Chapter 1668: Chapter 1501: Female Supremacy 5

Fang Miaozhen’s true skills were lacking and couldn’t outmatch Fang Miaqing, so she resorted to using manipulative tactics to compete with Fang Miaqing, which naturally needed money to pave the way for gaining people’s support.

Although Fang Miaozhen’s mother was generous to her, it wasn’t like she could spend as much money as she wanted, and the large sums needed for winning people over couldn’t solely rely on her mother’s support.

So, every time Fang Miaozhen ran out of money, she would extract some funds from Shuangshuang.

Anyway, the Qi Guan Family was much wealthier than the Fang Family, and Qi Shuangshuang had always been generous, with ample wealth, handing out several thousand taels of silver without even batting an eye.

This time was no different, Fang Miaozhen was out of money again. Of course, she estimated that Qi Shuangshuang had just lost her parents and was still in mourning; going to gamble at such a time was a bit unreasonable, so she restrained herself for a few days.

Then, after calculating the days, she thought Qi Shuangshuang should be out of mourning by now, and impatiently sought her out, her funds had been tight for several days, as she had recently been troubling her elder sister, but was running short of funds.

She had tried to bribe the young helper she positioned as an insider, but with no money, it seemed like the plan was about to fall through, and Fang Miaozhen was in dire need of money now.

Unfortunately, Fang Miaozhen had withdrawn too much funds recently, and her mother had set a rule that she couldn’t withdraw any more money from the accounts within a month, leaving extracting funds from Qi Shuangshuang as her only option.

Although the plan was to first visit Chunfeng Pavilion with Qi Shuangshuang, the anxious Fang Miaozhen couldn’t wait to waste time there, taking Qi Shuangshuang to the gambling house as the first stop.

This gambling house was a regular haunt for both Qi Shuangshuang and Fang Miaozhen. The boss of the gambling house, surnamed Zhang, was especially welcoming whenever the "little fat lamb" Qi Shuangshuang came, meeting them at the door, personally showing them around and accompanying them to play.

In the past, Qi Shuangshuang felt that such treatment offered her a certain level of prestige, but in truth, the hospitality was merely to facilitate the combined manipulations between Boss Zhang and Fang Miaozhen to scheme against her.

As soon as Boss Zhang saw Qi Shuangshuang and Fang Miaozhen, he greeted them with a broad smile: "Miss Qi Gong and Miss Fang, how come you grace my humble gambling house today?

You two haven’t been here for a while, quickly, come inside, I just happened to acquire some fine tea, specifically kept for you two, I’ll have someone brew it right away to serve our esteemed guests."

Qi Shuangshuang, with an uninterested smile, twirled the folding fan in her hand with her long fingers and simply replied, "Boss Zhang, you’re too kind."

Qi Shuangshuang’s attitude was far more indifferent than usual, while Fang Miaozhen engaged eagerly in small talk with Boss Zhang.

"Didn’t my sister just have some family matters a few days ago? It was inappropriate to go out for leisure, but today we must trouble Boss Zhang to accompany us for some fun, let our sisters unwind properly."

Fang Miaozhen responded too quickly, preventing Boss Zhang from noticing Qi Shuangshuang’s indifference, and he continued smiling broadly: "That’s a given, I’ll certainly entertain you two well today, as usual, we’ll go to the private room inside, just the three of us playing alone."

The so-called private room was actually Boss Zhang’s own personal resting area, elegantly furnished, a strange sight for a gambling house owner who took a liking to elegant things.

Unfortunately, the lack of substance was evident, with pieces that didn’t match the room’s style and appeared awkward, clearly items added by Boss Zhang later on, making it uncomfortable to look at.

Upon entering, Qi Shuangshuang found a gaming table already set up in the room; they were prepared to play a dice game, the simplest form of betting big or small, because Qi Shuangshuang wasn’t adept at more complex games.

To put it simply, Qi Shuangshuang wasn’t particularly fond of gambling; her attendance at the gambling house was mostly due to Fang Miaozhen’s persuasive efforts.

What teased Qi Shuangshuang into gambling was mainly Fang Miaozhen’s idea that a virtuous woman should know how to gamble, which sparked her interest. But she would only lose three or four thousand taels at most because she knew when to stop and wasn’t easily addicted, nor interested in learning more complicated games.

For Qi Shuangshuang, gambling was purely a pastime, an aspect both Boss Zhang and Fang Miaozhen resented; no matter how they tempted her, Qi Shuangshuang wouldn’t fall into their trap.

Boss Zhang found it disappointing; had Qi Shuangshuang been more interested in gambling, disregarding the entire Qi Guan Family, just considering Qi Shuangshuang’s prodigal nature alone, he believed he could have taken half of the Qi Guan Family’s estate.

Apart from the gambling table and dice, the room held three beautifully dressed handsome servants, along with ready tea and snacks, while the wide chairs were spacious enough to accommodate two people.

Fang Miaozhen, familiar with the setting, seated herself and casually gestured, immediately having a handsome servant sit in her lap, revealing the chair’s purpose for use.

Boss Zhang courteously beckoned the remaining two handsome servants towards Qi Shuangshuang: "We have two beauties left, Miss Qi Guan, would you like to choose one?"

Qi Shuangshuang waved her hand, sitting in the chair alone, and replied indifferently, "I’ll pass, my parents have just passed away, I’m planning to observe three years of mourning, so I won’t bother with these beauties."

Boss Zhang’s mouth twitched slightly, inwardly cursing her for pretentiousness; who goes gambling during mourning, it was just for show.

Despite his inward grumbling, Boss Zhang kept a smiling facade and said, "Come now, we know you’re in mourning, no need to make it hard for you. Having a beauty by your side doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

But having him beside to serve you tea and snacks might be nice, otherwise with soft jade and tender fragrance surrounding us, we’d feel bad enjoying the beauty’s favor while you’re alone."

Qi Shuangshuang waved her hand and supported her forehead with her hand, casually leaning against the armrest of the chair and spoke indifferently, "No need. We’re all old friends, it’s nothing to feel awkward about.

I do have hands to pour tea; there’s no need to trouble Boss Zhang’s beauties. Alright, everyone take a seat, start the game already, I’ve been waiting impatiently."

After being consecutively declined, Boss Zhang’s expression was slightly displeased, but Qi Shuangshuang acted as if she hadn’t noticed, leisurely savoring her tea, which resulted in a briefly awkward atmosphere.

Observing the tension, Fang Miaozhen hurriedly spoke to lighten the mood: "Shuangshuang is truly filial and should properly honor her parents. Boss Zhang, don’t make it difficult for her."

Fang Miaozhen’s words weren’t out of kindness to resolve the awkward situation for Qi Shuangshuang or Boss Zhang; she was simply keen on swiftly extracting funds from Qi Shuangshuang as she was desperate to use money, unwilling to wait any longer.

Then Fang Miaozhen beckoned to one of the servants by Boss Zhang’s side: "Come here, beauty, as Miss Qi Guan doesn’t seem appreciative of your charms today, Sister Fang will cherish you, come sit by sister."

Fang Miaozhen had always been considerate to these handsome servants, and didn’t mind spending some silver on them.

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