Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 826 Gambling Never Ends Well
Playing dead was useless; in the end, Baozhu was still caught and brought before Xia Lin.

"Kneel down."

Xia Lin rebuked her with a gloomy face, but even the most unruly Princess Baozhu knew who this man was. The difference between his words and an imperial edict was that his words carried more weight...

So Baozhu knelt down with a thud.

Xia Lin grabbed the ruler that had been prepared for Li Zhi and began to beat Princess Baozhu mercilessly, bringing tears to her eyes, but she dared not cry out loud.

Do you know why I'm beating you today?

"I know," Princess Baozhu replied, looking aggrieved.

But Xia Lin did not let her off the hook because of her pitiful appearance: "Stretch out your hand."

Baozhu stretched out her hand, and the ruler struck her palm with a sharp crack. She winced in pain and quickly pulled her hand back, but Xia Lin showed no mercy: "Hold it out!"

With each blow, Princess Baozhu's hands were swollen and red, and she cried until she was almost out of breath. The eldest princess, who was watching her being beaten, secretly wiped away her tears, but dared not utter a word of comfort.

"Are you still going to gamble or not?!"

"I'm not gambling anymore..."

Princess Baozhu answered through sobs. Xia Lin threw down the ruler, sat down beside her, picked up his teacup, and took a sip. Only then did Secretary Wang, who had been waiting on the side, dare to speak.

"My lord, I had my men conduct a secret investigation. Among Prince Baozhu and his friends, nearly thirty people participated in the Lu family's gambling games, with the total amount won and lost exceeding one million taels. However, there were both winners and losers, only... only..."

"Only what!?"

"Only Princess Baozhu is a complete loser."

Xia Lin looked up and sighed, both amused and exasperated: "Was she set up?"

"No, not really. The things they gamble on are all sorts of strange things, not just the usual games."

Hearing this, Xia Lin roughly understood. It was just that young people who got together would eventually get involved in gambling, prostitution, and drugs. It just so happened that this group of young people got involved in gambling. Among them, Baozhu was the biggest loser. Perhaps because she came from the grasslands, she was a bit simple-minded. Or perhaps she was just naive and didn't have any guile. She basically lost every time she gambled. When she lost, she would secretly take things out of her dowry chest to sell.

Now Xia Lin finally understood why the Lu family had so many strange and unusual auction items; it was all pure gambling.

"Is the gambling ban going to work?"

Xia Lin suddenly asked Secretary Wang, "You said it wasn't appropriate before, but it's not okay now either?"

"Sir, there is something I'm not sure if I should say."

"Just say it, stop talking nonsense."

Secretary Wang chuckled a few times and said, "It's difficult. The county has tried before, but the results weren't good. It's very difficult for people to draw a line between entertainment and gambling. We've tried tough methods, but then the crime rate skyrocketed. Fighting, theft, and even rape increased by more than 30% in just one month. In addition, there's a large floating population in the county, and there are no brothels or entertainment venues. If we forcibly ban gambling and prostitution, there will be even more trouble."

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore it to avoid trouble?" Xia Lin slammed his hand on the armrest of the chair. "If this continues, it won't be long before this place goes back to the way it was before."

Secretary Wang lowered his head, not daring to speak, but at that moment a voice suddenly came from outside: "No wonder I couldn't find you anywhere, turns out you're here lecturing people."

Along with the sound came a rather abstract depiction of the Jingtai Emperor. He was wearing a short leather jacket and tight leather trousers. The jacket was smeared with wax, and the trousers were studded with sequins. It was a brand new craftsmanship and a brand new version. No wonder the old-fashioned officials in the court had a heart attack. Even a reformer like Xia Lin would have to exclaim "the collapse of rites and music" upon seeing it.

"Brother Royal."

"Your Majesty." Everyone in the room bowed. Secretary Wang didn't even dare to open his eyes while bowing, adhering to the principle of not looking at what is improper.

However, Emperor Jingtai seemed oblivious to his own ugliness. Instead, he sat down in his chair, crossed his legs, and said, "Let's go. I heard that a new restaurant and tavern in Nanjing has opened today. Let's go and try it out."

"I'm not in the mood," Xia Lin said, raising her hand in refusal. "If you have nothing else to do, go play. I'm busy here."

"What are you busy with? Tell me. Xiao Wang, you tell me."

Xia Lin didn't really want to tell him, but he had to let Secretary Wang say it, and Xia Lin couldn't stop him for either reason or emotion.

Secretary Wang dared not disobey the imperial decree, so he told Emperor Jingtai everything that had just happened.

“Alas, that is indeed a problem. But you are too hasty.” Emperor Jingtai said to Xia Lin with a smile, “There is a saying in military books: victory is not complete victory, nor is defeat complete defeat. Every war is built up from small victories. You cannot fly into a rage because of one or two defeats. What is that called? That is called exhausting the army and being reckless.”

"Hey, you can actually say something that makes sense."

"I am also the legitimate emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty. My teachers were all geniuses among geniuses, and my companions are all top figures in the world. Even a pig could speak eloquently about this, right?" Emperor Jingtai took out a cigarette from his pocket, glanced at his pregnant sister, and silently put it back. "Gambling and prostitution are things that cannot be banned, but they cannot be banned indiscriminately either. If you ask me, what we should ban is not gambling and prostitution, but the usury, the pig slaughtering schemes, forcing women into prostitution, and human trafficking behind them, right? So what are you afraid of? Tomorrow I will go to the yamen to personally oversee the operation, so you don't need to worry."

Xia Lin couldn't help but laugh at Emperor Jingtai's arrogant demeanor. After a day of unpleasantness, he finally managed to get some satisfaction from this old man.

After speaking, Emperor Jingtai stood up, put his hands behind his back, and circled around Princess Baozhu, who was still kneeling there: "You piece of trash, I've fought in the martial world for so many years and no one has ever won that much money from me. What's wrong with your brain? Hmm? Casinos are like battlefields. Do you know what's most taboo? The most taboo thing is to act impulsively and lose your temper. If you lose, you lose. Just step down, regroup, and fight again another day. Why can't you create a new world? You got carried away and pushed forward recklessly. Damn it, even if you have mountains of gold and silver, they will all be swept away."

After saying that, Emperor Jingtai kicked Xia Lin in the butt: "You're a good-for-nothing too. Your own wife lost money outside, what's the use of scolding her? Go and settle the score!"

"You!" Xia Lin pointed at Emperor Jingtai and said, "You are an emperor!"

"What's wrong with the Emperor?" Emperor Jingtai touched his nose. "The Emperor isn't going to seek revenge? Are you willing to accept that? Stop talking nonsense. Baozhu, pack your things, I'll take you to avenge you tomorrow."

"Tuoba Jing!" Xia Lin shouted angrily, "You're just making things worse!"

But it would be strange if Xia Lin could stop Emperor Jingtai; the very next day, this guy actually took the pearl and went to look at the book.

Then, over the course of the entire day, the two lost a total of 73,000 taels of silver, and Emperor Jingtai even pawned his old collection of Hetian jade pendants.

Baozhu pawned the amber bracelet she had worn since childhood.

The two returned looking like stray dogs.

"Oh dear..." Xia Lin sighed as he looked at the two dejected men, "What are you two doing? Are you some kind of comedians?"

"I refuse to accept this!" Emperor Jingtai slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Just wait and see if I deal with them tomorrow. Don't worry about Baozhu tomorrow. Watch me take you back to the world of martial arts."

The following day, Emperor Jingtai lost 53,000 taels of silver with Baozhu, and in the middle of it, he urgently borrowed 30,000 taels from Douyazi to balance the debt.

Xia Lin looked at the two men, who had once again lost their armor and weapons, with the same gaze he would give them as if they were two dead dogs.

"Oh dear, everyone makes mistakes, but I firmly believe that the third time is the last time!" Emperor Jingtai was still full of confidence: "Tomorrow, tomorrow you'll see me dominate the battlefield!"

Xia Lin picked up her teacup, took a sip, and glanced at Baozhu beside her: "You didn't lose today, did you?"

"No……"

"Hmm." Xia Lin slowly lowered his eyelids and said through gritted teeth, "I'll go with you two tomorrow. You two are really hopeless!"

(End of this chapter)