Chapter 37: Shen Lang Impressed the Audience, Tian Heng was Stunned! 2
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tian Nineteen was very sure that the deck of cards had no secret markings, and Shen Lang could not have possibly cheated.
However, Shen Lang won every single round. What... What kind of luck was that?
He merely just entered the Palace of the Earl; could he be so lucky?
The main point was that the pretty boy did not even look at the cards once and immediately threw in 1000 gold coins as a bet. Occasionally, he would be stubborn and throw in 2000 gold coins at once.
Where did he get the bravery from?
Who gave him that bravery?
“This is my casino, why are you winning like you are sweeping money into your pocket with your eyes closed?”
Shen Lang would definitely win because he could see every single card clearly.
He won effortlessly.
Meanwhile, the gamblers were fixated on the game!
Impressive! They have never seen such an exciting game before.
Of course, they saw cases where gamblers won a few rounds or more than ten rounds in one go before.
That was because anything could happen in a casino.
However, winning eight rounds effortlessly like Shen Lang, especially winning more than 10,000 gold coins, was an unprecedented event.
He was really too impressive!
Finally, when Shen Lang won the ninth round, Tian Nineteen was about to break down. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and his hands were frozen.
“How is this possible? I am the gambling god of Xuanwu City, how can I lose?”
“I am dead... I am dead...”
He kept mumbling while Shen Lang already won 13,000 gold coins. In addition to what he won earlier, minus the 1000 gold coins he had loaned, Shen Lang won 16,000 gold coins in total.
“Shen Lang, you are too much!”
‘You did not bring any money, and you are winning 16,000?!’
That was an extraordinary amount. Tian Nineteen’s foster father would slaughter him.
“I-I am suddenly feeling dizzy... I will leave first...” Tian Nineteen said with his trembling voice.
He really could not lose anymore.
Initially, he thought that he would not lose anymore, but he was unwilling to stop. 1
After losing, he would want to win and earn back his loss; he tried to sabotage Shen Lang.
Unknowingly, he lost 16,000 gold coins. That was almost the entire year’s profit from the casino.
If he continued to lose, he would die!
When Tian Nineteen got up, he stumbled and almost fainted. Then, he left the gambling table immediately and ran to the Xu family.
He had to report this to his foster father immediately.
The situation was out of control; he would be doomed!
However, when Tian Nineteen left, that was the beginning of disaster for the casino.
After that, Shen Lang swept every single gambling table. 1
He won every single game in the casino, causing the staff and gamemasters to quake in fear.
Meanwhile, the gamblers were going crazy.
They had never seen such a dramatic scene before; it was too intense and exhilarating!
Shen Lang watched them and said, “Why are all of you standing and watching? Bet along with me!”
The few hundred gamblers were initially stumped but went totally crazy afterward.
The few gamblers followed Shen Lang in the betting.
They followed Shen Lang in his bet.
The casino’s doomsday had come!
Initially, Shen Lang was the only one winning. Now, the entire casino’s customers were winning. 1
The only party who lost was Tian Heng’s casino.
“Ah...”
Another gamemaster could no longer take the stress... He clutched his chest and fainted with foam coming out of his mouth while his entire body spasmed.
“Gambling god... gambling god... gambling god...”
“All hail Young master Shen...”
The entire casino was going crazy; Shen Lang became the hero of a few hundred gamblers.
Initially, no matter whether Tian Nineteen or the manager of the casino was present, they could immediately stop the games and close the casino down temporarily.
However, Tian Nineteen had already fled due to fear and went to report to Tian Heng. He was in a rush to announce what had happened.
Therefore, Shen Lang swept all the games along with the few hundred gamblers.
...
In the courtyard of the Xu family, Tian Heng was laughing out loud.
“Hahaha...” Tian Heng said, “Do you know? That day, Shen Lang told me to break my own arms and break Thirteen’s legs. He even swore that he would do that if I wouldn’t; don’t all of you think it is hilarious?”
Master Xu said, “He said that? After he became the live-in son-in-law of the Earl, was he becoming really brazen?”
Tian Heng said, “Indeed, I don’t dare to do anything to him once he becomes the live-in son-in-law of the Earl. Even when he came to extort, I could only cut my meat. If he wants me to sever my arms, he must be daydreaming. The situation now is clear. The monarch wants to seize the power of the old generation of aristocrats, and the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu cannot meddle in regional affairs. While I make no mistake in the territory of the Palace of the Earl, nobody can do anything to me.”
He seemed to have bragged a little too much.
If not for the City Lord and the Governor who backed him up, he would ask Shen Lang for forgiveness long ago.
The night Shen Lang married the daughter of the Earl, Tian Heng gave Zhang Pu a large sum of benefits. That allowed him to get protection from the Zhang family and hence became fearless.
“Initially, after marrying into the Palace of the Earl, we did not dare to touch him even though we were itching to kill him,” said Tian Heng, “However, I didn’t expect this useless brat to court his own death. He came to our casino.”
Master Xu said, “Cocky bastard.”
Tian Heng said, “What is my casino? It is a demon’s cave! Even if Shen Lang is an expert, he will lose terribly. If he doesn’t lose tens of thousands of gold coins, I will not let him off.” 1
Master Xu said, “Once he loses more than 10,000 gold coins, we don’t have to take action. The Earl of Xuanwu would chase him out and sever all ties with him.”
Tian Heng said, “Or, he might be beaten to death! No matter what, Shen Lang is doomed. He sought his own death; what an easy game!”
Master Xu said, “A useless person is doomed to be useless. He will never be able to accomplish anything! Let’s wait for the Earl to punish him and beat him to death!”
However, at this moment...
Tian Nineteen rushed in. His face was drained of blood, and he looked extremely pale.
He fell to his knees and spoke with a trembling voice, “Foster father... foster father, something bad has happened!”
However, he realized to his horror that he could no longer make any sounds. It was like his throat was stuffed with something.
Tian Heng never liked Tian Nineteen since he was weak in martial arts and was not cruel enough. He could never match up to Tian Thirteen, his favorite foster son.
However, Tian Nineteen was excellent in gambling and was extremely useful since he could manage the casino on behalf of Tian Nineteen. That was the reason why he became one of Tian Heng’s foster sons.
At this moment, when Tian Heng saw how Tian Nineteen was panting heavily, he raged and scolded Tian Nineteen, “Why are you behaving like this? You only know how to mess around with women! Why are you so weak? You are panting like a dog after a few kilometers and can’t even speak properly. How embarrassing!”
Tian Nineteen heard that and immediately kowtowed to Tian Heng.
Master Xu said, “Brother Tian Heng, your foster son is really filial.”
Tian Heng said, “Why are you pretending now? Where’s Shen Lang? Have you settled the business with him? How much did he lose? If it’s lesser than 10,000 gold coins, I will tear you apart.”
Tian Heng had calculated that 10,000 gold coins were the limit of the Palace of the Earl.
After all, their family was a hundred-year-aristocrat and had quite some reserves.
However, the Palace of the Earl also lacked money as they lost 80 percent of their wealth when the land was sealed.
Today, the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu had to support an army of nearly 3000 soldiers with the remaining 20 percent of their wealth. The level of stress must be high.
Moreover, the Earl of Xuanwu loved the citizens and nearly did not exploit the citizens at all.
Although the economic status of the Palace of the Earl was a secret, based on Master Xu and Tian Heng’s calculations, the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu should not be making any profits and was surviving on past reserves.
10,000 gold coins were considered quite a considerable sum for the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.
If Shen Lang lost this sum of money, he would either be evicted by the Earl or would be beaten to death.
When he heard the arrogant claims of his foster father, Tian Nineteen was overwhelmed with fear and did not dare to speak at all.
If he said that Shen Lang won 16,000 gold coins, his foster father would probably kill him.
Master Xu said, “Brother Tian Heng, what if the Palace of the Earl doesn’t pay up?”
Tian Heng sneered, “Shen Lang loaned the money from us to gamble. The loan receipt had it written clearly. Moreover, Shen Lang came to my casino willingly! I didn’t force him or lure him. Many people were there as witnesses. Even if this issue is brought up to the governor, I will be able to defend myself.”
Master Xu said, “In that case, you would have completely offended the Palace of the Earl.”
Tian Heng sighed; he did not want that to happen too.
After all, he was the leader of a gang; although he had the official position amongst the civilian army of Xuanwu City, he was still the leader of a gang and had many past records.
Although they were running under the new governance system, the Earl of Xuanwu, as one of the old generations of aristocrats, did not dare to interfere in regional affairs. If it was in the past, Tian Heng would definitely be afraid to offend the Palace of the Earl.
Even now, Tian Heng did not want to mess around with the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu.
However, he had no choice. Shen Lang came with full force, and he was forced to take action.
He definitely could not possibly break Tian Thirteen’s legs. If he did that, he would no longer be able to live in Xuanwu City guilt-free
Tian Heng would never articulate these feelings.
Instead, he said gently, “The City Lord and the governors are all backing me up now.” Tian Heng said this with a sharp tone, making him appear extremely patriotic. “The country is promoting the new governance system, and that is the way to defeat the Palace of the Earl. Now that we are most likely the winner, why should we be afraid of offending them?” 1
“That’s right,” said Master Xu, “Why was the new government’s campaign unable to continue? It is all because of the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu, who is in the way. We can make use of Shen Lang as a breakthrough. The Palace of the Earl is really unlucky to have Shen Lang as their son-in-law.”
Tian Heng laughed.
However, he was the only one who knew how painful it was.
That was because he had utterly offended the Palace of the Earl, and to let Zhang Chong back him up, he paid tens of thousands of gold coins every year. That was even more than half of his income.
Five casinos, 35 percent of profits had to be paid to Zhang Chong, the governor.
The person who handled the money was Xu Guangyun, the person standing in front of him.
Master Xu said, “Rest assured, brother Tian, Governor Zhang Chong will definitely stand by your side for this matter. You can go ahead and ask the Palace of the Earl for money with Shen Lang’s loan receipt!”
Of course, Tian Heng knew that he became the weapon that the governor used to fight against the Palace of the Earl of Xuanwu. However, he had no other choice.
“Alright!” Tian Heng laughed out loud, “I don’t have many skills, but I have courage. Later on, I will go to the Palace of the Earl with the loan receipt to ask for money. I would like to see the expression on the Earl’s face and how Shen Lang is going to die.”
“Hahaha...” Master Xu laughed loudly, “That brat doesn’t deserve anything more than that.”
Tian Heng asked, “Tian Nineteen, have you caught your breath? Tell me, how much did Shen Lang lose? How much does he owe us?” 1
After a few minutes, Tian Nineteen finally caught his breath and could talk. When he heard Tian Heng’s question, he replied directly, “16,000 gold coins.”
“Hahahaha...” Tian Heng laughed loudly, “Excellent, excellent!”
Master Xu was also over the moon. “16,000 gold coins, that’s a huge sum. Shen Lang is dead meat! The Earl is really blind to find someone like Shen Lang as his son-in-law. Too bad!”
Tian Heng got up. “Come, let’s go to the Palace of the Earl to ask them to pay up.”
Master Xu said, “Rest assured, the City Lord will send three officials with you. If the Earl decides to kill Shen Lang, then it’s alright. If he doesn’t, we shall continue exerting pressure. With Sir Zhang Chong, we have every right to do it. It is reasonable to collect money from someone who owes us.”
Tian Heng said, “Nineteen, where’s Shen Lang’s loan receipt?”
Tian Nineteen felt chills down his spine. At this moment, anything he did was incorrect.
He slammed his forehead on the ground, and blood flowed from his wound.
“Foster father, Shen Lang did not lose 16,000 gold coins. We... we are the ones who lost 16,000 gold coins.”
After he said that, Tian Nineteen nearly fainted.
However, Tian Heng was still smiling, although he was in a daze as he froze.
...
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