Hua Wu Que followed the young eunuch, winding through the Forbidden City. Soon, they arrived at a small courtyard filled with the scent of flowers. The eunuch looked around cautiously, then pulled Hua Wu Que through the door. Feeling the boy’s smooth, delicate hand, Hua Wu Que felt a shiver of disgust and quickly pulled away.
Princess Jianning was delighted that her maidservant had not yet returned, and she was surprised to see his actions. She turned and looked him up and down, finally asking, “You really don’t recognize me?”
Hua Wu Que finally saw the person in front of him. This was not Wei Xiao Bao but a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old. She had an oval face, thin lips, and lively eyes. Her big eyes were staring at him with interest.
He felt a bit helpless. The girl had no figure at all, her upper body was flat, and she was wearing eunuch clothing. In the dim light, it was impossible to tell she was a woman, which caused this misunderstanding.
Seeing him ignore her, Jianning furrowed her brows slightly and said in a clear, melodious voice, “You have a lot of nerve! As a guard, you dare to leave your post and neglect your duty. Are you not afraid of losing your head?”
Hearing her threaten him, Hua Wu Que’s heart stirred. If this girl spread the word, his identity would be exposed. Right now, they were alone. It would be better to kill her and avoid any further trouble!
A flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes, but then he heard the girl laugh and say, “Last time, I heard from Huang Gong Gong that many guards and eunuchs in the palace often gamble in private. You said you waited a long time. Did you make an appointment with Xiao Chun Zi to try your luck?” She thought to herself, luckily she hadn’t mentioned her Emperor brother. This guard was handsome and had never seen her before. It was really fun to tease him.
Hua Wu Que listened to her innocent words and her misunderstanding. He decided to play along, saying, “Oh, I’m just impatient. Tell me, how can I keep you from revealing this?”
“I’ve begged them to teach me about gambling, but they wouldn’t. You must know. Will you tell me?” She circled around Hua Wu Que, then stood in front of him, feigning ferocity. “If you don’t agree, I’ll scream and call the guards, and they’ll chop off your head!”
Hua Wu Que thought that he didn’t know where to find Wei Xiao Bao. The Forbidden City was too complicated, and he was too easily exposed alone. He might as well play with this girl for a while, as a place to hide. He pretended to be helpless and nodded. “Fine, I’m unlucky today. Tell me what you want to know, and I’ll tell you.”
Seeing him agree, Princess Jianning cheered and ran into the inner room. She struggled to lift a box and threw it on the table. Hua Wu Que looked inside. Wow, the box contained all kinds of gambling tools. He wondered where she got them.
Seeing his surprised expression, Jianning picked up a set of playing cards and said triumphantly, “These are the props I use to threaten them into giving them to me. Hurry, hurry, teach me how to play this!”
“That won’t do. What’s the point of gambling without a stake?” Hua Wu Que deliberately made it difficult, wanting to tease her.
Originally, hearing his refusal, Jianning thought he was deceiving her, and she was about to lash out, finding someone to tie him up and give him a good whipping. But when she heard his subsequent words, she felt that it made sense. She turned and ran back into the inner room, rummaged through things for a while, found an exquisite jewelry box, held it in her arms, and came out, showing it off with glee, “This is the Emperor, uh, the gift that Huang Gong Gong gave me. This is our stake, right?”
Hua Wu Que saw that the box was filled with glittering gold, and the jewels and hairpins were not ordinary. He thought that this girl’s identity was probably not so simple. He decided to test her, took out a phoenix hairpin from the box, then slowly put it back, sighing, “This is certainly enough. But I usually gamble with the guards, and we have a deal to split the winnings when we leave the palace. Now, without our private gambling, I can’t take it out of the palace.”
Princess Jianning, hearing his refusal again, was so angry that she threw the box to the ground. She walked back and forth a few steps, then kicked over a chair. “This won’t work, that won’t work. Then tell me, what kind of stake will make you willing to teach me?”
Hua Wu Que looked her up and down, making her feel a little hairy. He smiled, “This is easy. We use our bodies as the stake, okay?”
Although Princess Jianning was young, she had been taught about men and women by the old mamas around her. Hearing his words, she thought he was making a shameless request to her. She quickly covered her chest, stepped back a few steps, “Al, although you’re handsome, don’t even think about it!”
Seeing her misunderstanding, Hua Wu Que shook his head and laughed. “You’re so young. Why do you have so many dirty thoughts? I meant that whoever loses, the other person slaps their palm. Where did your mind go?”
Normally, no one dared to joke with her like this. Although Princess Jianning felt a little embarrassed, she still refused to admit her mistake. She grabbed the playing cards and threw them on the table, urging Hua Wu Que to start quickly.
PS The image of the heroine in “The Deer and the Cauldron” is mainly based on Stephen Chow’s film version. Jianning is the Qiu Shuzhen version.