Chapter 62: The Curtain Rises

Chai Xiao gave a faint smile.

"Even with this hand-drawn sketch of mine, you'll likely still find some parts hard to grasp."

"The trickiest part is setting the odds."

"Make them too high, and they lose their appeal; make them too low, and while they guarantee no loss, nobody will accept them."

"The trick I am teaching you—essentially a cheat code—is to leverage external forces!"

"The Great Qi follows the old precedents of the Great Tang and strictly prohibits gambling."

"In reality, it's nothing like that. Even within the imperial palace, there are people openly engaging in massive gambling."

"When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beams are warped; down in the marketplace and the underground dark cities, people follow suit and imitate the practice."

"It's just a case of the people not pressing charges, and the officials refusing to investigate."

"The external help I'm recommending to you is to immediately find a few underworld figures, especially from the dark cities and black markets, and consult them."

"Find three to five people who run gambling dens or organize betting rings. You aren't going to arrest them; you are going to ask for their help in setting the odds."

"If they do a good job, not only will they avoid prison time, but they can also wash their hands of the underworld, put on official robes, and receive a monthly stipend!"

"If the odds for each match are designed properly, they can be given a ten percent cut of the silver earned from that single-match betting pool!"

At this, Zhang Bao experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment.

Yet, the Imperial Household Department superintendent quickly realized something was amiss.

"Your Highness, giving them ten percent of the revenue just like that is far too generous. The Twelve Golden Hairpins are..."

Chai Xiao, however, remained nonchalant as he stood up.

"Don't be so petty!"

"A cheat code has its own value!"

"If you don't use them, you might not even earn a thousand taels!"

"But if you use them, and use them well, you can make tens of thousands of taels of silver. Giving up a ten percent reward is entirely worth it."

"From this moment on, everyone we bring into our fold won't just be of use this one time."

"One must take a long-term view of the situation. There are still many days ahead; utilizing them one by one will yield tremendous wealth."

"Besides, even looking at the short term, just consider these next ten days."

"The martial arts tournament for a spouse will last only seven or eight days, and there are still two or three days after that. Who knows, we might set up some other kind of arena and make even more money!"

Zhang Bao's expression tightened as he bowed in acknowledgment.

"Understood! This subordinate will make the arrangements right away!"

Chai Xiao nodded and gave a few more instructions in a low voice.

Zhang Bao cupped his fists, bowed, and turned to leave.

Chai Xiao looked up at the sun, then waved his sleeves at Imperial Noble Consort Yun and Su Zhongjing.

"Mother, Teacher, it's almost time! Shall we set off now?"

"Let's go!"

The Imperial Noble Consort and the Junior Mentor also gave a flick of their sleeves, following closely behind him as they walked steadily toward the Eastern Drum Tower.

Herun and Lanzhi followed behind them.

In their hearts, emotions churned like distant rolling sea clouds.

Previously, they had only vaguely felt that the Young Master had become somewhat different from before.

Now, it seemed to be a complete, thorough transformation.

What could have caused such a massive change in him?

Or perhaps, he had always been like this and had merely been biding his time, suppressing his true self?

As they were thinking this, Chai Xiao turned his head, glanced at the two of them, and then turned sideways to converse in low tones with the Imperial Noble Consort and the Junior Mentor.

The two maidens were startled and hastily lowered their heads, a rosy flush blooming across their cheeks.

Could this little ancestor possibly read minds?

Sigh!

Was rejecting his "feigned drunkenness" last night a blessing or a curse?

If they hadn't pushed him away, and he had implored the Imperial Noble Consort to "arrange a marriage right away," would it have ended up with "marrying them both"?

To become his women simultaneously—even if they couldn't be primary wives, they at least would have been concubines.

Yet, he hadn't even fancied an extraordinary woman like Zhuque, recognizing her only as a "sworn younger sister," so how could he possibly take a fancy to two maids?

By now, it was approaching noon.

The warm sun spilled down unspooled, covering all things in a layer of shimmering golden gauze.

The sea of clouds on the western horizon, blanketed in the golden light, resembled a giant ship hoisting its sails and heading toward a distant horizon full of hope.

And the sun, nearing its zenith directly overhead, burst forth with an increasingly blinding radiance right in the middle of the royal city.

Like a bright key, with a crisp "click," it unlocked a new gate connecting time and space.

Perhaps, in Chai Xiao's view, it was not merely a key shining through time and space, but also a clarion call driving people forward and an engine leading to reality.

On his very first day "clocking in" for work as the ruler of Great Xu, he had been endlessly busy arranging so many matters of "making money, gathering arms, and recruiting people."

Immediately, the time had come to test the results!

Hopefully, there would be a fine outcome!

Chai Xiao walked forward with unwavering determination, and soon his entire body was bathed in the sunlight.

...

Passing through the garden, they traversed the three courtyards housing the Imperial Household Department.

Here, a scene of bustling activity was in full swing!

In the courtyard on the left, Zhuque was leading Jianshuang and Jianxue, along with Deputy Superintendent Zhu Gui, to verify and stamp the admission tickets for the martial arts matchmaking tournament.

Living up to his reputation of long service in the Imperial Household Department, Zhu Gui was already addressing Zhuque as "Her Highness Princess Chiyan" with every breath.

"Your Highness, you don't need to involve yourself personally in every little detail! The design is already finalized; you just need to stamp them!"

"At most, just leave Jianshuang and Jianxue here to keep an eye on things. You should go and accompany the Imperial Noble Consort and His Highness!"

Zhuque smiled and opened up the large tree leaf she was holding in her palm.

"I accepted a military pledge before His Highness for this; I have to be hands-on!"

"Besides, Her Ladyship recognized Princess Chiyan as her daughter, and I'm not the only one—all twelve of the Golden Hairpins share that honor!"

Zhu Gui hastily bowed deeply.

"Alright, alright! Three Princesses, I have already set up the presses and started printing, please rest assured!"

"The Honored, Noble, and Splendid tickets—different characters, different colors. I guarantee not a single ticket will be wrong, not one too many, and not one too few!"

Zhuque was still uneasy and was about to say more when she saw Chai Xiao and the others approaching, so she hurried to greet them.

"Your Ladyship! Young Master! Junior Mentor!"

Imperial Noble Consort Yun smiled and nodded.

"Very well! Go and change into your princess ceremonial attire, and come along to offer sacrifices to the heavens!"

"Just leave Jianxue to keep watch here!"

"When handling major affairs, you must keep your composure, learn to coordinate from the center, and assign people to carry out specific tasks. You cannot worry about every single detail yourself!"

Zhuque cupped her fists in obedience and went off to change into ceremonial attire, escorted by the personnel arranged by Zhu Gui.

Chai Xiao turned his gaze toward the courtyard on the right.

Jianfeng was leading Jianyun and Jianwu, alongside another Deputy Superintendent of the Imperial Household Department, Tao Zongwang, to verify and stamp various lottery tickets.

Seeing Chai Xiao and the others arrive, they also hurriedly cupped their fists in greeting.

Imperial Noble Consort Yun issued another decree, instructing Jianwu to stay behind while Jianfeng and Jianyun accompanied them to the sacrificial ceremony.

The three maidens cupped their fists and accepted the command.

At this moment, Zhang Bao returned, quietly handing the "single-match lottery" design drawn by the ruler to Tao Zongwang, ordering him to arrange for dedicated personnel to handle it exclusively through a single-line chain of command.

Daring not to slack off, Tao Zongwang rapidly deployed personnel and equipment.

Chai Xiao and the others continued forward, arriving at the second courtyard.

This was the location of the imperial kitchens.

Here too, things were buzzing with frantic activity!

The "Second Actuary," Jianyu, was leading Jianji and Jiansan, loudly debating something with Yi Taihe.

Seeming to have different understandings of "simple meals served at table" and "takeout delivered to individuals," Yi Taihe was red in the face, the veins on his feet bulging, and his hands gesturing incessantly.

Chai Xiao glanced at his mother.

Imperial Noble Consort Yun immediately shot him a blank look.

Oh, you little rascal! Just now, when dealing with Zhuque and Jianfeng's sides, you played mastermind behind the scenes while pushing me to the front as your shield.

And now you're expecting me to handle this front too, aren't you?

You really work people to the bone!

As it turned out, just moments ago on the path from the garden to this place, this "King of Gamblers" Chai Xiao had wanted to wager another bet, but she had refused.

"Mother, take a guess: what are Zhuque and the Twelve Golden Hairpins doing right now?"

"Do you even need to ask? Since you just gave the orders, they must be making intensive preparations!"

"Then tell me, are they carrying out a unified and distributed arrangement with both division of labor and cooperation, or are they swarming all over the place in a massive, overwhelming rush?"

"This... you planned it meticulously, assigning tasks down to individual leaves—both large and small leaves. They should know how to divide the labor and cooperate!"

"Then let's place a wager on it!"

"No bet! I really have no money left! You brat, you only ever think about gambling. You said when the upper beam is crooked the lower beams warp, but the most crooked beam of all is you, the upper one!"

"Very well, let's not wager money; let's wager on who steps forward! If they have a unified and distributed arrangement, I lose, and I'll go cheer them up. If they swarm all over in a rush, you lose, and you go enlighten them!"

Imperial Noble Consort Yun had initially wanted to object—why should all the pleasant parts go to you to cheer them on, while the bad parts fall to me to correct?

Is it fair to dump all the grueling and dirty work onto your mother?

Yet on second thought, after all, Zhuque and the Twelve Golden Hairpins had been brought out from the Great Qi court by her own hands, and they were all young girls.

If there were shortcomings, it was indeed more appropriate for her, their foster mother, to point them out!

Furthermore, her son's move actually carried profound meaning.

One who accomplishes great things must understand both "division" and "unification," must know both what is "feasible" and what is "infeasible"!

Moreover, combining unity with division, and knowing what to do and what not to do—while easy to speak of, was exceptionally difficult to execute in practice!