They were scared of Jun Zhenzhen?
What did Jun Zhenzhen have to terrify people? An orphan girl with the short end of the stick or the daughter-in-law of a merchant family?
They couldn't be scared of her. If they were afraid of her now, then they wouldn't have enough confidence in front of her in the future.
"Screen, partition screen, full pot." Ning Yunyan pushed them away and shouted. "One thousand taels."
The girls were white with terror.
Although they were loveable daughters, cherished and loved by their seniors at home, the silver they had thrown out now was beyond their understanding.
A girl's sharp, hysterical voice made Ning Yunzhao freeze.
Although there was quite the din around him, he still could recognize it.
Yanyan?
Girls oft came to the Jinyun Hall for merriment, and he also knew that his little sister was here.
Naturally they would place bets on the pitch-pot game. A bit of silver was nothing.
But this time Yanyan actually laid down a one thousand tael bet.
To him, one thousand taels was nothing, but for these girls it was not a sum they could take out wantonly.
What was going on? Yanyan was arrogant and stubborn, but it was unlikely she didn't know of the depths of this sum.
Ning Yunzhao frowned. He waved over a young servant boy who rushed forward.
"Seventeenth Miss is here, go find her, and tell her that she must not make a fuss and immediately come here," he instructed.
The servant hurried out.
He needed to first find Ning Yunyan's maid, then get the maid to find Ning Yunyan.
The little servant boy sprinted downstairs and squeezed out through the crammed entrance. At the moment, Miss Jun was already standing in front of the screen.
Miss Jun, just like before, did not look to see who placed the bet. That was something for the Jinyun Hall to deal with; she was confident that with their ability, they would not overlook anyone.
"Screen," she said simply.
Right now, there was not only the musicians and the pitch-pot director on stage, but also several busy attendants. Because Miss Jun played pitch-pot too quickly, they were busy handing over the bamboo and wooden arrows and tidying up around the pot.
When they heard what was said, immediately someone rushed to lift up the screen on the stage.
They put the iron pot that was in front of the screen behind it. Miss Jun took the proffered bamboo arrows and silently looked at the screen. Without waiting for the people around her to respond, she raised her arm and threw the arrows one by one.
"One."
"Two."
In consideration for the people who didn't have a good view, an attendant stood to the side and announced loudly. With barely any pause, twelve arrows very soon settled into the pot.
The cheers and applause were like thunder.
For the people who didn't lose their money, seeing such skill was naturally extremely joyful, especially for the people squeezed in by the entrance, who never had the chance to bet. Very many people clapped till their hands were red.
The pitch-pot director no longer had any remaining surprise left in him.
When he heard the din around him, he looked at the stage to see a girl observing her surroundings. It seemed that this girl had sold out the Jinyun Hall on this 3rd day of the 3rd month.
"Are you playing 132 variations, or forty, or twenty-four, or if there aren't enough arrows, only twelve?"
The pitch-pot director thought of what that young miss had said when they first started. Now it seemed like she would play all 132 variations.
So she indeed plan to play a full round.
Lost.
Her ears filled with the clamor and her eyes with Jun Zhenzhen on stage, Ning Yunyan's face was deadly white.
This was impossible. She always won, never losing.
No one can do something 'always'. Even her big brother Ning Yunzhao stopped at the tenth round.
How could Jun Zhenzhen do this.
The door was being banged on while being pulled open. The Ning Family maid and servant boy appeared in the entrance.
"Seventeenth Miss, Tenth Noble Son said…" the maidservant began.
But just as she spoke, Ning Yunyan clutched the window frame, ripping the window curtains open. Almost half of her body was sticking out.
"Jun Zhenzhen, you cheat! You cheat!"
She stuck out her hand and pointed at the girl.
Ning Yunzhao was standing by his window, watching the girl on stage. Thinking about the moment they would meet, what he should say.
So your pitch-pot skills were this impressive.
This was a very reasonable first line. It wasn't abrupt, but it wouldn't be strange for him to say.
Then he could add the thing about the Go arrangement from the Lantern Festival. He would honestly admit that he hadn't solved it. That wouldn't be strange.
He just didn't know how long she would be playing. From the looks of it, until there was no one who wanted to bet.
The corners of his mouth curled into a smile.
Her appearance on that night, when the Go arrangement was broken and her eyes were red and she turned away floated in his mind.
She was indeed a proud and obstinate girl.
At this time, he heard his sister's voice rising above the hubbub, and a familiar name.
Jun Zhenzhen.
It seemed like he had heard it somewhere.
Jun Zhenzhen was clearly a girl's name. The majority of people here were men, so they didn't have much response to the name, especially right now.
What they cared about was the last two words the girl said.
You cheated?
Cheated!
"Yes, that's right, you cheated."
"You couldn't have won this many times."
Seeing Ning Yunyan's actions, the other girls immediately leaped to it. That's right. It was impossible, impossible that she wouldn't lose once.
They immediately stormed up to the window and shouted angrily.
A girl's voice was loud and clear in the din, and four or five girls shouting in alarm could cover the whole hall.
The maid servant and servant boy by the door were completely neglected, their voices drowned out.
The clamor in the hall gradually died down, leaving on the shrill, angry shrieks of these girls.
Men would not go as far as to lose themselves like this, but many people started to become suspicious, especially those who had lost a lot of money.
That's right. This was something that couldn't go on forever. They had never lost so much money here before. When the Ning Family's tenth son was playing, he started from the most basic and went up, but with modest gentleman's character befitting of the elegant game. He had thrown most calmly, and everybody had watched calmly. There was not such frenzied betting.
This girl had changed the rules, playing all these tricks, being so obviously provocative. She had played so many rounds, but still never had lost. What sort of madness was this?
Was this someone organized by the Jinyun Hall? Otherwise, why would they let her start this lawless insanity?
"Who is this young miss?" some scattered men's voices said.
Although they weren't shooting their mouths off like those girls, their count was clear in their words.
Low mutterings of discussion gradually soared.
"She is cheating, swindling money,' Ning Yunyan said loudly.
Ning Yunzhao was already going outside his room, following the little servant boy who had come back to report to where Ning Yunyan was.
Walking in the hallways was a bit quieter because of the separation, but he still heard another girl's voice.
"How immature. They still think that this is at trick by the Jinyun Hall. If they're going to lose money they'd be better off in a lower class gambling den, " Fang Jinxiu said while standing at the window, smiling but not smiling as she surveyed the hall.
"With her being who she is, saying she's swindling money. I'll tell you, she is a De Sheng Chang Fang Family's person. Swindling money? If the Fang Family needs to steal, then all of Yangcheng must be dying of poverty.
De Sheng Chang's Fang Family?
The preeminent De Sheng Chang in Yangcheng. For them, it was not worthwhile to swindle money.
No wonder that young miss dared to play so. Backed by the Fang Family, she would be able to pay out if she really lost.
The people in the hall were standing by their windows in silence, shock on their faces. Shock also flashed through the director's eyes when he saw Miss Jun next to him lift up her veil, revealing a beautiful face. At that moment, her face was also surprised.
'What is she surprised about?'
This thought flashed through the pitch-pot director's mind involuntarily.
Miss Jun was looking in Fang Jinxiu's direction as she was lifting up her veil, surprise receding to be replaced by a sliver of a smile.
Fang Jinxiu saw her smile and felt uneasy and also ill-tempered.
What is she smiling about. You think yourself clever? I wasn't doing this for you.
She pulled a face, then turned to look at another part of the hall.
"Swindling money. It's a girl playing, it is very obvious it's giving charity." She snorted. "Who would've thought you didn't have the talent to discern as such, and instead blamed other people for being too good. Really, how unreasonable."