357 A Dirty Trick

After leaving the restaurant and casino, Zhao Ya stopped everyone and expressed her disagreement, "You're all acting so rashly, indulging my recklessness. What if I had lost? We would have lost a fortune."

Zhao Zhitong patted Zhao Ya confidently, "Sister Yaya, I have faith in your abilities. Just perform as you normally do. Don't let our bet affect you. After all, that money came from the Fei Clan, so whether we win or not, we won't be at a loss. Most importantly, we can't lose our momentum."

Wei Zijian nodded in agreement, "Exactly, exactly, Master is right. We cannot lose momentum."

Amidst everyone's encouragement, the group returned to their lodgings. As soon as they arrived, Zhao Ya was ushered into her room to rest, to ensure she would have ample energy for the final round tomorrow.

「In the blink of an eye, it was time for the last round of the competition.」

The final round was quite different from the previous two. In this round, each embroiderer was given a set of plain clothes and allowed to embroider on their own in a separate room. The round lasted one day. The next day, their works would be exhibited anonymously. First, the esteemed madams and the other embroiderers would make their selections. Afterward, the audience would vote, and the piece with the most votes would be declared the winner.

The competition was still held at the Fei Residence. The Fei Clan had already prepared rooms for the five embroiderers. After receiving their plain clothes and needlework supplies, the embroiderers entered their respective rooms, where they would eat and sleep for the duration. They remained there until the early morning of the next day.

Zhao Zhitong and her companions went to the competition venue early. At that moment, there were still few people outside the Fei Residence. The Fei Clan's servant, Xiao Si, was methodically hanging the embroiderers' submitted works on the display stands. However, the works were covered with cloth, so their designs were not yet visible. The embroiderers also began to arrive on the stage. As time went by, the audience grew larger, and the buzz of their discussions made the venue increasingly lively.

But Zhao Ya was nowhere to be seen. Zhao Zhitong glanced instinctively at Fei Yi, who was stepping gracefully onto the stage. A sudden premonition of unease crept into her heart.

At this moment, Fei Yi seemed to sense Zhao Zhitong's gaze and looked back at her, a provocative smile on her face. Zhao Zhitong immediately narrowed her eyes.

Then she said to Wei Shulan beside her, "Lanlan, you all stay here and keep an eye on things. I need to find a way into the Fei Residence to check. Sister Yaya hasn't come out yet; she might have run into some difficulty."

After Zhao Zhitong spoke, everyone was alarmed and offered to go with her.

Zhao Zhitong refused, "No, you stay here and keep an eye on Fei Yi. Don't let her pull any tricks."

Wei Shulan said worriedly, "But we can't rest easy if you go alone."

Qiao Muchen nodded in agreement, "Yes, how about I go with you?"

Since it was the final day of the competition, Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue had definitely made time to attend. Wei Shulan felt slightly relieved that Qiao Muchen would accompany Zhao Zhitong.

At this moment, Wei Zijian said anxiously, "Master, let me go with you too."

Zhao Zhitong considered it and finally agreed.

So, Zhao Zhitong, Qiao Muchen, and Wei Zijian hurriedly headed to the Fei Residence. She had been worried that entering the Fei Residence would require some effort, so to their surprise, they ran into Lady Li right at the entrance.

Lady Li had just arrived and was about to enter. After hearing Zhao Zhitong's explanation, she brought Zhao Zhitong and her companions inside.

After entering the Fei Residence, Zhao Zhitong thanked Lady Li and went straight to find Zhao Ya. The rooms for the embroidery competition had been arranged in advance. Zhao Zhitong had seen Zhao Ya enter her room before she left, so she knew where Zhao Ya's room was. Without much searching, they arrived at the room where Zhao Ya was staying for the competition.

As expected, Zhao Ya was in trouble. They hadn't even reached the door when they heard Zhao Ya scream.

Immediately following the shriek was a man's voice, laced with both threat and inducement.

"If you're sensible, submit to me. I can smooth this over for you, and you'll still be able to compete."

"And I can guarantee you'll make it into the top three. Afterward, you can enter our Fei Clan Embroidery Workshop. This is an opportunity countless people couldn't hope for. Think it over carefully."

"If you're not willing, that's fine too. However, I'm afraid you won't be able to participate in this competition."

The man's voice was somewhat familiar. After a brief moment of recollection, Zhao Zhitong realized it was the Fei Clan's young master—Fei Wen. This young master looked outwardly respectable despite his youth, yet he was a pervert. This was something they'd discovered while investigating the corpses of those two girls, but they currently lacked the evidence to bring this animal to justice! From his words just now, he'd clearly set his sights on Zhao Ya. Consequently, their strides involuntarily quickened.

Just as Zhao Ya screamed her refusal, the three of them burst in.

His 'pleasure' suddenly interrupted, Fei Wen felt a surge of anger rush to his head. He was about to turn and unleash his temper, but upon seeing Qiao Muchen, he swallowed the curses on the tip of his tongue, and his imposing manner instantly weakened. He instinctively released his grip on Zhao Ya's shoulder.

Zhao Ya finally escaped Fei Wen's vile clutches and fled to Zhao Zhitong's side, grabbing her arm as if her life depended on it. Zhao Ya, whose disposition was already somewhat timid, was truly terrified now. Zhao Zhitong could feel Zhao Ya's hand, still trembling, in her grasp. Zhao Zhitong gently patted the back of her hand and gave her a reassuring glance.

Wei Zijian glared at Fei Wen, his eyes practically shooting fire, looking like he might charge forward and strike him at any second.

Qiao Muchen stood at the front, staring emotionlessly at Fei Wen, and asked, "Young Master Fei, what exactly were you doing?"

Fei Wen seemed terrified of Qiao Muchen. His usual arrogance vanished, and he quickly said, "Nothing, nothing! I just saw that Miss Zhao seemed to have encountered some difficulty, so I came to see if I could be of any assistance." He then looked around and said with a nervous chuckle, "It seems my help isn't needed, haha. In that case, I'll be going then."

With that, he tried to leave in a hurry.

Right now, Zhao Ya's competition was the most important thing. So, seeing Fei Wen flee in a panic, Zhao Zhitong didn't try to stop him.

Wei Zijian was frustrated. "He was clearly bullying Yaya! Are we just going to let him off so easily?"

Zhao Zhitong glanced in the direction Fei Wen had fled and gave a cold smirk. "Of course not!"

They had no evidence at the moment, so on the surface, they couldn't do anything to him. However, to deal with a perverted scoundrel, one had to use a scoundrel's methods. In a turn of her thoughts, Zhao Zhitong had already devised countless ways to torment him.

She then looked at Zhao Ya and asked what had happened. Zhao Ya's face was pale. She fought back tears and recounted what had happened in a distressed voice.

It turned out she had finished her piece last night, hung it in her room, and then gone to sleep. But when she woke up this morning, she discovered that the clothes she had embroidered had been slashed with a cut!