Chapter 29: Three Flowers Gather at the Top or Five Qi Return to the Origin

Beneath Dongfang Xing's petite body, besides harboring boundless power, there is also a captivating beauty!

"My wife is worth a hundred thousand taels, isn't that not much?" Chen Yi He dared not look at Dongfang Xing, fearing she would burst out of the carriage, press his head onto the Eight Immortals Table, chop it off, and hang it on the tea pavilion's roof……

"Not much, not much." The dealer's whole body was about to go limp in the big chair; seeing Dongfang Xing, he felt a tingling numbness all over, like countless tiny ants crawling slowly on his heart, itchy and numb yet happy…… His earlier overbearing arrogance instantly dissipated.

Now, proper attitude, there is only one belief: win the opponent's woman. Although he already has many, many women, too many to count……

Han Xin's troop deployment—more is better, right……

"Compare sizes. I demand to change the dice cup." Chen Yi He demanded.

"Fine, check it out." The dealer had his subordinates bring another ten or so dice cups for Chen Yi He to choose from.

Chen Yi He picked two of them and placed them left and right on the Eight Immortals Table.

"Come on, come on, everyone together—if you win money you split it, I only want women." The dealer pushed his two large wooden boxes of banknotes onto the table.

Behind his generosity lay confidence in his dice‑rolling skill, and moreover he wanted Chen Yi He to lose face in front of his wife, achieving the goal of killing the heart.

Banknotes, gold, jewels—he had them in handfuls, piles upon piles; yet beautiful women are the rarest! Not to mention Chen Yi He opening with a hundred thousand taels, even a million taels, he would unhesitatingly slap the Eight Immortals Table and say, "No problem!"

Those three or four people regretted the two who had just left, regretting they lost the chance to break even. They put all their savings on the table; now Chen Yi He's three consecutive losses are the perfect moment for them to press the attack.

"You pick the dice cup." Chen Yi He said to the dealer.

On the table, a dice cup on the left, another on the right. The dealer originally meant to take the right one, but as he was about to grab it, he snatched the left one instead, then smiled at Chen Yi He and said, "You're sure to lose."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

"Clack clack clack!"—the sound of shaking dice, the dice striking the round inner wall of the cup, engaged in the fiercest struggle, like flashing blades and swords, as if chilling and warming the heart.

"Ding!" Chen Yi He set down the dice cup.

"Ding!" The dealer also set down the dice cup.

The scene once fell into stagnation; autumn wind swept away leaves, scattering the banknotes, and also sweeping over the gamblers' tense hearts.

"Please." Chen Yi He gestured for the dealer to open the cup.

The dealer flung open the dice cup and shouted, "Three Flowers Gather at the Top!"

Three sixes! Eighteen points!

"Hahaha! Won, won!"

"Broke even, broke even!"

"Got rich, got rich!" The bettors who bought the dealer were nearly crazy; that feeling of rising from hell back to heaven was simply exhilarating!

"Hehe, you don't need to look; these dice are specially made, the inner round wall of the cup is slightly soft, no matter how strong your shake, you can't break them. Eighteen points is the maximum." The dealer smiled and said to Chen Yi He, "I'll graciously accept your wife."

"Oh? Is that so?!" Chen Yi He also lifted his dice cup.

"Five Qi Return to the Origin!"

"……!?"

The dealer's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets!

Under Chen Yi He's dice cup were five sixes! Thirty points, exactly twelve points higher.

"How…… how could there be five dice?"

"The dice cup was your own choice." Chen Yi He shrugged, saying helplessly.

"This……" The dealer, who had seen twenty years of ups and downs in the gambling house, had never encountered anyone playing like this! He instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, losing all temper.

Chen Yi He not only won back his hundred‑thousand‑tael banknote, but also won the dealer's two hundred thousand taels and the savings of the four other bettors, at least fifty thousand taels…… Chen Yi He's heart burst into laughter, "Got rich, got rich……"

The dealer's subordinates stepped forward to seize Chen Yi He and his companions, but the dealer stopped them and asked Chen Yi He, "What's your name?"

"Just remember my nickname, Chen Zong of Class 22‑2." Chen Yi He was busy moving his winnings into the carriage.

Only just before leaving did he ask the dealer, "What's your name?"

"Zhou Kai. What's your wife's name? Dongfang Xing?"

"Oh, that's fine, Bai Bai……" Chen Yi He didn't even bother with Zhou Kai; having won the money, patting his butt and leaving was the safest course!

The four gamblers who had lost their coffin‑watching savings stared at the departing carriage, hearts wanting to cry but no tears, only wishing to find a tree and a sturdy rope to hang themselves……

Zhou Kai wasn't so tragic; he just felt a bit regretful. But what he regretted wasn't his own undefeated record of many years being broken, but that young lady named Dongfang Xing…… "Hehe, we'll meet again." The carriage gradually vanished beyond the small grove; he smiled faintly, as if everything were destined. Sun Wukong cannot escape the Buddha's Five Fingers Mountain; from childhood onward, whatever he wanted, he could always obtain.

The impending turmoil in Southern Border City also arose because of him.

……

Dongfang Xing blushed, head lowered.

Chen Yi He sat opposite Dongfang Xing, trembling with fear, head lowered, not daring to speak. He thought Dongfang Xing would fly into a rage and beat him up, and he had braced himself for one beating or even many.

Who would have thought, after Dongfang Xing's identity was revealed, she was this shy—utterly unlike the tomboyish guise she'd affected for over half a month…… Right before him was clearly a cute girl; Chen Yi He could not imagine her having once dragged him away seventy or eighty meters.

"Cough cough! This…… uh……" The Dragon King leisurely swayed the carriage, pondering what to say to break the awkwardness. He had an idea! "Yi He, your move of swapping the crown prince like a raccoon dog is truly brilliant—it left that Zhou Kai completely disoriented!"

"Hahaha! Plus pulling a white wolf out of thin air, fighting me Chen Yi He, heh heh. Who let him sit as banker and cheat first, without even thinking I wouldn't let him off?"

"Hahaha! We now have a full four hundred fifty thousand taels! Miss Dongfang, your tuition is covered!"

"Oh……" Dongfang Xing replied softly; being called "Miss Dongfang" made her already flushed face turn even redder.

"Rolling in wealth!" Chen Yi He, thinking of how much money he'd made, could hardly contain his excitement—if it were all deposited in the bank, he'd really strike it rich! Or lend it at high interest, rolling interest over and over…… growing ever more…… Little did he know Dongfang Xing was watching him.

"Uh, sorry about that—I had no choice…… otherwise I wouldn't have had you come out as a chip, but rest assured, I did this with absolute confidence!"

"Who knows? Maybe it was intentional!" Seeing the opening, the Dragon King recklessly jabbed at Chen Yi He, "Still calling someone else's wife, tsk tsk tsk."

"Dragon King!" Chen Yi He shouted helplessly.

Dongfang Xing's face flushed red; after holding it in for a while, she timidly asked Chen Yi He, "How did you know I'm a girl?"

"It's not that I knew; we all knew, we just never got around to exposing it."

The Dragon King continued, "Otherwise you'd have been tossed aside by us halfway! Hey, seriously, we never expected you to be this good‑looking; Chen Yi He even said you were an ugly girl, which is why you cross‑dressed, but now we see you've stunned us!"

Chen Yi He was thus betrayed by the Dragon King.

"Uh……" Dongfang didn't get angry, nor did he know what to say.

"Who let you not take a bath with us, then we would have known..." the Dragon King said unintentionally.

"And that voice was so sharp..." Chen Yi He added.

"You guys..." Dongfang Xing suddenly recalled the image of Chen Yi He naked, standing righteously before her... She had tried countless times to erase that image, but couldn't; on the contrary, the more she tried, the deeper the impression became, almost driving her to despair.

"Now it's fine, the tuition is also settled." Chen Yi He also seemed to recall that image, quickly changed the subject.

"Thank you, you two." Dongfang Xing then cut off her train of thought, softly expressing thanks.

"It's only natural, traveling together and helping each other along the way!" Chen Yi He said that with his mouth, but in his heart he thought, "If you weren't a woman, the old ghost wouldn't have helped!"

"But who exactly is the Zhuang family's Zhou Kai? He seems quite authoritative." The topic was steered back on track by the Dragon King.

"I guess he must be the Great Crown Prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty!" Although Chen Yi He was speculating, he spoke very firmly.

"From what can you tell? His noble bearing?"

"No, it's his subordinates; their swords are exactly the same as those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard under Li Lan in the flower thicket half a month ago."