Li Zhiyue’s heart sank.

The book mentioned that the heir to the Marquis’ residence, Li Muyu, once lost the ancestral land of the Marquis’ family in a gambling hall.

Later, the old Marquis had to embarrassingly ask the Emperor to intervene and retrieve the lost ancestral land.

This became the biggest joke in the entire capital.

She asked in a deep voice, “How many times has the heir gone to the gambling hall?”

Fuan replied, “Last night was the first time the heir went to the gambling hall. He won some money, but today he went again, and unfortunately, his luck was bad and he kept losing…”

Li Zhiyue breathed a sigh of relief.

It was only the second time; it hadn’t caused a major disaster yet, so it could still be salvaged.

She stood up and walked towards Li Muyu’s residence.

She opened the door to the study and took down all the paintings inside, throwing them onto Fuan.

Fuan quickly said, “This one is an ancient painting the young master worked hard to obtain, and this one is by a famous calligraphy and painting master. It’s very valuable…”

“Shut up.”

Li Zhiyue’s anger flared up upon seeing these paintings.

They all had one common feature: beautiful women, and some of the scenes were extremely suggestive.

Her eldest brother didn’t have any other hobbies except for admiring beautiful women—listening to them sing, composing poems about them, and collecting paintings of them.

She vaguely remembered that Li Muyu’s goal was to collect 108 portraits of beautiful women.

Tsk, what ambition!

She gathered all the paintings, got into a carriage, and headed for the biggest gambling hall in the capital.

The streets of the capital were bustling, with shouts from vendors filling the air. As she approached the gambling hall, the noise grew louder.

Both high-ranking nobles and people from all walks of life gathered there, hoping to gamble and gain wealth without worry.

As soon as Li Zhiyue walked in, she caught many people’s attention.

She had inherited all the best features from her parents, Bai Ruzhu and Li Suifeng.

She was tall and slender, with fair skin and delicate features, like a radiant pearl, glowing with natural beauty.

Li Muyu turned around and saw his sister walk in, with countless eyes falling upon her.

He felt uncomfortable with so many people staring at his precious sister, like a delicate flower under the gaze of many.

He quickly walked over. “Yue Niang, what are you doing here? Just let Fuan bring the silver.”

“Why can you come, but I can’t?” Li Zhiyue picked up a painting of a beautiful woman and threw it at Li Muyu. “These should be worth quite a lot of money.”

Li Zhiyue unfolded the painting, and her eyes turned red. “No, no, this painting is a rare treasure I worked hard to obtain, it can’t be used as gambling money!”

Many people around them began to murmur excitedly.

“Wow, this is a portrait of Li Zhenzhen, a famous courtesan from the previous dynasty. It’s so beautiful!”

“Quick, let’s see if we can win it!”

A group of people rolled up their sleeves, and Li Muyu quickly closed the painting, shaking his head vigorously.

He whispered, “Yue Niang, you’re in charge of the household now, so you don’t need to ask anyone for silver. Please, help me out. If I win, I’ll buy you some jewelry!”

Li Zhiyue smiled. “Are you sure you can win?”

“Of course!” Li Muyu was full of confidence. “Last night, in just half an hour, I won eight hundred taels of silver!”

Li Zhiyue smirked.

It was his first time at the gambling hall, of course, he’d win.

This was the “beginner’s luck” period.

“Since you’re so confident, let’s have a bet,” she said, walking to the gambling table.

She looked at the dealer. “Would it be alright to take just a moment of your time?”

As the heir to the Marquis of Xiangyang, Li Muyu’s sister was a noble young lady.

The dealer didn’t dare refuse and immediately gave up the spot.

Li Zhiyue picked up the dice on the table, gave them a gentle shake, and smiled even more.

She noticed that Li Muyu was still in a daze, and asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you dare?”

“It’s not that… Yue Niang, you’re a young lady, how can you get involved in gambling?” Li Muyu said, looking uncomfortable. “If our parents find out, they’ll definitely scold me. Yue Niang, please go back!”

Li Zhiyue remained calm. “If you win, I’ll go back immediately. If you lose, these paintings of beautiful women will all be mine.”

Li Muyu’s head hurt.

He should’ve gone to the money shop first to borrow some silver and recoup his losses instead of bringing Yue Niang into this chaotic place.

He could only walk over. “Alright, how do you want to play?”

“I’m new to gambling, so let’s keep it simple.” Li Zhiyue placed the dice in a cup. “I’ll be the dealer, and you guess whether it’s big or small.”

Li Muyu placed a painting of a beautiful woman on “small.”

Li Zhiyue lightly tapped the side of the dice cup, and having already tested it, she knew there was mercury inside.

The dealer just needed to tap the cup, shifting the mercury to control the dice’s outcome.

This trick had long been revealed in modern short videos.

She shook the cup, then opened it—three sixes. “Big brother, you lost!”

Li Muyu gritted his teeth. “Let’s go again!”

He placed his bet on “small” again.

“Big brother, you lost again.”

They repeated this several times, and Li Muyu kept losing.

“This is impossible!” Li Muyu’s eyes turned red with anger.

He pushed all the paintings toward her. “Four times big, this time it has to be small!”

Li Zhiyue smiled faintly.

According to probability, it was likely that the next roll would be small, but in a gambling hall, everything was rigged.

As expected, Li Muyu lost once more.

“Even I, a girl, can’t win. Big brother, how can you keep gambling?” Li Zhiyue threw the dice down. “When you win against me, then come back to the gambling hall to recover your losses.”

Li Muyu was left embarrassed and covered in dust.

The only consolation was that the paintings were lost to his own sister.

A few kind words from him, and she would probably return them.

At that moment, a man bent over and approached. “Our manager would like to invite you to come upstairs for some tea. Would you be so kind as to accept?”

Li Zhiyue knew very well that her little trick could deceive Li Muyu, but it wouldn’t fool the manager of the gambling hall.

She decided to go along with it and followed him upstairs.

Li Muyu wasn’t about to let his sister go up alone, so he quickly followed.

“Miss Li, truly impressive skills!” A young man bowed and greeted Li Zhiyue. “The Chen family’s gambling hall has been in the capital for over twenty years, and it’s the first time I’ve seen such a skilled lady at the dice table.”

Li Zhiyue immediately understood.

This gambling hall was backed by the Chen family, and wasn’t the current empress also a member of the Chen family?

This must be the property of the national uncle.

A mere Marquis family couldn’t afford to offend them.

She smiled. “You’re flattering me. I just play casually. How about we have a round together?”

“Miss Li, please.” The manager pushed the dice toward her. “I’ll bet on big.”

Li Zhiyue shook the dice, covered it with the cup, and before opening it, the manager said, “Miss Li, you’ve won. I admit defeat.”

He then had a tray brought to her, with the very same silver Li Muyu had lost earlier.

Li Zhiyue couldn’t help but marvel.

In this round, she intentionally lost by shaking three ones, signaling that she had no intention of ruining the Chen family’s operation.

But the manager was a clever one.

He knew she had lost, yet insisted she had won.

He first used the Chen family’s influence to pressure her, and then presented silver to appease her, using both kindness and threats.

No wonder this gambling hall had survived for over twenty years in the capital.

Li Muyu, of course, didn’t understand their subtle exchange.

All he knew was that his sister had won back the thousand taels he had lost!