"Don't fight, don't fight!
Line up at the back!! "
"Aiya, hurry up and fill it in!
We're still waiting to pinch! "
"Eh, what are you saying? It's our turn now, so we have to pick our numbers carefully!"
"Pick my ass!
Why don't we just fill it in randomly? "
"Eh!
Look at you, you don't understand either!
There's a trick to this number! "
"Oh, there's a trick to this?
What's the trick?
Tell me! "
"Look!"
"The King of Chu is wandering in the garden, where is the white ape? Wang Ling is good at archery, and when the arrows are released, the ape laughs as it fights the arrows … Book bags drop everywhere, what the hell does that mean?"
"Eh, you don't understand!
This is a prediction scripture written by an expert!
Look, the King of Chu is wandering in the garden, what does that mean?
Who is the King of Chu referring to?
That's our current Emperor!
Wasn't the King of Chu the current Emperor before he inherited the throne?
Where is the white ape? That means it's a monkey in this episode! "
"Tsk, according to what you said, what does it mean when the arrows are released, the ape laughs as it fights the arrows?"
"Hey, it means that you have to buy consecutively in order to win!"
"Tsk … It's as good as not saying anything!"
"Eh, why don't you appreciate my kindness?
I was kind enough to give you advice, but you … "
"Hey, the one at the back, are you buying or not? If not, hurry up and move aside, the ones at the back are waiting!"
"Eh, it's coming, it's coming. I'm betting on the monkey in group A. The numbers are 1, 5, 13, 16, 21, 7 …"
Scenes like this could be seen playing out continuously in the various street corners of the Divine Capital. When the first wave of gambling started, the fiery scene of 500,000 silver taels being bought on the first day had already shocked the Crown Prince and the other prime ministers and important officials who were experienced in plotting for the country. However, when the first round of the lottery started seven days later, under the deliberate arrangements of the Ministry of Revenue's Minister, an ordinary commoner, Old Wang, was very 'lucky' to win the top prize.
According to Li Chengfeng's suggestion, he wanted to let everyone have a taste of the sweetness in the first episode, to let them see the hope of reaching the heavens in one step.
Initially, the Minister of Revenue wanted to arrange for their own people to win this prize but Li Chengfeng immediately stopped him from doing so. He was already so poor anyway, a week to half a month was not a big deal. He had to be serious at the beginning, or else if he treated everyone as fools, he would be abandoned like a pair of worn out shoes and become a fool himself.
Therefore, Geezer Wang, who had won the lottery, had truly reached the sky in a single bound!
He was a super lucky person who had spent ten copper coins and won five hundred thousand!
After that, Li Chengfeng told the Crown Prince and the rest to package up Old Wang. After the tax, not only did they have to provide him with personal protection, but they also had to publicize it!
Even after taking almost one-third of the high tax, Old Wang, who was originally poor and wanted to try his luck, still received more than 300,000 taels of silver!
Geezer Wang, who had been calculating meticulously every day, suddenly had more than three hundred thousand dollars in his hands. This was like reaching the heavens in a single bound. He had no idea how to spend the money!
This time, Geezer Wang was enraged, enraged to the point of insanity!
His ex-wife, who had previously despised him for being poor, had returned. Even his children who had left him had returned. His neighbors, who had always despised him for making sarcastic remarks, had also started to curry favor with him.
Restaurants, where he would be chased away by the waiters when he passed by, now treated him as a distinguished guest. Even brothels, which he had never dared to look at in the past, were all open to him. As long as he entered, he would become the most sought-after guest of the ladies.
There were hundreds of ways of life, and the fickleness of the world was nothing more than this!
One day in hell, one day in heaven — everything was decided in a single bet.
If at the beginning, such betting games had only attracted the attention and passion of gamblers, then after this, such betting games instantly blew up the entire Divine Capital!
The entire city had sunk into an inexplicable frenzy!
The prize pool for the second round instantly soared to a terrifying … three million taels of silver. It had directly increased by six times!
This time, even Zhao Bairen was shocked!
Everyone said that he was the richest man in the world, but in the end, he was so poor that he had to go around asking for money. How could all of you officials be so rich?!
At this moment, everyone — from the peddlers to the prostitutes and maids — could not help but take out some money to buy some bets.
Some of them bought up to a few hundred or a thousand bets in one go, while others bought at least four or five bets. The entire Divine Capital had sunk into an abnormal gambling frenzy.
Li Chengfeng was secretly terrified when he saw this. However, he knew that if he did not strictly control the situation, even more terrifying things would happen later on!
In order to deal with the explosive increase in the number of people, the Capital Governor had no choice but to deploy a large number of servants to maintain order. Moreover, even the Divine Capital's guards had been mobilized and were on standby.
Li Chengfeng, the Crown Prince, Zhao Hanqing, and the others sat in the Jiyue Tower, drinking tea while observing the situation on the streets. At the same time, the Capital Governor and the Capital Magistrate, the two local officials of the Divine Capital, were also accompanying them.
As the saying went, 'When the higher-ups were writing a script, the people at the bottom would have to run errands'. This was referring to the two unlucky scapegoats, the Capital Governor and the Capital Magistrate.
After Li Chengfeng's three great plans were executed, the people who were the most excited and happy were the Crown Prince, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Emperor. The person who was the most resentful was the Fourth Prince who had his plans disrupted, and the person who was the most pained … was the Capital Governor.
After all, once this matter was implemented, the Capital Governor would be the one in charge of the concrete matters.
They would be in charge of maintaining order, being in charge of security, chasing down the black dealers, and even protecting the people who had won the lottery. These dirty and tiring jobs were all done by them, yet they did not get any benefits at all!
The gazes of the Capital Governor and the Capital Magistrate when they looked at Li Chengfeng were a little off!
'Good lad, putting aside the fact that there were people playing the Drum of Notification the moment you arrived in the Divine Capital, there are even major cases happening consecutively in the Divine Capital. Now, you're not done yet? You're stirring up trouble in the imperial court!
'From now on, won't it be enough for you to stir up trouble only if you plan to usurp the throne?'
The two scapegoats were filled with resentment and criticism. However, as they sat before the Crown Prince, they could only smile apologetically.
"Reporting!
We've taken down the gambling dens that were set up privately! "
"Reporting!
We've arrested 23 illegal gamblers who were secretly spreading gambling manuals, gambling books, and other illegal gamblers!
We await Your Highness and Sir's instructions on how to handle this! "
"Reporting!
The Spirit Light Street in the west of the city is congested, and there's a large-scale civil unrest. We're in urgent need of manpower! "
"Reporting!"
Ever since the Crown Prince, Li Chengfeng, and the two scapegoats sat down, these subordinates who were in charge of passing down orders had been shuttling back and forth in the VIP pavilions like flowing water. On the surface, they were reporting to the Capital Governor and the Capital Magistrate because they were their direct subordinates after all. However, in reality, they were all reporting to Zhao Hanqing.
Zhao Hanqing had rich experience in handling matters, and he managed to get rid of them with just a few words. This was especially so when they encountered difficult cases. Li Chengfeng was extremely impressed by Zhao Hanqing's calm and smooth handling of matters.
The two of them sat in the VIP pavilions for over two hours. Seeing that the queue below had finally started to decrease, and just as the two of them were about to leave, a series of loud laughter suddenly rang out from outside.
"Third Brother, so you're here!
You've taken me a while to find you! "
When this voice rang out, Li Chengfeng's entire body tensed up.