Silver was piled abundantly on the table, and someone added their jade pendant to the stack. A novice youth with an extraordinary streak of luck naturally drew attention. Soon, the place was crowded with spectators.

“Big.”

“Open—”

“Young Master, please choose.”

“Small.”

“Again.”

“Open—”

“Again.”

“Open—”

“Again.”

“Open—”

Silver notes were piled high in front of He Yan. Those who had mocked her earlier were now silent. Even a fool could see that she was no first-time amateur. If Letong House hadn’t been so well-known, others might have suspected she was colluding with the house to deceive outsiders.

The sound of the night watchman’s drum faintly carried from outside. He Yan said, “It’s getting late. I should head back.”

“Young Master,” the long-bearded elder smiled slightly, “how about one last game with different stakes?”

He Yan looked up at him. “What kind of stakes?”

“Instead of betting on big or small, I see Young Master is quite skilled. How about guessing the exact numbers on the dice?” He pushed all the jewelry and silver notes on the table toward the center. “If Young Master wins, all of this is yours.”

He Yan looked at the silver notes on the table.

She had already won quite a bit and knew this would attract attention. Back in the army, she had heard her subordinate officers speak about the dark side of gambling houses. She knew she should quit while ahead, but her mind wandered to He Yunsheng’s longing expression when speaking of school, and the single worn-out robe she wore.

“Alright,” she said.

The crowd erupted, and the atmosphere intensified dramatically.

Guessing big or small versus guessing specific numbers were entirely different matters.

Betting on big or small relied on luck, with only two possible outcomes. But specific numbers had to be exact—a wrong guess was simply wrong, with incredibly slim chances of winning. Only those truly skilled at dice would attempt such a feat. Moreover, each house had its techniques.

He Yan pushed all her silver notes forward as well.

If she lost this round, everything from tonight would be for nothing. If she won, it would be enough to cover the He family’s living expenses and He Yunsheng’s tuition for three to five years.

Seeing this, others joined in with their bets: “I’m in too!”

“Here’s my silver. I bet on this brother winning!”

“No way! I’ll bet on the house, haha!”

The higher the stakes, the larger the crowd. The prospect of instant wealth or ruin was more captivating than the finest theater in the capital.

The long-bearded elder slowly lifted the bowl. The gambling house fell silent, with only the sound of dice colliding inside the bronze bowl.

He Yan’s mind wandered slightly.

Her gambling skills had been terrible, at least before she returned to the capital and before she married into the Xu family. Shortly after her wedding, as Master Xu’s wife, she played cards with other ladies at various banquets, losing miserably each time. Back then, Xu Zhiheng would always laugh and say, “How can you be so foolish?”

Those were rare moments when he showed her playful intimacy. She thought she had caught glimpses of this handsome man’s gentleness and closeness. She was happy and secretly determined to improve her skills to make Xu Zhiheng proud at the next banquet.

Unfortunately, before she could master cards, she went blind.

The Xu family could hardly let a blind woman represent the main branch at family or external gatherings. She stopped going out, but the mansion was unbearably dull. Unable to see, she learned to rely on sound.

She wanted to be a self-sufficient blind person, not needing others’ help. Always strong-willed, she began training anew. First listening to sounds, learning to identify shapes by sound, then gradually moving about. Once she could move adequately, she would secretly practice with tree branches as swords.

That was when she learned to hear the dice.

Dice were much simpler than cards, He Yan thought. The more intricate something was, the more it tested one’s hearing. She would listen to the subtle differences in how dice landed on each face, shake them in bamboo tubes, and let them fall on the table, mentally noting numbers before exploring with her fingers. She made many mistakes at first, but one day, after mentally noting the numbers and feeling the dice, she finally smiled.

She had succeeded.

The Xu family servants secretly discussed her, saying the First Madam had gone mad after going blind, shaking bamboo tubes in her room all day. But gradually they discovered that He Yan could manage daily life without help. She could accurately identify each Xu family servant by sound and knew the location of every item.

If they hadn’t known she was truly blind, she seemed no different from anyone else.

Xu Zhiheng praised her abilities, holding her hand in admiration. He Yan was delighted but felt a vague disappointment. She couldn’t identify what she was disappointed about, but somehow felt things shouldn’t have been this way.

Looking back now, her hearing had become extraordinary by then. She probably could hear the coldness and perfunctory nature in Xu Zhiheng’s voice when he spoke to her, but emotions made her subconsciously avoid that thought.

He Yan lowered her eyes. Indeed… love truly is blind.

The sound of shaking dice stopped abruptly with a “bang” as the bowl was placed face-down on the table.

One die, two dice, both settled.

Everyone looked at He Yan. She closed her eyes, seemingly returning to her days in the Xu mansion, sitting alone at the table, shaking dice alone, uncovering them alone, feeling each face of the dice alone with her hands.

Trying to grasp a bit of light in the darkness.

“Two, five,” she opened her eyes and said.

The overturned bowl was lifted, revealing two dice bare before everyone’s eyes.

First silence, then after a moment, someone gasped softly. Then exclamations erupted one after another. A young nobleman in fine clothes nearest to He Yan grabbed her arm, shouting, “Master! From today on, you shall be my teacher! Please accept your disciple’s bow!”

He Yan helplessly pried his hand from her arm.

The long-bearded elder’s smile stiffened slightly, but in an instant, he stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Young Master’s skill is impressive. All this silver is yours.” After a pause, he added, “May I know Young Master’s esteemed name? Would you honor this old man with a cup of tea before leaving?”

He Yan tucked all the silver notes and jewelry into her clothes, politely declining, “I’m nobody worth mentioning. It’s very late today. As for tea, perhaps another day.” With that, she quickly walked past the crowd and out of Letong House.

People in the gambling house continued to marvel at the recent game. The long-bearded elder maintained his smile and went upstairs. Someone bowed before him, and he ordered, “Follow them!”

Meanwhile, a grim-faced large man flexed his fingers and waved to the servants behind him, following He Yan out of Letong House.

“Think you can run after winning my silver? Nothing comes that easy in this world, fool!”