Chapter 10: Cold Tea, Last-Minute Betrayal

Back at his seat, Dylan Weedy shouted excitedly, "I bet ten thousand taels!" "Holy crap, we're playing for that much?" Quentin Luet wanted to go head-to-head with Troy Warburton, but Dylan cut in. "Play me instead." Quentin picked up the cards from the table and immediately sensed that something was wrong. The Deuce in his hand had somehow turned into Divine Marshal Peak‑Warden. "Something's wrong. Someone's cheating…" Before Quentin could raise his voice, Dylan kicked him under the table. Quentin hurriedly tossed the card into the discard pile. "You two leads can play it out. I'm folding!" Troy knew he was guaranteed to win, so he naturally hoped Dylan would keep raising the stakes. He immediately called the ten-thousand-tael bet. After the wagers climbed all the way to one hundred thousand taels, Dylan flipped over his cards. Three of a Kind. "Sorry, Little Bastard. I won!" Dylan reached for the money, but Troy suddenly spoke. "Dylan, wait. You might not have won after all." Troy turned over one card, revealing Divine Marshal Vault‑Lord. "Just a little higher than yours." He flipped over the second card, revealing Third‑Eye Warden. "Hey, even higher! Maybe I have Three of a Kind too!" Troy laughed loudly as he reached for the third card. "Dylan Weedy, thank you for sending me all this money. Today, I'll teach you that there's always someone better, and there's always another sky beyond the sky!" With that, he flipped over the final card and burst out laughing. "I think you should stop calling yourself Dylan Weedy from now on. I'll call you a sucker instead. Hahaha… huh?" Troy's laughter abruptly died. His third card was a Deuce. "We won!" Quentin leaped nearly three feet into the air, jumped onto the table, and began scooping up the silver notes. Troy pointed at Dylan and screamed like a madman. "You cheated! You cheated! I had Three of a Kind! I clearly had Three of a Kind!" "Dumbass, are you trying to welch on the bet?" Quentin cursed at him and continued stuffing the money away. Dylan turned to Shaun Sinjen and said, "I borrowed one hundred thousand taels from Young Master Warburton earlier. Count out one hundred thousand taels and return it to him. Then give this idiot two extra taels of silver as interest. Don't say I'm stingy." Troy clutched his chest. His face went purple, and he nearly coughed up blood from sheer fury. The compensation from earlier, combined with the money he and Quinn Cadden had lost, had allowed Dylan to take nearly two hundred thousand taels. Even for the Marquis Manor, that was a considerable sum. If Troy simply admitted defeat, family punishment would be the least of his problems. Losing so much would also ruin his chances in the future struggle to become head of the family. Troy hurried over to Dylan. "Dylan, can we gamble one more round? Please, I'm begging you. Just one more round!" "Go to hell!" Quentin shoved Troy away and hooked an arm around Dylan's shoulders. "Two hundred thousand taels of gleaming silver looks a hell of a lot better than the gleaming breasts of the foremost courtesan!" Quentin leaned close and lowered his voice. "Dylan, I never imagined you knew Chicanery. How about we work together and take Clearwater Court for ourselves?" "You're pretty greedy," Dylan replied. "But after today, no one in the capital will dare gamble with us again. We might as well play for something big." A sly smile crept across Quentin's face. "Troy just got engaged to Grand Tutor Winlow's daughter. Should we win his fiancée too?" "That was exactly what I had in mind. But I'm worried this Little Bastard will resort to force. Send someone to the Luet family and bring back a thousand guards. I'll have Shaun mobilize a thousand guards from the Weedy family." "Dylan, you're wicked!" "Quentin, you're no saint yourself." "Likewise." The two cousins exchanged foxlike, cunning smiles. Quentin turned to Troy first. "We can gamble, but all four of us have to keep playing. And small stakes are boring." "Fine! Let's gamble!" Troy glanced at Smiling Tiger from the corner of his eye. He wasn't afraid of Dylan and Quentin making the stakes large. He was afraid they wouldn't dare gamble big at all. The game continued. Smiling Tiger was terrified of making another mistake, so he only tampered with Dylan's and Troy's hands. He dealt Quinn Cadden and Quentin random High Card hands. Dylan and Troy both had straights. Dylan held 4-5-6, while Troy had 7-8-9. Once the cards were in their hands, the four players took turns raising the stakes. Before long, two hundred thousand taels in silver notes had piled up on the table. Throughout the entire game, Troy clutched his cards tightly, afraid Dylan would somehow switch them. Dylan put down his remaining hundred thousand taels. Then he and Quentin pooled another hundred and fifty thousand and shoved it onto the table. Quentin jiggled his fat cheeks, grinning smugly. "If you want to see our cards, put up five hundred thousand taels. If you can't afford it, admit defeat." Troy hesitated before turning to Smiling Tiger. "Are you sure?" "Young Master, I stake my life on it," Smiling Tiger assured him. "The Young Master's hand is lower than yours, while Quentin only has a small pair. You're guaranteed to beat both of them." "Fine. If you handle this well, I'll promote you to floor manager on the third floor!" Troy rose to his feet and slammed his palm onto the gambling table. "I really don't have any money left, but I have Clearwater Court. It's worth eight hundred thousand taels. I'll stake it at five hundred thousand!" Dylan and Quentin exchanged a smile. "Fine. Bring out the house deed and land deed. Then we'll sign and seal the contract." Troy had learned his lesson this time. He placed the dice cup over his cards and pressed it down firmly with one hand, terrified that the same mishap as before would happen again. Once everything had been signed and sealed, Troy immediately flipped over his hand. Seven-eight-nine straight, and a Straight Flush at that! Dylan's brow furrowed deeply as he revealed his own cards. A 5-6-7 straight. "I won! I won!" Quentin's face fell. "Dylan, you're not reliable at all! Didn't you say this was a sure win?" "If Dylan were reliable, pigs would be climbing trees!" Troy laughed uproariously and began gathering the money. "Clearwater Court is safe! I won back everything I lost earlier, and I even made another hundred and fifty thousand taels! What a sweet deal!" Dylan put an arm around Quentin's shoulders. "Sorry." Quentin lowered his head, looking utterly dejected. "Forget it. We're brothers. You came to the gambling house to help me win back my losses, after all. Losing is losing. At worst, I'll go home and take a beating…" "I never said we would lose. Open your cards." "Open my ass. I only have a pair of fours." With a helpless sigh, Quentin flipped over his hand. Three fours. Three of a Kind. Quentin froze for a moment. Then he realized Dylan had tampered with the cards. He threw his arms around Dylan and planted two excited kisses on his cheek. "We won! We won! Dylan, we won a hundred thousand taels, and Clearwater Court belongs to us from now on!" "Impossible! You two cheated!" Troy lunged for the house deed and land deed, but Quentin snatched them up first. Quentin grabbed a wine cup and smashed it hard against the floor. More than a dozen guards from Luet Manor and Weedy Manor rushed into the room and bowed toward Dylan. "Greetings, Young Master!" Quentin held up the land deed. "Little Bastard, you still dare try to snatch it? Believe it or not, I'll smash this place to pieces…" He paused and glanced around. "Sorry. This place belongs to the Weedy family and the Luet family now, so I can't smash it!" With their arms around each other's shoulders, Dylan and Quentin burst into laughter. Pfft! Overcome by fury, Troy spat out a mouthful of blood. He grabbed Smiling Tiger, who had been dealing the cards. "I want an explanation." "Young Master, I never imagined Dylan knew Chicanery Techniques too, and that he was so skilled," Smiling Tiger explained hurriedly. "He fooled all of us by pretending to be a fool. We fell right into his trap." "Th-then what do we do?" Troy stammered. "I lost three hundred thousand taels, plus all of Clearwater Court. My family will beat me to death when I get home!" Smiling Tiger thought for a moment. "Young Master, let's keep gambling. This time, it'll be just you and the Young Master. He won't be able to exchange cards with anyone beside him. As long as you keep a close eye on your hand and don't let him switch it, we're guaranteed to win." "Right! Right, let's keep gambling!" Troy's mind had completely short-circuited. He rushed to Dylan like a fool. "Dylan! Brother Dylan! Please, let's keep gambling!" Dylan lightly patted Troy's cheek. "You've won at least two hundred thousand taels from me over the years. Today, I took it all back with interest. You want to turn things around, but I have no intention of giving you that chance." He paused, then smiled. "Still, you did beg me. You just haven't learned how to beg properly. Kneel and kowtow, and I'll gamble another round with you." "Fine!" Troy's psychological defenses had completely collapsed. Without a second thought, he knelt and kowtowed to Dylan in full view of everyone. Dylan planted one foot on Troy's head. "My shoe is a little dirty. What should I do?" "I'll wipe it! I'll wipe it!" Troy hurriedly used his sleeve to wipe Dylan's shoe. "What a good dog," Dylan said. "Fine. We'll keep playing." This time, only Dylan and Troy remained in the game. They sat far apart, facing each other, and the special nature of the Jade Leaf Game made it impossible to exchange cards. No matter how great Dylan's skills were, he couldn't pluck a card out of thin air from across the table. Dylan had only intended to establish his wastrel persona and humiliate Troy. He had planned to lose a little pocket change on the opening bet, then refuse to match any of the larger wagers. To his complete surprise, Smiling Tiger dealt another Cooler. Both Dylan and Troy had Three of a Kind. What baffled Dylan most was that Troy's hand was actually lower than his. Dylan looked at Smiling Tiger in confusion. The dealer answered with an obsequious smile. Dylan understood at once. He was Smiling Tiger's Boss now. The man's eleventh-hour defection had been beautifully timed.