My Lord, your wife is spreading rumors about you again.

Chapter 42 Xi Mo
A soft male voice was heard from the room.

"Just do as you say, Master. Bao Changfu, please invite someone in."

Bao Changfu immediately turned around and saluted: "Yes, Boss."

Jiang Tong held Mingli and secretly handed her a dagger from her wide sleeves. Outsiders would have thought they were a newlywed couple being affectionate. "I'll be guarding the door. If you see anything wrong, don't try to get involved. Just call me."

"rest assured."

Mingli nodded and went into the wing room alone. Jiang Tong and Bao Changfu did not say anything either, but stood guard outside the door.

The room was luxuriously decorated and the floor was covered with jewels.

As soon as Mingli stepped over the threshold, he realized how luxurious this place was. The floor was paved with white jade, the threshold was made of gold, not to mention the various precious treasures in the house.

The incense that was lit was the Yuelong incense, which was exclusively supplied to the royal family and cost thousands of gold.

Behind the pearl curtain was a man wearing a half silver mask. He knelt in front of a tea table, but the table was full of gambling tools. His hair was not tied up, so he probably hadn't put on a crown yet. He was wearing a loose moon-white robe, revealing his chin with sharp edges and a beautiful jawline.

Mingli didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that there was a faint purple hue in his eyes.

"Ms. Ming Er, I am Xi Mo. It is my first meeting, and I am very happy. I hope you can teach me." Xi Mo smiled, and this smile was like the vast spring water that gave life to all things. He raised his hand and pointed to the opposite side, "The tea is ready, please take a seat, Miss."

This person actually knew his identity? Xi family, Mingli has looked through all the noble families in Kyoto these days, but he has not heard of any family with the surname Xi.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally walked over.

Xi Mo has been staring at her, with a smile on his face: "I have a lot of things here. I have leaf games, dominoes, mahjong, and six-bo. But please don't blame me, Miss Ming, I want to play something different today. You, shouldn't be afraid, right?"

"The guest should follow the host's wishes. Since I dare to come here, I have nothing to fear. Master Xi, please go first."

Xi Mo nodded and smiled: "Second Miss is straightforward, I like it."

In front of the two men was an eighteen-sided brass wine dice and a set of drinking money. The wine dice was inlaid with gold and silver, with the gaps decorated with gold-inlaid triangular cloud patterns and red agate or turquoise in the center.

"I don't like rules. I play dice because I love it, so today we set the rules ourselves. This dice has eighteen sides, sixteen of which are engraved with numbers from 'one' to 'sixteen', and the other two are engraved with the words 'Jiu Lai' and 'Zao'. If you throw a number, it's fine. If you throw 'Jiu Lai', you have to drink, but you can ask the other person any question, and the other person must tell you the truth. If you throw the word 'Zao', the game is over. The limit is ten rounds, until someone throws the word 'Zao' and wins."

Mingli looked at him: "What if I throw the word 'pride' in the first round?"

"Then the game is over. You are the winner, young lady. I will send Master Mingqi out." Xi Mo said.

"Okay, let's begin."

The value of this dice is immeasurable, but now Xi Mo throws it up casually.

The moment it fell with a clang, Mingli felt a pain in his heart, fearing that one of the red agate or turquoise inlaid on it would fall out.

The copper dice fell, and it showed "Wine is coming".

Xi Mo smiled and said, "Second Miss Ming, I'm grateful for your kindness."

He picked up the bowl of wine that had been prepared beside him and drank it in big gulps. The wine flowed down, across his Adam's apple, and went straight into his room.

"Miss, you detained Mo Zhengfeng in the mansion because you wanted to take this opportunity to meet Mo Zhao, right? Mo Zhao is a coward. He knows that His Majesty, the Zhang family, the Second Prince, and Mr. Sui from the Inspectorate are all watching him. If you capture Mo Zhengfeng now, you will only alert the enemy. Not to mention your son, even if you kill his father, he will not show up."

Xi Mo moved the copper dice in front of Ming Li, "I know that the young lady is backed by the Ming, Zhang, and Jiang families, but the Ming family belongs to the Second Prince's camp, and the Left Prime Minister has great power, so I'm afraid the young lady has no say. As for the Zhang and Jiang families, they are attached to the Crown Prince, and Mo Zhao will never see them. But by chance, I have a way to meet Mo Zhao. So, young lady, do you want to abandon Young Master Zhang and join forces with me?"

"I won't abandon Zhang Zhi." Mingli answered firmly. She took the copper dice, threw it upwards, and it fell to 'three'.

Xi Mo threw it again, and it was "Wine is coming."

"What is the relationship between Miss Ming and Zhang Zhi?"

"ally."

Mingli threw the dice again, and the number "twelve" appeared on the dice.

She held the dice in her hand and rubbed it. Not only was it expensive, but it was also heavy. But she felt that the weight of each side facing up was different.

Xi Mo didn't seem to want to give her time to study the dice. Seeing that she missed the target, he took it again. He threw the dice casually, and the dice kept spinning, and finally the "wine" side was facing up steadily.

He drank and said again: "I have noticed you since the day of the flower viewing banquet in the Ming Mansion. Second Miss, you and I are of the same kind. You want the Mo family to die, and so do I. If we join hands and form an alliance, it will definitely be more effective than letting Zhang Zhi, that playboy, interfere."

"Since there is no problem in what Master Xi said, I will not answer."

Mingli's voice was indifferent. She picked up the copper dice, turned it around in her palm twice, and finally threw it high into the air.

It's 'Wine!'

Seeing this, Xi Mo was surprised for a moment.

The eighteen-sided dice is extremely rare, and she was able to figure out the trick after only playing it three times?
This is impossible. Without years of practice, it is impossible to be so accurate. He asked himself if he had ever underestimated Mingli, or if she had more cards than he thought.

Mingli drank a bowl of wine: "I want to know the identity of Master Xi."

"The surname Xi comes from my mother, my real surname." Xi Mo bit his lip, a hint of disgust flashed across his brows, "Yes"

"Is it Mo?"

Mingli spoke first. Xi Mo raised his head suddenly. He lowered his head and smiled bitterly: "Miss, what you said is true. But my mother has no status in the Mo family, so I am just an insignificant illegitimate child."

"guessed."

Mingli raised the copper dice, smiled slyly, and asked, "I already know the key. Do you want to play again, Mr. Xi?"

After saying that, she didn't wait for Xi Mo to reply.

Mingli threw the dice again, and the dice stopped rolling, with the word "pride" appearing on it.

Xi Mo looked at her quietly for a while, and finally smiled with relief.

"Today, the young lady won. But what I said just now was from the bottom of my heart. Zhang Zhi is the son of the Marquis of Zhenbei. His every word and action is for the sake of the Marquis' family. The same is true for the Mo family. But I am different. There are many exchanges between the Ming and Mo families. If I can kill the Mo family, then the power of the Mo family can be shared with the second young lady."

Mingli put down the copper dice, stood up and said, "Remember to send someone to deliver the funerary objects. Goodbye, Master Xi."

After saying this, Mingli turned and left.

Xi Mo pressed the gambling table and said loudly, "I heard that the second young lady and the Zang family will have a horseback archery competition at Feihong Horse Farm tomorrow? When the time comes, I will go there in person to help the young lady."

The copper dice mentioned in this chapter is a gold and silver inlaid copper dice exhibited in the Hebei Provincial Museum, which was unearthed from the tomb of Liu Sheng, King Jing of Zhongshan in the Western Han Dynasty and his wife. If you are interested, you can search for it. It is a very exquisite cultural relic, and the wisdom of the ancients is unimaginable.

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(End of this chapter)