After Shen Li heard what Xuan Yuan Jue said, she asked, "What's the method? I'm not afraid of danger."
"Come closer, and I'll tell you!" Xuan Yuan Jue looked at Shen Li with a smile in his eyes.
Shen Li gave him a suspicious look but still sat down in the seat next to him.
"What I'm going to say is a secret. If you're sitting so far away and someone overhears it and it gets leaked, I won't be responsible!"
Although Shen Li thought Xuan Yuan Jue was always so unorthodox, she figured he wouldn't play any tricks on this matter. So she leaned towards him and turned her ear to him.
"We can..."
As soon as Xuan Yuan Jue got close to her and started to speak, Shen Li felt a puff of warm air on her ear. It was soft and ticklish. At the same time, her heart started to beat uncontrollably faster.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!" It was pounding so hard that she could hardly hear what Xuan Yuan Jue was saying.
When Xuan Yuan Jue finished speaking, he saw Shen Li sitting there a bit stiffly, not even aware that he had stopped talking. A faint smile flashed across his mind. He couldn't help but want to reach out and poke her on the face.
Shen Li felt a gentle touch on her face. Startled, she turned her face around and saw Xuan Yuan Jue's out - stretched hand right beside her face.
Xuan Yuan Jue felt Shen Li's gaze. When he came to his senses, he was shocked to find his hand actually beside her face. He quickly pulled it back and touched his hand in disbelief.
He could still feel the touch on his hand. He had just thought about poking her face in his mind, but unexpectedly, he had actually done it.
"Ahem!" Xuan Yuan Jue coughed lightly, looking a bit uncomfortable. "It's not the right time yet. I'll send someone to inform you in a couple of days!"
Shen Li had just sat up straight. Now hearing Xuan Yuan Jue's words, she hardly dared to look him in the eye. She just nodded to show her agreement.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Xuan Yuan Jue didn't think it appropriate to stay any longer. He said his farewell, "Well, if there's nothing else, I'll go back first!"
"Okay!" Shen Li nodded again, not daring to look at him.
Xuan Yuan Jue then left in a hurry.
...
Even though it was midnight, the Caoyuan Gambling House was still bustling with noise. The voices of people talking and the sound of dice shaking were everywhere.
"Place your bets and don't change!" As the dice - shaker kept shaking the dice in his hand, those standing around the gambling table began to shout out their bets.
"Big! Big! Big!"
"Small! Small! Small!"
...
The dice - shaker looked at the numbers and shouted, "Open! Two, two, three. It's small!"
"Damn it! I'm so unlucky! It's small again!" Shen Feng, who was also standing by the gambling table, watched as the silver he had just bet was taken away. He cursed under his breath.
When he was about to take out more silver from his pocket to bet again, he found that all the silver notes he had brought had been lost.
"Hey! Brother Shen, where are you going?" A middle - aged man with a pointy head and a monkey - like face beside Shen Feng noticed that Shen Feng was about to turn around and leave. He quickly grabbed him and asked.
Shen Feng impatiently tugged at his sleeve. "Going back to the mansion!"
The man still enthusiastically held onto him and wouldn't let him go. "Come on, brother. Why don't you play a bit more?"
"I'm having bad luck today. I'm not playing anymore!" Shen Feng pulled his hand away and strode towards the door.
The man watched his back as he left and still shouted after him enthusiastically, "Come again when you're in a better mood, brother!"
Shen Feng didn't stop walking when he heard the man's words.
After Shen Feng's back disappeared outside the door, the man put away his smile and walked towards the inside of the gambling house.
There was a small room inside the gambling house. Two strong men were guarding the door. When they saw the man coming, they quickly blocked his way. The man wasn't angry. He smiled at one of the big and stocky strong men and said, "Excuse me, sir. Could you please go in and inform Lord Chen that Hou Si is here to see him?"
"Wait here!" The strong man saw his obsequious smile and the rather large silver coin he tactfully handed over. He agreed and pushed the door open to go in and deliver the message.
A moment later, the strong man came out and jerked his chin at Hou Si who was waiting at the door. "Go in. Lord Chen is waiting for you inside!"
Hou Si quickly bowed and thanked him. After entering the door, he tidied up his wrinkled clothes and then walked further in. After turning around the screen at the door, he saw a man in his thirties sitting behind the table. He was wearing blue silk. There was a terrifying long scar on his right face that slanted from the corner of his eye all the way to his chin. His eyes protruded slightly, making them look extremely large.
"Lord Chen! I'm Hou Si. I've come to pay my respects!"
"Hou Si! Do you have something to tell me?" Lord Chen leaned back in his chair, shaking his crossed legs.
"Yes, Lord Chen. The Shen Feng you asked me to keep an eye on a few days ago has lost all his silver today. He just left!" Hou Si bent down and looked at Lord Chen respectfully.
Hearing this, Lord Chen smiled in satisfaction. "Well, Hou Si. You did a good job this time. Go and get five hundred taels of silver later!"
Hearing this, Hou Si immediately rubbed his hands in delight. "Oh! I must thank Lord Chen for your reward!"
Lord Chen sitting above looked at Hou Si and said, "I'll give you the silver, but you have to do things well for me. Next time when Shen Feng comes again, find a way to keep him here."
"I'll arrange for him to win a few big bets first and then let him lose it back slowly. When he runs out of money, you let him borrow silver from our gambling house."
Hou Si immediately nodded with a smile. "Lord Chen, you can rest assured. I'll definitely handle things properly for you."
"Hou Si, I'm telling you. No matter what, you have to find a way to make him owe at least twenty thousand taels of silver!"
"Twenty thousand taels?" Hou Si asked in surprise. In his whole life, he had never even seen, let alone heard of such a large amount of silver. "Lord Chen, Shen Feng doesn't seem to be a fool. How can I trick him into borrowing so much silver?"
Lord Chen looked at Hou Si below. His expression became a bit more serious and his eyes slowly widened. "You just need to cooperate to get him to sign and seal the IOU. Someone else will take care of the rest."
Hou Si looked at Lord Chen sitting above with an unhappy face. He quickly agreed. But thinking about the twenty - thousand - tael debt, if it were on him, he wouldn't be able to pay it back even if he sold himself!
Hou Si hesitated for a moment. Although he knew he shouldn't ask too many questions in his line of work, he still opened his mouth and asked, "Lord Chen, I wonder who Shen Feng has offended?"
If Shen Feng hadn't offended someone, why would that person hire the Caoyuan Gambling House to make Shen Feng owe so much silver? Isn't this like taking his life?