In the heyday of Daan, the imperial court did not prohibit gambling. The gambling industry in Anling was very developed, and there were no less than a hundred large and small gambling houses. However, there was a clear rule that gambling was strictly prohibited in the gambling houses in the south of the city.
Therefore, if the masters wanted to play, they could only choose a place in the north of the city.
Yu Shu agreed to Jiang Miya's request and took her to Qianyuan Street.
There was a section of this street that ran through the capital, full of gambling houses and restaurants. It was very lively day and night. The key was that it was near two big gambling houses. Thanks to the two families, there were city guards patrolling every day, and the security was very good.
When Jiang Miya saw so many gambling houses open, she almost had the word "excited" written on her face.
"Lotus Room, which house do you often practice in?"
Although Yu Shu could gamble, she was not a gambler. Therefore, she did not know much about the gambling houses in the capital, so she shook her head and said,
"I don't gamble often, and it's my first time here."
Jiang Miya only thought that she was a novice, so she raised her eyebrows and stopped asking. She looked around and finally pointed to a three-story building across the street and said,
"Then let's go to this one. The shop is big, and the gambling house is also big."
Yu Shu looked in the direction of her finger and saw a flag hanging next to the gambling house's signboard. The flag was embroidered with the word "Cui".
"Is this the gambling house of the Cui family?"
She muttered to herself and followed Jiang Miya to the opposite side.
The first floor was a place for ordinary gamblers to play. There were all kinds of people, so it was inevitable that there was a foul atmosphere.
When Yu Shu and Jiang Miya entered the door, a waiter saw them. Seeing that Yu Shu was dressed as a dealer, he came forward. "Gentlemen, you look unfamiliar.
"I don't recognize the two of you. Are you here to bet on the big picture?"
Ordinary gambling, such as dice, Pai Gow, and Shuanglu, had a minimum of two copper coins. You could place a bet, but gambling was easy. Usually, the gamblers would bet with real money.
Gambling was easy. It was also called gambling on the big picture.
Yu Shu did not say anything and looked at Jiang Miya. The latter shook her sleeves and a golden light flashed.
"Cut the crap. Bring him upstairs."
The waiter quickly caught it. When he looked down, he saw a peanut-sized golden bean in his palm. He was pleasantly surprised. He quickly bowed and led them up the stairs.
They passed by the second floor. He didn't stop. The worker who led the way greeted the guards upstairs. He led them straight up.
The waiter turned his head and introduced,
"Sirs, our casino has a total of three floors. There's no need to talk about the bottom floor. The second floor was divided into two halves. One half was for trading. Half of them were places for rich men to gamble. As for the third floor, just the gambling alone is played in a different way every day. I'm not boasting, but the bankers here are all famous Master Yi on the Great Yan List. There's no such thing as cheating, so please enjoy yourselves. "
At the foot of the capital city, although Master Yi wasn't a valuable person, his status was still a notch higher than others. For him to come to a gambling house to preside over a gambling house seemed like a waste of his talents. However, it was a different story for a gambling house with the backing of the Great Exchange Hall.
There were twelve aristocratic families in Anling, and they had accumulated their wealth for generations. Half of them came from the open and aboveboard gambling, while the other half came from this casino.
There were few bad gamblers in Anling. There was a saying, "Ten gambles, six trades." This meant that out of ten gamblers, more than half of them learned how to trade.
How many of the gamblers came from poor families? These people relied on fortune-telling and all sorts of methods to earn money. They would then go to the casino to have a good time. In the end, the money would flow into the pockets of the aristocratic families.
Therefore, it was not surprising that a gambling house under the name of an aristocratic family would have a Master Yi host the gambling session.
On the third floor, there was a row of fan screens in front of them. In Fengshui, it was a very particular way to attract wealth. The screens had to be made of metal and stone. There couldn't be any wood mixed in. Otherwise, the wind would blow.
The shop assistant brought them here and pointed to the bamboo curtains behind the screens. He said softly, "This way please, I'll take my leave first."
Yu Shu took a few more glances at the natural scenery on the marble screens. She followed Mister Jiang into the room.
Behind the screen curtains, it was very different from what Yu Shu imagined.
There were no gambling tables or walls, and there was no weather forecast. There were tea tables on three sides. The windows were bright and the tables were clean. There were ink paintings hanging on the walls and incense burners on the ground. White smoke rose in spirals. It didn't look like a gambling place, but more like a scholar's tea party.
There were about twenty-five or twenty-six people at the table. There were still a few empty seats. Mister Jiang and Yu Shu picked an inconspicuous seat and sat down.
Only then did Yu Shu see that there were paper and ink on the tea table, a few simple divination tools, an abacus, an Eight Trigrams compass, and three empty cups of the same size. She didn't know what they were used for.
A little old man in a red gown sitting at the next table looked at the two young people. He held a teacup and said with a smile,
"Young people, you came at the right time. The banker went to the back to calculate the chips after the game. He will come out soon."
Yu Shu nodded. Mister Jiang asked with great interest,
"I'm new to this place and don't know the trade. Can you tell me how the gambling works here?"
"Hehe, it's easy. Young people don't have to worry. The Cui family's gambling house changes its gambling method every day. Today's gambling is easier. There's a name for it. It's called 'Guessing in the Urn'."
"What is' Guessing in the Urn '?"
"Do you see the three cups on the table? These are 'urns'. Ours is called 'open urns'. The proposition of the previous game is fruits. There are 12 kinds of fruits, such as apples, pears, plums, walnuts, etc. The banker has 12 'hidden urns', which the guests can't see. At the beginning, the banker chooses three 'hidden urns'. "
"The guests place their bets. For every one or two bets, they can move the 'hidden urn' once, replacing one of the three chosen by the banker. Every time they move it, they will add one tael of silver. In the end, if no one places a bet, the bets will be taken. After that, it depends on your ability. The guests use various means to guess the 'weng', write it down on a piece of paper, and put it in the 'open urn' on the table without moving. "
"After all the bets are taken out, the banker has three 'hidden urns', the gamblers have three 'open urns'. Finally, the banker opens the 'hidden urn', and the guests have three 'open urns'."
"If you win one, you will get 1% of the bet. If you win two, you will get 10% of the bet. If you win all three, tsk tsk, then you will get 100% of the bet. Not only will you win the entire game, but you will also get the 12 'hidden urns' in the banker's hands. You must know that the proposition of the hidden urns are all melted with real money."
When Yu Shu heard this gambling method, she laughed. This' guessing urns' was clearly a simplified manual version of a slot machine. The gambling was based on probability.
The probability of each of the 12 hidden urns appearing was 1/12. In the end, the probability of guessing all three urns correctly was less than 1%.
On the other hand, the probability of the banker losing money was so small that it was negligible.
"Do you understand?" Jiang Miya asked Yu Shu.
"I think I understand." Yu Shu's reply was half a beat slow as she silently calculated the probability in her heart.
However, Jiang Miya joked, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. Just watch me gamble."
Yu Shu was quite surprised. She originally thought that Jiang Miya brought her here to gamble for her, the master, to give her an idea. Why did it sound like she was just a decoration?
But she didn't hear Xue Rui mention that Princess Chun Wei had also learned how to gamble?
Jiang Miya turned her head to talk to the old man next door, asking about the other gambling methods in this gambling house.
At this time, a small door on the west side opened. Four boys walked out first, followed by a young man with a fair and clean face. He wore a black robe with a long veil over it.
"The banker has come out."
When Yu Shu heard the old man's voice, she turned her head to look and was stunned for a moment.
This person wasn't …
There were many guests present, so the black-robed banker didn't notice that there were a few new guests. He stood in front of a long table and cupped his hands to the crowd.
"Everyone has waited for a long time. Let's talk about the rules first."
Jiang Miya noticed that Yu Shu's expression wasn't right. She poked her across the table, "What's wrong?"
Yu Shu hesitated for a moment, then leaned over and whispered, "The banker is a young lady from the Cui Family. Her name is Cui Xin."
Although Yu Shu had only seen Cui Xin once at the Gentlemen's Hibiscus Banquet, she had a deep impression of this young lady who was said to be Ji Xingxuan's good sister when she was alive. She was in cahoots with Princess Xi Wen and dared to defecate on her.
Oh, there was also her younger sister, Cui Yun, who owed her a slap.
Was this what it meant to be enemies on a narrow road?
"Cui Family, Twelve Prefectures?"
"Yes."
Jiang Miya asked strangely, "Why is a young lady from an aristocratic family acting as a banker in a gambling house?"
Yu Shu looked pensive and didn't say anything.
Cui Xin didn't know that someone had recognized her. After explaining the rules, she clapped her hands and the four boys behind her placed the twelve 'hidden jars' on the long table one by one.
"The theme of this round is the twelve zodiac animals. There are twelve golden portraits in the jars, and each one is worth four taels of gold. Our rules remain the same. If someone can win three jars, this set of golden portraits will belong to that person."
One tael of rotten gold and ten taels of snowflake silver. This set of objects was worth at least five hundred taels.
Yu Shu calculated. As a fifth-rank official, her monthly salary was only fifty taels.
It was no wonder that so many businessmen liked to come to gambling houses. Gamblers relied on cheating and luck, but they had more tricks up their sleeves. If they dared to win a round, they wouldn't have to worry about money.
"You have some skill." Jiang Miya patted the armrest of her chair, looking eager to try.
Yu Shu had to admit that her heart was also itching. She had earned a lot of money from the crystals, but it was all in Pei Jing's hands and she hadn't withdrawn a single sum.
The mansion in the north of the city had been repaired, but it was still lacking in flowers, birds, fish, stones, and feng shui. She also needed to buy a few strong martial arts guards from the Ministry of Offerings. She was short of money everywhere!
As she thought of this, she reached for her waist. The next moment, the corner of her mouth froze.
Damn it, I went out to change my clothes and forgot to take my purse.
Jiang Miya was completely unaware of the struggle in Yu Shu's heart. She stared at the banker who had chosen three jars from the twelve and placed them on the table. She was the first to stand up and throw a golden walnut into the boy's tray. She pointed at the three jars in front of her and said,
"Place your bet. Change all three for me."
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