Chapter 61: Astonishing Worth

  Six beauties, some slender, some plump, some gentle and charming, some pure and innocent, each with their own unique charm, excelling in their own way. As soon as they appeared, everyone's eyes were dazzled, the originally noisy hall suddenly fell silent, every person holding their breath, greedily admiring their uniquely beautiful beauty.

  Zi Yifu, like the other girls, struck her most beautiful pose and revealed her gentlest smile. Her speaking eyes scanned the crowd, as if greeting each person individually. However, when her gaze fell upon Xia Xun, a hint of resentment flickered across her face, although it was brief, it was enough for Xia Xun to notice clearly.

  Xia Fu smiled slightly, but the woman was heartless and the actor had no integrity. Although it couldn't be generalized, it was also a true portrayal of most people in this industry. He didn't believe that after only meeting once and exchanging a few words, the woman in front of him would tie her heart to his. Her deep emotional performance only made Xia Fu feel amused.

  But whatever she has in mind, everyone just takes what they need anyway.

  Xia Liu and Cao Yu Guang made a bet, using his Yang family workshop and several other profitable shops as stakes, to compete for the right to Ziyi's hand in marriage. It was a high-stakes gamble! But he never intended to win.

  Although the casino isn't a place where losers have to give away their assets for free, but rather take stock of their assets and transfer them at market price plus 20%, who would be willing to let someone else take over their golden goose? At that time, even Cao Gongzi, who was full of himself, couldn't help but be shocked by the high stakes. He had a lot of money and indeed had a lot of influence, but if he dared to gamble like this and lost all his family's assets, his old man would break both his legs.

  His old man was the Procuratorate of Shandong. The Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office was in charge of provincial affairs, the Provincial Commandant's Office was in charge of military affairs, and the Provincial Procuratorate was in charge of criminal cases and lawsuits throughout Shandong Province. In terms of power, he was a figure who could shake the whole province with one foot. As for wealth, the Cao family also had several properties, but to gamble everything away for a woman...he couldn't do it.

  However, as soon as he appeared, he put on a condescending air. If he were to back down now, it would be even more unbearable than killing him, and he wouldn't be able to show his face again. Cao Gongzi wanted to refuse but couldn't, wanted to respond but didn't dare, truly making things difficult for him. At the critical moment, it was Jiang Zhigong who helped him out. Jiang Zhigong really wanted to regain the face he had lost in Yang Xu's hands, and more importantly, this time he had invited his distant cousin from Jinan, he had a request of him.

  Yang Xu's wealth grew so rapidly, although he tried his best to hide the truth, but in the business world there are no absolute secrets. Many signs indicate that he has a strong backing, and many clues point to the same place - the Qi Wang Fu. It's just that nobody dares to break this layer of window paper.

  Jiang Zhiqing also wanted to climb up the line of Qi Wang, so as to fly high and become prominent, but unfortunately had no way in. He didn't expect that after inquiring here and there, he heard that one of Qi Wang's favorite concubines was actually his distant uncle Cao's niece, which made her his cousin-in-law's younger sister.

  Although the relationship between these relatives was a bit distant, he made good use of his capital and soon became close friends with this cousin. In the end, he even invited him to Qingzhou as a guest, and the ultimate goal of inviting him home was to ask for his help. With this in mind, he naturally had to try his best to fawn on him, so he gritted his teeth and put up his own two silk shops as stakes.

  Cao Yuguang was originally in a difficult situation, but seeing his brother-in-law's righteousness, he gritted his teeth and took out the deed to a leather goods store under his own name as a stake. Both parties signed the contract, drew up the agreement, and gambled heavily.

  An old procuress walked onto the stage, introducing each of the girls' specialties and praising their beauty before finally reaching the girl at the far right. The six girls on stage included Purple Maiden, who stood at the far left; the procuress knew she had become the target that Yang Wenxuan and Cao Gongzi from Jinan were determined to get, so no one else could compete with them for her hand tonight. As a result, she was destined to be the most expensive girl of the night, so the procuress wanted to save her for last in order to create a grand finale for tonight's hairdressing ceremony.

  "This one, then, is the last one I'd like to introduce to you gentlemen - Miss Liu Xing. She's a Jiangnan water town girl with the looks of a swallow, the beauty of Tian, and the talent of Zhaojun. Especially her three-inch golden lotus feet are most alluring, earning her the nickname 'Little Foot Liu'."

  This young lady was born delicate and lovely, with a soft and cute face, wearing a light green dress, with a pale pink outer garment, her carefully combed hair was styled into a slightly curved heart-shaped bun, a lovely and cute melon-seed face with thin powder makeup, and a beauty mole at the corner of her mouth, captivating and enchanting. As for her famous small feet, only a tiny inch of shoe tip was exposed under her skirt, making people want to see more but unable to, this charming appearance, is one of the three girls who have the qualifications to compete with Ziyifeng.

  The old procuress held a palm-leaf fan in her hand, stroking the slender waist of Liu Xiaojiao's buttocks, and said: "The price for the ladies' hairpins is 20 taels each. Gentlemen who want to be their new husbands can start bidding now." This price was reasonable, as it was the standard base price for all the major cities in the Ming Dynasty. The problem was that, looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, after fierce competition, not a single red girl's body price was less than 100 taels.

  "Violet Robe, twenty-five taels!"

  Just as everyone was about to shout out prices, a clear voice came from the second floor. Looking at the old madam's attitude, it was obvious that she wanted to sell this small-footed beauty with excellent looks and figure first, and make a good start. But this person actually hastened to shout out the price of Purple Maiden.

  Everyone looked up and saw Yang Wenxuan sitting on the second floor.

  Yang Wenyuan looked at the crowd in the hall as if they were flies gathering around a foul smell, and he was very disgusted by their behavior of treating prostitution as a form of entertainment just because they had some dirty money. He just wanted to quickly finish his own business, sell off all his assets, and leave with ease, without any interest in watching them waste time here, so he directly called out the price of Zi Yifu.

  This loss also requires skill, he can't just shout a low price and then admit defeat and leave. If that's the case, even if Qi Wang is stupid, he will know there's a problem. He can only stop at an appropriate time, but no matter what, tonight will definitely produce a stunning price, perhaps the highest price since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, a super high price that breaks records. It's certain to be a big loss, but compared to his goal, it's still worth it.

  Many of the distinguished guests below had come to watch the excitement, especially since they had heard beforehand that Cao Gongzi and Yang Gongzi were competing for Zi Gu Niang, and no one was willing to engage in a pointless struggle with them, so they had long given up on Zi Gu Niang. Therefore, they couldn't wait to see the two men fight each other to the death. As soon as Yang Xu directly called out the price, these people suddenly became excited.

  In the past few years, Qingzhou City had a similar gamble. Both sides were also due to a dispute over a small matter, betting on their property. In the end, Dong Zefeng, the owner of "Xi Yun Lou", lost and gave away the operating rights of his profitable wine house for three years to his friend Wang Yanxi, until last month when the deadline was reached, he took back the wine house.

  In just three years, Wang Yanxi used Dong's wine house and chef to earn a huge profit of 4,500 yuan for himself. Unexpectedly, tonight he had the good fortune to witness another high-stakes gamble, with bets even more astonishing than those in the "Dong-Wang Contest" of yesteryear. The onlookers went wild, shouting frantically:

  "Lord Cao's son, someone has made an offer for him, it's a man who wants to marry him."

  "Grandma's, who dares to be a turtle hiding its head at this time? Later, hide your head in your crotch and go out on the street again!"

  "Jiang Gongzi, Cao Gongzi, Yang Jia Shaoye, this is just a show of force, don't let him intimidate you, come on, come on."

  "Are you scared? Are you scared? I knew it, people from Jinan with the surname Cao are not worthy of mention. Look at our Yang Gongzi from Qingzhou, what a presence! Ah, ah, damn it! You, Cao, you're just a fake hero!"

  The onlookers jeered, ridiculed, and cheered, using all sorts of ways to frantically urge Cao Yu Guang and Yang Wen Xuan to make a bet. Dressed in men's clothing and mixed in with the crowd, Peng Da Niang was so angry that she was fuming, she really wanted to turn around and leave, but her legs were still firmly rooted to the spot. She wanted to know the outcome, if Yang Wen Xuan really won, tonight he would stay at "Jing Hua Shui Ge", she would go back and pack up her bedding and leave, regardless of whether this loser lived or died!

  Cao Yu Guang was also nervous, but seeing the other side so flustered and hastily calling out a price, he couldn't help but laugh: "Looks like the other side is even more anxious than me..."

  Thinking so, Cao Yuguo's mind was greatly settled, and he sat down very calmly, raised his teacup, lightly stirred the tea foam, and said calmly: "Thirty taels!"

  "Boom!" Everyone looked at the young master of the Yang family on the opposite building again, and the tables and chairs creaked as they waited for him to make a bid. Just as Xia Yu was about to speak, a tall and sturdy man with a square face, bulging eyes, wearing a short jacket and a green headscarf rushed into Xia Yu's room. Peng Zhiqi saw this from downstairs and couldn't help but be stunned: "Second fool! What is he doing here?"

  The two fools whispered a few words to Xia Liu, who suddenly changed his face and stood up: "What did you say?"

  "Master, Xiaodi... Xiaodi is gone, I've looked everywhere, the servants from Wang's and Zhao's families said she went back a long time ago, even our little dog has come back, but no matter where I look, I just can't find Xiaodi."

  Xia Fu's face turned iron-green, and he immediately turned around and walked out. The guests upstairs and downstairs were suddenly in an uproar, not knowing what had happened. Xia Fu ran down the stairs, and a green building manager came up to ask: "Young Master Yang, where are you going?"

  Xia Jian's face was scorched, his feet didn't stop, he walked out while saying: "Something has come up at home, I bid you farewell."

  "Yang Xu!"

  Jiang Zhiqing and Cao Yuguang both stood up, leaning against the railing and sticking out their heads. Cao Yuguang shouted loudly: "The gambling house is not settled, where are you going?"

  He suddenly stopped in his tracks, spun around, clasped his fists and pushed out with one hand, shouting: "I've lost!" After finishing speaking, he turned around and left, disappearing like a gust of wind at the gate. The men and women in the hall were all stunned, looking at each other speechlessly.

  Because Yang Xu, one of the gamblers, withdrew at the last minute, and Cao Yu Guang only won when he got the purple-robed Tong girl, all the other wealthy guests wisely gave up intervening in the matter. On this night, a shocking price for the Tong girl was born in Qingzhou's "Jinghua Shuiyue": 30 guan of Ming dynasty banknotes!