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Chapter 75: [I thought you had forgotten about me.]
Soon, the dealer placed the shuffled deck of cards on the table, ready to deal.
Before he started, An Wujiu asked, “Who will start?”
The dealer didn’t speak but gestured toward Shen Ti.
“Is it random?” he asked again.
The dealer nodded, and seeing that An Wujiu didn’t continue, he prepared to deal. But suddenly, Amy jumped out and asked, “Are all these for us? There are four decks of cards, I can’t even hold them.”
The dealer, who had been silent all along, spoke up, “You can remove some of the cards and change the mode.”
“Okay then,” Amy said excitedly, tapping the table with her fingernails, making a crisp sound.
She somehow managed to take off the blue ribbon that was supposed to be on her forehead and wrap it around her neck, complementing her elegant dress and showing exquisite taste.
For some reason, An Wujiu found her face somewhat familiar upon closer observation, as if she resembled someone he knew, but he couldn’t quite place who it was at the moment.
The dealer took the guests’ feedback into account, and with a parallel slide of his hand over the deck, he issued an instruction.
“Remove all the 3s, 4s, and 5s.”
As soon as his words fell, some playing cards began to drift out of the deck one by one, forming three neat rows in mid-air, suspended above the table.
There were 16 of each: 3s, 4s, and 5s, totaling 48 cards of these three numerical values.
After everyone confirmed, these three types of cards disappeared.
With 48 cards removed, there were still a total of 168 cards left in the deck, including two Emperor and Guards cards.
An Wujiu counted and distributed them to each person, with three cards left over. According to the rules, any excess cards were taken by the Emperor, who was decided upon.
If a player received the Emperor card but didn’t want to become the Emperor, they could only pass the Emperor card to the next player and see if they wanted to become the Emperor.
Based on Zhou Yijue’s thoughts, he must want to directly give the Emperor or Guard card to Maguire.
Maguire didn’t seem like someone who would directly refuse the Emperor card. According to the rules of this game, the chances of the royalist faction winning were slightly smaller, but the rewards were greater.
Maguire, a veteran gambler, would definitely want to be the Emperor when the odds were right.
Of course, there were always exceptions. Maguire was indeed a gambler, but he was also a careful cheat, always cautious to avoid others discovering his tricks.
So, his ingrained trait was not so much about daring to risk it all as it was about being suspicious and cautious.
The dealer shuffled the cards again and began to deal with each person. His dealing speed was fast and accurate. In no time, An Wujiu had a neat pile of playing cards in front of him. He checked his hand, finding no marked jokers so far.
An Wujiu placed his cards face down on the table and looked up, calmly observing the other people in the room.
Across from him, Maguire held his cards in his hand, arranging them into a fan shape, picking and choosing, drawing cards, inserting cards, and adjusting the order. His facial expression was not very clear, making it hard to tell if his hand was good or bad.
An Wujiu found this quite normal, considering Maguire was a seasoned cheat who frequented the gambling scene; he wouldn’t easily reveal his hand.
But there was something odd that An Wujiu noticed. He could feel Maguire’s eyes constantly glancing at himself, Shen Ti, and Zhou Yijue.
He wondered if the little drama he arranged had shaken Maguire’s heart.
After all, in a gambling den, there was nothing more tormenting than layers of psychological manipulation.
As the cards were dealt one by one, Amy grew bored and tapped the cards she had already received. She glanced at the other people at the table and suddenly stood up.
“This waiting is so boring. Let me liven up the atmosphere for everyone,” she said with a smile, dragging her velvet dress as she walked over to Zhou Yijue.
An Wujiu stared at her movements with a straight face, always feeling that something was going to happen, when he saw Amy put a hand on Zhou Yijue’s shoulder and lean down.
Just as he saw her bend down, a hand blocked his view.
An Wujiu turned his head, and there was Shen Ti again.
“Not suitable for children,” Shen Ti said shamelessly.
“I’m 20 years old,” An Wujiu replied, taking his hand and holding it.
Across from him, Amy held a 9 of clubs between two fingers and lightly snapped her fingers at Zhou Yijue.
In an instant, the 9 of clubs in Amy’s hand turned into an Ace of clubs.
Zhou Yijue looked on, not particularly surprised, but still smiled slightly and applauded slowly in response.
“Brilliant. So, Miss Amy is a professional magician.”
“Just a little trick,” Amy replied with a smile, blowing a kiss in return to Zhou Yijue’s praise, then gracefully approached Maguire, bending down once again. However, this time, she performed a different small magic trick.
An Wujiu tried to decipher the trick she had just performed. Perhaps she had two overlapping cards in her hand, and her fast and skilled movements made it hard to detect any flaws.
Amy snapped her fingers in front of Maguire’s eyes, and Maguire stared at Amy’s chest with narrowed eyes. After the snap, Amy reached out and pulled Maguire’s belt downward. As her hand retracted, a Joker appeared in her hand.
Maguire was startled, instinctively glancing at his own deck of cards and checking, “You!”
“Yes, darling, this is yours. Here you go,” Amy said as she inserted the Joker back into Maguire’s belt, smiling and blowing him a kiss.
It was indeed that Joker, and she did return it.
Maguire still felt a lingering fear from the previous magic trick. He had seen plenty of sleight of hand tricks in the gambling den, but this was the first time someone had brazenly stolen a card in front of him, using the guise of magic.
Amy approached between An Wujiu and Shen Ti. “Gentlemen, it’s my honor to play this round of gambling with you,” she said, smiling coquettishly. She then swiftly and skillfully performed a small card change trick for Shen Ti, producing a 6 of clubs from behind his neck.
Shen Ti wasn’t an ordinary person or part of the usual audience for magic tricks. He directly pulled Amy’s fur sleeves and glanced at the cuffs.
“You just hid it in here, didn’t you? So much fur, perfect for hiding,” he remarked.
“Why do you act like a child?” Amy pointed her fingernail, painted with red nail polish, at Shen Ti’s brow, pushing him away. Then, she turned around, leaning against the edge of the table, propping herself up with her left hand on the table, and using a similar technique with her right hand, she moved her slender fingers in front of An Wujiu’s eyes.
Perhaps she was accustomed to using her charms, which is why the fur draped over her shoulders slid down at just the right moment, revealing her smooth and fair shoulders, provoking thoughts.
Unfortunately, An Wujiu was different from everyone else. He remained unmoved, like a beautiful statue.
But his eyes were sharp, fixed on Amy’s.
He was certain that Amy’s micro-expression had changed slightly just now. It was very subtle, but amidst her alluring demeanor, it stood out conspicuously to An Wujiu.
What did she really want?
“Your hair is so beautiful,” Amy smiled, gently stroking An Wujiu’s cheek with her right hand, then trailing it back to his nape, where she fumbled around in his tied-up hair.
“Huh? What’s this…” Her tone feigned surprise and concern as she withdrew her hand, her slender index and middle fingers pinching a card horizontally with its face down.
“Deal’s done.”
The dealer placed the remaining three cards in the middle of the table and looked up.
Amy, who was leaning against the table, also stood up on time, smiling as she lightly flicked her wrist.
The card flew out and landed in An Wujiu’s embrace.
Her skill was so impeccable that even when flicked like that, the face of the playing card still remained hidden.
“Don’t worry, I just gave it back to you.”
She said, then moved away from the table edge, took a few steps, and returned to An Wujiu’s right side. She lifted her left leg and placed it on her right thigh, crossing her legs as she leaned back in the velvet chair.
An Wujiu looked at her spread fur and the hand that had been pressing on the table all along.
As he expected, the curve of her palm held a card.
Amy turned her head and playfully winked at him. “Thanks for playing along, handsome.”
An Wujiu had a premonition.
Based on the setup he had arranged earlier, he had speculated that if Zhou Yijue really intended to arrange them as a team, it would be unexpected if Amy and Maguire became the royalist faction.
So, when Zhou Yijue confirmed accepting the proposal to join the revolutionary faction together, An Wujiu was convinced that, according to Zhou Yijue’s methods, Amy must have an identity card on her. It was just a matter of whether it was the Emperor or the Guard, which they would only know upon coronation.
Despite his mind constantly calculating, the last thing the poker table tolerated was showing emotions.
Therefore, An Wujiu remained calm, as if he hadn’t noticed anything, and placed the card Amy found in his hair back into the rightmost section of his face-down card fan.
His heartbeat accelerated continuously.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the little tricks he had prepared in advance could be temporarily omitted. Besides, he wasn’t accustomed to cheating; doing it himself would only increase the risk of error.
While he contemplated, An Wujiu picked up the card fan again and checked the face of the cards.
True to his expectations, Amy had indeed swapped out one card. It was his 2 of spades.
And what Amy gave him was the Joker adorned with the sun totem—the Guard card.
From this moment on, An Wujiu’s camp had irreversibly changed!
Though this was what he had hoped for, just a step ahead, it was unexpectedly achieved through someone else’s hands beyond his anticipation.
However, this exceeded An Wujiu’s expectations, so he tried to guess Amy’s motive for this move.
Why would she give him the Guard card?
Had she discovered their deal with Zhou Yijue?
Or had she figured out who the Emperor was and didn’t want to be associated with the Emperor?
As An Wujiu pondered, his fingers couldn’t help but tap lightly on the table.
None of these reasons seemed convincing enough.
From a strategic standpoint, the Guard card was the clearest and most advantageous card for everyone in the room, as it revealed the Emperor who needed protection as an exposed card. Excluding oneself, it became immediately obvious who belonged to the revolutionary faction.
Could this also be related to Zhou Yijue?
An Wujiu looked at Zhou Yijue diagonally across the table and locked eyes with him.
All of this was observed by Maguire.
Maguire hadn’t been able to catch Amy’s skillful card swap, but after years in the gambling scene, his intuition was sharp. He sensed that Amy was suspicious, but seeing the exchange between An Wujiu and Zhou Yijue, his suspicions deepened.
Just fifteen minutes ago, he had finished a game of Russian roulette and was heading toward the Bao Huang table. Along the way, he overheard whispers from the members of the Orange Group. Snippets of their conversation reached his ears, mentioning something about “problems with the Emperor card” and “losing even when drawing the Emperor card.”
He lit a cigarette and walked toward a less crowded area, intending to smoke and relax after the tension of the game. Unexpectedly, near a marble pillar not far away, two members of the Green group were also discussing matters related to the “Bao Huang” table.
As Maguire approached, their voices became clearer with each step.
“It’s true; I also think there’s something wrong with that Emperor card.”
“Could it be the work of the holy altar?”
“I don’t know; God help us. I hope I don’t draw the Emperor card next time.”
The speaker caught sight of Maguire as he approached, and immediately tapped his teammate’s arm, hastily leaving the area.
As the two figures disappeared, Maguire was left with heavy doubts in his mind.
The Emperor card…
The dealer’s voice interrupted Maguire’s thoughts, pulling him back from his recollections.
“Players holding the Emperor card, please reveal your identity cards.”
An Wujiu remained expressionless, staring at the people on the table, his gaze finally settling on Maguire.
As he had guessed, Maguire was indeed the Emperor appointed for the game.
He pulled out a card from the end of his card fan, flipped it over, and presented it to everyone.
The card in his hand was indeed the Joker, marked with the sun symbol.
Maguire’s expression was solemn, and he didn’t utter a word. He gripped the corner of the Emperor card tightly, his eyes fixed on An Wujiu.
An Wujiu tried to appear more relaxed, so he tapped his fingers on the table casually, his eyes casually glancing at Zhou Yijue.
Zhou Yijue raised his eyebrows slightly, his narrow phoenix eyes slightly tilting upwards.
Maguire noticed this exchange too.
Why did he keep tapping his fingers?
Was he trying to convey some kind of message?
Lowering his head, Maguire tightened his grip on the Emperor card, his doubts growing thicker, like a dense fog attempting to obscure his vision.
He thought back to Zhou Yijue’s previous cheating on his behalf.
Someone capable of such actions was definitely capable of doing it again.
No, he couldn’t allow it.
He wouldn’t let them deceive him!
“Player Maguire,” the dealer reminded him, “would you like to ascend to the throne or abdicate?”
He thought, An Wujiu and Zhou Yijue must have formed an alliance, along with Shen Ti; yes, they were a team.
No, he couldn’t let himself be trapped so easily in this situation, falling into their trap and becoming this dead Emperor.
“I abdicate.”
Maguire’s chest rose and fell, and he decisively placed the Emperor card on the table, pushing it forward.
Zhou Yijue furrowed his brows.
Why would he do this?
This move disrupted his plan. Everything had been arranged already; if the Royalist faction won, they would get more chips, and given Maguire’s personality, he would have retained the position.
Why?
An Wujiu even felt a sense of relief.
He turned his head to look at Maguire’s neighbor, Shen Ti.
Shen Ti rested his chin on his left hand, as if he were about to fall asleep, but he keenly felt An Wujiu’s gaze on him, so he turned his face and smiled at him.
“You still remember to look at me.”
An Wujiu felt a bit embarrassed and pursed his lips.
He could even imagine the second half of Shen Ti’s sentence in his mind.
[I thought you had forgotten about me.]
But Shen Ti didn’t finish his sentence because the dealer had already addressed him.
“As the player next to Maguire, do you accept this Emperor card and ascend to the throne?”
Shen Ti leaned back in his chair, slouching lazily, and lazily raised his eyelids.
“To take it or not?”
He stretched out lazily in his chair, then looked at An Wujiu, grabbing his hand.
“Let’s play rock-paper-scissors.”
An Wujiu felt a bit puzzled, but he still indulged him and raised his hand.
“Rock-paper-scissors.”
Shen Ti and An Wujiu seemed to have a tacit understanding, both of them throwing out rock.
Unexpectedly, it was a tie. An Wujiu thought they would have to play again, but Shen Ti said directly, “Alright, I’ll take it.”
An Wujiu thought, Forget it, just get used to it.
“Okay.” The dealer handed the Emperor card to Shen Ti, along with the remaining three cards. “Player Shen Ti ascends to the throne.”
After completing this, the dealer straightened up and looked at the five people at the table. “Now, please place your bets. Each player must bet the same amount for the Bao Huang. Please discuss and agree on the amount.”
Soon, a countdown of thirty seconds appeared on the table.
Shen Ti smiled, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at Zhou Yijue. “Hey, squinted eyes.”
“I don’t think the double chips you mentioned are enough.”
Zhou Yijue’s face darkened as he stared at the deep green eyes before him.
“I want four times.”
Shen Ti gestured with a number and raised an eyebrow.
“Is that okay?”
Author’s note:
Shen Ti: Ah, after all the twists and turns, my wife is still in the same faction as me. Just the two of us, no third wheel. Squinted eyes, are you annoyed~
The rules of the Bao Huang game may vary from place to place. It originated from Shandong, and I may have simplified it a bit. Let’s just enjoy the show!
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