I stared at the gambling table, heart thumping like a scared rabbit.

  Truth be told, the rules of the Nangong household were strict as iron—gambling dens were forbidden territory, the kind of place I wasn’t even allowed to look at, let alone enter.

  My boldest “high-stakes” experience had been shaking dice with my brothers during New Year…

  for a plate of sugared plums.

  —And that was supposed to help me take on a gambling deity?

  I’d be lucky to last three rounds before getting skinned alive.

  I was still trying to think up an excuse to retreat when something flashed at the edge of my vision. My breath hitched.

  The purple jade.

  It dangled right from Sister Pink Lotus’s chest, nestled in her neckline, swaying gently with each step.

  My heart plummeted.

  —That wasn’t jade.

  That was my life.

  Before I even knew it, my knees bent and—shoop—

  I slid into the seat before the main table like a desperate eel.

  “I’ll play!”

  I declared heroically, though my palms were sweating like steamed buns.

  “What’s the game?”

  Sister Pink Lotus’s eyes lit up, as if she’d just spotted some amusing new toy. Her smile curled—sweet and wicked all at once.

  “I’ll play whatever little brother wishes,” she cooed. “Big sister’s always easygoing.”

  My throat bobbed. I forced myself to look calm.

  “Dice,” I said. “High or low.”

  “Lovely.”

  She twirled the dice cup with graceful, frightening ease—like she was arranging teacups rather than weapons of psychological destruction.

  She tilted her head, batting her lashes.

  “And what shall we wager, hm?”

  My eyes locked onto the purple jade.

  Gritting my teeth, I said:

  “I want the jade on your chest.”

  The entire room went still.

  Pink Lotus giggled, giving me a slow once-over. Mischief glimmered in her eyes.

  “Oh my, someone’s got taste.”

  She leaned in, her breath sweet enough to murder a diabetic.

  “And if you lose… why not spend the night with big sister?”

  The crowd exploded.

  “Good! Sister Pink Lotus never disappoints!”

  “Lucky brat! Look at that face—what a blessed night he’s in for!”

  A chill shot up my spine.

  Before I could protest, Lian’s expression turned ice-cold. His body shifted forward, tension coiled tight—like he was one second away from flipping the entire table.

  Panic kicked me in the gut. I hurried out:

  “Fine!”

  My jaw clenched—but my voice sounded terrifyingly resolute.

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  “If I win, the jade is mine!”

  Pink Lotus narrowed her eyes, smiling even wider.

  “Deal.”

  I barely exhaled in relief before she added sweetly:

  “But betting simple high-low is so dull, isn’t it?

  Let’s spice things up.”

  A terrible premonition seized me.

  “…W-what kind of spice?”

  She tapped the table with one slender finger.

  “Simple.

  Each round, the loser removes one piece of clothing.

  First one down to nothing loses the entire game.”

  “Wooooooh—!!”

  The hall went berserk, louder than before.

  Cheers, whistles, drunken hollering—like the roof was about to fly off.

  My brain went blank white.

  I almost sprang out of my seat.

  But the reactions around me came even faster:

  Lian— face dropping like a stone into black ice, eyes sharp enough to cut bone. The wooden table beneath his fingers gave a faint cracking sound.

  Hua — leisurely lifting his folding fan, smirking behind it.

  “Little Gong, remember to remove your outer layer first. Don’t frighten the lady.”

  I nearly coughed blood.

  The Deputy Envoy — choked on his wine, ears blazing red.

  “S-should I… should I take your place, Chief? I-I’m willing to… wager for you…”

  Shangguan Fengliu — lounging like he owned the place, laughing warmly.

  “Ah, now this is the Jianghu spirit. If you do lose, little brother, I’ll gladly help clean up the aftermath.”

  I saw darkness at the edges of my vision.

  This wasn’t a casino—

  this was a branch office of a brothel!

  Every instinct screamed at me to flee. But the entire hall was staring me down—especially Pink Lotus’s greedy, sparkling eyes.

  “Uh… hold on.”

  I slapped my thigh with great solemnity.

  “Before we begin, I must… pay a visit. Nature calls. I’ll be right back.”

  Before anyone could stop me, I bolted—

  straight out the back door, running faster than a rabbit with fireworks tied to its tail.

  I rounded the corner and nearly crashed into a row of street vendors:

  one selling candied hawthorns,

  one selling carved trinkets,

  and in the middle—

  a stall overflowing with bright-colored silk scarves and headcloths.

  My eyes lit up.

  I lunged at the stall owner.

  “Quick! I’m buying your whole stall!”

  The man blinked.

  “The whole stall? Young master, these cloths cost at least fifty taels—”

  “Fifty taels? Pocket change!”

  I waved magnanimously—then added,

  “I’ll pay once I win. Let me borrow them for now!”

  Before he understood a thing, I was already piling handful after handful of scarves onto myself.

  Red.

  Green.

  Purple.

  Gold-trimmed.

  Floral.

  Striped.

  I wrapped them around my head, forming something that looked like a festive turban.

  I slung seven or eight around my neck, nearly suffocating myself.

  I tied two into bows on my arms.

  My chest was layered with fluttering bits of silk like a technicolor rooster in mating season.

  Catching sight of myself in a bronze mirror, I almost cracked up.

  I looked like a parade lion before the drum started.

  “Perfect.”

  I straightened, adjusted my ridiculous ensemble, and strutted back toward the casino like a seasoned master returning to battle.

  —The moment I pushed open the door, the entire hall fell silent.

  The dice stopped clattering.

  The gamblers stopped shouting.

  Even Pink Lotus froze mid-smile—

  staring at me as though I’d crawled out of a mythological painting…or an especially deranged festival performance.

  Hua was the first to break—he slapped his fan against the table, laughing so hard his whole body shook.

  “Ha—hahahaha! Little Gong, are you going to the gambling table or getting married in a flower palanquin?!”

  The deputy envoy, who was already prone to blushing, instantly covered his face, refusing to look. But through the gaps between his fingers he kept stealing glances, shoulders trembling as he tried not to laugh.

  As for Shangguan Fengliu, half his body had already slid bonelessly off his chair.

  “Marvelous… marvelous… Never has a gambling table seen such a spectacle. My eyes are blessed today.”

  And Lian…

  His eyes were fixed on me—cold, black, fathomless.

  If we weren’t in a room full of people, I honestly suspected he would’ve drawn his sword and sent me, along with the pile of silk scarves on my body, flying out the door.

  “Heh… heh.” I forced a laugh, slinking to the table and patting the tassels hanging off my chest. “What? One must have presence when going on the table, no?”

  Pink Lotus-jie froze for a heartbeat.

  Then her foxlike eyes arched, and she burst into delighted laughter.

  “Little brother, truly a rare flower—such an amusing boy—”

  She hooked a finger around the dice cup and gave it a graceful shake.

  The crisp rattle of dice exploded through the hall.

  The first round… finally began.