Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 17: Treasures Revealed at the Gambling Table
Lu Zhi was resting in the central army tent when he heard about the Yellow Turbans' nighttime attack, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He wasn't worried about the damage the Yellow Turbans might inflict in the middle of the night; after all, they were just trapped beasts fighting, and wouldn't cause much trouble. But his own negligence in guarding against a surprise attack was a mistake in his decision-making. If word of this were to reach the court, it would give others an opportunity to exploit the situation, and that was what Lu Zhi was worried about.

To counter the influence of the imperial relatives behind Empress Dowager Dong and Empress He, the emperor fostered and exploited the eunuch clique, triggering the Factional Prison Rebellion and a major reshuffle of bureaucratic factions throughout the court. Led by the Imperial Household, the eunuch clique amassed vast wealth at the expense of the people, monopolizing power, monopolizing official positions, interfering in state affairs, and even colluding with the Yellow Turban rebels, hoping to seize control of the military while suppressing the rebellion.

Lu Zhi, unwilling to be associated with the eunuch clique, had long been ostracized. Had it not been for the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he would still be editing books for the emperor in the royal archives in Luoyang. The court was plagued by internal and external troubles. Lu Zhi had to consider serving the court in suppressing the Yellow Turban Rebellion while also being wary of scheming against him by his relatives and eunuchs. Even within the scholar-official community, some did not want him to use the rebellion to regain power.

The shouting and screaming outside the military tent gradually subsided, but Lu Zhi was still in crisis. The lives of Wei Xiaobao and Tang Qin in the granary were also in danger.

The soldier's spear was poking around in the grain stack, and suddenly he felt that the weapon was blocked by something. It turned out that it had hit Wei Xiaobao's chest.

Wei Xiaobao was wearing the invulnerable robe, and although he was not injured when the spear pierced his chest, he still felt great pain in his chest and could not help crying out.

The soldiers heard the noise from the grain stack and quickly broke it apart, and found Wei Xiaobao and Tang Qin hiding inside.

Wei Xiaobao's face was already covered in blood, and there was a big hole in his clothes on his chest. He simply lay on the ground pretending to be dead.

Tang Qin knelt on the ground with his hands covering his head, not daring to resist. He felt something moving under his knees. He looked down and found that it was Wei Xiaobao's hand pressing under his body.

These soldiers were originally responsible for guarding the food supplies. They were ambushed by the Yellow Turban Army and a lot of food supplies were burned. The enemy army escaped unscathed. They were worried about being held accountable. At this time, they saw that Tang Qin had already turned red-eyed and was about to kill him to vent his anger.

As soon as Tang Qin was lifted up, he shouted at Wei Xiaobao, "Don't kill me, don't kill me, he's still alive."

Wei Xiaobao cursed in his heart, "Your grandfather's Tang Qin, you ballless bastard, I'm going to castrate you sooner or later. There's no use keeping that thing anyway!"

Wei Xiaobao simply stood up, patting the straw on his body as he said, "Since I've been caught by you, the worst that can happen to me is that you can kill me with a knife. If you guys die with me, we can still be together on the road to the underworld."

The soldiers all knew that they would be subject to military law if the food and grass were burned, and seeing Wei Xiaobao's fearlessness, they were at a loss as to what to do with him.

Wei Xiaobao continued, "But I do have a way to save your lives."

A captain among the soldiers heard Wei Xiaobao's words and said, "The Yellow Turban Army is just struggling to survive. I used to admire you as a brave man, but now it seems that you are just a coward who is afraid of death."

Wei Xiaobao chuckled twice and said, "Whether I have the guts or not, we'll know after we meet your Lord Lu. I'm just afraid you don't have the guts to send me off."

The captain sneered and said, "Whose crotch wasn't covered tightly and you're exposed? Not to mention you, even if Zhang Jiao came, he'd kill you with a single blow. If you want to see our Lord Lu, reincarnate again."

Suddenly, a guard came running up from a distance and approached, asking, "My lord, your order is that if we capture him alive, we should send him to the military camp. If we don't catch him alive, we should tie up all the soldiers guarding the food tonight."

The captain immediately changed his expression and pointed at Wei Xiaobao behind him and said, "We have caught two alive and are preparing to take them to your tent." The guard said, "Send them there quickly, don't delay." After saying that, he turned around and left.

The captain waved his hand to signal the soldiers.

When Wei Xiaobao passed by the captain, he stopped and said, "Master Lu's brain is better than yours. Yours is full of straw."

The captain was so angry that his face turned purple, but he couldn't do anything about Wei Xiaobao.

After walking a few steps, Tang Qin couldn't help but ask, "How do you know Lu Zhi won't kill us?"

Wei Xiaobao was still angry at him for betraying him, so he said casually, "I'm quite good at calculating, otherwise how could I have dared to break into the enemy camp at night?"

In reality, what Wei Xiaobao had just said was nothing more than a way to fool Zhang Kai and Zhang Liang, meaning to first be unreasonable and make the other party not kill him immediately, so that he could then think of a way out. This was all based on the experience Wei Xiaobao had accumulated at the gambling table. As long as he could continue to gamble, there was always a chance to make a comeback. The only thing he feared was being completely eliminated by the dealer, which would mean he would never have another chance.

However, Tang Qin's words reminded Wei Xiaobao that judging from the content of the message conveyed by the guards, Lu Zhi did not know whether he had captured the person alive, but what was certain was that Lu Zhi really hoped to capture him alive.

After realizing this, Wei Xiaobao suddenly felt that he had the capital to gamble. Since Lu Zhi wanted Wei Xiaobao to be alive, no matter what he was going to do, at least Wei Xiaobao didn't have to worry about his head being snapped off.

Wei Xiaobao and Tang Qin were thrown onto the ground in Lu Zhijun's tent.

Lu Zhi asked, "Who led the attack on our camp tonight?"

Wei Xiaobao noticed that Tang Qin was about to speak, so he pretended to be unsteady and bumped his shoulder against Tang Qin's waist, whispering, "Shut up if you want to live."

Although Wei Xiaobao knew nothing about marching and fighting, he grew up in a brothel and later dealt with the imperial palace, the Tiandihui and the Shenlong Sect. These were all places full of intrigue, which naturally made Wei Xiaobao understand a truth: just like gambling with dice, if you report the size before the other party shakes the dice, you will only lose.

Wei Xiaobao said, "Come and kill us if you want. We won't tell you anything you ask. Don't even think about getting any information from us about tonight's raid on the camp, the number of troops in the city, or the deployment of the defenses."

Wei Xiaobao's trick is called showing off his treasure at the gambling table. It means revealing his gambling money to make the other party tempted. On the one hand, it can make the other party feel at ease to gamble with him, without worrying about winning nothing in the end; on the other hand, it can disturb the other party's mind and make the other party focus on his gambling money, so that he will not notice that he is cheating.

These were all tricks Wei Xiaobao had learned in the gambling houses of Yangzhou. However, at that time, he didn't have much money and just saw others use these tricks. Later, when he raided Aobai's house and had money in hand, he no longer bothered to use these tricks.

However, this trick did work when used on Lu Zhi.

(End of this chapter)