episode_0147

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“Phew…”

The only training that could be done comfortably in the imperial palace was luck.

As a result, I just cried the rest of the time. As I was crying out loud, I cleared away the energy of the elixir that was still in my body.

Since fortune telling is one of the basics of martial arts, what can I say…if you don’t pay a little attention, you’ll end up neglecting it.

When I came to my senses, I realized that after realizing the spiral formula, I was so absorbed in developing the sword and solving the mystery that melting the elixir took a back seat.

I kept sorting out the remaining energy of the elixir, feeling like I was doing overdue homework, and it finally paid off.

After finishing my training with simple bodyweight exercises and washing my body, the court ladies served breakfast. Although it’s simple somen and dumplings, the depth of the soup is different from what you usually eat, and the flavor of the juice that flows out when you chew the filling is different.

After that, I met Hyeok Kirin and had tea. As expected, the friendly relationship shown in the imperial family may have been a problem, but since that day he did not say anything emphasizing the friendly relationship, so he was back to being the same as ever.

Hyeok Kirin’s complexion was bright, as if he was very happy with his life in the imperial family.

“Crap.”

Today, I tried to tell Hyeok Gi-rin what the two internal officers, Du-jak and Hwi-kyung, were doing. Even so, he stole me, a guest of the emperor, from the palace and asked me to go to a gambling house with Giru… It was an act that completely forgot his duty as an eunuch.

But today, when I looked at Hyeok Kirin’s face, he had an expression of enjoying the peace that had come for the first time in a while. Even though he may be concerned about his friendships due to his strict family customs, for Hyeok Kirin, the imperial palace is his home. There must be a sense of comfort that comes from a space called ‘home’.

I wondered if there was any need to ruin Hyeok Kirin’s mood by bringing up the matter between the two of them.

Since you firmly refused yesterday, you must have come to your senses today.

There was a time when I thought:

“Help me!”

As soon as they saw my face, the two people bowed their heads to me.

“No…why are you doing that?”

Du-jak’s expression was a bit subtle, but Hwi-kyung’s expression was that of a desperate person. If this facial expression were acting, I couldn’t help but think that he could probably be at the level of a classmate admiral.

“Do you remember when we first met and you said I looked like someone?”

“Yes? yes. That’s right.”

“Actually, my real name is Simahui Gyeong!”

Right. I thought it was someone I had seen before, but I think it reminded me of Sima Yan. After hearing the surname Sama, I looked at Sima Huijing again and there were so many similarities that it wouldn’t be strange to say that he and Sima Yan were brothers.

Anyway, I roughly guessed that the two people were using pseudonyms. But he couldn’t show it, so he opened his eyes wide and pretended to be surprised.

“This is truly amazing! But how did you use a pseudonym?”

Why did you suddenly inform me that you had used a pseudonym?

“That’s it…because I’ve heard that you gamble quite a bit!”

“…Yes? No, let me explain so you can understand…”

“Help me! You are the only hope for me and Duzak!”

Sama Hwi-gyeong is holding on to the leg of his pants. It took quite a while to calm Sima Hui, who was completely confused, and listen to his story.

“…So, this time you touched the gold that Governor Sima Yan sent from the golden family? You lost it all at the gambling house?”

Dujak and Hwikyung bowed their heads.

Is this true? The situation was so absurd that I first began to doubt its authenticity. Above all, this person. Considering how serious the situation was, I didn’t feel any sincerity. Just pretending to be moderately serious?

“…So how much did you do?”

“It’s only 500 nyang of gold!”

Seeing the unrealistic amount, I unconsciously watched Duzak’s reaction. Is it possible to maintain that attitude even after losing 500 gold coins? Strictly speaking, the money sent by Sima Yan can be said to be a genuine product from the governor of Sichuan. The governors just need to fill up the tax amount and send it to the central government.

There were plenty of clues to infer that the Sima family was a very prestigious figure in the political world. First of all, Sama Yeom has seen Hyeok Kirin since he was young. The fact that Sima Yan was able to meet the young princess from time to time suggests that he was a prestigious family and that the Sima family and the imperial family had a close relationship.

Sima Huiqing, a former Sima family member and current imperial palace official, is trembling.

It was such a big deal to touch the emperor’s real prize.

But what is it with this guy that he lacks a sense of crisis?

Sima Hui-jing, who noticed the doubt in my gaze, grabbed my ear.

“In fact, Mr. Duzak is of noble lineage.”

So does that mean they are members of the royal family? Assuming they are members of the royal family, it is possible for them to show such an attitude without a sense of crisis. He’s one of the damn royal family…

Yes, if you want to do something crazy like get your hands on the emperor’s real products, you have to have a background of the royal family to be probable. I also understood the attitude taken by the court ladies in Gungcheongjeon. I thought it was too much to bow down to, even if it was an eunuch, but it was a different story when it came to the royal family.

“Please help me as if you are saving someone’s life! There is no hope but you!”

Sima Hui-jing committed a serious crime that would have his head cut off and cause great damage to his family, but if he was a bastard royal family… well, he might end up with an appropriate punishment.

For some reason, I thought it was strange when he suddenly pretended to be friendly and asked to go to a place called Cheonsangru. I guess I lost 500 taels of gold there.

While I was lost in thought, Sima Hui continued speaking.

“If it was just a simple loss of money, how could I use my family’s power to make up for it, but since the treasure called the Five Treasures on the truth list was stolen, if I can’t retrieve it and return it to the warehouse, I will be dead!◦# ◦

“Huh.”

I knew the situation.

I thought of Sima Yan and organized my thoughts. In fact, it was not that he had no intention of helping Sima Huijing. I am indebted to Sima Yan in many ways, and he is such a sly snake that I feel like it is necessary to put some shackles on him.

Even though I am self-employed, I can’t just watch people die. If you two have enough sense, they will take care of my convenience while I am in the palace.

“Is it really possible to leave the imperial palace without any trouble? To put it bluntly, it’s not like these two are Admirals of Classmate or Admirals of the Geumuiwi.”

“Hmph. Don’t worry about that. If we discover that you have left the palace, we will have no choice but to be alarmed! If your tail is caught, everyone will have no choice but to be tied up!”

“Well, I guess so.”

As expected, the expected answer flowed out. I nodded. Yes, as expected.

“I understand that you two want to hire me as a gambler. But I also have a condition.”

The two people exchanged glances. When Du Zac nodded, Sima Huiqing asked.

“Okay, what are the conditions?”

“Collateral. We need a treasure whose value cannot be measured carelessly.”

“…What?”

Perhaps because the situation was completely unexpected, the faces of Sima Hui-jing and Du-zuk turned into bewilderment.

“Umm…Look, we’ll prepare the stake. 500 nyang is not a small amount of money, but how can I look flexible…”

“Hahaha! Of course, you need to prepare the stake. I’m not talking about gambling stakes. I am talking about the collateral you must give me in order to work with you two.”

I said with a grin.

“How can I trust the two people who are crazy about gambling and even get their hands on His Majesty’s real prizes and leave the imperial palace? Even moneylenders will not lend money to a gambling addict.”

Is it worth trusting a gambling addict, you sea bream birds?

“If you want to leave the castle with me, please bring collateral that I can trust you with.”

I smiled as I looked at the two people with their mouths open.

“If you don’t like it, drink it.”

*** ***

Nakyangseong.

The capital is the gathering place of all cultures in this wide world.

Luoyang, which flourished as the capital of the empire for a long time, attracts cultures and customs from all over the world. Among them, some survive, others are abandoned, and splendor and depth continue to be added, so the culture of the capital city develops to a level that the rest of the country cannot keep up with.

So there was no need to talk about how gorgeous and luxurious the nightlife in the capital would be.

The number of kiru operating in Luoyang alone was worth hundreds of pounds.

And in Luoyang Fortress, there was a gil that everyone recognized as the best gil, and that was Cheonsangru.

Cheonsangru was engulfed in quiet tension.

“Brother, anyway, what is this guy called Goal doing?”

“Let’s not talk nonsense. Do the review one more time. Because if we really make a mistake, we can easily get our heads taken away.”

“Write.”

Hakjo, who had beaten a fellow gambler, swallowed dryly as he remembered three days ago. Suddenly, messengers from my class came into the house and dragged me into Cheonsangru.

The second basement level of Cheonsangru. He was dragged into a special gambling hall where even high-ranking officials could not easily become members. And what I met at that special gambling hall were gamblers who were said to be from Luoyang.

‘You guys gamble with one target at Cheonsangru. ‘Do you understand?’

The gamblers who were forcibly brought in listened to the classmates’ explanations with fear and resistance, but soon their eyes filled with anticipation and enthusiasm.

It was a plate worth 500 gold coins. Plus, there was an opportunity to conduct operations on the second basement level of the famous Cheonsangru.

The generous compensation was also enough to attract gamblers.

“The preparation will be perfect, right?”

“Hehe. The execution scene didn’t even see what preparations we had made.”

Even in Luoyang, where the best gamblers gather, only the gamblers who are said to be good are gathered together. In order to deal with just one person, the entire gambling hall and all its parts were put together. Starting with obvious aspects such as directing between gamblers, the entire gambling hall was newly arranged to accommodate the number of gamblers.

More than a hundred people, from quarrels to gamblers, set up a plan to deceive just one person.

“The target will arrive soon.”

“Let’s all get ready.”

The second basement level of Cheonsangru began to move bustlingly.

At that time, Ho Cheon-an, Yu-gyeong, and Sima Gyeong-hwi arrived at Cheonsangru after stopping by Yongsang Gaekjan. Ho Cheon-an entered the second basement floor of Cheonsangru, looked around the view of the second floor, and looked at the two people behind him with disapproving eyes.

“You caught it very well.”

“Hahaha. So you didn’t invite me to my place hahaha.”

There was madness in Yoo-kyung’s smile.

Yoo-kyung is asked by Ho Cheon-an, a child crazy about gambling, for collateral, saying she can’t work with a child crazy about gambling!

Yu-gyeong felt like her blood was rising as she watched Ho Cheon-an click his tongue and treat her like a pathetic person, but she had no choice but to endure the humiliation in order to get Ho Cheon-an, who told her he didn’t like it, to sit in this situation.

The two had no choice but to entrust Ho Cheon-an with treasures related to their identity as collateral and take Ho Cheon-an out of the palace under circumstances!

“From now on, you two should stop snooping around places like gambling houses and just drink alcohol. I’ve been to quite a few gambling tables, but this is the first time I’ve seen one with no answer like this.”

Clutter.

“Ha!Ha!Ha!Ha! I will only trust you!”

Seeing Yu-gyeong’s anger rising at Ho Cheon-an’s bite, Sima Gyeong-hwi, disguised as Sima Hui-gyeong, quickly placed Jin Won-bao and Jin-ja in Ho Cheon-an’s arms.

The gamblers at Cheonsangru swallowed dryly as they watched Ho Cheon-an sit down in his seat while grumbling.

Hakjo changed his position and thought about it.

‘This is a seat I would never sit in.’

The story is about two people who owe 500 taels worth of gold at a gambling house and have their treasure called the Five Baodye stolen. At Cheonsangru, it was decided that a treasure called the Five Baodye would be returned only if 500 nyang of gold was repaid through gambling at Cheonsangru.

If you are a gambler, just hearing this is a condition that will make you run away.

This is a game where you can feel the gambling company’s strong will to catch one tiger fish and eat it for a long time. It is possible to be lured into gambling by huge rewards.

I have to win 500 nyang gold at a gambling table. It’s a really distant condition, but I don’t know how it could be possible if I try for a long time.

That is, if you continue with regular gambling.

However, the second basement level of this Cheonsangru building was designed so blatantly to catch gamblers that no gambler could have known it. There were many people enjoying various types of gambling, but there was only one empty seat on the goal board.

In fact, you don’t have to be a gambler to know that it was created to catch a fortune with a three-to-one ratio.

Nevertheless, Ho Cheon-an just sat down.

gulp.

‘I’ve already lost momentum.’

There was a whopping 500 nyang of gold at stake. It was a huge sum that even professional gamblers who had been in the gambling industry for a long time had never heard of.

Even the gamblers, who had made all the preparations perfectly and were in a position to win one person with the entire gambling hall working together, were trying hard to hide their nervousness.

however.

‘How on earth…’

Mild irritation. A short grumble.

These were all the emotions that could be read from Ho Cheon-an.

How can that be? Is it possible to not show even the slightest agitation even though you know that the entire gambling house is after your golden prize?

Hakjo and the two gamblers who came to the table with Hakjo were already overwhelmed by Hocheonan’s boldness.

“Are you not going to start?”

Hakjo swallowed his saliva and nodded.

“Then let’s start the game.”

A gambling table created with the full cooperation of Cheon Sang-ru and the support of the famous gamblers and alumni of Luoyang just to catch Ho Cheon-an.

The game began with the goals being mixed.