The tickets purchased by Lai Wen and Helena were in the VIP seats, priced at 1 gold pound. This amount of money was nothing in the eyes of the nobles, not to mention the fact that they had to serve drinks, so there was a real threshold...
Above the VIP seats.
In addition to the VIP seats on the second floor, the north stand of the Royal Ascot Racecourse also has special seats that are independent of other seats. They are located on the third floor. They are specially prepared for members of the royal family. Only invited guests can enter there.
Ordinary nobles don't have to think about it. Anyone who has access to the royal family, no matter what his status, is definitely not easy.
Those who came to watch the game today were not only King Rhodes IV, but also his four sons. They came from Windsor Castle not far away to participate in the afternoon game and then went back to hold a private family dinner in the evening... .
Lai Wen and Helena walked among the crowded crowd. There were too many people coming to watch the game. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a huge crowd. Everywhere you can see children holding cargo boxes and hawking, prostitutes in scantily clad clothes trying their best to tie their waists, There were also some weird men who lowered their hat brim and sneaked through the crowd.
"What do these people do?" Lai Wen asked as he looked at a man walking past him with one hand in his pocket and a little blood on his clothes.
"They are gang members who collect chalk fees." Lan
Helena glanced at the man passing by and said: "There are many gangs in London, the more famous of which is the Corey gang that controls the East End of London. Their leaders are a pair of twin brothers, one named Kinnard Corey and the other named Ronald Corey specializes in violent attacks, collection of protection fees, arms smuggling, murder, manipulation of prostitution, horse racing, etc. Every gang has its own territory, and as long as you don't provoke them, you'll be fine. .”
"Oh, gangster."
Lai Wen nodded and didn't take it too seriously. After all, they were the church. If anyone had the biggest fist these days, it would definitely be them, a mere gangster...
Can't get on the table.
If they really fight, Lai Wen alone can destroy them.
When he was the Rose Phantom Thief, Lai Wen didn't pay much attention to these gangs. He was thinking about his next target every day, so how could he care about the gangs?
There is no conflict of interest or communication between the two parties, and they don't know each other when they meet. Lan
but....
The letter was still a little curious: "This is the Royal Racecourse, and the king is here in person. Are they so bold that they dare to collect chalk fees here?"
"Behind every big gang, there is a noble backing." Helena looked around and whispered: "There is a gang organization called the White Gang under Charles. Its jurisdiction seems to be in Westminster, Central In that area, there are some things that are not convenient for the nobles to come forward, so let these gangsters take action... Huh?"
Helena suddenly remembered something: "The Royal Hippodrome is the territory of the White Gang. Why would someone come here to collect chalk fees?"
The author does know something about chalk fees. To be precise, chalk fees are also a form of protection fees.
Under normal circumstances, in a large racecourse, in addition to the official betting offices, there are also many irregular horse betting agents. These horse betting agents give higher odds, are peripheral, and want to bet higher. Odds-makers come to them to place bets, and they also serve as loan sharks, providing funds to gamblers who are desperate to lose.
These gang members who are active in racetracks are called 'horse brokers'. Lan
The act of robbing them is called collecting 'chalk fees'.
In this era, there were no electronic screens. If you want to know the odds, you need to write them with chalk on the blackboard. Robbery of these horse betting agents is called charging chalk fees. At the same time...
It also means provoking the owner of this territory.
Generally speaking, charging chalk fees only occurs when there is a conflict between two gangs.
The gangster who dares to go to the territory of the eldest prince Charles to collect chalk fees...The background is definitely not simple. No matter how you think about it, only the second prince Shukri or the third prince Andrew have such courage.
He didn't care about the infighting between the gangs, and he didn't want to care about it. The only thing that aroused his alarm was Helena's words:
'Some things are inconvenient for nobles to come forward, so let the gangsters take action.'
You know, last night, Ma Wei broke into someone else's house and taught Sir Sander Haynes a lesson. This enemy...
Can they swallow it?
If you want to take revenge on Ma Wei, will you take help from the gang?
Fortunately, Mawei used the identity of Russell Benjamin last night, and today he is Nicholas von Manstein. The gangster can't find the real owner when seeking revenge.
I have to remind my brother later... Lai Wen thought to himself.
Of course, the church with extraordinary abilities is not afraid of ordinary gangsters, but if the gangsters also have extraordinary powers...
Things are different. Lan
Be careful, this is what Ma Wei has always said, and there is nothing wrong with being wary of gangsters seeking revenge.
On the third floor, the royal family sits.
In the large floor-to-ceiling windows, King Rhodes IV was sitting in a cigar chair, holding a cigar in one hand and a telescope in the other, looking at the racecourse below.
Looking down from the third floor, you can clearly see the entire scene in the racecourse - in theory, this is true. However, people's eyesight is limited and it is impossible to see things hundreds of meters away like an eagle. So no matter how good the location is, Rhodes IV You still need to use binoculars to see every move in the racecourse.
On either side of Rhodes IV were four princes, Charles, Shukri, Andrew, and Arthur. In addition to them, there were also several middle-aged men in formal attire who were not angry and proud.
They are all members of the cabinet with prominent status. They were invited by Rhodes IV to come here specially to watch the game.
"Isn't there Duke Chevalier's horse participating in the competition today?" Rhodes IV looked around the field, but did not see Freya's figure: "Where did Duke Chevalier go?" Lan
"Someone just saw her outside the racecourse." Second Prince Shukri replied: "She should be backstage at the moment."
"I'm very optimistic about the Black Billy sent by the Duke of Chevalier to compete..."
Rhodes IV put down the telescope and said: "Go and get her over quickly, the game is about to start."
"yes."
The internal affairs officer turned and left. Ten minutes later, he came back. The only person who came back with him was a young man with brown hair and green eyes.
"His Majesty...."
The internal affairs officer walked to Rhodes IV and whispered a few words. Lan
"Nonsense!" Rhodes IV frowned and said, "A duchess actually goes out in person to race horses with professional jockeys? What if something goes wrong? Call her back!"
Before he finished speaking, deafening cheers suddenly rang out from the audience. At the starting point of the track, a famous jockey was already in place. Just waiting for the gunshot to open and the fence to open, the race would officially begin.
It's too late to rush over now.
Rhodes IV picked up the binoculars and saw Freya at the end of the track. She was wearing a round helmet and jockey's uniform, riding on the back of Black Billy, holding her head high and wearing a black hair tied into a ponytail. Hair falls naturally.
Seeing this scene, everyone including Rhodes IV couldn't help but lean forward and their expressions became focused and serious.
It is not uncommon for nobles to play in games, but the Duchess... is still a widow, and she takes the initiative to play without any taboos. This situation is extremely rare.
More importantly...Lan
She was riding the black Billy who killed her husband!
This is a fierce horse!
If the last bloodline of the Duke of Chevali family was lost to Black Billy, how would Rhode IV explain to the other nobles?
Of course, there is no need to give an explanation to anyone because they all came out to fool around, but they knew that Black Billy was a vicious horse and still asked the Duke to show up in person. This made the foreign nobles think that there was something wrong with the Windsor royal family's brain!
boom!
The starting gun burst out with a burst of smoke, and eight fences were opened at the same time. In the cheers of the audience, the horses rushed into the track together. This is a 2,400-meter track. Whoever reaches the finish line first wins. From the beginning, the horsemen The teachers worked hard and kept increasing their speed.
Van Gower took the lead and rushed to the front, one and a half lengths ahead of the other opponents. He was extremely fast. Lan
The spicy pony girl ranked second, chasing closely, always keeping a safe distance from the first place, and it seemed that she still had some strength left.
Black Billy....
Falling in last place.
This made Ma Wei a little surprised.
He has seen the speed of Black Billy, and it is definitely much faster than Van Gower. Logically speaking, it should have broken away from other opponents and crossed the line long ago, but Freya seemed to be planning something and kept holding on tightly. The reins refused to increase speed.
"So that's it..."
His mind flashed, and Ma Wei suddenly figured out that Black Billy's victory was a sure thing, but the problem was...
How does it win the championship?
Is it to be a perfect match, leaving other opponents far behind and crossing the finish line in front of everyone's astonished eyes, or is it to pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger, pretend to be invincible, and increase the speed at the last moment to continuously overtake and win with difficulty?
The former, next time Black Billy participates in a competition, is there any opponent willing to compete with you? The gamblers will definitely put all their money on you. How will you make money then?
Match-fixing?
If Black Billy had achieved such amazing results in the last game, wouldn't the fake game be recognized at a glance?
Only the latter....
This is a good strategy to take a long-term approach to catching big fish. Lan
