This cycle continued, and the Ma family weren’t blind, for the amount of money he asked for wasn’t large.
To prevent Ma Hengyuan from causing trouble, everyone turned a blind eye and let it pass.
But the trouble began in the third year.
In the first two years, Ma Hengyuan only indulged in eating, drinking, and merrymaking, perhaps visiting a brothel once in a while, which didn’t cost much in total.
In the third year, someone introduced Ma Hengyuan to the gambling den, and this pushed him straight into an abyss.
Once he got involved with the gambling den, Ma Hengyuan was constantly set up and trapped, always losing more than he won.
He returned home more frequently, demanding ever-larger sums of money, practically making outrageous demands.
The Ma family were already growing somewhat impatient with him, and then Ma Hengyuan caused a major disaster.
One day, after getting drunk, he was lured into a big setup and lost ten million in a single night.
When he sobered up at dawn and they came to collect the debt, Ma Hengyuan was dumbfounded.
Ten million, how could he possibly repay it?
After returning home, Ma Hengyuan didn’t dare speak for two days, until the gambling den sent the bill to Qingfeng Town, and the Ma family learned the truth.
The Ma family patriarch, Ma Guocai, was so furious he nearly had a heart attack and strictly forbade giving him any more money.
At this point, Ma Hengyuan lost his senses and even began to resent Ma Guocai, believing the old man was biased.
So, one night, he sneaked into the ancestral hall and stole the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest, also taking the Dragon Head Jade Pendant and wearing it.
Ma Hengyuan had it all planned out: the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest was a renowned treasure, and selling it would easily cover the ten million debt.
As for the Dragon Head Jade Pendant, he could sell it to someone discreet for a million or two, then find a place where no one knew him to live a quiet life.
In his youth, a million or two was a fortune.
But Ma Hengyuan underestimated the ruthlessness of the gambling den’s people.
They had long seen him as a cash cow and thought that if he successfully handed over the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest, they’d lose their source of profit.
So, they sent people to rob the chest that very night and denied everything the next day.
Ma Hengyuan was devastated, and with the scandal breaking at home, the Ma patriarch ordered him expelled from the family upon learning he had stolen the heirloom.
With the gambling den’s people hounding him, Ma Hengyuan resorted to a life of petty theft, scams, and deceit to pay off his debts.
Being the third son in the family, he earned the nickname Ma Sanlaizi, and over time, people got so used to it they forgot his real name.
The Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest thus fell into the hands of the gambling den’s boss.
More than a decade later, the boss died, and his son took over the business, with the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest passing to him.
His mindset was different from his father’s.
The old man had cherished the Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Chest, believing that regardless of its contents, the chest itself was a collectible work of art.
But the son was different; he was desperate to know what was inside, so he tracked down the now-aged Ma Sanlaizi and captured him.
