The woman's hairpins, earrings, and pearl flowers constituted a complete headdress worth over a thousand taels of silver. The man, though wearing a jade belt to tie his hair, did not wear any aristocratic ornaments. However, the jade pendant at his waist was crystal clear and priceless.
This couple must be extremely wealthy and powerful, and they're also experts in novel ways of playing dice. Just who are they?
“The traditional way of playing is too boring. Listening to the numbers is very challenging. General Mu, would you be willing to use this method to start gambling?” Shen Lixue looked at the dice, her clear eyes sparkling with excitement.
Everyone looked at Mu Tao with expectant eyes; if he refused, it would seem like he lacked courage.
"Good!" Mu Tao was filled with arrogance. As a dignified border general, how could he be afraid of novelty and lose to a woman? He threw the six sieves into the small cup and shook it quickly. The sieves and the small cup collided with each other, and the crisp tinkling sound was particularly loud in the quiet hall.
Shen Lixue smiled faintly. Mu Tao, with his proud nature, was indeed unable to resist stimulation.
Dongfang Heng listened intently, his expression calm. The sieve bounced up and down, left and right in the small cup, making a crisp sound.
"Clang!" Mu Tao suddenly flipped his wrist, slamming the small cup onto the table with a series of crisp clinking sounds. He then pinched a silver note between his index and middle fingers and tossed it onto the table, declaring arrogantly, "This general bets one thousand taels of silver!"
He didn't know Dongfang Heng or Shen Lixue's background or abilities, so he bet 1,000 taels for now. If he won, great; if he lost, he wouldn't feel bad.
“Alright, I’ll follow!” Dongfang Heng also tossed out a thousand-tael silver note, his calm gaze fixed on the small cup, and said indifferently, “One one, two twos, one three, two fives!”
Everyone's eyes were immediately focused on the small cup, full of anticipation. They only heard a series of clinking sounds, and then the small cup was put down. They couldn't understand why the young master had actually given the score, whether it was right or wrong.
"Young master, take a good look!" Mu Tao's lips curled into a strange smile as he reached out and lifted the lid. Six dice lay quietly on the gambling table: one one, one two, one three, two fives, and one six!
Everyone looked at Dongfang Heng with admiration. He could even guess the number of points just by listening to his voice. Impressive! Even though he guessed wrong once, he was still very impressive. The others, on the other hand, were completely confused and had no idea what was going on.
"Sorry, you lost!" Mu Tao waved his hand and picked up the silver note on the gambling table. His gaze towards Dongfang Heng was full of provocation. Although his gambling skills were high, he had no martial arts skills and his hearing was not sharp enough, which was why he misheard one.
"You actually lost!" Shen Lixue leaned her head against Dongfang Heng's arm, her brows furrowed, crying sadly. Where others couldn't see, a cold light flashed in her beautiful eyes. Judging by the sound of the dice is a modern gambling method, which didn't exist in ancient times, but judging from Mu Tao's appearance, it seemed that he was already used to the sound of the dice and could distinguish the dice by sound.
Living in the military camp year-round, his life was very monotonous. His usual pastimes were nothing more than visiting military prostitutes and gambling. Duke Mu was very strict and forbade his sons from visiting prostitutes and gambling. On the surface, Mu Tao strictly adhered to his father's teachings and neither visited prostitutes nor gambled. However, if he really didn't gamble, he would never have such high gambling skills.
Of course, it's also possible that he listened to others gamble, and over time, he developed superb gambling skills. Regardless of the possibility, it shows that Mu Tao is also a gambling master and should not be underestimated.
Dongfang Heng gently stroked Shen Lixue's dark, smooth hair and softly comforted her, "It's only a thousand taels of silver, don't be sad. How about you bet on this one?"
Everyone's lips twitched. He didn't care about a thousand taels of silver at all; his family must be extremely wealthy.
"Alright!" Shen Lixue straightened up, wiped her watery eyes, picked up the small cup on the table, and said softly, "General Mu, listen carefully, I'm about to start shaking it!"
"Hmm!" Mu Tao responded casually, picked up the teacup beside him and took a sip, but his keen hearing was focused on listening to the sound of the sieve. Not knowing the enemy's details, he would not be careless.
Shen Lixue held the small cup with her slender fingers and shook it haphazardly from side to side. Mu Tao frowned as he listened. This woman clearly didn't know how to gamble. What kind of cup was she shaking? The dice inside barely moved. This couple was both incredibly stupid.
"Snap!" After shaking the small cup for several seconds, Shen Lixue placed it face down on the gambling table, took a white jade hairpin from her hair, and put it on the table: "General Mu, I bet on this hairpin!"
"I'll take it!" Mu Tao's lips curled slightly as she tossed over the two silver notes. A hairpin, worth two thousand taels of silver—she wanted to win back the money she'd lost, but alas…
"Two ones, one two, one four, one five, one six!" Mu Tao closed his eyes and leisurely counted out the numbers.
Is this the correct number of points? Is General Mu correct?
Amidst the suspicious gazes of the crowd, Shen Lixue's fair hands lifted the lid, revealing two ones, one two, one four, one five, and one six! Not a single detail was off.
Everyone looked at Mu Tao with astonishment. General Mu was truly amazing; he was just as good as anyone else, with incredible hearing. Truly, heroes emerge from among the young!
"You lost again!" Shen Lixue's beautiful face instantly darkened. Watching Mu Tao take away the pretty hairpin, a layer of mist appeared in her beautiful eyes: "That was my favorite hairpin!"
"It's alright, I'll buy you another one later. I also have some silver notes. Have fun, it would be great if you could turn the tables, but it doesn't matter if you can't!" Dongfang Heng patted Shen Lixue's hair reassuringly, took out a stack of silver notes, and threw them onto the gambling table without even looking at them.
The silver notes were scattered out, and Mu Tao looked at the denominations of one thousand taels and five thousand taels, and frowned slightly: This couple both had long, slender, and fair fingers, like jade, and belonged to the type of weak scholars. They were proficient in the novel ways of playing dice, but not at the top level. They should be an idle couple who did nothing but eat, drink and have fun.
If they had encountered an ordinary gambler, they would surely have won a fortune. Unfortunately, they encountered him, and were destined to lose everything.
"Are you two prepared to continue your duel with this general?"
"Of course! I'll win back every penny I lost, even the hairpin!" Shen Lixue flung the small cup toward Mu Tao, her face darkening as she arrogantly declared, "Hurry up and roll the dice! I'll guess the numbers!"
"Since you enjoy playing, I, the general, will play along to the end. There's no need to change the dealer; you can sit here!" Mu Tao waved his hand and pushed the small cup in front of Shen Lixue: "Whatever you bet, I will follow!" This foolish couple came to give him money; there was no reason for him not to accept it.
Life at the border was very dull. Duke Mu was very strict, forbidding gambling and whoring. Mu Tao wasn't interested in whoring either. When he had nothing to do, he liked to wander around the military camp. He overheard some soldiers gambling. The sound of the dice was crisp and loud, which he found pleasant and interesting. So, he didn't punish the soldiers. Every few days, he would go and listen to the sound of the dice.
He was a martial artist with keen hearing. Gradually, the sound of the sieves was no longer just the sieves colliding with each other, but rather the sieves jumping merrily inside the small cups, moving up and down, left and right. That's how he developed the ability to identify the sieves by sound.
"Alright, then I'll bet five thousand taels of silver and start shaking the dice. General Mu, listen up!" Shen Lixue glared at Mu Tao and then shook the small bowl again.
Then, she placed the small cup upside down on the table. After Mu Tao announced the score, she opened the lid amidst everyone's expectant gazes. The score on the sieve was perfect, and with a dejected expression, she lost another five thousand taels of silver.
"How did I lose again!" Shen Lixue looked at the points on the exquisite sieves, feeling like crying.
"It's alright, keep gambling. There's still plenty of silver. I'll send someone back to get it when we've lost it all!" Dongfang Heng patted Shen Lixue's shoulder, gently comforting her.
The mouths of the onlookers twitched. There were at least several hundred thousand taels of silver on the gambling table, enough for an ordinary family to live on for several lifetimes. He lost it all without a care in the world. He was truly extravagant and incredibly wealthy.
Mu Tao raised an eyebrow. "They're rich, they can't spend it all. This general will use it for them: 'Do you want to gamble again?'"
"Bet, of course I'll bet!" Shen Lixue suddenly raised her eyelids, picked up the silver notes on the table, and threw them forcefully into the center of the gambling table in a fit of pique: "I'm betting everything!"
"I'll go with it!" Mu Tao also took out all his silver notes, gold ingots, and hairpins and threw them onto the gambling table.
Shen Lixue glanced at the small pile of money on the gambling table: "General Mu, this amount of silver is not insignificant. Your gold, silver, and hairpins are worth at most 15,000 taels of silver. That's not enough to keep up!"
"This general will immediately send someone back to the manor to fetch the silver!" Mu Tao said slowly and deliberately. He did not order anyone to return to the manor. His opponent was a woman who did not know how to gamble. He was sure to win. All the gold and silver on the table would be his. It would be redundant for him to go back to the manor to fetch the silver.
Shen Lixue frowned: "The Duke of Mu's mansion is quite a distance from the restaurant, and it takes about half an incense stick's time to get there and back. That would delay our gambling. How about this, General Mu writes an IOU to make up the difference in silver, and then we can continue gambling!"
"Alright!" Mu Tao glanced at the layers of silver notes on Shen Lixue's plate, agreed without hesitation, and turned to his friends: "You guys, go and calculate how much silver this is!"
The group picked up the stack of silver notes, walked to the side, and began counting them under the watchful eyes of the crowd.