Thanks to Chu Qiao’s painstaking management, her Fortune Casino had eventually revived from its previous failure and was reopened. Just in the first three days, Chu Qiao has made a fortune. Taking off her veil with satisfaction, she detoured to the back door of the silk shop through a narrow alley, came out from its front gate blatantly, and then returned to the Prince Palace by carriage.
Zhe Liu lowered her voice, "What did Your Highnesses say to the guys at the casino? We have made more than one thousand coins in just three days! "
"I have an ace up my sleeve." Chu Qiao smiled mysteriously.
It was just a piece of cake for a reborn Princess of the Underworld, so although she didn’t try to learn gambling consciously, she did learn a lot of tricks by just watching other people do it in her past life. What's more, these guys in the Fortune Casino were very smart. It was all because of the useless management tactics from the ignorant former boss that this casino kept losing money. The casino has plenty of guests, so with her suggestions and improvement, it's only a matter of time before profits kept rolling in.
Having come to know the benefits of making her own money, Chu Qiao went back to Phoenix-Perching Palace happily, and on her way she was planning to buy a brothel when the casino got back on track.
Zhe Liu pushed the door open, and then the smile froze on Chu Qiao's face.
The room was ablaze with candles, while Dantai Yunhan was sitting on the master’s seat with a teacup in his hand. He looked at Chu Qiao and said casually, "You are back."
Signalling Zhe Liu to leave, Chu Qiao stepped into the palace, bowed and asked, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Dantai Yunhan raised his eyebrows: "I heard that you have been frequently getting in and out of this Palace recently, is that true?"
Chu Qiao looked into his eyes and smiled, "I was just tailoring some new clothes. I wouldn't bother Your Highness with such trifles."
"Really?" Dantai Yunhan squinted his eyes, which showed his doubts. The guards reported that Chu Qiao would stay for over 2 hours out of the Palace each time. How could tailoring new clothes take so long?
"Yes."
Hearing her quick and clear answer, Dantai Yunhan snorted and diverged, "All right. My birthday is in seven days. The Emperor will come in person this year. Is everything in order for the banquet? "
"Birthday banquet? " Oh shoot! Chu Qiao was so occupied with the casino that she had completely forgotten about the birthday banquet. Her facial expressions changed swiftly as she looks down, feeling at fault.
Tantai Yunhan frowned and said, "Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about it!"
Chu Qiao quickly looked up and denied, "Of course not!"
"Well, you'd better not. Otherwise..." the look in Dantai Yunhan's face turned cold as he put down the teacup heavily on the table. "You will spare no effort in preparing for my birthday banquet, and there shall be no mistakes."
Preoccupied with ideas of preparing for the banquet, Chu Qiao only responded with a perfunctory "Sure".
Her absent-mindedness breathed fire into Dantai Yunhan’s belly, so he stood up and was ready to leave. When passing by her side, he suddenly noticed that she wasn’t wearing the golden hairpin with butterflies anymore. Instead she was wearing twin hairpins with azure stones.
He turned sullen instantly at the thought of how other women would happily show off the gifts they got from him whereas Chu Qiao didn’t even care to wear it. He was about to question her, but Chu Qiao had already walked past him towards the inner hall.
Feeling more irritated, Dantai Yunhan said in a cold voice: "Wait, you..."
Chu Qiao was parting the pearl curtain to get inside, so her hand froze in the air. She turned around and asked, "Hmm? What else can I do for Your Highness? "
Tantai Yunhan was going to ask why she didn’t wear the golden hairpin and if it was because she didn’t like it. But on a second thought, it would seem that he cared too much about her, so he snorted, "The hairpin on your head doesn’t go along. Don't wear it again.", and then left.
Feeling confused, Chu Qiao removed the hairpin and looked at it carefully, murmuring to herself, "I think it looks perfect on me. What's wrong with him? "
She only took a short rest in the inner hall before Qing Luo came in, "Your Highness, Madam Zhong begs for an audience."
Zhong Jinchun? She finally came. Chu Qiao knew that after so many times of pledging allegiance, she must be here to ask for a favor today. Chu Qiao nodded slightly, "Let her in."
Dressed in a pale blue dress, Zhong Jinchun paced slowly into the hall and made a grand curtsy to the Princess: "Your Highness."
Her maid, Bai Zhi (lit. Angelica), also curtsied: "Your Highness."
Chu Qiao raises her hand, "Please get up. You don’t need to be overcautious, Sister Zhong. If Bai Zhi had not come to inform me that day, I’m afraid that Qing Luo would have been killed. I owe you a favor."
Zhong Jinchun smiled and replied: "You overpraised me, Your Highness. There is no need to thank me, for I only did what I should do. It's a pity that my words didn’t make any difference because of my low status, so I couldn’t offer much help. It’s your extraordinary resolution that saved Qing Luo from danger. "
"It's nice of you to offer timely help. Don't be so modest. Have a seat." Chu Qiao pointed at the seat for Zhong Jinchun, and asked Qing Luo to boil a new pot of tea.
"Thank you, Your Highness." Zhong Jinchun took the seat after a bow. She picked up the teacup and took a sip, looking down at the tea and said, "The tea leaves are plump, the tea looks vivid, the fragrance is lingering, it must be Longjing tea of premium quality."
"Oh? You know quite a lot about tea." Chu Qiao raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Zhong Jinchun with a subtle smile, "Are you here to discuss tea ceremony with me today?"
Zhong Jinchun put down the teacup and said: “I don’t know that much. It's just that my family has long been engaged in tea business and they are also running a tea house. To be honest, I’m here to ask for your help today, Your Highness.”
"There's no one else here. Just fire away."
Zhong Jinchun’s lips curled slightly upward and said: "Frankly speaking, although my family had enough for us to live comfortably , we are from a lower social class and have never been treated with respect. My younger brother is the only son in my family and my father holds great expectations for his future. Unfortunately, he is not born for the imperial office. Your Highness come from a family with a general, so I was thinking if you could put in a good word for him in front of your father..."
"I see," Chu Qiao pretended to ponder for a while and then said: "It's not that difficult, but what’s in it for me? "
Zhong Jinchun dismissed her maid and lowered her voice: "Fortune Casino was the side business of my family, and I hear that recently it’s been purchased by someone whose name happened to be Chu Qiao as well. In addition, the silk shop is also under the name of my family." She looked at Chu Qiao with a smile and obvious complacency.
Chu Qiao sat up straight as her face turned as black as thunder: "I don’t like to be threatened."
Zhong Jinchun hurriedly knelt down: "I didn’t mean that, Your Highnesses. I just want Your Highness to anything you like and we won’t charge you. Furthermore, Your Highness can also choose another three shops that belongs to us."
Zhong family was a well-known family in the business industry. Although they started with tea trade at first, as they flourished, they had expanded into numerous businesses over the past hundred years, including the largest restaurant and silk shop in the capital, which were considerably profitable.
But Chu Qiao never fights a battle unprepared. At least she knew about gambling skills, but operating other businesses is hard for her. She thinks a while and says: "Now that I have paid for the casino, I don’t need the refund, and I have no intention of exploring other industries. What I want, is 10% of your whole revenue."
Zhong Jinchun readily agreed: "OK, whatever Your Highness say. I have something else to tell you. " She then whispered to Chu Qiao before leaving the Palace.