Chapter 889: Love of gambling, who has the advantage? (1/2)

Ning Cheng could still stand his ground. If he aggravated Gu Qishao and messed up his game,it’d only bring him losses.It wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford those tens of millions of chips.

“Yes,” the retainer nodded. “Master, Tang Li’s been winning all day. Half was from Uncle Cheng’s machinations, but the other was based on luck.”

“Heheh, then his luck’s not bad today,” Ning Cheng smiled.

“Uncle Cheng intends to have him win another day before making his move the day after tomorrow. The usury loan brothers have already been instructed ahead of time,” the retainer murmured.

In the casino, the scariest members were those who offered usury loans. The gambling house would never lend gamblers money, so they could only find loans from such merchants. But provoking them meant that a gambler would never recover again. They were the darkest forces of the black markets and didn’t belong to any one faction. The gambling houses had no jurisdiction over them either, although a portion of their interest went to the casinos. In a sense, they had a mutually beneficial relationship. If the gambler couldn’t afford to pay back the interest on the loans, then these people would make sure to have them pay with their lives once they left the gambling houses!

Ning Cheng’s plot was ingenious. If Tang Li owed the gambling house a debt, then the Myriad Merchant Hall couldn’t touch him since he was their son-in-law. However, if Tang Li owed the usury loan merchants, then Myriad Merchant Hall could act as a middleman to talk things over. With a combination of intimidation and bribery, they could then facilitate the Tang Clan and Cloud Realm Trade Consortium agreement to get those hidden weapons.

Ning Cheng had full faith in Uncle Cheng’s abilities, so he didn’t leave any further instructions. He was about to leave after glancing at Ning Jing when his gaze passed over Han Yunxi sitting in her wheelchair. How could Ning Cheng recognize her in men’s garb with a mustache stuck to her face? He only felt that her figure felt familiar, but eventually left without a second thought. He needed to send forces into Blacktower by now.

Meanwhile, the hubbub at the gambling table continued. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi hadn’t recognized the black-robed man as Gu Qishao, but they remained indifferent to his provocations. Uncle Cheng didn’t want new problems to crop up and smiled as he coaxed their newest guest. “This master, everyone’s waiting for your bet.”

Tang Li urged him on with an unhappy air. “What’s with all the nonsense? If you’re going to bet, then hurry up! What’s the point of pretending to be a bigshot if you have no money?”

Gu Qishao immediately changed his tune and slapped the table as he shouted out loud. “Large! This young gentleman bets large! 120,000,000 chips!”

At his exclamation, everyone quieted down. They stared at Gu Qishao with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

100 million chips in one shot? Just who is he?

As everyone watched, Gu Qishao gave a snicker before pushing out all of his and Mu Linger’s chips. The two massive piles clattered against the table, making everyone think of the same idiom: spending money like flowing water.

Mu Linger was the first to react. She wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. Her heart ached at the sight. She wasn’t interested in gambling at all and only wanted to lose Ning Cheng some money at most. She wanted to change her own 60,000,000 chips into silver drafts and buy some excellent medicinal ingredients from the auction house!

Tang Li was scared stiff. Although 100 million chips wasn’t much, even with 20,000,000 extra, this was only the man’s first move! His bet broke all previous records at the black markets! No one had ever played so big on their first shot! If this was only the beginning, then what was to follow?

How was he supposed to make up for 120 million chips’ worth of losses? Add another 120 million? And yet, if he won, betting a smaller sum for his second try would only make people laugh at him. Tang Li was beginning to suspect whether the black-robed man was actually his brother Long Feiye. Who else in the world would stake so much on his first throw?

This...this man’s so generous, it’s like he’s not even spending his own money! But there was no way his big brother could be here! Nor would he ever wear such a gaudy gold mask. A complicated look flickered past his eyes as he wondered if the the black-robed man was some sort of accomplice.

“Where did such a moneybags show up from?” Han Yunxi was shocked as well. “He couldn’t be an accomplice, right? Here to draw the wool over Tang Li’s head?”

Long Feiye was probably the calmest member of the crowd. He remained unruffled as he said, “Wait and see.”

Uncle Cheng was long burning with impatience as he kept shooting looks off to the side. It took the servant standing by awhile to recover before he finally went backstage to find Ning Cheng.

“Master! Master, it’s bad! Gu Qishao, he--he…”

Ning Cheng was currently knitting his brows over a problem and annoyed at being disturbed. “What’s the big deal?” he said coldly. “It better be--”

“Gu Qishao bet 120 million chips on his first play!” his retainer said urgently.

Ning Cheng gave a start before he slapped the table and stood up to rush out of the room. From a hidden balcony on the second floor, he looked down to that the massive crowds had all stopped their gambling to stare at Gu Qishao and Tang Li. The doors to Thousand Gold Pavilion had long been jammed packed with people waiting for Uncle Cheng to announce his hand!

“Master, what do we do?” the retainer asked.

Ning Cheng knitted his brows, but didn’t panic. “Wait and see.”