The Grand Princess

TGP Chapter 40.2: Gambling House

If you’re going to hit me, then hit me. Why did you have to slap me?!”
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The carriage quickly arrived at the entrance of the Fortune Gathering Hall. When the two got out of the carriage, they saw that the guard that had gone to borrow an entry token was already waiting at the door. That person came over with the token and handed it over to Pei Wenxuan. Pei Wenxuan gave a slight nod and took it, then he went inside the Fortune Gathering Hall with Li Rong.

The two didn’t want to draw too much attention, so they had the guards wait at the door and headed inside the Fortune Gathering Hall together. There was a doorkeeper standing at the doors of the Fortune Gathering Hall. As soon as they reached the doors, the man loudly shouted: “The doors of the Fortune Gathering Hall open to the east. Come one come all, those with money and those without. Are the two of you distinguished guests, those with money or those without?”

Pei Wenxuan heard this prompt for a codeword and handed over the entry token at once, smiling as he said: “With money.”

The doorkeeper accepted the token and carefully studied it a dozen times, he turned his head and said: “Welcome distinguished guests, right this way—”

As soon as the doorkeeper had spoken, a middle-aged man came out from inside and invited Li Rong and Pei Wenxuan to come in. That person gave the two of them an introduction of the Fortune Gathering Hall, and the two absentmindedly listened. Upon reaching the main hall, Pei Wenxuan nodded and said: “No need to worry about us. We’ll play on our own for a bit.”

The middle-aged man smiled and expressed his acknowledgement, then he turned away and left.

The two of them walked around in the crowd. This place was bustling with excitement, people coming and going, men and women alike, they all seemed rather excited.

Pei Wenxuan was afraid that people would bump into Li Rong, so he had no choice but to put his arm around Li Rong to shield her from others and clear the way for her. He shielded her with one arm and moved forward while saying: “I’m just doing this to help you out, don’t think too much of it.”

Li Rong cast Pei Wenxuan an indifferent glance: “People tend to say don’t think too much of it when they themselves have given it more thought than others.”

Pei Wenxuan: “…”

There was certainly some truth to it.

After the two of them made a round, Li Rong’s heart gradually eased up. She couldn’t help but confidently say a few more words on the matter: “I said it, how could A-ya come to this sort of place? Pei daren…”

Before she could finish her sentence, the two vaguely heard a familiar voice coming from the crowd, excitedly shouting: “Big! Big! Big!”

In the split second that this voice registered, Li Rong felt as if there was a sudden clap of thunder, and she had been struck by lightning. When the two of them looked back, they vaguely saw a figure in the crowd bearing a striking resemblance to Shangguan Ya, leaning over the gambling table and desperately knocking on the table with the word “Big.” Those eyes were fixated on an upturned cup that was about to be lifted and revealed, her eyes seemed to shine brightly.

However, that person was wearing men’s clothing, and she could not clearly make out their face either. For some time, Li Rong could not be certain if she had heard it wrong or…

Before she could react, the cup was lifted at that table. In the midst of the sound of cheers and sighs, that short girl shouted, “Thank you for the win, thank you for the win,” collecting the money in front of her as she spoke.