Chapter 9: Teasing the Little Fox

  Chang Sun Chong, Chai Ling Wu and Xiao He stared blankly at the three dice on the desk, their faces looked like they wanted to die.

  Who would have thought that Du He was so lucky, with three sixes, the highest score, coming effortlessly.

  Fang Yi's eyes fell on that handsome face with a crying expression, and he immediately burst out laughing. He didn't feel the least bit upset about losing to his own brother.

  Du He also pretended to laugh and said, "Good luck, good luck, thank you, thank you!"

  He is a great thief, whose pair of skillful hands can compare? Throwing dice is naturally easy to capture.

  He picked up the five jade pendants on the table, put away the one that belonged to Fang Yi'ai, hung his own around his waist, and held the other three in his hand to admire them. He was holding Xiao He's pendant, looking at it from left to right, and saw that it was a good piece of jade with excellent craftsmanship. As for its value, he had no idea. "Brother Fang, do you think this jade pendant is worth a lot of money?"

  "This jade is of good quality and the craftsmanship is fine, it's worth about fifteen silver ingots." Fang Yiai only took a glance before quoting the price.

  " Fifteen taels of silver?" Du He's eyes lit up.

  Yín bǐng is equivalent to silver, a type of currency in the Tang Dynasty. Fifteen taels of yín bǐng may not seem like much, but Du He is well-versed in Tang history and knows the prices during the Zhenguan era.

  The Book of History records: "At the beginning of the Zhenguan era, there were less than three million households. One piece of silk could be exchanged for one dou of rice. By the fourth year, one dou of rice cost four or five coins, and the outer gates were not closed for several months. Horses and cattle grazed in the wild, and people traveled tens of miles without food."

  During the Zhenyuan period, material civilization was extremely rich, with one dou of rice selling for only 5 wen, and usually one or two silver ingots could be exchanged for 1000 copper coins (also known as one guan), which could buy 200 dou of rice. Ten dou is equal to one shi, that is, 20 shi. One shi in the Tang Dynasty was approximately 59 kilograms. Calculated at a general price of 1.75 yuan per kilogram of rice, one or two silver ingots were equivalent to RMB 4130.

  15 silver ingots are equivalent to 600,000 RMB, which is not a small amount.

  "What about this?" Du He picked up Chai Lingwu's jade pendant, and it was clear that Chai Lingwu's jade pendant was much more valuable than Xiao He's.

  "The market price can buy thirty taels of silver... Hmm! Wait a minute, this jade pendant is engraved with the words 'Pingyang', this is the jade pendant given by the late Emperor to Princess Pingyang, and its value is probably hard to estimate." Fang Yiai said with a nod.

  "You know it's quite detailed!" Du He asked curiously.

  Fang Yi'ai smiled slyly: "What's the big deal? I often take things from home to pawn, and as for the market price of jade, I'm familiar with it like the back of my hand."

  "Uh..." Du He was completely speechless. This kind of embarrassing thing, Fang Yi'ai actually said with such pride, this is indeed a skill.

  "Good!" Du He clapped his hands and said: "Chai brother's jade pendant is 40 silver coins, Xiao brother's jade pendant is 15 silver coins. That's it, send the money over tomorrow, and return the items to their original owners."

  Chai Lingwu and Xiao He could only enter like a defeated rooster, silently nodding their heads.

  "Brother Du, what about mine?" Chang Sun was like a prisoner awaiting judgment, listening for Du He's verdict. Seeing that Du He didn't give him an offer for his jade pendant, he could only ask with a thick face.

  After fighting with Du He dozens of times, Zhangsun Chong had never been defeated. Today's inexplicable defeat made him feel depressed and his expression was as unpleasant as if he had eaten feces.

  "This is it!" Du He picked up the jade pendant of Zhangsun Chong, which was indeed a gift from the emperor. The material and craftsmanship were far superior to those of Chai Lingwu and Xiao He's pendants.

  The house was left with love and also closed its mouth.

  What Emperor Taizong of Tang gave was beyond measure by price.

  Du Hehe smiled and said: "I don't like this jade!" He swung his hand and actually smashed the jade pendant heavily to the ground.

  The jade pendant was fragile after all, and it couldn't withstand Du He's fierce blow. It shattered into four or five pieces in an instant.

  Chang Sun was stunned, Chai Lingwu was dazed, Xiao He was numb, and even Fang Yiai was also left speechless.

  After a long time, Zhang Sun suddenly came back to his senses, stretched out his hand to grab Du He, and shouted: "You dare to break my jade pendant?"

  Du He took a step back, dodged and smiled: "Chang Sun brother is wrong, it wasn't me who broke your jade pendant, but I broke my own jade pendant. That jade pendant is mine, I can break it however I want, do you have any opinion?"

  Du He spoke softly, smiling faintly, with an indescribable elegance and freedom.

  Changsun Wuji was both shocked and angry, Du He's performance today made Changsun Wuji look sideways, but from childhood to adulthood, he was not better than Du He in that aspect, nor was he stronger. But Li Shimin gave his beloved Princess Changle to Du He.

  Changsun Chong had always been at odds with Du He, and now he regarded him as a mortal enemy. As soon as he had the chance, Changsun Chong would secretly undermine Du He, ruining his reputation and making him a despicable villain, in order to prove that he was stronger than Du He and more worthy of Princess Changle.

  After many years, things turned out as he had expected. Du He was not as intelligent as him, Du He was not as liked by Master, Du He did not win the favor of Li Shimin, and his talent was even more far apart.

  All sorts of situations have proven that Du He is far inferior to him, and Chang Sun Chong doesn't even put Du He in his heart, not bothering to mention them together. But today, Du He has won a trick over him, winning without any temper, even letting the other party smash his favorite jade pendant with impunity.

  When looking at Du He's calm and self-assured smile, in Zhang Sun's eyes, this smile undoubtedly became a laugh of scorn.

  A surge of nameless anger suddenly ignited from his heart, and Changsun's handsome face suddenly became distorted. This kind of temperament made him most likely to go to extremes, and for a moment, he couldn't accept this fact.

  With red eyes, she rushed towards Du He like a madman.

  Du He furrowed his brow, and immediately looked down on Zhangsun Chong in his heart, thinking that he was just a little fox. Humph, with this kind of temperament, how could he be mentioned in the same breath as the old fox Zhangsun Wuji?

  He took a light step back, his hands borrowing force to send Long Sun flying out, slamming him into the mud.

  "How bold!" Seeing Du He "take action" to beat Zhangsun Chong, Chai Lingwu and Xiao He couldn't help but hear and ask, waving their fists and rushing towards Du He.

  Du He is about to counterattack.

  Fang Yi Ai blocked his way, "Heh heh" with a smile: "You can't fight without me, Fang Er Ye!" He stretched out both hands to grab the fists of Chai Ling Wu and Xiao He, lifted one foot, and kicked them flying.

  Du He looked at Chai Lingwu and Xiao He, who were rolling on the ground three zhang away, with a shocked expression. Suddenly, he remembered what was written about Fang Yiai in the historical records: "The second son, Yiai, was born with a natural talent for martial arts, but had no education."

  Hey, this guy is actually quite capable.

  Fang Yi'ai winked at him and said: "I'll take care of these two, you deal with that damn Long Sun!"

  Du He smiled in her heart.

  At this time Zhangsun Chong rushed towards him again, Du He shook his head and dodged, stretched out his foot and tripped him, letting him fall into the mud once more.

  Chang Sun-chung had some martial arts skills, but he was no match for Du He.

  Not to mention Du He's "Five Elements Return to the Origin" has already entered the door, with the profound footwork of Chu Liuxiang, even if Du He abandoned it and didn't use it, his combat experience would be enough to easily defeat Changsun Chong.

  What's more, Zhang Sun Chong lost his mind and became half a useless person.

  The gap between the two is fundamentally not on the same level, and Du He's idea of taking action doesn't exist either.

  But Zhang Sun was determined to force himself beyond his limits, and he had no choice but to go along with it.

  Du He once again knocked Zhangsun Chong to the ground.

  "That's enough, stop causing trouble!" Princess Chang Le finally couldn't bear their nonsense and walked in after peeking outside the house for a long time.

  Li Xueyan stood beside her with a shocked face.