At the entrance of Le Tong Manor, a woman wearing a flower hairpin stopped He Yan, saying sweetly, “Young Master, this is a gambling house.”

“I know,” He Yan nodded, pulling out a piece of silver from her sleeve and waving it before her. “I’m here to gamble.”

The woman was stunned, but before she could speak, He Yan had already walked in.

The women standing outside the gambling house were gambling courtesans. Le Tong Manor catered to wealthy families where silver meant little, so they learned to judge people accordingly. Those who appeared less affluent were persuaded to leave. Firstly, having poor people walking around inside didn’t look good and might dirty the embroidered carpets. Secondly, poor people valued silver too much and couldn’t afford to lose – once they lost, they might cause scenes and refuse to pay, disturbing the noble guests’ enjoyment.

He Yan’s worn-out clothes certainly didn’t look like they belonged to a young master from a wealthy family. Unfortunately, the courtesan couldn’t stop her before she had already entered uninvited.

The gambling house was bustling with noise, faces flushed with excitement. Winners were naturally pleased with themselves, while losers wore frustrated expressions as they pulled out stacks of silver notes from their robes, shouting, “Again!”

As He Yan walked and observed, she thought to herself that people weren’t wrong when they called gambling houses and brothels money pits.

After teaching Wang Jiugui a lesson today, she asked him one question: which was the largest gambling house in the capital? Street thugs like Wang Jiugui would certainly know, and indeed, he told her about Le Tong Manor.

He Yan had never been to a gambling house before. Before surrendering to the Yue army, her special identity meant she couldn’t go to crowded places, let alone gambling houses. After surrendering and returning victorious to the capital, He Yunsheng returned, and she became the legitimate young lady of He family’s second branch – even more reason not to visit such places. She hadn’t even known where gambling houses were located until now.

Le Tong Manor had everything – pai gow, Chinese checkers, Chinese chess, grass fighting, cockfighting… She felt dazzled looking at it all, amazed but also somewhat regretful that she didn’t know how to play any of them.

People were gambling with dice, guessing the numbers of dice in bowls – this was the simplest game and had the most participants. Silver flowed freely after each round, dazzling He Yan’s eyes. Finally, a smile spread across her lips.

The He family was too poor, but He Yunsheng still needed to enter school and the martial arts academy. Pawned jewelry brought little money, far from enough for tuition. Even selling Da Nai cakes would take too long to save up. After much thought, He Yan could only think of going to the gambling house – money-making money. Though it was taking advantage, she couldn’t worry about that now.

“Hey brother, why are you standing here? If you’re not gambling, don’t block the way,” someone pushed He Yan, their eyes showing contempt.

Why come to a gambling house without money? Wouldn’t it be better to buy decent clothes? How distasteful.

He Yan said, “I’ll gamble.”

The surrounding people were all wearing gold and silver, either wealthy or noble. Suddenly seeing a poorly dressed youth enter, they all turned to look. He Yan pulled out her only two pieces of silver from her sleeve and placed them on the table.

Someone mocked, “Kid, think carefully. This isn’t child’s play. I see you don’t have any other silver – better not gamble. If you lose and cry, no one will return your money!”

Such things happened often. Gambling was addictive – the more you lost, the more you gambled, and the more you gambled, the more you lost. Some people lost everything including their deeds and family, and when they regretted it and tried to renege, they were thrown out by Le Tong Manor’s people. This happened frequently.

They looked at He Yan with pity – poor people had no future in Le Tong Manor.

He Yan smiled slightly, “It’s fine, just playing for fun.”

The crowd burst into laughter – whether this laughter was kind or merely entertainment, no one could tell anymore.

The dice went into the bowl, turned over, and the dealer shook it left and right. The clear sound of dice, one after another, accompanied by the lively voices, seemed like music. Faintly, one could hear rough men laughing and talking loudly.

He Yan remembered her days in the military camp.

She had entered the army, rising from common soldier to deputy general, from deputy general to general, without the He family’s connections – purely earned through her own blood and flesh.

In the bitter cold borderlands, there was no other entertainment. When the men in the camps couldn’t stand it anymore, they would secretly gamble.

He Yan would punish them according to military law every time she caught them, but they gambled so joyfully in private that she eventually gave up and just stipulated they couldn’t gamble with silver – they could bet other things like chicken legs, dried rations, or animal pelts.

They weren’t interested in gambling – they were just desperately bored. Besides training and fighting, this was perhaps their only entertainment, and He Yan couldn’t bear to take it away. They would invite He Yan to join, and sometimes when she felt like it, she would play a round or two, always losing badly.

She lost almost all the small trinkets she owned, but she wasn’t annoyed. She just felt that truly every field had its specialists – not everyone was good at gambling.

The clear sound of dice suddenly stopped. The dealer set down the bowl and looked at her.

“Big,” He Yan said.

“Open—”

The bowl was lifted, and two dice lay quietly on the table. Everyone held their breath and looked – one five and one six – indeed big.

The crowd was slightly surprised. After a moment, the man who had mocked He Yan earlier laughed loudly, “You’re lucky! Take this money and get yourself some decent clothes!”

A scattered pile of silver and notes accumulated in front of He Yan.

He Yan pushed the silver back out.

Everyone looked at her.

“Again,” she smiled.

Someone couldn’t hold back anymore and said, “Hey, this kid’s getting arrogant!”

“Brother, you should quit while you’re ahead. Winning is good enough.” This was well-intentioned advice.

“You think your luck will hold? Haha, children are so naive!”

Amid the mockery, advice, and spectators’ voices, He Yan’s eyes were fixed only on the two dice.

He Yunsheng needed tuition for school and the martial arts academy. Qing Mei couldn’t handle all the work alone as a single maid – the He family should add some male servants. In a few months, summer would come, bringing the rainy season, and the missing tiles on the He family’s gatehouse would surely leak… Inside and out, everything needed money.

She needed money to inquire about Xu Zhiheng and He Rufen’s matters too.

Money wasn’t something you needed a lot of, but you absolutely couldn’t have none. Otherwise, when you couldn’t take a single step, you’d know how difficult life could be.

“Have you decided?” The middle-aged man shaking the dice stroked his beard, smiling kindly and gently.

He Yan returned a polite smile.

“Again.”