Xiaosuisui was commandingly playing dice on the table, with Ji Youzhi standing by her side, protecting her.
Zhao Fei tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. The enforcers in the Gambling House noticed him and were about to drive him away. However, they ended up quietly retreating—it was unclear whether this was due to the intimidating aura of Ji Youzhi and Dugu Xiao, or because Xiaosuisui, with her hands on her hips preparing to take on a group of gamblers, looked too formidable.
"Seventh Ji, how can you let such a young child gamble? What if she loses everything? All the silver she brought is not a small sum!"
Indeed, after Xiaosuisui took out a handful of silver, the old gambler across from her stared at her purse with gleaming eyes and said, "Little girl, this bit of silver is barely enough for me to enjoy a cup of tea. Do you have more? Bring some more out."
Xiaosuisui then took out two large handfuls of silver from her purse and put them on the table, loudly asking, "Sir, is this enough for your tea?"
Seeing that she had truly fallen for it, the gamblers burst into laughter, joining in the chorus, "Not enough!"
Xiaosuisui took out another handful. "Is it enough now?"
"Not enough!"
Xiaosuisui took out several more handfuls of silver, which even included more than a dozen silver notes of not-too-large denominations.
The gamblers’ eyes widened involuntarily. "Your purse doesn’t seem big, and it looks quite deflated. How can you take out so much silver all at once?"
Xiaosuisui giggled, grabbing a few more silver notes, even pulling out a few pearl flowers bestowed by the Empress Dowager.
Upon seeing those pearl flowers, some gamblers could hardly resist the temptation to snatch them.
Yet, before their hands could reach, Ji Youzhi’s sword was out. "The game hasn’t even started! Are your eyes already clouded by greed?"
The gamblers weren’t fools. Ji Youzhi’s attire, his features, and even his aura were clearly far from ordinary. Now that he stood beside this little girl, they presumed he must be a family member. Thus, the gamblers who wanted to play dice with Xiaosuisui couldn’t help but ask.
"Who are you? What’s your relationship with this little girl?"
Ji Youzhi’s lips curled slightly. Before he could respond, he heard the little girl answer crisply, "He’s my Seventh Uncle!"
As expected, he’s from the little girl’s family, the gamblers thought.
"An uncle bringing his niece to a Gambling House. You lot are really one of a kind! Quite interesting!"
The gamblers looked Ji Youzhi up and down with intrigued expressions.
Ji Youzhi didn’t mind. As long as Xiaosuisui didn’t say anything shocking, he had nothing to worry about.
Dugu Xiao, on the other hand, watched Xiaosuisui take out silver with one hand and silver notes with the other. Though others didn’t show much reaction, his own heart skipped a beat.
"Seventh Ji, do you even know what ’concealing one’s wealth’ means? Our little niece is so willful, and you don’t even bother to rein her in?"
Hearing his words, Ji Youzhi shot him a glare and sneered, "Who’s your niece? Stop flattering yourself!"
This is too much! Ji Youzhi fumed internally. With so many brothers at home, the little girl already had several uncles doting on her in rotation. He was often away, which already put him at a disadvantage. To make matters worse, two big shots from the Palace were also vying for her attention. He was already displeased that so many people were coveting their precious treasure, and now Dugu Xiao had shown up! So thick-skinned!
Ji Youzhi wore his discontent plainly on his face.
Dugu Xiao touched his nose and murmured, "If she doesn’t call me Uncle, then what? Or do you think a different kind of ’uncle’ title would be more fitting?"
Hearing this, Ji Youzhi glared at Dugu Xiao, grinding his molars audibly. Before he could retort, Dugu Xiao continued as if struck by a realization, "Actually, she shouldn’t call me uncle. After all, her mother and I once had... MMPH... MMPH..."