Volume One, Chapter 62: Is It Easy for Me to Make Some Pitiful Money?

Fan Xiu nearly burst out laughing upon seeing Xie Tangfeng, whose head was wrapped up like a traditional Chinese rice dumpling.

It seemed his two previous blows had indeed been quite heavy.

The man had even started bringing bodyguards along.

However, not daring to truly laugh out loud, he immediately cupped his hands and asked, "Young Master Xie, what happened to your head?"

Zhao Defu did not dare to be negligent either, hurriedly stepping forward to salute. "Young Master Xie."

"Hmph!"

Xie Tangfeng had no heart left for pretense. With a heavy, cold snort, he strode directly toward the upper floor, closely followed by Liu Wenyans and several guards.

Fan Xiu and Zhao Defu exchanged glances before quickly following them upstairs.

Second Floor.

The entire second floor had long been cleared out, specially reserved for Su Ying'er.

At this moment, the entire floor was occupied only by Su Ying'er, along with maidservants and bodyguards from the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion.

By the window.

Clad in a light, plain gauze dress, Su Ying'er had already removed her veil, revealing a delicate and breathtakingly beautiful face. Seated amidst a throng of people, she held a teacup in her right hand, lowering her head to take a small sip.

Xie Tangfeng strode over, stopped right before Su Ying'er's table, and stared fixedly at her.

"Su Ying'er, you're all right?" Xie Tangfeng blurted out in shock.

Su Ying'er's expression remained completely unchanged; she didn't even spare Xie Tangfeng a glance. With her eyes cast down, she said indifferently, "Young Master Xie, I never expected you would still dare to appear before me."

Xie Tangfeng's face grew even gloomier.

Previously, she had been poisoned with the Aphrodisiac Powder. Even the imperial physicians in the palace could not possibly have cured her so quickly—unless she had consummated her relationship with a man!

Yet now, Su Ying'er was truly fine!

This meant that during the time she was unconscious and rescued, Su Ying'er had already consummated with another man!

Damn it!

Just which bastard was it?!

At that moment, Fan Xiu and Zhao Defu also arrived on the second floor.

Looking at the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere, Zhao Defu wore a blank expression, utterly clueless as to what had happened, and could only stare in a daze at Su Ying'er's stunning face.

Fan Xiu, however, knew the score perfectly well.

It seemed that Su Ying'er was preparing to settle accounts with Xie Tangfeng.

Xie Tangfeng took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "How do you intend to handle this matter?"

Only then did Su Ying'er raise her head, saying expressionlessly, "If this matter does not come with a satisfactory explanation, I am afraid the owner of the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion will have to seek it directly from the Xie family!"

Xie Tangfeng's expression shifted drastically.

Had things succeeded today, he would have been Su Ying'er's first man, and he could have used the opportunity to negotiate terms with the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion.

What a pity that he had tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used as bait!

Despite his painstaking planning, not only had he gained nothing, but his head had been cracked open, and now he had to weather the wrath of the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion!

Powerful though the Xie family was, they did not dare to make an enemy of the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion!

Not to mention the Xie family, even the Cheng family had to give the Intoxicated Immortal Pavilion some face!

If he didn't bleed a massive fortune today, he wouldn't be able to get through this.

"What do you want?" Xie Tangfeng asked heavily.

Su Ying'er took a small sip of tea and continued, "Shortly, Master Huang will discuss this matter with you."

As her voice trailed off, a burly guard standing behind Su Ying'er stepped forward, his face stern and grim.

"Young Master Xie, please!"

Huang Chengzhi gestured toward the side.

Xie Tangfeng gritted his teeth, followed Huang Chengzhi into the adjacent suite, and shut the door behind them.

Only then did Liu Wenyan step forward, bowing deeply to Su Ying'er. "This junior, Liu Wenyan, pays his respects to Lady Su!"

Yet Su Ying'er completely ignored him, continuing to lower her head and sip her tea in her own world.

Liu Wenyan was left feeling thoroughly rebuffed, but he dared not show anger and could only stand quietly in place.

Fan Xiu, however, could not remain idle.

"Senior Scholar Liu."

With a cheeky grin, Fan Xiu sauntered over to Liu Wenyan, tilting his head to look at him.

Seeing the wretched expression on Fan Xiu's face, Liu Wenyan felt his heart skip a beat and blurted out, "Y-you... what are you going to do?"

Fan Xiu patted Liu Wenyan on the shoulder.

"Senior Scholar Liu is far too forgetful! Our wager earlier was put down in black and white!" Fan Xiu said with a smile.

Liu Wenyan gritted his teeth, his face a mask of profound regret!

If he had known, he never would have bet with Fan Xiu!

Who the hell could have anticipated that a foolproof plan would end with Xie Tangfeng fumbling it?

That was five hundred taels!

Had he not signed a wager with Fan Xiu, he could have feigned ignorance and played the fool; but now, he couldn't even pretend to be an idiot!

"I don't have that much silver on me! Once I return, I will send someone to deliver it to you!" Liu Wenyan said through clenched teeth.

Fan Xiu smiled lightly and nodded. "With Shopkeeper Zhao and Lady Su as witnesses, I trust Brother Liu will not go back on his word!"

"Scholar Fan!"

At that moment, Su Ying'er spoke up abruptly.

Fan Xiu paused, looking at Su Ying'er in confusion. "Ying... Lady Su, what is it?"

Su Ying'er said expressionlessly, "I agreed to come to your Zhiwei Pavilion as a guest, yet you used me as a stake in a wager? Don't you think that was somewhat inappropriate?"

"Uh..."

Fan Xiu blinked in utter bewilderment.

What was Su Ying'er trying to pull?

"Since I was used in a wager, a share of the winnings naturally belongs to me! Give me one hundred taels—that's not too much to ask, is it?" Su Ying'er said, the corners of her lips curling upward in a mocking smile.

Witnessing this scene, Liu Wenyan was nearly mesmerized!

Su Ying'er could actually smile?

And her smile was so breathtakingly lovely that she looked precisely like an immortal maiden descending from the heavens!

Regrettably, she was smiling at Fan Xiu!

At this thought, Liu Wenyan glared at Fan Xiu with intense jealousy, his face twisting in resentment.

Why?!

Just because Fan Xiu had composed a poem for her?

Why couldn't such good fortune fall upon him?!

Why?!

Looking at the teasing smile on Su Ying'er's face, a sharp pain shot through Fan Xiu's gut!

Was it easy for him to earn a bit of miserable, hard-earned money?

As the supreme courtesan of the capital's premier pavilion with an incomparable fortune, did Lady Su really lack this pittance of his?

He had finally won this tiny bit of silver, only for her to demand twenty percent of it right off the top?

This wasn't just a few taels; it was a full one hundred taels!

That was enough to buy a small concubine!

However, he was indeed in the wrong here.

After all, Su Ying'er had helped him promote the cold skin noodles, yet he had used her name for a wager, not to mention that he had also violated her purity moments before. Handing over this hundred taels was the least he could do.

"Fine."

With a pained expression of deep regret, Fan Xiu muttered, "Agreed then—one hundred taels!"

Su Ying'er nodded. "One hundred taels. But that's just for this one; if there are any other wagers, I will still take twenty percent."

Hearing this, Fan Xiu nearly broke down in tears!

"Lady Su! Please spare me! It's not easy for me to make some money!" Fan Xiu pleaded with a bitter face.

Seeing Fan Xiu's expression, Su Ying'er smiled even more brightly.

This Fan Xiu actually tried to trick her!

What was this mere hundred taels compared to the rest?

She was thoroughly aware of Fan Xiu's wagers with both Liu Wenyan and Xie Tangfeng!

She even knew the exact amounts wagered!

He had only bet five hundred taels with Liu Wenyan, but his wager with Xie Tangfeng had been a full thousand taels!

Fan Xiu had bullied her quite severely just moments ago, and she was still feeling rather uncomfortable from it.

Now, she was finally venting her pent-up frustration!