"I just thought that if I could get Cousin Jingbai to stop making things difficult for me in the future, my days in the mansion would be a bit easier," Li Wanming said, her almond-shaped eyes gradually misting over. The emerald hairpin hanging by her temple swayed gently, as if it were sobbing.
"Of course, if I could get him to say a few fair words for me in front of Auntie, so that I could catch my breath in this deep mansion, that would be even better..."
"Madam Xiao... is she really like that?" Zhu Ninglu said in a daze, muttering in disbelief. "When we went to the Prince Ning's Mansion to play before, we never saw her like this..."
He had been on familiar terms with Xiao Jingbai since childhood and had been to the Prince Ning's Mansion quite a few times.
In his memory, Madam Kang was clearly a very kind and amiable elder. How could Li Wanming make her sound like a shrew?
Li Wanming was slightly stunned. She quickly wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and said, "You're not a daughter-in-law. How can you know the hardships of being one? When you guys went to the mansion on ordinary days, you were guests, so of course she treated you politely. But now that I've married into the family, I'm going to take over the power of managing the household from her. How could she give me a good look?"
"Is that so... I really didn't expect Madam Xiao to be such a person..."
Zhu Ninglu looked at Li Wanming, who had been so arrogant before but now had red eyes in front of him, looking like a delicate flower in the rain, so pitiful. He must have suffered a great deal of injustice in the Xiao family that day. Immediately, his sense of justice flared up.
He clenched his chubby little fist and said indignantly, "Don't worry! I've grown up with Xiao Jingbai since childhood. No one knows him better than me! If you want to know anything, just ask!"
"Really?" Li Wanming said, sobbing softly while peeping at him with one eye from behind the handkerchief.
"Really!" The little chubby boy patted his chest and replied.
"Okay, then let's start with the places he usually likes to go."
These words opened Zhu Ninglu's floodgates of words.
He waved his two chubby little hands and began to talk non-stop.
He talked about how Xiao Jingbai often wet the bed when he was a child, and how he had scared away five tutors so far; how he accidentally tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face while catching rabbits, and how he always liked to sit in the third private room from the left when eating at Muyun Pavilion...
After listening, Li Wanming gradually came to a conclusion: Xiao Jingbai was a complete good-for-nothing who only knew how to enjoy life, was good for nothing, and ate like there was no tomorrow!
As she listened, she couldn't help but strongly doubt Madam Kang's educational achievements and ultimate goal again.
— With such a good-for-nothing, did she still want him to inherit the title?
Did she think those shrewd people in the palace were blind?
Auntie, if you want to support someone, you should at least see if that person is up to the task.
If I were her, I'm afraid I would have locked Xiao Jingbai in the room and whipped him eight hundred times a day. Would I still make almond tea or iced plum soup for him?
Bah!
He couldn't even get a hot dog turd!
"Last time when we were boating on the East Lake, we caught a red carp as long as an arm. Everyone around was shocked and said it was an auspicious sign, a great auspicious sign! But our eldest brother didn't hold it properly, and the red carp's tail slapped him in the face. He and the fish fell into the lake together..."
"Polo? He's even worse at polo! Last time when playing polo, he complained about the heat and the bumping after running for a while. He shouted that he wanted to get off and was laughed at by the young master of the Duke Qing's Mansion..."
"Cockfighting is okay. We often go to the entertainment houses in the city... Last time we got a Yunnan iron-beaked blood-feathered rooster for two hundred taels of silver! We finally won first place, but then we didn't take good care of it, and it died of illness..."
Li Wanming listened to all these trivial and messy things.
Overall, Xiao Jingbai was a dissipated playboy who couldn't even play well. He had lived a muddled life for twelve years and had nothing to recommend himself.
She gradually lost interest in these messy things, but it was not good to interrupt the enthusiastic little chubby boy. So she propped her head up with her hand and half-closed her eyes, dozing off.
"We've been to almost all the gambling houses in the city, but the Bright Moon Gambling House is the most bullying! Our eldest brother still owes them a thousand taels of silver..."
Hearing the words "gambling house", Li Wanming suddenly woke up.
What?
Xiao Jingbai liked to go to the gambling house and still owed them a thousand taels of silver?
She suddenly opened her eyes, grabbed the little chubby boy's arm, and her almond-shaped eyes instantly burst into a dazzling brilliance, shining terrifyingly: "Tell me in detail about the gambling house."
"The gambling house..."
The little chubby boy was startled by her reaction. He was stunned for a moment and then scratched his head and said, "Actually, there's nothing special. We just went to play, but we lost all our money..."
"The other gambling houses gave our eldest brother face. They didn't care about small debts. But this Bright Moon Gambling House didn't take our eldest brother seriously at all! They even said that if he didn't pay back the money, they would sue us at the Prefectural Office!"
Hmm, the Bright Moon Gambling House...
A faint smile slowly appeared on Li Wanming's lips.
If it was this gambling house, of course, they wouldn't take you guys seriously!
In the past few years since she came to the capital, although she had rarely set foot in the gambling house under Madam Yuan's repeated orders, in business, it was inevitable to deal with all kinds of people. She still took the opportunity of various purchases and sales to inquire a little about the details of the major gambling houses in the capital, just in case one day her business went bankrupt and she needed to "borrow" some money to spend.
The Bright Moon Gambling House was the largest casino in the capital.
It had one main house and three branches, spreading all over the capital.
In addition, it was also involved in various businesses such as banks, restaurants, and fur shops. It was like a colossus in the business circle of the capital.
And its backer was the father of Empress Dowager Kang - Marquis Xuanping.
With such a prominent background, the Bright Moon Gambling House could even dare to challenge the royal family's authority. How could it possibly take Xiao Jingbai and these other little nobodies from a declining family seriously?
However, Zhu Ninglu had indeed provided a very useful piece of information: Xiao Jingbai gambled, his gambling skills were terrible, and he still owed a large sum of money...
Wasn't this just what she was looking for?
It was right in her line of fire.
Li Wanming had no other special skills. The only thing she was good at was gambling...
Thinking of this, she smiled slightly and showed a skeptical expression.
"What you said is strange. The Prince Ning's Mansion is so rich. It should be easy for them to fill in this hole for Cousin Jingbai. Why would they say they would make it so ugly and go to the Prefectural Office?"
She picked up a cup of rose dew on the rosewood table and asked casually.
Seeing that she didn't believe him, the little chubby boy immediately got anxious: "You don't know! Our eldest brother had owed debts several times before, and Madam Xiao paid them all for him.
"But he owed too much later. Madam Xiao got really angry and said that if he went to the gambling house again, she would lock him up and wouldn't let him out until he passed the imperial examination!
"You know, our eldest brother is not the type of person who is good at studying. If he can't go out until he passes the imperial examination... Wouldn't that mean he would never be able to get out?"
The little chubby boy spread his hands and said helplessly, "So our eldest brother didn't dare to tell Madam Xiao about this no matter what."