Chapter 16: I Often Meet with the Lady

“Again!”

Liu Laoqi’s eyes were bloodshot from gambling, shaking the dice over and over, yet every single time he lost.

Everyone in the gambling hall was stunned into silence.

Some even exclaimed, “Prince Qin has truly married a gambling goddess!”

Liu Laoqi slumped into his chair, murmuring, “Impossible, impossible...”

At first, he had indeed underestimated her. But from the third roll, he began activating the hidden mechanisms beneath the table.

He had been switching the dice in Shen Ruojin’s cup every time, so why... why did her dice rolls remain unchanged?

“What do you mean impossible? The Four Seas Gambling Hall’s rigged tables never fail, do they?”

Shen Ruojin raised her hand and flipped the gambling table upside down, gold and silver coins spilling to the floor, paper bills scattering like snow.

The gamblers around them erupted into a frantic scramble.

Qin Lang leaned back lazily, smiling as he watched his newlywed wife overturn the table and cause a scene.

Truly worthy of being my wife.

Her actions were decisive.

Shen Ruojin’s hands were quick. The moment the table flipped over, she triggered all the concealed mechanisms hidden inside.

A dozen secret compartments sprang open from the most unexpected places.

Dice spilled out, littering the floor.

“I knew it! Liu Laoqi has been rigging the game all these years!”

“So the gambling table really had secret mechanisms hidden underneath!”

The onlookers clamored, demanding the gambling hall return their money and disgorge the silver they had been swindled out of.

This particular table had been in the hall for years. Some had suspected and inspected it, but the mechanisms were so cleverly concealed, the table didn’t sound hollow when tapped.

Who would have thought that Prince Qin’s newlywed wife would immediately uncover the secret?

And she flipped the table on the spot, revealing all the hidden compartments.

Liu Laoqi’s face darkened as he shouted at Prince Qin, who was leisurely watching the spectacle, “These secret compartments are just for convenient dice storage for corrupt officials. Prince Qin, will you just allow your new wife to wreak havoc and smash the place? Remember, leave some face for future encounters...”

“Who cares about seeing you again?”

Qin Lang, seeing Liu Laoqi still lying with his eyes wide open, flipped the table back with an even more practiced flair than Shen Ruojin.

The large table crashed to the ground, making a tremendous noise.

The surrounding crowd hastily dispersed.

Qin Lang stood beside Shen Ruojin. “If anyone is to meet again, it will be me and my wife, not you.”

Shen Ruojin glanced sideways at him.

This Prince Qin’s priorities were truly extraordinary.

Was this really the time to talk about meeting again?

At the same time, the gambling hall’s thugs charged out from the backyard—dozens of them, all brandishing knives and looking fierce. Seeing that it was Prince Qin causing the ruckus, they hesitated, unwilling to be too bold.

What terrible luck.

They’d provoked this demon lord!

The Northern Town Prince held military power—who dared cross him?

In the capital, Qin Lang dominated all the prodigal sons and local bullies, undefeated in every fight.

The thugs stopped behind Liu Laoqi, shouting, “Master Liu, this—”

“This ‘this’ what?” Liu Laoqi’s face was grim as he pondered how to explain this disaster to his patron.

“Liu Laoqi, you must accept the consequences of your bet,” Qin Lang smiled, tapping his jade bone fan lightly against his palm. “If you don’t comply, I’ll tear down this Four Seas Gambling Hall today.”

No one doubted Prince Qin’s words.

He always followed through on his promises.

Xiao He, the steward, respectfully said, “I will send for reinforcements immediately.”

Tearing down the gambling hall was, after all, a public service.

Surely the Prince would approve and not blame the Second Young Master.

“No need.”

Qin Lang raised his gaze to Shen Ruojin.

She cast a glance at the thugs. “Hmm.”

A mere few dozen men were unnecessary.

These two didn’t look like newlyweds but rather like a deadly pair.

Liu Laoqi was caught between a rock and a hard place, sweating profusely.

He had long lost the swagger that once ruled the gambling den. Looking around and then at Prince Qin and Shen Ruojin, he weighed whether offending them to death was worse than losing the gambling hall and being executed by his master.

Just then, Qin Qi strode in with a dozen guards. “What’s going on? Why is the table flipped?”

The heir of the Northern Town Prince’s residence and Prince Qin were two very different men.

Qin Lang was wild and unrestrained, acting on impulse.

Qin Qi was upright, young, and capable.

They were half-brothers and their discord in the capital was no secret.

Liu Laoqi’s eyes darted, scheming to sow discord between the brothers to save the Four Seas Gambling Hall.

But before he could speak, Qin Lang laughed, “Brother, you’re just in time. Liu Laoqi gambled the hall itself as a stake, lost, and now refuses to pay. I’m counting on you to collect the debt. Before nightfall, I want to see the gambling hall’s deed in my hands.”

Prince Qin showed no respect to his elder brother.

He grabbed Shen Ruojin’s hand and strode away.

Having just married into the Northern Town Prince’s household, Shen Ruojin was unsure about the brothers’ relationship.

Qin Lang acted on whim.

She could not be so casual. Passing by Qin Qi, she nodded slightly. “Thank you, Brother.”

Qin Qi looked at the two hand in hand, his eyes darkening. “No need for thanks.”

“Let’s go.”

Qin Lang smirked and led Shen Ruojin away.

The carriage waited outside the mansion, the street bustling with people.

Shen Ruojin felt uneasy being pulled along like that.

Before she could speak, Qin Lang released her hand.

Though he wanted to hold it longer.

But if he didn’t let go, she would surely notice.

There would be time enough in the future.

“Do you have something to say to me?”

Shen Ruojin saw that Qin Lang wasn’t leaving yet and was the first to ask.

He did indeed have something to say.

He was waiting for her to invite him home together.

But the words couldn’t be too direct.

So Prince Qin raised his peach blossom eyes slightly, signaling to his bride:

As long as you speak, I will agree.

“Are you asking why I know how to play dice?”

Shen Ruojin didn’t catch the meaning behind Qin Lang’s thoughts. She looked at her right hand rolling the dice and recalled how her sixth brother Shen Zhixing had taught her to win every gamble.

Qin Lang smiled and followed her lead. “I haven’t asked the lady yet, from whom did she learn such superb gambling skills?”

Shen Ruojin lifted her eyes. “Shadowless Hand, Shen Six.”

The nine sons of the Shen family each had their own talents.

Shen Zhixing, the sixth, was skilled in mechanical devices and clever tricks.

The Shen family upheld integrity, but with many members and stationed at the border, they often had to cover military expenses out of pocket when pay was delayed. Life was tight, constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Every time Shen Zhixing returned to the capital under the alias Shen Six, he swept through the major gambling halls, undefeated, earning the nickname “Shadowless Hand.”

At first, Liu Laoqi was called Liu Dadao, but after a crushing defeat at Shen Zhixing’s hands, he renamed himself Laoqi.

These stories, along with the secret mechanisms under the table, were casually told to her by her sixth brother in his free time.

Back then, she thought it ordinary.

Since her brothers’ deaths, Shen Ruojin had been forcibly sent back to the capital by her grandfather but often remembered their words and deeds.

Like when she flipped the table just now, she wondered if her sixth brother had ever done the same.

“No wonder, a great master produces great disciples.”

Qin Lang’s voice pulled Shen Ruojin back from her memories.

She tugged the corner of her mouth. “You flatter me.”

“If you don’t want to smile, you don’t have to.”

Qin Lang gazed deeply at her, suddenly saying this.

Since returning to the capital a year ago, Shen Ruojin seldom went out. When she appeared in public, her smile never reached her eyes.

As if deceiving others, and herself, pretending she was doing well.

Hearing this, Shen Ruojin felt an indescribable emotion. She looked at Qin Lang and whispered, “Alright.”

She had intended to banter back and forth with Prince Qin, but after today’s turmoil, her thoughts were tangled with memories of her brothers. She didn’t want to say much.

“Suit yourself. I’ll head back first.”

She said no more and climbed into the carriage.

Qin Lang suddenly reached out, placing his hand on the carriage, his tall figure closing in, almost encircling her in his embrace. “Lady, if you’re going home, won’t you take me with you?”