“What did you say?!” I leapt to my feet. What an outrageous little rascal — actually wanting me to lose to A’Luo every single time this month. Did he ever stop to think? His old father, finally enjoying some peace now that the realm was settled and the wars were over, sitting idle at home — and he wanted to strip away this one small pleasure too? Utterly unfilial!

Liu Jue stood with arms crossed, watching the old man’s face flush red as he stomped and shouted, leaning unhurried against the doorframe before drawling out, “A’Luo’s been asking Father for expensive trinkets again, saying she lost to you again. Tell me — where’s your son’s face supposed to go?”

“Heh!” I brightened at once. A’Luo was endlessly cunning — last month she’d lost over ten thousand taels of silver to me, plus all the rare trinkets the rascal had scoured the markets for trying to please her. Just thinking of it delighted me. I stroked my beard and said to the rascal, “A bet’s a bet — lose and pay up. If I let her win, what would be the point? Or how about it, you join in too?”

I had the satisfaction of watching the rascal spring back like a scalded cat. Nothing terrified him more than being dragged into the betting. Sure enough, he pursed his lips and tossed back, “Fine, don’t back down then — don’t come crying later!”

Crying? What was there to cry about? Hmph! My mind was already spinning back to this month’s high-stakes game.

Ever since A’Luo married the rascal, she’d clearly still been fuming over how I’d schemed against her on her wedding day. Knowing full well I loved a good gamble, she’d actually set herself up as the house, gathering the manor’s Black Robes to bet with her. She’d even fixed a schedule — big games on the first and fifteenth of each month, small games every five days. The ways to bet kept multiplying endlessly. It made my palms itch just thinking about it — I knew perfectly well she was luring me in, yet I couldn’t help placing my bets anyway.

Worried about the King’s cold-poison affliction, she’d spent ages consulting with the Empress and gathered a whole crowd of physicians. She’d produced a silver needle and bet me that one prick would leave a person as frozen as if their acupoints had been sealed. I picked up the needle and examined it — why did this needle look more like an iron nail? I slapped down two thousand taels on the spot. Poor Qing Ying, that scream of his… I sympathetically pocketed my winnings and swaggered off.

But that girl actually used that same silver needle to bet with me over a hundred times across three years — and aside from that one time four months ago when I lost a thousand taels, she lost to me a hundred times over. How else was she supposed to keep asking the King for things?

All those famous physicians’ room and board — who else was paying for it but me, taking pity on the rascal’s salary being gambled dry and generously covering the cost myself? Well, good — now that the King’s cold poison was finally cured, surely she’d have to think up some new game to bet on.

“Old fox!”

I beamed. Here she came, right on cue.

Honestly, Chancellor Li truly annoyed me — with that stern, imposing square face of his, more dignified-looking than even mine — and somehow both his daughters had ended up married into my household. I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.

“Old fox, I’m done betting silver needles with you. I’ve invented a new game — want to play?” A’Luo stood there with her arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, exactly like her husband. Such an unladylike pose, honestly.

“Are you playing or not? Every Black Robe in this manor is dying to join — if I hadn’t thought I should show my old father-in-law some filial respect, I wouldn’t have bothered coming specially to ask you.”

What? My face darkened. “Watch your manners with your elders!”

She turned and walked off at that, not the least bit troubled, laughing brightly, “Fine if you don’t come — Ming Yin, Chi Feng, Xuan Yi and I make a perfect table anyway!”

“Wait! What about Qing Ying?” I knew perfectly well she didn’t take me seriously at all. I sighed and called her back anyway, curiosity getting the better of me.

“Doesn’t he have to guard the manor? He’s close to you, so let him take the duty shift today!”

Watching her skip off out of sight, it suddenly struck me — poor Qing Ying, stripped of his right to play simply for being close to me!

Whatever this new game was, I had to go see for myself.

It was springtime, flowers blooming, sunlight drifting gently through the trees. I’d barely reached Songfeng Hall when I heard a clattering, rattling sound, followed by — “Big Pair on the Rack, everyone pays, small stakes today, sixteen taels each!” A’Luo’s voice carried impressively far.

Sixteen taels each — three people, that’s forty-eight taels — and she called that small stakes!

I crept closer on tiptoe, and from a distance saw the four of them seated around a table, tossing something back and forth from the pile. Ming Yin, of all people, burst out laughing: “Ha! Self-drawn! I’ve won — plus one rack bonus, pay up, four taels each!”

I startled — the most tight-lipped, silent man among them, laughing like that… it was almost frightening! And in that short span, he’d already earned six taels? My feet carried me forward a few more steps without my meaning to. I couldn’t follow a word of what they were saying — I simply had to see it up close.

Something flashed before my eyes, startling me, and I looked up to find Qing Ying blocking my path, expression grim. “Old Prince, please halt. Her Highness has ordered no one is to enter Songfeng Hall!”

“Preposterous! Is she your master, or am I?!” I was furious. Since when did Qing Ying start taking orders from her?

Qing Ying sighed and actually said, “Old Prince, please don’t put me in a difficult spot. Her Highness said if anyone’s let in without her permission…”

“Unless it’s over your dead body?” I glared at him scornfully.

“No, no, no, my corpse lying about wouldn’t bother me at all — Her Highness said if I let anyone in without her permission, she won’t let me play Sparrow Tiles anymore!” Qing Ying waved his hands frantically at me.

“Sparrow Tiles? Is that what they’re playing?” Now I was intrigued.

Qing Ying’s eyes lit up, and he launched into an endless stream of praise for this new game. I still didn’t quite understand it, but my curiosity was unbearable now. I lifted my foot and made straight for the door.

“Old Prince, please halt!” Qing Ying blocked me again, his face flushing red then pale, until he seemed to steel himself and murmured, “Old Prince — how about I go announce you to Her Highness?”

What? I stared at him as if he’d turned into some kind of monster, and softened my voice. “Qing Ying, do you remember when I first brought you into this household, when your parents had both passed and you were living on the streets?”

He dropped to his knees at once. “Old Prince’s great kindness — Qing Ying could never forget it, not to the end of his days!”

“Well then…” I took another step forward, smiling, thinking Qing Ying would surely never betray me. “I’ll just quietly watch from the side. I won’t let them know.”

“Your Highness! The Old Prince wants to play!” The moment I finished speaking, Qing Ying threw back his head and bellowed it out at the top of his lungs.

“Do invite the Old Prince in!” A’Luo answered brightly.

Qing Ying bowed to me with exaggerated respect. “Old Prince, please, this way!”

I glared at him twice, then strode in anyway. Ming Yin, Chi Feng, and Xuan Yi all rose from the table to greet me. “Old Prince!”

“No need for formalities!”

The words had barely left my mouth before the three rascals sat right back down, hands clattering as they began shuffling things across the table again.

The table was covered in a layer of bamboo tiles. Curious, I picked one up, but before I could examine it properly, A’Luo snatched it right out of my hand. “Old fox, watch us play first, and learn as you go!”

So I circled the four of them for the entire afternoon, and by the end I’d more or less grasped the gist of it. My hands itched terribly. “This Prince wants in!”

“That’s enough for today — we’ve been at it all afternoon, my neck and hands ache. Big game tomorrow, we’ll play again then!” A’Luo declared the session over without ceremony. The four of them settled their accounts — she’d won over a hundred taels. Chi Feng said with visible reluctance, “I lost two hundred taels today — you’d better let me play again tomorrow!”

Ming Yin and Xuan Yi said in unison, “No! Tomorrow’s seats are still drawn by lot!”

“Surely this Prince doesn’t need to draw lots?” I cut in.

“Of course not, old fox — we’ll always make room for you. Besides, you’re fresh meat — everyone loves that. You’re welcome to join anytime!” A’Luo beamed radiantly, and the other three chimed in their agreement at once.

I floated back to my quarters, thoroughly pleased with myself.

The next day, right after noon, I couldn’t wait and hurried straight to Songfeng Hall.

The four of us — myself, A’Luo, Chi Feng, and Ming Yin — sat down together.

“Big stakes today — ten taels for a basic win, doubled per bonus multiplier. Any objections?” A’Luo announced, beaming.

I hadn’t expected to walk right into a high-stakes day — well, all the better, a proper win at last. I’d studied it carefully the day before and stayed up half the night refining my grasp of it. Surely nothing could go wrong.

One round in, my eyes went wide. “How much?”

“Old Prince, you have one incomplete suit still open, plus a mixed-face hand — that’s eighty taels owed to each of us, and since you were the one who dealt the winning tile, and I completed a pure pair — you owe me a hundred and sixty taels total.” Ming Yin patiently tallied it up for me.

“Old Prince, on top of the eighty you owe from the deal, since you dealt my winning tile and I had a big pair, you owe me a hundred and twenty taels altogether.” That was Chi Feng.

A’Luo giggled. “Mine’s the smallest — besides the eighty, you dealt my tile too, ten taels — ninety total.”

That — that came to three hundred and eighty taels in one round! Fine, I’d pay! I counted out the notes and slapped them on the table. “Again!”

“Old Prince, apologies, I’ve won.”

“Old Prince, don’t rush, I’m calling a match!”

“Old fox, ha! Flush hand with a rack, full house!”

In under two hours, I’d emptied my purse I don’t know how many times. Finally — empty. Empty? I’d come out with two thousand taels in my purse!

“Again!”

“Old fox! Do you have any silver left in there? This game’s cash only, no credit!” A’Luo actually said this to me.

Fair enough, I supposed — betting on credit would ruin the fun. I stood up grandly and declared, “Wait for me, I’m going to fetch more silver!” I dashed off in a hurry to get more, entirely unaware that the moment I left, the other three were doubled over with laughter.

That single day, from afternoon until nearly midnight, the rascal finally couldn’t take it anymore and dragged A’Luo away with a face like thunder. I’d lost over seven thousand taels in total that day, and still hadn’t had my fill.

From that day on, all I wanted was to play Sparrow Tiles every single day. But the rascal declared that since A’Luo was now pregnant, sitting for long stretches wasn’t good for her, and limited play to two hours a day.

A’Luo not playing, fine — but the tiles were hers, and if I wanted to play with anyone else, I had to borrow the set from her. She was stingy about it too — charged me a hundred taels every time I borrowed them.

So I simply ordered Qing Ying to carve me an identical bamboo set. She actually came marching over claiming it was her invention and demanded a thousand-tael licensing fee.

My skill kept steadily improving. But the manor’s Black Robes would only play small stakes with me, which left me at a loss — until Chancellor Li, of all people, showed up at my door. “In-law!”

Ugh, nothing annoyed me more than that address. Still, I smiled pleasantly at him today. “Has the Chancellor been terribly busy with state affairs lately?”

“Manageable, manageable. I’ve come today to catch up with you, in-law, and to visit A’Luo — she’s expecting, after all.”

I knew perfectly well he couldn’t bear to let go of his power. With the King’s temperament no longer tolerating him playing both sides at court, he’d taken to visiting the manor and General Cheng’s household more frequently instead, using visits to his daughters as pretext, unwilling to part with his status and comfort.

“Chancellor Li, do come by more often. This old man’s had some idle time lately and discovered quite the delightful pastime for health and vitality — care to join me?”

The Chancellor’s eyes lit up brilliantly, and he nodded eagerly.

So I promptly sent for Chancellor Gu, and also fetched retired Vice Minister of War Old Master Li, and the four of us made a table for Sparrow Tiles.

All clever men, these — taught them once and they picked it right up. Small stakes today, heh heh — by the end of the afternoon, this Prince had won over three hundred taels. I sent the three of them off with a smile, arranging another game for tomorrow, thoroughly pleased with myself. Fresh meat, all three of them — how could they possibly not lose?! Ah! That’s exactly what A’Luo had said about me that day too — fresh meat!

You little wretch — no wonder I’d lost so much the moment I walked in, that had been a big-stakes day! Fuming, beard bristling, I marched straight to Songfeng Hall to settle accounts with A’Luo!

“Old man, what’s the rush?!” The rascal blocked my way.

“I’m looking for A’Luo!”

“She’s asleep. She’s been terribly sick these past few days, exhausted. Don’t go disturbing her.”

“But—” I was still thinking about the upcoming big-stakes day. I was determined to win it all back from her!

The rascal couldn’t help but laugh, leaning in to murmur in my ear, “A’Luo says small stakes keep things fun — there won’t be any more big-stakes days in this household from now on.”

What? My seven thousand-plus taels! How was I ever supposed to win that back on small stakes alone!

Seeing my crestfallen face, the rascal’s eyes suddenly gleamed with something sly. “I’ve decided — from now on, I’m the one managing the household accounts. You and A’Luo each get a hundred taels a month from me for gambling, no more.”

“What?!”

“Listen, old man, didn’t you go and teach Chancellor Li and Chancellor Gu how to play? Go gamble with them instead. Tell you what — if you leave A’Luo alone, I won’t interfere with your allowance!” The rascal grinned slyly.

What was there left to say? I could only pat his shoulder and sigh, “Ah, sons grow up and slip from your grasp. But… if you keep giving A’Luo more children, one after another, this Prince has absolutely no complaints!”

“Deal!”

“A promise made, no going back!”

I floated off in high spirits. The more strictly A’Luo was managed, the more she’d come looking for me to gamble. How did that rascal never inherit even a fraction of his old father’s brilliance?