Mysteries of the Great Zhou Dynasty

Chapter 126 Bet
Just then, Mo Yun entered through the moon archway in the garden. Rong Wanyin pointed at Mo Yun and smiled, "Brother Mo Yun, don't speak. We're betting on where you came from! Brother Su, you go first. If you're right, and if I say the same thing as you, then I lose."

"You said it yourself." Su Zhan rubbed his hands together, circled Mo Yun twice, and rested his chin on his hand, pretending to be confident. "Ah... I bet he's from... the accounting department!"

Mo Yun smiled and lowered her head, saying nothing, her eyes darting around.

Rong Wanyin smiled even more happily: "Brother Su, are you sure?"

Su Zhan was unsure after their laughter, but not knowing the answer, he could only bite the bullet and say, "I'm sure! Today is payday, and that direction is the direction of the accounting office."

Rong Wanyin carefully put the melon seeds back into the paper bag, stood up, patted the melon seed shells off her dress, walked over to Brother Moyun, circled him, and even smelled them: "At this time, Brother Moyun should be calling the adults for dinner. I guess he should come from the dining hall. By the way, there's braised pork and crispy chicken today! But Brother Moyun must have been worried about the food getting cold, so he took a shortcut and came in through the side gate of this courtyard."

Su Zhan glanced at Mo Yun's expression, looking doubtful: "Don't try to fool me!"

Rong Wanyin continued, "It hasn't rained these past few days, but Brother Moyun's feet are covered in damp yellow mud, which means they were just put on recently. The gardener was planting camellias by the side gate and turned over some mud."

Mo Yun looked on incredulously: "Miss Rong, you're amazing! You're right about everything!"

Rong Wanyin stretched out her hand triumphantly, palm up, in front of Su Zhan.

Su Zhan took a deep breath, reluctantly untied the purse at his waist, took out a silver note, and slapped it into Rong Wanyin's hand.

Rong Wanyin smiled radiantly and curtsied respectfully, saying, "Thank you, Lord Su!"

Su Zhan was furious: "You...you...you're all about being Lord Su when you win money, and Brother Su when you cheat people out of money! You've changed your tune way too fast!"

Rong Wanyin laughed uncontrollably.

Su Zhan snorted, unconvinced, and stormed off with a flick of his sleeve.

The next day, Rong Wanyin was sitting on the veranda again, chewing on a bright red apple. Su Zhan saw Rong Wanyin as soon as he came out of the study, and at that moment, Mo Yun walked over through the archway.

Su Zhan glanced at Mo Yun, his eyes lighting up. He said confidently, "Mo Yun, don't say anything yet! Rong girl, how about another round?"

Su Zhan was very dissatisfied with his loss yesterday. Today, seeing the yellow mud on his black cloud shoes, he thought to himself that he would definitely be able to turn the tide!

Rong Wanyin shook her head, looking unwilling, and focused intently on the apple in her hand.

Su Zhan was undeterred: "Are you scared?"

Rong Wanyin looked helpless: "I'm worried you don't have any money! Brother Su, have you thought this through? Don't get angry if you lose."

Su Zhan smiled confidently: "The same rules as yesterday. I'll go first. If you say the same thing as me, you lose. You have to accept the bet and not renege!"

Rong Wanyin pouted, unconvinced: "Hey, you..."

Su Zhan didn't care. He followed Rong Wanyin's example from yesterday and walked around Mo Yun. He even grabbed his clothes and smelled them. He said with certainty, "Such a strong smell of vinegar... I know, today's dish is sweet and sour fish! Mo Yun came from the dining room to call Cheng Xuan to eat. Just like yesterday, he took the side door! Rong girl, I'm done. It's your turn."

Mo Yun suppressed a laugh and looked at Su Zhan with pity. Rong Wanyin sighed deeply: "Brother Su, give me the money, I don't want it, but you insist on giving it to me, sigh. Mo Yun went to the mortuary, and he smelled so strongly of vinegar on him, it was to get rid of the stench of corpses."

Su Zhan looked at Mo Yun in disbelief. Mo Yun nodded helplessly. Su Zhan was so frightened that he quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands: "Mo Yun, you went to the mortuary, why didn't you say anything!" Mo Yun looked innocent: "Lord Su, you told me not to say anything!"

Rong Wanyin held her hand up, asking Su Zhan for money. Helpless, Su Zhan took out two silver notes and slapped them into Rong Wanyin's hand. Rong Wanyin handed one to Mo Yun and said with a smile, "Go treat the brothers to drinks!"

Mo Yun happily accepted the gift: "Thank you, Miss Rong, thank you, Lord Su! I'll be going now!"

Su Zhan was furious and demanded, "Wait! Why are your shoes covered in mud just like yesterday?"

Mo Yun chuckled and said, "Miss Rong told my fortune yesterday. She said if I hadn't been washing shoes yesterday, I would have made a fortune today! And here it is! Miss Rong is truly amazing!"

After saying that, Mo Yun slipped away and ran off.

Su Zhan pointed at Mo Yun, who had run away, and was so angry that he couldn't speak: "You, you, you! ...And you! Why do you always trick me like this!"

Rong Wanyin looked completely innocent: "Brother Su, it was you who insisted on betting. Didn't you say you would accept the consequences of your bet?"

With a creak, the study door opened, and Yan Mingzhang came out with a dark face. Su Zhan knew that Cheng Xuan hated gambling the most, so he quickly took out a silver note from his purse and stuffed it into Rong Wanyin's hand: "Rong girl, take care. I'm leaving now. This extra money is hush money. Just don't give me away!"

Seeing that things were going badly, Su Zhan ran away as fast as he could, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Seeing Yan Mingzhang's dark face, Rong Wanyin felt a little uneasy and wanted to slip away, but Yan Mingzhang called out to her, "Wanyin!"

Rong Wanyin forced herself to turn around and forced a smile: "My lord, what brings you here?"

Yan Mingzhang spread his hands, palms up, and raised his head in acknowledgment.

Rong Wanyin deflated like a punctured balloon, reluctantly taking out the silver notes she had just received and handed them to Yan Mingzhang.

Yan Mingzhang said sternly, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Rong Wanyin nodded obediently: "I know, I shouldn't extort money from people, and I shouldn't gamble..."

Yan Mingzhang nodded, his attitude was good: "Anything else?"

Rong Wanyin rolled her eyes: "That's all!"

Yan Mingzhang grew anxious, wanting to speak but too embarrassed to do so. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, "You must respect Lord Su. How can you call him Brother Su? That's so disrespectful! You must call him Lord Su, remember that?"

Rong Wanyin looked at Yan Mingzhang in disbelief. How could calling someone "Brother Su" be disrespectful? She didn't quite understand this standard, but she didn't dare to argue, so she could only nod in agreement.

Yan Mingzhang himself felt something was off, sensing that Rong Wanyin was somewhat unhappy. He rubbed the jade flute with his fingers, handed back the silver notes he had taken, and said, "Let's go, it's time to eat! Don't do it again!"

Rong Wanyin happily accepted the recovered silver notes and exclaimed, "My lord, you're the best!"

Yan Mingzhang's lips unconsciously curled up. After thinking for a moment, he was still too embarrassed to say what he was thinking: "Next time, you can call me Brother Mingzhang..."