Tang Ji and others followed Ye Hongling back to the backyard, passed through two rows of small buildings, and stepped onto the wooden bridge connecting the islands in the lake.
In an instant, several people were extremely surprised by the scene in front of them.
I saw that the building opposite was extremely luxurious and magnificent. Three tall buildings stood on one side on each side, forming a "C" shape. In the middle was an extremely wide arena. The wooden bridge under my feet was about eight feet long, which was enough for three or four people.
People walked side by side, and the wooden railings on both sides were carved with vivid patterns. The bridge body not far away was broken into several parts, looking like thick wooden boards floating on the lake.
Tang Ji swallowed and said nervously: "Ye, Butler Ye, are you sure we didn't go the wrong way?"
"Hahahaha, Mr. Tang, have you seen any other roads leading to the other side?" Ye Hongling asked back.
"Then, how do we get there?" Tang Ji asked.
"Huh!" Sun Yufu snorted coldly. When he reached the end of this part of the bridge, he jumped over and reached the other side in the blink of an eye.
Ye Hongling smiled calmly and said to Tang Ji, "That's how we live."
In Tang Ji's heart, there were ten thousand grass and mud horses passing by. No wonder the Ye family could produce so many masters and do so many tricks when crossing a bridge. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at Cheng Tie and saw that he was carrying dozens of kilograms of weight on his back.
Yinzi asked: "Can you do it?"
Cheng Tiehan smiled and touched the back of his head, then jumped to the next part of the bridge. Although his movements were not as flexible as Sun Yufu's, he quickly reached the other side.
Su Qing smiled lightly, put her arms around Shangguan Ming's slim waist, and jumped over.
Now, only Tang Ji, Jiu'er and Ye Hongling are left on the bridge.
Tang Ji raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at Jiu'er with a silly smile.
The little girl knew what he was thinking, so she ran towards the other side without saying a word: "Uncle, Jiu'er can only cross the bridge alone."
"Hey~" Tang Ji looked at her back and shook his head helplessly. Fortunately, he was so good to this damn girl. He thought of her as soon as he found something delicious and fun, but in the end, it was useless at such a critical moment.
Ye Hongling smiled and stroked his beard and said calmly: "I will take Mr. Tang over."
After saying that, before Tang Ji could react, he grabbed the latter's lapel, tiptoed the ground, and jumped forward.
In an instant, Tang Ji landed safely on the ground and sighed: "Well, Butler Ye, let me tell you, don't your Ye family consider that ordinary people will come to visit?"
"To be honest, Mr. Tang, this is the family master's villa. If it weren't for this fight, few people would come here." After Ye Hongling explained casually, he made an invitation gesture to everyone.
Soon, the group of people walked to the arena where the fight was to take place.
Tang Ji looked around. He only had a general view on the bridge. Now that he was approaching, he didn't expect that the scale here was so huge. The arena in front of him was half his body height, about seven or eight feet long and wide. It was made of stone.
It was built on blocks and was very solid. There were stands around it, which could accommodate more than a thousand people. There seemed to be boxes for watching the battle in the three-story building at the back. The servants of the Ye family could be seen everywhere, preparing for the start of the fight.
Ye Hongling turned to look at a few people and said: "Guys, a servant will take you to the stands in the back building. I have something important to do, so I'll excuse you now."
He was about to leave, but was stopped by Tang Ji.
"Steward Ye, may I ask where the gambling game is?"
After listening to Tang Ji's words, Ye Hongling glanced at the baggage Cheng Tie was carrying, and laughed and said: "There are handicaps on the first floor of the three buildings. Mr. Tang can choose at will, but there are variables in fighting.
, I hope Mr. Tang will be careful in his bets."
"Thank you." Tang Ji bowed his hand politely.
After Ye Hongling left, a servant of the Ye family came over.
"My distinguished guests, please come here. If you have anything else to do next, please tell me." The servant spread his fingers and pointed to the path on the left that leads to the wooden building behind.
Immediately, Tang Ji and others followed each other into the wooden building.
The decoration in the building is very exquisite, and the layout is very regular. There are several mahogany tables and chairs on the left hand side. There are many ceramics, bronzes and other antiques on the wooden shelves against the wall. Two landscape paintings are hung next to them.
Where a row of windows is open, the cool breeze from the lake blows in. At the corner on the right is the staircase leading upstairs. Looking inside is a long counter, separated by wooden rails, somewhat similar to
The arrangement in the pawn shop, with three middle-aged men sitting inside and many people chatting around outside, was obviously a handicap set up for this gambling match.
Tang Ji had no ink marks, so he patted Cheng Tie's arm and led him over. After some inquiring, he found out that the three people at the counter were each responsible for a level of gambling competition, so he walked straight to the leftmost window.
The short middle-aged man sitting inside smiled and said: "Sir, I have to place a bet."
"Yeah." Tang Ji nodded slightly.
"Okay, sir, do you have any candidates for betting? If not, you can go to the public notice office outside the building to check the list of people participating in this fight." The middle-aged man replied patiently.
Tang Ji did not reply, but turned around and winked at Cheng Tie.
Cheng Tie quickly took off the baggage behind him and put it on the counter. The moment he opened it, he attracted the attention of everyone around him.
"So much money? Have you risked your entire fortune?"
"Are you stupid? That boy is dressed so well and is obviously a wealthy man. Guess who he will bet on?"
"Among the third-rate players, Chu Qin and Madman Liu should be the most likely to win. Both of them are at the peak of the third-rate competition."
"..."
At this moment, Tang Ji said with a smile: "Jiang Jiu'er, eight hundred taels!"
The middle-aged man sitting at the counter was obviously very unfamiliar with the name he heard. He quickly looked through the roster and finally found the corresponding person. After thinking for a while, he whispered in a low voice: "Sir, are you sure you want to surrender?"
This person?"
"Yeah!" Tang Ji nodded and replied.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man didn't say anything else. After all, it was the other party's decision. He quickly counted the money, put it behind the counter, took out a piece of rice paper prepared in advance, and asked, "May I ask the master's name?"
After Tang Ji reported his name, he soon received the rice paper from the other party.
"This is a certificate. If Miss Jiang wins, the young master can use this certificate to come and collect the silver." The middle-aged man explained with a smile.
Tang Ji lowered his head and took a look twice, confirming that it was his name and the eight hundred taels of silver. After seeing that the ink was absorbed by the highly absorbent paper, he folded it and put it in his sleeve without thinking more, and said politely to the other party.
He nodded and turned to leave.
But before he had even taken two steps, Cheng Tie beside him said softly: "Brother Tang, I have fifty taels left, do you want to try to beat me?"
Tang Ji glanced at him sideways, nodded and replied, "Then go and take custody yourself."
Anyway, if Jiu'er wins, he will definitely earn a lot of money. These fifty taels can be considered as an incentive for Cheng Tie. If he loses, he can just deduct his regular money slowly!
On the other side, everyone had listened carefully to the name Tang Ji reported. After seeing that they were not two third-rate winners, they all asked about Jiang Jiuer.
"What about ginger wine? I've never heard of it."
"This guy probably has his eye on this girl and wants to make a bet to win the beauty's heart!"
"Eight hundred taels of silver, which is more than the combined odds of the first-class handicap. If it doesn't work, I'm going to take advantage of Chu Qin. Maybe I can get a lot of silver."
"You are so stupid. No one among the third-rate can beat Madman Liu. I have to pick up these eight hundred taels."
"..."
In an instant, everyone crowded in the building rushed to the third-rate handicap to place bets.
Tang Ji had expected this scene, but the more people he bet, the more money he would get. He raised the corners of his mouth, walked to Jiu'er, and touched her head: "If you win, this year