353 The competition begins

At this moment, Zhao Yu reminded, "Although the man was driven away, that Young Mister Fei is not a good person. If he hears what we said, he might still come to trouble us. We'd better be careful in the future."

Zhao Zhitong agreed fully. "That's right, that's right, Sister Yaya, when we're not home and you need to go out to buy something, let Wei Zijian accompany you."

Wei Zijian immediately patted his chest, promising to protect Zhao Ya.

Zhao Zhitong continued, "And when is the embroidery competition? Let's attend together, so that the Fei Clan won't bully my Sister Yaya then."

"I think it's in ten days," Zhao Ya replied.

...

The group chatted while heading home.

Yang Yunniang, who was at home, was worried sick. She kept standing at the door looking out, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Zhao Ya return safely and unharmed.

「Ten days passed—a period that felt neither too long nor too short. Long, because in the blink of an eye, the day of Zhao Ya's competition arrived. Short, because a lot happened during those ten days.」

First, at the local government office, another female corpse was discovered. Her state was almost identical to the previous victim; she had been tortured before death and was in the bloom of youth. Clearly, the killer was likely a repeat offender!

The identity of the previous victim had been traced: a maid sold by the Human Trafficker Shop. After changing hands several times, she was eventually given to Young Mister Fei by someone currying favor with the Fei Clan.

As for why she ultimately died on a deserted road, Young Mister Fei claimed he did not know. Their explanation was that the maid had made a mistake and was scolded by her master, then stormed out of the house in a fit of pique, and subsequently disappeared.

The indenture contract of a servant was in the master's hands, and thus, so was their life. If the master ordered a slave beaten to death, no one would dare object. Besides, the life or death of a servant was not something the authorities concerned themselves with.

Moreover, there was no evidence to prove that she had been killed by Young Mister Fei, so the first case could only be left unresolved.

Now that another corpse had appeared, if the deceased was also identified as a servant, that case would likely end inconclusively as well.

While Zhao Zhitong was performing the autopsy, Qiao Muchen had already taken a portrait to the Human Trafficking Place to make inquiries. By the time Zhao Zhitong finished the autopsy, Qiao Muchen had also returned. As expected, the deceased was a maid who had been sold.

During this period, after several interactions with the Fei Clan, Young Mister Fei learned the identities of Zhao Zhitong and her companions. Later, he ostensibly apologized to Zhao Zhitong and the others for the incident on the river.

However, his reluctant and arrogant attitude indicated that the conflict between them would likely intensify.

But they had anticipated this before coming to Suzhou; after all, Yang Yunniang's family feud was a significant factor. Otherwise, Zhao Ya wouldn't have participated in the embroidery competition organized by the Fei Clan.

---

"Yaya, just perform as you usually do. No need to be nervous; those people are no match for you!" Wei Zijian loudly cheered for Zhao Ya.

Today, Zhao Ya was going to compete, and almost everyone had come. Zhao Yu and Qiao Muchen even took half a day off work specifically to attend.

Deeply moved, Zhao Ya promised she would definitely not disappoint everyone and would give her best performance. This prompted Wei Zijian's words of encouragement.

Zhao Ya blushed slightly at Wei Zijian's praise. "I'm not as great as you say."

Wei Zijian eagerly replied, "But you are! You are! In my heart, you're truly that amazing!"

Those standing by felt like they were witnessing an overly sweet public display of affection.

Zhao Yue clicked his tongue, a look of disdain on his face as he backed away slightly. "TSK TSK TSK, Wei Zijian, that's enough from you. Isn't it a bit late in the year for such springtime romance?" He then looked around and asked, "Hey, where's your sister? We're about to leave, why isn't she out yet?"

Wei Zijian flushed red and glared at Zhao Yue, retorting irritably, "If you don't know, how would I?"

Zhao Yue said, "Aren't you her brother? You don't even know this."

Wei Zijian replied, "We're cousins."

Zhao Yue retorted, "Cousin or not, you're still her older brother. You're just incompetent."

Wei Zijian snapped back, "You're the one who's incompetent."

Seeing the two starting to bicker, Zhao Zhitong interjected helplessly, "Stop arguing. Lanlan is writing a reply to Lieutenant Feng. She'll be out soon; let's wait for her a bit."

Wei Shulan had been very busy lately. Her newly designed composite bow had been presented to the emperor by General Feng, and the emperor had praised it greatly. She was currently making detailed modifications based on the combat requirements proposed by Lieutenant Feng.

Everyone knew about this, so no one found it strange when they heard she was replying to Lieutenant Feng. Well, except for the sarcastic Zhao Yue.

"She's always writing to Lieutenant Feng. What on earth do they find to talk about so much?"

Wei Zijian instantly found an opportunity to tease Zhao Yue. "Hey, what kind of talk is that? Lieutenant Feng is talented and handsome, he greatly admires my sister, and they share common interests. What's the big deal about exchanging a few more letters?"

Zhao Yue scoffed. "What do you mean, 'what's the big deal'? It's a huge problem, alright! What kind of women hasn't Lieutenant Feng encountered? What if he ends up deceiving your naive sister! And you, as her brother, don't even give her a heads-up."

Wei Zijian said, "My, you sound awfully sour. Don't tell me you're actually jealous!"

Zhao Yue immediately became agitated, his face stiffening. "Nonsense! Why would I be jealous? I don't even like your sister! I'm just worried she'll be deceived. After all, we grew up together. If she gets tricked, it would be humiliating for me to even admit I know her."

While Zhao Yue was stubbornly insisting this, Zhao Zhitong started coughing pointedly behind him.

At first, Zhao Yue didn't notice anything amiss. But after he finished speaking, he turned around and saw Wei Shulan standing at the door.

His face instantly stiffened.

Wei Shulan glanced at Zhao Yue and snorted coldly. "Don't worry, I'm not so naive as to be deceived! Besides, Lieutenant Feng has been strictly disciplined by General Feng since he was a child, unlike *some people* who have plenty of time to go around meeting all sorts of girls. Lieutenant Feng is very sincere, you know."

Zhao Yue's expression turned awkward. "HA HA," he chuckled drily. "Well, as long as you won't be deceived, and you like him, that's all that matters."

After saying this, he stiffly changed the subject. "Ah, isn't it almost time for the competition? Let's go, or we'll be late."

Zhao Zhitong immediately agreed, "Yes, yes, let's hurry." Saying this, she linked arms with Wei Shulan.

The others quickly chimed in with their agreement, and the group finally set off.

The competition venue was a large open space outside the Fei Clan's main gate, not far from their residence. Therefore, they took a horse carriage and quickly reached their destination.

When they arrived, a large crowd had already gathered, consisting of both onlookers and participants.

The participating women all wore white veils covering their faces, standing on the platform, waiting for the competition to begin.

After saying farewell to everyone, Zhao Ya submitted her registration form and also went up onto the platform.