A Cutie Spoiled by Her Seven Uncles-Chapter 575: Heard that Someone has Looted all the Major Gambling Houses
Chapter 575: Chapter 575: Heard that Someone has Looted all the Major Gambling Houses
Dugu Xiao’s words could be said to carry intent, and the listener, the Emperor, paid full attention to them. The strides he made towards the Palace halted.
"Sir Li? Which Sir Li?"
Dugu Xiao couldn’t help but smirk slightly. "Of course, it is none other than Imperial Attendant Li Xu!"
"Li Xu? My right-hand man!"
The Emperor narrowed his eyes and asked again, "He also opened a Gambling House?"
Dugu Xiao looked utterly surprised. "Oh! Your Majesty, you didn’t know? Didn’t the Eldest Princess tell you? This afternoon, the Eldest Princess won over one hundred thousand taels of silver in Li Xu’s Gambling House!"
Upon hearing Dugu Xiao’s words, the Emperor was completely rooted to the spot.
"Did you just say that there are over a dozen Gambling Houses in this Capital City?"
Dugu Xiao nodded. "Yes, these Gambling Houses are centered around the bustling Vermilion Bird Street. The six largest are located on this street. Two of them have already been visited by you and your daughter."
"We’ve already visited two of the six! Should we visit the remaining four?" The Eldest Princess, held by the Emperor, was extremely excited.
So much money! I like it, I really, really like it!
"Princess! Haven’t you had enough fun yet?" Dugu Xiao immediately played along, winking at her continuously. "The day is still young. If you’re not tired, Princess, there’s another one about two miles from here if you turn left. However, I’m not sure which Court Minister is behind that Gambling House!"
Just as Dugu Xiao finished speaking, before he could even take a breath, he heard the Eldest Princess’s childish voice, "Your Majesty, Godfather, Feifei..."
Dugu Xiao blinked.
This ’Feifei’... Ah... Why does that sound familiar?
At midnight, someone quietly knocked on the back doors of all the high-ranking nobles and Ministers, discreetly handing over small slips of paper.
「Just before the morning court session」
「In front of Taihe Hall」
"Marquis Shi, good morning! Sir Li, hello! Duke Zhen... Good morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, Master Duke Dugu! Good morning, everyone."
Today, Master Duke Dugu arrived earlier than usual. However, surprisingly, there were others at the morning court session who had arrived even earlier.
"Good morning, everyone. You’re all quite early!"
"Early? Why are you only just arriving? I’m telling you, something big has happened!" Someone quietly pulled Master Duke Dugu aside and whispered, "Did you know that last night, all the Gambling Houses in the Capital City were cleaned out?"
Upon hearing this, Master Duke Dugu’s eyes widened.
This matter... He definitely knew about it.
However, since this matter had some connection to his unfilial son, he decided to feign ignorance.
"Oh! Such a thing happened? Who did it?" Master Duke Dugu put on a convincing display of utter surprise.
"Who did it? We all want to know. I heard it started yesterday afternoon at Li’s Gambling House. They said it was a young child, accompanied by a few people from the Divine Hunter’s Office. Apparently, the people at Li’s Gambling House offended Divine Hunter Ji from the Divine Hunter’s Office. So, Divine Hunter Ji took the Eldest Princess with him, leveraging her status to act with impunity, and cleaned out Li’s Gambling House. Not only that, Divine Hunter Ji also fabricated charges and threw all the managers, attendants, and servants of Li’s Gambling House into the main prison."
"Divine... Divine Hunter Ji did it?"
Master Duke Dugu was puzzled.
Wasn’t it his unfilial son? But the men he’d sent out had followed his unfilial son all night. They said he was with His Majesty and the Eldest Princess, visiting various Gambling Houses! His men hadn’t mentioned a single word about Divine Hunter Ji when they returned!
"That’s right, it was Divine Hunter Ji. And that’s not all that happened yesterday. Do you know that the disaster relief funds for Yunhang have been secured?"
"Hmm?"
They’ve been secured?
Master Duke Dugu was perplexed.
Just yesterday, his unfilial son had come home and threatened him, insisting he take the lead in donating at this morning’s court session. How could the disaster relief funds be secured so quickly?
"Oh, my dear Master Duke, you haven’t heard? The owner of the famous Bright Moon Pavilion, one of Great Han’s prominent merchant associations, anonymously donated two hundred thousand taels of silver banknotes and one hundred thousand taels of gold to the imperial court!"
"That much?"
Master Duke Dugu’s mouth fell open.
One tael of gold is worth ten taels of silver... so that’s hundreds of thousands, even millions of taels of silver given away so casually! This Bright Moon Pavilion truly lives up to its reputation as the world’s foremost merchant association, gathering all the wealth under heaven!
"Indeed! Everyone is speculating about the true identity of Bright Moon Pavilion’s owner."
Master Duke Dugu let out a deep sigh. Before he could speak, the bell for the grand court assembly rang.
The heavy palace doors opened, and the civil and military officials streamed in. As they approached the Great Hall, they suddenly sensed something was amiss.
Some began to murmur to their colleagues in hushed, puzzled tones.
"Why are there so many extra guards at the hall entrance today? It looks like someone is about to be brought to justice!"
"Never mind the guards outside; even the Eunuchs inside the Great Hall look incredibly stern. My eyelid keeps twitching... Do you think something bad is about to happen?"
The Courtiers were restless and terrified. Amidst their trepidation, they heard Eunuch Ling announce loudly, "His Majesty has arrived!"
Everyone knelt and proclaimed "Long live the Emperor!" three times, yet for a long time, they did not hear His Majesty utter the words, "You may rise."
Some had already broken out in a cold sweat, and the one sweating most profusely was Imperial Attendant Li Xu.
Silence. The kind of silence where you could hear a pin drop. It was a frightening silence that made bodies tremble.
"You may rise!"
Just as the assembled Ministers were about to lose their composure, the Emperor finally deigned to speak!
"Our thanks, Your Majesty!"
The Courtiers rose and surreptitiously glanced at the Emperor’s expression on the Dragon Throne, and couldn’t help but inwardly gasp.
The Emperor’s expression was terrifyingly grim, a side of him they had never witnessed in his thirteen years on the throne. His usual jocular evasiveness was starkly absent now.
"Eunuch Ling!" The Emperor’s voice was chillingly cold, his tone heavy enough to make hearts tremble.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Eunuch Ling clapped his hands twice. CLAP, CLAP. A line of Eunuchs filed in; some carried trays, others tables, and some placed chairs.
For a moment, the Courtiers were baffled.
"What is all this for?"
Someone asked in a low voice.
"It looks like they’re setting up a large, square table!"
"Why is His Majesty placing a large square table here in Taihe Hall? Is he treating Taihe Hall, where matters of state are discussed, like a marketplace? Or like his private Garden?"
The Courtiers’ discussions grew animated. What began as whispers gradually escalated into a bold, heated debate amidst the Emperor’s continued silence.
However, just as the Eunuchs finished arranging the long table and placed the final item upon it, the discussions in the Great Hall came to an abrupt halt.
Their breathing became noticeably heavy; some even began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Minister Lu, what’s wrong?"
Minister Lu, standing beside Master Duke Dugu, suddenly began to tremble. Seeing this, Master Duke Dugu quickly reached out to steady him and asked softly.
Minister Lu of the Ministry of Revenue quickly steadied himself at Master Duke Dugu’s question, took a deep breath, and said repeatedly, "I’m fine, thank you for your concern, Master Duke!"
The Emperor, seated high on the Dragon Throne, observed all of this and couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
Trembling already? The real show is still to come!
"My dear Ministers, surely when you are at home with leisure time, you must have some recreational activities? I wonder if any of you are familiar with this item?"
.
!
Chapter 575: Heard that Someone has Looted all the Major Gambling Houses
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