Chongnamfang, Suncheon Gambling Place
Chongnanfang is located in the area east of Tiantan Mountain on the south side of the imperial capital. This is where most of the three religions and nine streams gather. Therefore, the roads are dirty and the rivers are not smooth. It is a dirty place that even the government does not want to visit.
The more such a place is, the more it harbors filth and evil. Gambling houses, brothels, and black markets are swaggering around here without fear of the sun.
Almost the entire imperial capital's filthy air has settled here. But there are yin and yang in heaven and earth, and where there is sunshine, there is bound to be darkness. If the imperial capital is not left with a filthy place for these people to live, there will be hidden dangers sooner or later.
There are three hundred households around Chongnanfang, one is the Jinyi Guards, the other is the Fujun Guards, and the other is the Beijing Camp Forbidden Army. Surrounding Chongnanfang in the shape of a pin, it is like a formation that traps the dirty air, tightly confining it.
There are gambling houses all over Chongnanfang, one of which is called Shuntian Gambling House. It is the largest gambling house in Chongnanfang, covering an area of more than three acres. It is more like a gambling city than a gambling house. This is also the largest gambling house in the imperial capital, with a daily turnover of more than 10,000 taels of silver.
Here, the government does not care, the underworld is rampant, and countless small sects thrive on this dark soil, but there is a force above them that suppresses them.
As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake.
The Blue Club is this powerful local snake.
On the surface, the Blue Clothes Association is a chamber of commerce, a normal tax-paying organization. The president is a mysterious woman, and there are three vice-presidents who usually manage various businesses.
Among them, the vice president Chu Zhaoxin controls the entire brothel business in Chongnanfang, the vice president Wu Wanyi manages the black market, and the vice president Sima Delei manages the large and small gambling houses.
Although Sima Delei controlled all the gambling houses in Chongnanfang, he could only not interfere with Shuntian Gambling House. Although he coveted the profits of Shuntian Gambling House, he couldn't bear to swallow it.
Because Shuntian Casino has a shopkeeper, she relies on Jinyiwei Qianhu, and everything east of Zhengyangmen Street in the outer city is under the control of this Qianhu, including the entire Chongnanfang.
But since you are in the underworld, there are underworld rules. If you act within the rules, no one can make mistakes, unless Jin Yiwei Qianhu wants to go against the entire Chongnanfang underworld.
Early this morning, Sima Delei, as the vice-president, personally came to a small gambling house at the foot of Tiantan Mountain in Chongnanfang. Normally, he would never come to such a place.
On a dilapidated street, most of the pedestrians were covered in patches, looked sallow and thin, and their steps were staggering and weak.
Somewhere on the street, a wooden board with dice carved on it stood outside a double-bay shop. There was a curtain embroidered with Pai Gow at the door of the shop. It was very dark inside the curtain. Today, Chongnanfang was covered with dark clouds. It seemed that something was about to happen. occur.
The inside of the shop was really thought-provoking. From the outside, it looked like just two ordinary tiled rooms, but inside it was opened up into a rather spacious large shop with tables and tables, but the light was getting dimmer. At this time, hundreds of gamblers were lying beside the table with seven or eight tables, happily watching the dealer throw the dice, surrounded by copper coins.
In the deepest part of the shop, there is a door covered with iron sheets. Two burly rough men stand with their arms folded, their eyes flashing with fierce eyes, and they are constantly scanning. Anyone who dares to approach the iron door will be viciously expelled.
Behind the iron door was a fairly clean room with an empty desk, and a pair of big feet was the only object on the desk at this time.
Sima Delei, the vice-president of the Blue Club, was lying almost flat on a soft chair, with his legs raised high and resting on the desk.
On the floor on one side of the desk are messy account books, abacus and inkstone. These should be the things that Sima Delei just swept off the desk.
A shopkeeper who looked like a middle-aged scholar stood tremblingly on one side, his body trembling a little, as if he had just been reprimanded, his face was pale, and his eyes were full of fear.
"I don't care what method you use, today at noon is the last day of betting between us and Shuntian Gambling House. If the water doesn't flow today, I will chop you alive!" Sima Delei spoke calmly and spoke slowly, but his words The room is full of malice.
When the middle-aged scholar heard this, he became alert again, and explained with a desire to survive: "Vice...Vice...uh uh uh...president!" The middle-aged scholar said the word "vice", Sima Dre's cold eyes immediately turned around and stared directly at him, making him so frightened that he immediately changed his words.
"President!" The middle-aged scholar pointed to the account book on the ground and said: "This... I have checked all our forty-three shops in the past three days, and the total turnover is thirty-three thousand four hundred and forty-nine taels of silver. . This number is already comparable to that of Shuntian Gambling House, but in terms of net profit, in order to attract customers these days, we have made a large profit margin. The total is only about 3,000 taels. Our net profit is only 10%. Where is Shuntian Gambling House? , the net profit exceeds 30%!”
Sima Delei's eyes turned cold when he heard this. He lowered his legs and leaned forward. The middle-aged scholar took two steps back under the pressure of a fierce aura.
"Three days ago, you swore to me that we would make profits and attract customers. When the customers come to us, they will definitely affect Shuntian Casino. Although our net profit rate is low, our volume has increased. In terms of net profit, We still have the upper hand. These are your exact words!"
The middle-aged scholar nodded hurriedly and said repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes...I calculated it, it should be good. But for some reason, I have asked people to go to Shuntian Gambling House to keep an eye on their customer flow in the past few days. Not much less than before.”
A sinister light suddenly shot out of Sima Delei's eyes, and he asked quietly: "Since all the guests have come to our place, where did their people come from?"
The middle-aged scholar swallowed his saliva, hesitated for a moment, and under Sima Delei's viper-like gaze, said word by word: "Yes... it's Shanshui Zhai, White Horse Hall."
Sima Delei stood up suddenly. He stared at the middle-aged scholar and asked in a deep voice: "Are you sure it's Baimatang? They are west of Zhengyang Street, and they are on the same page as us!"
"I heard that Gui Wanqiu found Le Zhengfang, the master of the White Horse Hall. I don't know what agreement they reached. The White Horse Hall provides chips, which can be used at Shuntian Gambling House at a 12% exchange rate. If you are in Chongqing, It is used by the Shuntian Casino in Nanfang, and the exchange rate is 1.5%. In other words, one tael of silver, exchanged for chips from Xuannanfang, is used here, which is one, two, and five cents. Everyone who comes is Xuanfang. The regular customers of Nanfang all have strong families. Maybe the turnover of Shuntian Gambling House will be higher than before." The middle-aged scholar said these words very quickly, because Sima Delei's complexion deteriorated at a speed visible to the naked eye. .
"Gui Wanqiu, you bitch! You still want to take over all the gambling business in the imperial capital. Hmm, do you think you can eat up my forty-three shops by wooing Le Zhengfang? That's a good idea!"
Sima Delei gritted his teeth at the beginning, but in the end he gradually calmed down his anger. He took a deep breath, glanced at the middle-aged scholar, and said, "Gui Wanqiu will come to Chongnanfang today, right?"
The middle-aged scholar seemed to be even more frightened, his eyes kept dodging, but he still said with force: "Yes, yes, today is the end of the gambling. We have to take the account book to the president for accounting. She is the shopkeeper, so she must be will come."
"Okay!" Sima Delei's word "good" seemed to come out from between his teeth.
Immediately, Sima Delei left in a hurry, and the door was slammed shut with a loud bang, which shocked the gamblers to turn around. The noisy gambling room suddenly became silent, but after a while, the gamblers who found that nothing was wrong roared. With a sound, all kinds of yelling and yelling started again.
After Sima Delei left, the middle-aged scholar waved his hand to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. He walked to the desk and looked at the messy account books under the desk. He raised a mocking smile at the corner of his mouth and stepped on it. on the account book, then walked around the desk, pulled out the soft chair, and sat down slowly. Like Sima Delei, he raised his legs and placed his feet on the desk, swaying leisurely.
In a certain house in Chongnanfang, there are more than a dozen tables and seats in the front hall for reception. Hundreds of people are eating and drinking enthusiastically, but there is no noise. There is only everyone drinking and eating meat. The sound of chewing, swallowing.
There was also a table in the back room. A beautiful lady who looked to be in her early thirties was sitting at the head of the table. To her left was a plump middle-aged man with a fair face and a smile. There is a burly man on the left side of the fat man. He opens his clothes, revealing the thick heart-protecting hair on his chest, and his face is fierce. To the right of the lady is a middle-aged man with a gloomy complexion and a scar between his eyebrows, which has caused his eyebrows to no longer grow.
The beautiful lady is dressed in a fur coat and looks very noble. She wears a gold leaf necklace around her neck and an antique huanghuali wooden hairpin on her head. On her wrist, which is leaning on the table, is a fine Hetian jade bracelet. The hand holding a wine glass There is also a crystal clear jade Buddha string on it.
This beautiful lady is Gui Wanqiu, and the person on the left is a local snake in the western district of the outer city, the master of Shanshui Zhai, Le Zhengfang of Baima Hall.
"Master Le Hall, are today's drinks and dishes to your liking?" Gui Wanqiu said in a soft voice with a wine glass on her lips, her eyes sparkling.
Le Zhengfang glanced outside the door with a smile. Half of the hundreds of people were his brothers from Baima Hall, and the other half were from Gui Wanqiu. Everyone in the White Horse Hall was a little impatient, because during this banquet, they could only eat, but not talk. Although it was a strict order from the hall master, it still made these subordinates upset, and they all looked at the people in the back room. All the time, there was anger in his eyes.
On the other hand, Gui Wanqiu's people drank and ate meat with their heads down in silence, as if they couldn't hear what was going on outside the window.
The time was quickly approaching noon, and hundreds of people had had their fill of wine and food. A few of them were so drunk that they couldn't restrain themselves. They slapped the table and clamored for action.
Le Zhengfang glanced at Gui Wanqiu with a smile. Gui Wanqiu smiled brightly and patted the back of the hand of the shadowy middle-aged man on his right. As soon as the white fingers touched the back of the middle-aged man's hand, the middle-aged man tensed his back muscles almost instantly. He tried to restrain himself and lowered his head so that no one could see his expression.
"Fourth brother, let's go and have a look." Gui Wanqiu's voice was soft and even more tender when talking to this gloomy middle-aged man.
The shadowy middle-aged man nodded, stood up silently, and walked out quickly.
Le Zhengfang looked at the departing figure of the shadowy middle-aged man, and said to Gui Wanqiu with a smile: "Mrs. Gui is very resourceful. This is not like the Ghost Swordsman who dominates the underworld in the imperial capital."
Gui Wanqiu hummed and said delicately: "Hall Master Le, please don't laugh at me. Fourth brother is my sworn brother."
Le Zhengfang laughed but did not answer.
After a moment, the shadowy middle-aged man came back and whispered a few words in Gui Wanqiu's ear. Gui Wanqiu instantly turned red from the roots of her ears to her cheeks. She was an extremely sensitive person. The shadowy middle-aged man's face suddenly froze when he saw this touch of pink. Fortunately, Gui Wanqiu had already stood up, attracting Le Zhengfang's attention.
"Master Le Hall, let's go!"
Le Zhengfang still kept his smile and said cheerfully: "Okay, today's work is done. From now on, I will address you as Madam and President Gui!"
Gui Wanqiu smiled sweetly and gave her a blessing.
Afterwards, under the leadership of Le Zhengfang, hundreds of people in this house left from the front door, side door, and back door, and went to their designated directions.
At the same time, Sima Delei strode with his bodyguards on the streets of Chongnanfang. Pedestrians on the road avoided this man with a sinister face, who was not easy to mess with at first glance.
What he is rushing to now is his own private gambling house, where his brothers gather and rest there on weekdays. The gambling house is located in a courtyard with three entrances, which was originally a wealthy family. Later, he owed gambling debts to Sima Delei's house.
Sima Delei was furious now. He thought that since Gui Wanqiu didn't abide by the rules and invited outsiders to help, then he didn't have to follow the rules. He led his people to smash the Shuntian Gambling House, stole the money, and ruined it. Account books, even if we go to the president later, the matter will be dropped at best.
He, Sima Delei, was the vice-president of the Blue Clothes Club, and Gui Wanqiu was nothing but a concubine of Shao Shiwang.
There were still two streets away from Sima Delei's hometown. Sima Delei suddenly slowed down and realized something was wrong. The pedestrians on the street had become sparse at some point.
He looked around, and an unpleasant feeling came over him. The next moment, his feeling was confirmed.
At the street corner in front, people kept pouring out of the alley. Each of these people had flushed faces and evil eyes. They were holding short sticks, machetes and other weapons in their hands. It was obvious that they were coming towards him, Sima Dele.
Sima Delei and his two followers turned around, only to see people pouring out of the street behind them, led by a fat man with a kind smile, it was Le Zhengfang.
Sima Delei and Le Zhengfang had dealt with each other before. They both ran gambling houses and had many contacts.
"Fatty Le, how dare you come to Chongnanfang!" Sima Delei already understood what was about to happen, and he naturally became rude.
Le Zheng stopped with a smile on his face. His subordinates kept walking forward beside him, but he himself stopped there with a smile on his face and did not answer, because it was no longer necessary.
"Damn fat man, if I can get out alive, I will destroy your White Horse Gambling House next time!" Sima Delei shouted loudly, knowing that nothing he said was useless now, so after saying a harsh word, he left from He took out two three-edged thorns from his waist, which were his best weapons. And his two followers were also good players. Although there was uneasiness and fear in their eyes, they still took out their respective weapons in their hands.
Le Zhengfang raised his hand and waved, and the hundreds of people who had quickly rushed to surround Sima Delei suddenly rushed over with shouts, swamping Sima Delei and the other three in an instant.
Although Sima Delei's two followers were good players, they couldn't handle the large number of people. They were attacked from all directions almost instantly, and fell to the ground within two blows. Sima Delei, on the other hand, wielded two three-edged thorns and stabbed forward like crazy. The three-edged thorns in his hands were all phantoms when he waved them. His thrusts were particularly accurate. Those who were hit were all on the neck. The heart and other vital parts were hit.
The dozens of people who surrounded him were torn open. Although the people under Baimatang and Gui Wanqiu were brave, they had almost no martial arts. In the hands of Sima Delei, a warrior in the Xiaocheng realm, they seemed to have no chance of fighting back. The Lamb of Power.
However, when even a Dacheng-level warrior was exhausted, Sima Delei's instant burst killed more than a dozen people. However, what followed was a burst of futility. He gritted his teeth and charged forward, and almost no one dared to stand in front of him. .
Sima Delei's target is Le Zhengfang. Faced with the siege of hundreds of people, even if he has the strength of a small adult warrior, he will hardly be able to survive. If he wants to survive from a dead situation, he must seize an opportunity. In his opinion, this opportunity is Le Zhengfang. The latter was too fat, and Sima Delei didn't think his combat power could be very high. As long as Le Zhengfang can be hijacked, he will have a chance to survive.
Sima Delei was less than a hundred steps away from Le Zhengfang, and soon passed half the distance. Sima Delei had already gained momentum, and almost no one could stop him. But just when Sima Delei was wildly waving the three-edged thorn in his hand, opening up a bloody path, a figure suddenly jumped out of the crowd beside him. This man was extremely fast, slashing down with a big knife in his hand. Cut to the top of Sima Delei's head.
This man is a burly man with his chest exposed to protect his heart hair. He is Le Zhengfang's confidant. This man also has the cultivation level of Xiaocheng. His six meridians are fully opened, and his inner strength is blessed with natural divine power. A sixty-pound weapon The broadsword was swung so fiercely that the wind roared faintly when it was struck down.
Sima Delei felt a great chill in his heart, and his body suddenly stiffened. The next moment, he burst out with astonishing strength. He turned around, raised his arms, and crossed two three-edged thorns.
A local shout!
Sima Delei felt that his right arm was dislocated, and a three-edged thorn was knocked away. However, under the obstruction this time, the broadsword deflected and struck the ground beside Sima Delei. The bluestone floor tiles All were split.
Sima Delei turned around, not entangled with the burly man. His expression was ferocious and increasingly crazier. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, which was caused by clenching his teeth and breaking his mouth.
His target was still Le Zhengfang, probably because he was too crazy. There was almost no one blocking him in front of him. The burly man was roaring behind him, dragging his sword backwards and chasing after him. Sima De Lei Qiang mobilized his internal strength and pushed himself to the limit. He took three steps and two steps at a time. He took a tight breath and arrived in front of Le Zhengfang. He extended the three-edged thorn with his left hand and stabbed Le Zhengfang's shoulder blade. He would not kill Le Zhengfang directly, but at least make him lose the ability to resist.
Le Zhengfang still had a smile on his face. He looked at Sima Delei with a smile, and the three-edged thorn in his eyes quickly enlarged.
Ding!
The madness on Sima Delei's face suddenly solidified after this crisp sound, because he noticed that the three-edged thorn in his hand seemed to be stuck on the iron plate.
The next moment, there was a howl of wind coming from behind his head, and Sima Delei was still rushing forward. This was the inertia of his body. His plan was to stab Le Zhengfang and then hold him hostage in front of him.
But now he is continuing to rush forward with inertia, but his left arm does not respond to the feeling of the three-edged thorn piercing his flesh. At this moment, a strong sense of crisis envelopes him.
Le Zhengfang's robe was cut open by a three-edged thorn, and the inside was exposed, reflecting a cold luster.
Sima Delei's body once again exploded in despair. He tiptoed a little and was about to move sideways, but the next moment, a huge force came from his waist and abdomen, interrupting his sideways movement, and his body followed. He fell back uncontrollably.
The roar of the wind behind his head got closer, and despair flashed in Sima Delei's eyes. He saw Le Zhengfang's raised knees and the sharp movements just now that were not suitable for a fat man. Then the next moment, there was a chill above his head. , the darkness swallowed him up instantly!
The heart-protecting hairy man chopped off half of Sima Delei's head with one stroke, as simple and neat as chopping a watermelon.
The red and white stuff splashed up and landed at Le Zhengfang's feet, but it didn't stain Le Zhengfang's body at all.
Le Zhengfang smiled even more. This head was worth thirty thousand taels. What a bargain.
Near noon, in Gui Wanqiu's house, a shadowy middle-aged man carried a baggage full of account books. He followed Gui Wanqiu, strode out of the house, and boarded a carriage.
"Let's go to the headquarters of the Blue Clothes Club!" Gui Wanqiu's charming voice came from the carriage. He put down his baggage, and the shadowy middle-aged man who acted as the horse's belly nodded, raised his whip, and gently whipped the horse. The horse felt pain in its buttocks and started slowly.
