Three ex-husbands and a marriage

Gambling den

I walked outside and grabbed a handful of dirt in my hands and rubbed it vigourously. Once enough had stained my palms, I threw the dirt to the ground and lightly dusted my hands. I patted my face with the dirty hands and lightly dabbed certain areas to get a subtle discoloration onto this flawless, creamy skin. At least now, the rosy complexion will be darken at first glance. I couldn't do anything about the blood stained bandage on my head except to replace it with a clean black one and pulled down my fringe to hide it as much as possible.

A quick check of the copper mirror assured me that this disguise is just passable, but if anyone pays close attention, I am done for. However, this is the best I could get at this moment. Running against the clock, I must leave this place unnoticed and make sure that every step that I take must be difficult to trace.

Three days, I need to make it alive to the Bai Regent's family within these three critical days to have any chance of survival. At least there, I will get a fair trial for the murder of Bai To without the corrupt magistrate's influence. Three days journey for two women without means, money nor power, feels like an impossible task. Luckily, the skills I learnt in my last lives have been carried over and even though I have lost Muon Rui An's internal forces, I can still easily handle the whip and dagger. There is still a sliver lining to this all and I have no other means of retreat.

For a brief moment I regretted impulsively killing Bai To and landing myself in this situation, but there is no use in crying over spilt milk. Now I think about it, I wonder how the original female lead survived such atrocious behaviours and made it to the start of the novel. Thinking about the situation, I felt that the author deserves to be whipped.

I found Mother Bai in the process of disguising herself and reminded her again of our plan and rendezvous time before fleeing out the back door. As soon as I stepped outside into the empty alleyway, I tried to walk at a leisurely pace to not attract attention. The house was located in a fairly convenient place next to the market with the backdoor located in a quiet alleyway before connecting to the busy main street.

The Bai family's house was given to them by the Bai Regent after they had depleted all the family assets after the spilt. Bai Regent felt pity for Bai Xiao Wei and gave his brother a lifeline, and he made sure that the family at least has a roof over their heads and enough money for food and servants. Unfortunately, Bai To had no commonsense and was a gambling addict. The monthly stipend was spent as soon as it arrives at the beginning of the month. Even the house that Regent Bai gave to his niece was also sold to repay debts.

I guessed that Regent Bai's intention is for his brother to find work opportunities to support his wife and child, but unwittingly reinforced his gambling addiction. In the numerous side alleys stemming of the market are where the infamous few gambling dens are located. The number of people coming in and out of those places are almost equal to those shopping at the markets. I sneered, the number of people frequenting those places in broad daylight points to the corruption of the local authorities. Under Tang law gambling is illegal, but these businesses here are simply thriving.

However, at this time, the popularity of these places is an opportunity for me. Where there are that many people, there will be those who can easily part with their money without noticing. Also, I expect that there must be means of hiring transport. I ignored my growling stomach and throbbing pain and walked right into the busiest gambling den. The place was packed with people hovering around hosted tables. People were pushing each other in an eager bid to drop silver onto the tables, stimultaenously praying and cursing as the dice rolls.

My eyes wandered around trying to find signs of bag straps and coin pouches that can easily be lifted without being felt. A few caught my eye and I slowly made my way around. Loud cheering and clapping at the middle section drew my attention. I could see a few rough looking guards hovering around this place as well. My gut tells me that something is going down and I must be around to take advantage of it. I jostled past a few people who angrily left their tables and navigated my way towards the rowdy section. Along the way my hands nimbly grabbed a few coin pouches and hid them inside my sleeves. Without much difficulty, I tiptoed to see the source of commotion. It seems like this is a winning table with a few persons dominating the house. The clerk was wiping his forehead and eyed the guards nervously.