Chapter 18: Gambling and Receiving Gifts Again

Xiaodan was quick-witted, and she replied:

"Third Young Master, looking at this maid's attire, that is the legitimate daughter of the second branch of the Duke of Ling's residence."

Xu Zaijing saw clearly that just now, the little boy had used a jade lock to gamble at pitch-pot with Gu Tingye and had been beaten soundly; the jade lock was already among the spoils in front of Gu Tingye.

This Duke of Ling's residence in his memory did not appear in the TV series, though it was mentioned in the original book:

Sheng Hong and Sheng Wei had both once studied at the family school of this Duke's residence.

However, there were many rotten things about this family's school, and they left early.

Moreover, not a single one of the Duke of Ling's branches had any promise.

There were even sordid affairs of a father-in-law wanting the maid beside his daughter-in-law.

Many families in the capital had heard quite a bit about this.

With the Duke of Ling's descendants in such a state, except for those wanting to climb the social ladder,

no decent family of equal status would marry into their house.

Soon, a middle-aged noblewoman with a sharp appearance walked out.

Xiaodan whispered beside Xu Zaijing: "This is Da Niangzi Gu of the first branch of the Duke of Ling's residence, and that little young master is also from the first branch."

After Xiaodan finished introducing, the middle-aged noblewoman had already arrived at the pitch-pot gambling stall.

She looked at Gu Tingye, lowered her head, and said in a low voice: "As expected of a merchant family, you only know how to cheat and swindle. Return the jade lock you cheated from my family! Otherwise, I'll have someone beat you."

Gu Tingye's face turned red. He glared at this middle-aged noblewoman like a young calf and shouted:

"I won this at pitch-pot; I didn't cheat!"

"You did cheat! You are so good at pitch-pot, yet you still gambled with me. You cheated me!" the little boy beside the noblewoman shouted.

"Accept your loss!" Gu Tingye shouted.

"Pah, you cheated." The little boy shouted, looking at the other children who had lost items as he did so.

Some of the children who had lost items, seeing an adult backing them up, stood on the Duke of Ling's side and helped shout. Others accepted their loss and spoke fairly, but after all, Gu Tingye had played too ruthlessly and won too much,

so very few people stood by him, only a few young masters from the Duke of England's residence who were older than him.

In an instant, Gu Tingye changed from a victor to someone being accused.

The children participating in the game surrounded Gu Tingye and started making a scene; some wanted their items back, others clamored for Gu Tingye to play another round.

Gu Tingye was a person who couldn't stand being wronged, and in the Ningyuan Hou Fu, Marquis Gu truly trained this second son of his, who was as healthy as a calf.

This made Gu Tingye much stronger than the children of other noble families who didn't practice martial arts.

Just by pushing a few times, he made several children take a few steps back, but there were many of them, and soon he was surrounded.

Someone was already crying out in pain; it was unclear who had been hit.

For a time, it was chaotic, and the maids, seeing this, went to report to their respective ladies.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the Da Niangzi of the Duke of Ling's residence glanced at the spoils behind Gu Tingye and then pushed her own boy.

The boy was also clever; he bypassed the crowd, crawled on all fours to collect his sister's jade lock, and even grabbed a few valuable pendants while he was at it.

At this time, the noble ladies who were at the banquet came over one after another to check on their children.

Just a moment ago, Gu Tingye had been dominating the pitch-pot game; now, he had become a "little swindler" in the mouths of that group of children for cheating them out of their things.

This commotion made the civil official children in the pavilion nearby laugh and whisper, and many mocking words were passed over.

Xu Zaijing watched the whole thing from the side. When Gu Tingye was being besieged, he was about to move, but a hand pressed him down.

Bai Shi's voice came:

"Good child."

Princess Pingning also arrived at the courtyard, supported by a female official.

The Duchess of England in the crowd looked at her son on the field and scolded sternly: "What kind of behavior is this! Why haven't you pulled them apart yet?"

As she spoke, the maids and servants stepped in, and soon the children were separated.

Although Gu Tingye's hair was disheveled and his face was bruised, he didn't look like he had admitted defeat, panting heavily like a young calf.

Several children had bloody noses and red eyes; it was unclear who had beaten them.

Bai Shi didn't have much face in front of everyone, because there were several Duchesses here who held imperial titles.

As a lady from a merchant family, she really didn't have much of a say, so she could only pull Gu Tingye into her arms.

She asked softly, "Ye'er, does it hurt?"

Gu Tingye didn't speak, his face stubborn, but tears and snot flowed out; he just didn't cry out loud.

"They are unreasonable; they clearly lost to me!"

Gu Tingye cried.

The Duchess of England didn't give Bai Shi a good look, but her expression toward the Da Niangzi of the Duke of Ling's residence was also unkind.

Everyone questioned the maids and servants in the courtyard and learned what had happened.

Some were scolding their own children for not following the rules, while others were being sarcastic about Bai Shi's background.

The boy from the Duke of Ling's residence who had started this hid in the crowd, coincidentally right in front of Xu Zaijing, pretending to look at the people in the center of the crowd as if nothing had happened, while his hand behind his back still clutched several valuable jade lock items.

Xu Zaijing looked at Sun Shi behind him and saw his mother looking at Bai Shi in the field with worry.

At this time, Da Niangzi Wang of the noble Kang family was saying to a noble lady beside her:

"Playing such big gambling games at such a young age, I don't think they'll be anything good when they grow up."

One sentence killed a whole group of people, and a white-eyed look from the Duke of Ling's family was thrown over.

The other nobles also looked unsightly, but Da Niangzi Wang's biological father was a giant of civil officials who had died in office and was entitled to be enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, so they didn't dare to offend her easily.

The scene suddenly became awkwardly quiet.

Xu Zaijing seized the opportunity and kicked the Duke of Ling's boy in front of him on the butt.

The little brat couldn't stop his momentum, stumbled a few steps, and fell to the ground. He wasn't hurt badly, but the pain made him cry out.

The valuable items in his hand were scattered, and he didn't have the heart to pick them up.

"Aiya, wa~~~~"

"Isn't this the jade pendant of my family's young master? How is it in this brat's hand?" Da Niangzi Wang of the Kang family shrieked.

Instantly, Da Niangzi Gu of the Duke of Ling's residence turned red and white. She glanced at the daughter of the second branch, then at the child crying on the ground, and slapped the shoulder of the second branch's daughter.

"Your brother is crying, and you don't even know how to help him up."

Seeing this scene, Gu Tingye in Bai Shi's arms broke into laughter through his tears.

Sun Shi looked back at her son, covering her mouth with a handkerchief so her laughter wouldn't be too obvious.

At this time, Princess Pingning walked over, bowed slightly, and said:

"It is my lack of care. Everyone, please move. Today there is the play 'Wealth and Longevity,' performed by the famous Southern Opera Qingchun Troupe of the capital."

Princess Pingning provided a way out, and everyone naturally stopped dwelling on it, chatting and laughing as if what had just happened hadn't occurred.

When everyone had left and gone to the courtyard to listen to the play, Princess Pingning glanced at the female official beside her.

After the guests had all left,

the female official had already ordered the servants of the house to escort the maids who had been on duty in the courtyard today out; it was unknown whether they were beaten or sold off directly.

Soon, the Southern Opera troupe started singing.

By the Shen hour (3-5 PM), the guests of the Duke of Qi's residence began to leave.

The weather was cold, so Princess Pingning couldn't stand at the entrance, and her sister-in-law saw the guests off on her behalf.

During this gathering, the noble ladies and official wives had exchanged quite a bit of gossip about the capital during the banquet and the play.

For example, which Hou Fu had a new concubine, whose legitimate son was not making progress, whose daughter was ill-bred.

Which concubine in the palace was favored, whose family background was poor,

which Duke's lady was going to have a child at an old age, and so on.

No one knew if they had become gossip in someone else's mouth.

In the Xu family's carriage, Sun Shi looked at the exquisite wooden box held by Xiaozhu, which contained a small golden horse sent by Princess Pingning,

a small golden horse cast from gold.

Sun Shi looked at her son and muttered to herself: "Jing'er, the gifts these ladies sent you are much more valuable than what we sent out."

Xu Zaijing looked at his mother and smiled.

Indeed, the jade weapons and jade scholar's four treasures sent by Bai Shi, or the gold and jade longevity bracelet she took off; the jade lock sent by Princess Pingning, or this small golden horse.

Some time ago, Da Niangzi Wu also sent Sun Shi a gold neck ring, saying it was for Xu Zaijing.

(End of chapter)