Chongfei Manual

Chapter 134

Wei Luo naturally didn't know that these madams thought this way.

She had heard that Duke Ying's household had also been invited as guests. First Master Wei Min and Fifth Master Wei Kun had been among the people in House Wei, who had come to celebrate. Wei Chang Yin and Wei Chang Hong had also come. She wondered if she would be able to see them in the future.

Although Wei Luo had only recently married, she grew up with close relatives at her side. If she couldn't see them today, she would miss them dearly.

Unfortunately, this Princess Consort Yong An was very warm in her hospitality. Not only did she order the servant girls to bring fruits and pastries, she also invited her and Gao Wan to play ma diao. Wei Luo wasn't interested in this game. The only two things that interested her right now were Zhao Jie and her family. Besides, she had never played ma diao before. She always felt that this was something only irresponsible madams would do. As they played ma diao, they would gossip about other families. And so, she shook her head and said, "You two play. I'll watch from the side."

(T/N: Mahjong evolved from ma diao during Qing Dynasty. Unlike mahjong, it's a semi-cooperative game of three people against the fourth player that acts as the banker.)

Gao Wan had already sat down at the flat-surfaced beech table inlayed in gold. When she heard Wei Luo's words, she looked at her and said, "It's not fun to just watch. Imperial sister-in-law, come play with us. I'm very good at this game."

Wei Luo smiled, "Is that right? Then, all the more reason I shouldn't play. If I lose to you, I'll lose face as your elder sister-in-law."

"Is that it? I'll go easy on you then." Gao Wan insistently pulled Wei Luo to the ma diao table. There were four players in this game. Besides Gao Wan and Wei Luo, the other two people were Princess Consort Yong An and Gao Qing Yang.

There were a total of forty tiles in ma diao. There were four suits of tiles: eleven coins, nine strings of coins, nine myriads of string, and eleven myriads. Each person was given eight tiles. In counter-clockwise rotation, they would each play a tile. The highest tile would win each round. The end goal was to defeat the banker.

Since Gao Wan was skilled in this game, she would be the banker in the first game. Because Princess Consort was deliberately trying to allow her to win, Wei Luo didn't understand the right strategy at the moment, and only Gao Qing Yang was blocking her; Gao Wan won the game as the banker.

As Gao Wan gathered together the gaming chips, she said with a smile, "Imperial sister-in-law, is this the first time you're playing this game? Your actions seem very inexperienced."

Wei Luo honestly nodded and said, "I haven't played this game before."

Gao Wan put forth high stakes and the other people could only follow. Wei Luo didn't mind, but Princess Consort Yong An was somewhat pained. These inner court madams all had set monthly allowances, even a princess consort. Besides, her husband was only an outer prince. Their declining household was actually hard-pressed for money. After only a few games, Princess Consort Yong An left the game and someone else took her place.

Wei Luo gradually understood the game better. She was clever to begin with and learned things quickly. The situation gradually reversed so that her side was winning. After Wei Luo won three rounds, Gao Wan's expression started to become slightly worried.

Before the last game, Gao Wan had a servant girl place all of the gaming chips onto the table. A small jade fish, a pair of jade bracelets, and two pearls from the south sea were also added. She said, "If imperial sister-in-law can win this game, I'll give you these items."