Chapter 123
“You can have tea or a favor, but before that, you have to beat me at gambling!”
Looking at Young Master Feng Yue who looked at her with provocation, Ye Li was slightly amused . Of course she knew Han Ming Yue wasn’t here at the moment . Besides, she even knew where he was . Though Han Ming Yue and Han Ming Xi were brothers, clearly, Han Ming Xi was easier to deal with . Because of various reasons, Ye Li didn’t want to meet Han Ming Yue .
“What do you want to gamble on?”
Han Ming Xi raised his brows with a smile: “I’m not going to take advantage of you . Weren’t you great at guessing big or small? Let's gamble on the big and small of dices . ”
Lifting her brows, Ye Li didn't object . “All right . ”
Han Ming Xi smiled happily and said: “Good . I like you for being so outright . If you win, I’ll do anything for you . ”
Ye Li said with a smile: “There’s no need for that . I don’t like to ask an exorbitant price and won't let you get the worst of the deal even if I’m asking for a favor, Mr . Han . After all . . . a deal will only last when both parties benefit, right?”
“Interesting . ” Han Ming Xi smiled . “What if you lose?”
Ye Li answered: “If I lose, forget what I’ve said . Besides, my bet is the 210,000 silver draft I’ve won here . ”
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“Just one round?” Han Ming Xi asked .
“Yes, please . ” Ye Li lifted her hand as a signal .
With a flicker of his sleeve, the musical instrument on the table flew out horizontally and landed on a cupboard . Han Ming Xi took out a set of dices, putting it on the table, he said proudly: “You can check the dices first . ”
Ye Li shook her head, pushed the dice cup back towards him with a smile and said: “I trust Cool Breeze Bright Moon House and you, Mr . Han . You first . ”
Han Ming Xi curled his lips . “You want to compete for big or small?”
Ye Li thought for a second and answered: “Big . ”
Han Ming Xi snorted slightly and took the dices under the dice cup smoothly then started to shake it unhurriedly . Ye Li admired Han Ming Xi's movement as he shook the dices which was very pleasing to the eyes . He was shaking the dice cup as if playing a magic trick, finally turning it upside down on the table heavily . Raising his brows at Ye Li, Han Ming Xi opened the cup without looking down at it . Ye Li looked at the dices calmly . With slanting cuts from corner to corner, the original three dices turned into six which looked like six little pyramids on the table .
“Mr . Han, you are superb with your internal energy . 33 points . ”
Clearly, Han Ming Xi was in a very good mood, who looked at Ye Li smilingly . “Seems they are useless . Mr . Chu, you can have another set . I believe you won’t take advantage of what’s prepared by others, right?”
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Ye Li took a new set of ivory dices from Han Ming Xi and put them into the dice cup . Unlike Han Ming Xi’s fancy shakes, she simply shook the cup at a normal speed without any tricks . The pavilion was quiet where the only remaining sound came from those shaking dices .
However, Han Ming Xi's bright smile grew heavy over time . He no longer sat lazily, instead, he straightened up, his eyes fixed on Ye Li, who was all calm . He didn’t know what points she was going to have at all! But he wasn't afraid that he was going to lose since 33 points was the highest one can get . Unless this boy copied his approach, he didn’t have a chance .
Pong! Ye Li put the cup upside down on the table . With a smile, she looked at Han Ming Xi and said: “Mr . Han, do you want to have a guess at my point?”
Han Ming Xi threw her a look with disdain and answered: “You won’t win no matter what you have there . Open it . Show me how good you really are, Mr . Chu . ”
Ye Li smiled with her brows lifted: “Right . ”
She opened the dice cup slowly . Three dices emerged complete and undamaged . However . . . all three dices stood on its corner, each with two sides leaning against the other two . Each dice had two sides up with three fives and three sixes which meant Ye Li got 33 points as well . She smiled slightly and said: “33 points . It’s a tie . What do you think, Mr . Han?”
Han Ming Xi stared at her fixedly and only spoke after a good while: “You win . Tell me what you want . ” With a wave of his hand, the dice cup and three dices were sent to a nearby cabinet . Han Ming Xi raised his voice and said: “Tea . ”
In the pavilion, Ye Li sipped premium tea which was just served . Cool Breeze Bright Moon House really deserved it reputation of being one of the best places to enjoy life . Even its tea was almost as good as that in the palace .
Han Ming Xi looked at Ye Li pensively: “Mr . Chu, now can you tell me what you want with the master of Tianyi Pavilion?”
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Putting down the teacup, Ye Li smiled slightly: “Actually, it’s nothing big . I’m heading to Nan Zhao recently so I can use some information . Since Tianyi Pavilion claims to be the best intelligence agency in Great Chu, I have no choice but to come here . ”
Having been fawned on by someone who was as good as he was in gambling, Han Ming Xi’s mood clearly lightened . He snorted slightly and said: “Mr . Chu, you are well-informed yourself knowing the relationship between Cool Breeze Bright Moon House and Tianyi Pavilion . I doubt if you need my help . ”
Ye Li smiled, resigned and said: “Well . . . that was a mere coincidence . Please forgive me for that, Mr . Han . Sure enough, I’ll pay a good price since Tianyi Pavilion lives by selling information . ”
Han Ming Yue's almond-shaped eyes narrowed a bit . He leaned back at leisure and watched Ye Li closely: “Oh? A good price . . . it seems you are very confident with yourself, Mr . Chu . ”
Ye Li said with a smile: “I believe Tianyi Pavilion won't ask an exorbitant price since it opens for business . ”
“Humph! Mr . Chu, you are not going to pay by what you’ve won here, are you?”
“I won’t dare to . I happen to own two shops in Guangling . Though they were opened only a short time ago, I believe you are going to like them, Mr . Han . ” Ye Li sipped her tea calmly and said to Han Ming Xi smilingly .
Han Ming Xi frowned slightly . His slightly naughty yet handsome face was so tempting though he never intended to look like that . Ye Li who wasn’t affected by that had to admire him for his looks . He looked like Han Ming Yue a lot, yet with a completely different disposition .
“Mr . Chu, you are not talking about Grace Fume Pavilion on Xuanwu Street, that scent shop which started business half a year ago?” Han Ming Xi asked, clearly sounding her out .
Ye Li nodded in agreement . “Yes . I’m sure you are well aware of how profitable Grace Fume Pavilion is, Mr . Han . As long as your information meets my requirement, I’ll give you 20% of its profits every year . ”
“Every year?” Han Ming Xi raised his brows and said: “Then, is it what I understand, a long-term partnership? Grace Fume Pavilion is indeed profitable, but not in a way that can make you a long-term partner of Tianyi Pavilion . ” Of course he knew about Grace Fume Pavilion . In fact, the scent he was wearing now came exactly from that place . Besides, after he had a taste of its scent, he barely looked at other scent . It had only been half a year since Grace Fume Pavilion opened for business but it became more popular than all the old names in this business in Guangling . However, because of its price which was more than three times higher than that of other shops, it wasn’t as popular among ordinary folks . But Han Ming Xi was sure that at least over 70% noble ladies in Guangling used its scent . If it was willing to lower its price, he believed it would take over this industry in no time .
Ye Li shook her head with a smile: “Mr . Han, do you know the easiest target of business?”
Han Ming Xi frowned: “Wealthy merchants, of course . ” Cool Breeze Bright Moon House owed its shocking profit to those loaded men .
Ye Li shook her hand that had her folding fan . She smiled and said: “No, it’s woman . ”
“Woman?” Han Ming Xi gave a snort of contempt . Woman didn’t make money and was totally dependent on man which meant a woman can't spend as much money as she would like to as a man . Besides, few women were able to throw money away like dirt as generous as men .
Ye Li sighed slightly and played with her folding fan, absent-minded as she said with a smile: “There are . . . more women than men in this world . Besides . . . not all men like to lead a life of dissipation but all women want to stay young and beautiful . ” Even in her previous incarnation, her fellow female soldiers who were as fierce as men would make clothing stores and make-up stores their priority when they were out shopping .
It struck a chord with Han Ming Xi . He wasn’t as talented or insightful as his brother was when it came to business . He didn't attach much importance to money, either . However, that didn’t mean he was a fool . With Ye Li’s explanation, he did realize something .