty taels, while Li Chi had only bet ten taels. Doubled to twenty, that was a payout of forty taels, and the house still walked away with over a hundred.

The con had gone perfectly well enough, and the take was generous, so the dealer couldn’t afford to blatantly renege.

Reluctantly, forty taels of silver were pushed toward Li Chi — but Li Chi was already walking toward the crowd on the other side.

Yu Jiuling scooped up the silver: “I’ll hold this for my young master.”

Yu Jiuling was grinning ear to ear. Li Chi had just won forty taels out of nowhere with a sudden “double it” — that was something.

Li Chi had already reached the commotion. He pushed through the crowd and found Yuan Jiabei gripping her father’s arm, weeping: “Father, please stop gambling. Let’s go home.”

The man who in ordinary times looked so proper and upright — so exceedingly stern — now had reddened eyes. He kept pulling at his arm trying to free it, saying: “Just let me borrow ten more taels. I’ll win it all back in this round. Jiabei, go home first. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Li Chi’s eyes narrowed slowly.

—