309 Grand Golden Terrace
Ye Ruoyi took out a scroll from her robes and laid it out on the table. It was filled with densely packed names. "This is a list of distinguished guests we must invite."
"Distinguished guests?" Lei Wujie was puzzled.
"Yes. We’re going to host a banquet. These people are either high-ranking nobles in Heavenly Revelations City or high-ranking officials and nobles in the imperial court. There are also the military generals and the merchants and tycoons of Heavenly Revelations City. The nobles represent the Xiao Clan imperial family, the high-ranking officials hold the influence of the most prestigious families in Heavenly Revelations, the generals are backed by the Beili armies, and these tycoons control the economic lifeline of the entire Heavenly Revelations. Among these people, some we’ll need to win over, and some we will need to enforce deterrence!" Ye Ruoyi explained.
"White Prince Xiao Chong, Red Prince Xiao Yu," Sikong Qianluo read out the two names right at the top. "Xiao Se, are these your brothers?"
"Yes." Xiao Se gave a cold smile as he brushed his fingers across the two names. "Most of the people who intercepted my return to Heavenly Revelations were sent by these two brothers."
"So da-shixiong…" Lei Wujie glared at the two names ferociously. "It's them!"
Xiao Se waved his hand and rolled up the scroll. "Many of the names on there are no longer familiar to me. You’ve been in Heavenly Revelations for many years. I trust your judgment. Let Steward Xu prepare the invitations and send them to the respective Residences."
"Under which name?" Ye Ruoyi asked, "Sixth prince, or Yong'an Prince?"
"Xiao Se." Xiao Se tapped the table lightly with his hand. "Use this name."
"Alright." Ye Ruoyi nodded and continued, "As for the venue, Diaolou Mansion or Tianxia Pavilion are both good choices. The number of guests we’re inviting is quite a lot, or we could have held it in your Residence, but I know you’ve never liked those common people entering your mansion, so I didn’t even consider it."
"I have a plan for that." Xiao Se shook his head. "Forget Diaolou Mansion or Tianxia Pavilion. How can those vulgar places be worthy of a banquet hosted by me, Xiao Se? We’re going to Grand Golden Terrace!"
"Grand Golden Terrace?" Lei Wujie started. "The number one gambling den in Heavenly Revelations?"
"No." Xiao Se grinned. "The number one gambling den under Heaven."
Ye Ruoyi was also surprised. "Host a banquet in a gambling den?"
Xiao Se gathered his sleeves. "It's about time we go out for a walk and meet some old friends."
Grand Golden Terrace, the largest of the four major gambling dens in Heavenly Revelations. It was called Grand Golden Terrace, because right in the centre of its building was indeed a high terrace constructed of a thousand gold. From the nobles of the Xiao Clan to the wealthy merchants and tycoons, those who could step into Grand Golden Terrace were no ordinary folk. Hence, in there, no one was considered important. Whoever you were, if you lost money there, you had to accept the bill compliantly, because the identity of the patron who supported Grand Golden Terrace was very mysterious. Once, the eldest son of the Minister of Revenue lost money at Grand Golden Terrace and created a huge fuss, but afterwards, he disappeared inexplicably. The next day, the young master was transported via a carriage to the Minister’s Residence. He didn’t lose his life but lost his right hand forever.
Xiao Se walked out of Fallen Snow Villa and headed straight for Grand Golden Terrace. This piece of news spread all over Heavenly Revelations in an instant.
A prince who was hoping to vie for the throne returned to Heavenly Revelations and besides his own home, the first place he went to was actually a gambling den?
However, the former Xiao Se was indeed a frequent visitor of Grand Golden Terrace. Although he was a prince, he loved to gamble, and he was very good at gambling. He once gambled there with the Crown Prince of Nanjue, Ao Yu, and won a city in Nanjue. This became a legendary story that was widely circulated in Heavenly Revelations.
Xiao Se brought Lei Wujie and the others to Grand Golden Terrace and arrived in a short time. It was only noon, but the whole gambling den was already full of people. There were many opulently dressed people sitting inside, looking at the bets on the table with serious expressions. Lightly dressed and graceful women sat on the gaming tables, a pair of slender jade-like hands shaking the treasure boxes they held. Among these people, there were some foreigners with blue eyes and wrapped in fur. If it wasn’t because he was certain that they were in Heavenly Revelations, Lei Wujie would have thought they were in Sangu City’s Beauty Villa, except Grand Golden Terrace was much bigger, a lot a lot bigger.
It was bigger than Tianxia Pavilion, bigger than Diaolou Mansion. It could accommodate those people on Ye Ruoyi's list, and more importantly, it had the boldness to accommodate those people.
Standing above the world-famous thousand-gold terrace were a dozen or so guards armed with blades, identical grave and stern expressions on their faces. Unlike the rowdy atmosphere of the gambling floor, these dozen or so people were as cold as ice. Only their eyes scanned the entire floor coldly, their hands pressed to the hilts of their blades, as if they were ready to draw them at a moment’s notice.
Xiao Se and the others walked onto the gambling floor. An attendant of the gambling floor saw that he was well-dressed and hurried forward to welcome him, but he was stopped by a person who raised his arm. The attendant looked up, recognised the man and hurriedly bowed his head. "Jiu-ye, what are your orders?"
The man was quite handsome, but he was dressed very casually. It was as if he’d worn an old nightgown and dragged himself unsteadily into Grand Golden Terrace. He smirked and revealed a golden tooth. "Who do you think you are, to be qualified to welcome such guests?"
"Jiu-ye, this one has been working here for more than two years. But this master doesn’t look familiar, so he should be a new visitor, right." The attendant was puzzled.
"Idiot, go look for your boss and tell him the guest is here. Hurry and tidy him up, and get rid of those little birds around him. Don’t defile the eyes of our distinguished guests," the man called Jiu-ye chastised impatiently.
The attendant thought to himself that although this Jiu-ye always appeared a little strange, he could almost be considered a person of some status in Heavenly Revelations, and his relationship with Grand Golden Terrace was especially good. He wouldn’t be saying all that for no good reason, so he hurriedly acknowledged him and excused himself.
Jiu-ye gathered his sleeves, cleared his throat, and stepped forward. In a loud voice, he announced, "Sixth prince, you’re back!"
Xiao Se heard the voice and turned his head with a smile. "I had a guess that I would meet one of you first, but didn’t think it’d be you. Jiu-ye."
Jiu-ye hurriedly flapped his hand. "Undeserved, undeserved. Don’t call me ‘ye’, it’s the brothers who use it to elevate me. Sixth prince, you must not taunt me like this. These guests are… Oh? Is this not the young miss of the General’s Residence!"
Ye Ruoyi said in confusion, "You recognise me?"
Jiu-ye raised his eyebrows. "I don’t need to recognise anyone but I must recognise you. This young lady is definitely one of the top three on the list of most beautiful ladies in the capital."
"List of most beautiful ladies? Who ranked it?" Sikong Qianluo asked curiously.
"Naturally it was ranked by this lowly one." Jiu-ye grinned and turned his head to look. His eyes widened immediately. "This, this, this... this lady will definitely have a spot in there tomorrow!"
Xiao Se seemed to be very familiar with this Jiu-ye, and he quickly introduced, "This is Jiu Jiudao, because Heavenly Revelations has nine streets and nine avenues, and he has influence in all eighty-one of them, so everyone calls him Jiu-ye. These are my friends. Lei Wujie, disciple of Snow Moon City Second Citymaster Li Hanyi, and Sikong Qianluo, daughter of Third Citymaster Sikong Changfeng."
Jiu Jiudao hurriedly returned a bow. "Amazing, amazing."
"Stop acting. Haven’t you already gotten the specifics in the past few days?" Xiao Se smirked as he eyed Jiu Jiudao's posturing.
"Jiu-ye, upstairs sent this one down to invite the distinguished guests to go up." The attendant from earlier appeared suddenly and spoke softly behind Jiu Jiudao.