Brother, Brother, But I'm a Profligate! - Chapter 6

“It is good that you do not know how. For the Fu family, gambling is a forbidden offense.”

Ming Si wanted his prayer beads back, but Fu Jing remained firm.

Ming Si pestered him the entire way, yet Fu Jing ignored him completely. By the end of it, Ming Si grew tired of his own persistence. He picked at the freshly healed scab on his finger, struggling to suppress his mounting anxiety.

After the group emerged from the yamen, they headed to a nearby inn.

Ming Si followed at Fu Jing’s heels like a shadow. Just as he was about to enter the room after him, Qiu Yuan reached out to block him, and the door closed in his face.

“The young master’s room is next door,” Qiu Yuan said.

“I just want to see where he put my beads.” Ming Si stepped around Qiu Yuan to knock, but Qiu Yuan quickly pulled him away.

“I say, young master, please just rest for a while. The Eldest Young Master would never embezzle your beads,” Qiu Yuan said helplessly. “He might not lay a hand on you, but you cannot keep”

Ming Si let out a cold laugh. “Keep what? Keep pushing my luck?”

Qiu Yuan: “…”

“Your Master indirectly caused my mother’s death, yet your people still came looking for me. Now you are taking me away and I do not even know why. Who is the one pushing their luck? I only have a string of beads my mother gave me, and you even have to confiscate that. Who is being excessive?”

Qiu Yuan paused. “But our Eldest Young Master saved you. You were lying in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness.”

Ming Si replied forcefully, “I spit on that! If it were not for the Fu family’s nonsense, would I have collapsed from exhaustion in the first place?”

Qiu Yuan: “…”

“The Eldest Young Master is also here under orders. This matter truly has nothing to do with us. Moreover, because of you, he has already delayed important matters in the Capital.”

Ming Si threw Fu Jing’s own logic back at him: “Since he accepted this assignment, he must bear the risks. If he had not taken the job, he would not have been delayed. He has only himself to blame.”

Qiu Yuan: “…”

Ming Si added, “If he truly loses his patience and strikes me, I will accept it. But he has not raised a hand yet, has he?”

Ming Si left Qiu Yuan speechless. Eventually, the noise disturbed the person inside. Fu Jing pushed the door open and looked at the two figures standing outside. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

By now, Ming Si had given up on appearances; he could no longer maintain a respectful facade. He spoke with a strange, mocking tone, “Oh, the Eldest Young Master is not asleep yet.”

Fu Jing stared at him for a long moment before closing the door again. “Rest early. Tomorrow, the secret guards you wished to see will come to meet you.”

Ming Si immediately deflated like a bruised persimmon.

The next day, Ming Si changed into clean clothes, looking quite spirited, though his hands were wrapped tightly in gauze.

He was called over to dine. His gaze could not help but flicker toward Fu Jing; he was thinking of his mother’s affairs and the beads Fu Jing had taken.

Distracted, he raised his bowl and took a sip of soup. An oily, meaty taste flooded his mouth, and his stomach cramped violently. Ming Si turned pale. Seeing the thick bone broth floating with white flecks of fat, he rushed outside and vomited everything.

Fu Jing looked up. The atmosphere in the room turned tense instantly. Qiu Yuan gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to fetch the cook.

“Wait.”

Fu Jing glanced at Ming Si’s shattered bowl. Something flickered in his memory. He stood up and walked outside to Ming Si, who was retching until the world turned dark.

The youth was clutching a planter, his whole body convulsing with the effort of vomiting.

“Do you not eat meat?” Fu Jing handed him a handkerchief and signaled someone to fetch warm water.

Ming Si was drenched in cold sweat, his face as white as paper. He rinsed his mouth several times to suppress the oily taste. “I do not. It tastes of blood.”

At the mention of the smell, Ming Si’s face crumpled, and he bent over to dry heave again.

The guards inside realized it was a false alarm and found someone to clean the mess.

Ming Si leaned weakly against a pillar, sounding dejected. “My mother used to scold me, saying I had a lowly life and could not enjoy blessings. I cannot even eat meat.”

Fu Jing’s gaze swept over Ming Si’s face before looking away. Ming Si waited for the dizziness to pass, then stood up with a grin. “Speaking of my mother, my beads. Do not lose them.”

Fu Jing: “…”

Seeing him remain silent, Ming Si tried to reach for his sleeve, but Fu Jing dodged. Ming Si reached out again. “Where are my beads? Are you not carrying them?”

Just as he touched the sleeve, Fu Jing caught his wrist. The man smiled, his gaze a silent warning. “I have put them away.”

When Fu Jing let go, Ming Si looked down at the white ring left on his wrist from the grip. His smile did not falter. “Then guard them well. If they are lost”

Ming Si’s voice trailed off, his smile fading. He turned and went back inside.

His threats were useless against Fu Jing. A sense of powerlessness left him with no desire to speak.

It was not just Fu Jing who was perplexed; Ming Si was also frustrated.

He could kneel before others without blinking and speak a web of lies. In many eyes, he was a scheming, opportunistic person. He could endure anything, but he found himself unable to hold back in front of Fu Jing.

More accurately, he could not control his emotions.

What confused Ming Si even more was that he vented all his bitterness and sarcasm at Fu Jing. With anyone else, he would have been dead several times over, yet Fu Jing did not punish him.

His attacks received no retaliation.

Ming Si’s heart jumped as the door curtain behind him rustled. He turned to see Fu Jing entering from outside, followed by several guards in black.

Fu Jing met Ming Si’s gaze. Because of the retching, the youth’s eyelashes were still damp. He looked no better than before. Fu Jing spoke softly, “These are the secret guards sent to investigate Madam Ming. I wanted you to see them to put your mind at ease.”

Ming Si felt his face reflexively pull into a smile. He walked over, circling the men, pinching their shoulders and prodding their stomachs.

The muscles beneath his palms were rock-hard. Ming Si no longer doubted their strength.

He heard his own voice say, “Ah, I am at ease now. If the Eldest Young Master had done this earlier, would we have had all that trouble afterward?”

Ming Si smiled and winked at Fu Jing, but for some reason, he felt a sudden pang of sadness in his heart.

After the meal, Ming Si followed Fu Jing onto the carriage. He thought they were leaving Chuzhou, but the noise outside grew louder. He lifted the curtain to see they had entered a bustling market district, crowded with people and traffic.

Fu Jing was resting with his eyes closed. Ming Si glanced at him, then looked out the window, eventually seeing the carriage stop in front of a gambling den.

Ming Si followed Fu Jing out of the carriage. The man walked a few steps forward before realizing Ming Si had not followed. He turned back, looking at Ming Si with surprise.

Ming Si: “You are not planning to gamble, are you?”

After meeting the secret guards, Ming Si’s hostility toward Fu Jing had lessened. He said seriously, “Gambling is not a good thing.”

While working as an errand boy in Yangzhou, he had frequented many places: taverns, restaurants, and even brothels. He had been to gambling dens a few times. Even watching from a distance, he felt that gambling was something wicked and terrifying.

Fu Jing said, “I am not gambling. I am here to meet someone.”

Ming Si breathed a sigh of relief and caught up in three quick steps. Then he heard Fu Jing ask casually, “Do you know how to play?”

Ming Si stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide with suspicion. “You go ahead. I will not go in.”

Was Fu Jing afraid he would run away, so he wanted to turn him into a gambler? Once addicted, would he be forced to live at the mercy of others?

Fu Jing smiled slightly. “It is good that you do not know how. For the Fu family, touching gambling is a forbidden offense that earns you a beating and a kneeling session in the ancestral hall.”

Ming Si thought to himself that he was not part of the Fu family, but Fu Jing had already grabbed his wrist and led him inside.

“I bet on Big! Big!”

“Open it! Open it!”

“Ha! Big! I won!” Someone lunged onto the table, his face flushed with excitement, arms wrapped around the silver. He looked delirious.

The gambling den was filled with wails of despair and cries of ecstasy. Everyone was walking a tightrope between extreme joy and agony.

Ming Si watched them coldly; after all, it was not his concern. He followed Fu Jing and stopped at a table.

Ming Si was puzzled. He saw a round, middle-aged man smiling triumphantly, while the servant beside him grinned as he stuffed silver into a bag.

“Master Xu’s luck is excellent today! Three consecutive wins! A full harvest!” A man nearby fanned himself. “Such rare good luck. Why not strike while the iron is hot and go for one more round? Something bigger?”

Ming Si thought the fat man looked familiar but could not place him. When he heard the man call him “Master Xu,” Ming Si paused and turned to look at Fu Jing.

Fu Jing’s expression was calm. “It is Xu Gui.”

Ming Si vaguely remembered that the people who stole his money were two thin men; he had not expected Xu Gui’s appearance to change so much after becoming wealthy.

While he was speculating on Fu Jing’s intentions, Xu Gui had already followed the man to another table.

Fu Jing said nothing and led Ming Si to a private room on the second floor. It was a small, pre-arranged viewing area overlooking the entire floor. A Boshan censer burned on the table, alongside a plate of jujube cakes and two cups of hot tea. Guards were already stationed inside; Ming Si saw Qiu Yuan standing there with his usual stoic expression.

A pearwood bead curtain blocked out the chaotic noise from below, but it did not obstruct the view.

Ming Si sat in a chair and looked down. This position was directly across from Xu Gui’s table. Now, Ming Si was certain: Fu Jing was here for Xu Gui.

Ming Si hesitated to speak, but Fu Jing told him to watch closely.

The sounds from below were muffled, so Ming Si focused on their expressions. In the first round, Xu Gui looked displeased; he had likely lost. The man opposite him smiled and gathered Xu Gui’s silver.

In the following rounds, Ming Si watched as Xu Gui’s expression grew worse. When the man came to collect the silver, Xu Gui grabbed a piece and slammed it onto the table with a loud bang. “You are cheating!!”

The surrounding noise paused for a moment. The person shaking the dice stopped as well, glancing sideways at Xu Gui’s outburst.

The man fanned himself. “Who is cheating? You rolled a low number. Is that my fault?”

The man spread his hands in an exaggerated gesture, but the surrounding gamblers only paused briefly. In the blink of an eye, the noise swallowed the argument.

Ming Si frowned. Just as he thought Xu Gui was about to leave, the man actually stayed. The opponent produced a paper contract, and Xu Gui signed and sealed it.

Ming Si: “…”

Fu Jing sipped his tea and heard Ming Si whisper a soft, “It is over.”

Half an hour later, Xu Gui overturned the table and a fight broke out in the gambling den. The silver falling to the floor caused a swarm of people to rush forward, fighting and punching. No one knew who was hitting whom.

Suddenly, officials surged in from outside. With a few shouts, they arrested the troublemakers and took the instigator, Xu Gui, away.

Ming Si fell silent. Fu Jing set down his teacup. His gentle face showed no emotion, and he spoke in that same calm tone: “Return to the Capital.”

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