Bai Zheng squinted her eyes imperceptibly.
This Feng Linche was really too suspicious.
Today, she had made great efforts to play the role of a cowardly and useless young lady from a noble family, just to avoid arousing Feng Linche's suspicion.
The reason why he had agreed to betroth Bai Zheng to Feng Linyuan back then was simply because Bai Zheng had a bad reputation and no family background to rely on.
But now seeing that Feng Linyuan cared about Bai Zheng, it naturally raised Feng Linche's alarm.
He knew Feng Linyuan well and was aware that beneath his gentle appearance, there still lurked a heart that looked down on others. If Bai Zheng didn't have some special qualities, would Feng Linyuan be so protective of her?
Feng Linyuan was first stunned, as if he hadn't reacted to the intention behind Feng Linche's sudden question. Then he sneered coldly and said word by word as a matter of course.
"As a man, no matter how useless I am, I won't allow my fiancée to kill someone for another man."
Feng Linche frowned. Naturally, he could understand the meaning behind Feng Linyuan's words.
Now Bai Zheng was involved not in an ordinary storm but in a murder case, and the reason for the killing was to fight for the Fourth Prince Feng Jingyang out of jealousy.
If this were true, the first one to lose face would not be Bai Yinan but Feng Linyuan, Bai Zheng's fiancé.
"I beg Your Majesty to allow this competition to clear Zheng'er of suspicion." Feng Linyuan said solemnly. Then he looked at the Marquis of Gaochang, whose face was extremely ugly, and softened his tone.
"Miss Zheng died so unjustly. If an innocent person is slandered while the real murderer goes scot - free, I'm afraid Miss Zheng's soul will not rest in peace even in the underworld."
The Marquis of Gaochang trembled his lips. As if he remembered what the eunuch had said about Zheng Yan's tragic death, he closed his eyes again in great pain.
"Compete."
The Marquis of Gaochang finally spoke, spitting out a single word. Then he looked up at Feng Linche earnestly and said, "I beg Your Majesty to find the real murderer for my daughter."
Feng Linche stared closely at Feng Linyuan. After a long while, he said in a deep voice, "Since the Marquis of Gaochang has personally spoken, then let there be a competition."
As his voice fell, the Marquis of Gaochang personally selected a guard. At the same time, Qing Shao, whose wrists had been tied, was finally untied.
The named guard stepped forward, and Bai Zheng was stunned.
This guard was an old acquaintance.
He was none other than the "Captain Mo" who had almost discovered them when Bai Zheng and Feng Linyuan were stealing medicine in the study of the marquis's mansion.
As soon as she saw this man, Bai Zheng knew something was wrong.
Although she had only had a short contact with him, she had a very deep impression of him.
At that time, Captain Mo was about to discover them, but because of a subordinate's words "the young lady is in trouble", he had rushed out of the study.
Bai Zheng naturally knew what this meant.
It was very likely that Zheng Yan held a very important position in Captain Mo's heart.
She looked at Qing Shao worriedly.
"Since this man was personally selected by the Marquis of Gaochang, I'm sure no one will object, right?" Although Feng Jingxuan's words were addressed to everyone, his eyes were coldly fixed on Bai Zheng.
"Of course not. But, my lord," Bai Zheng asked, "I wonder if this gentleman's skills are better than Miss Zheng's or on a par with hers?"
The Marquis of Gaochang rubbed his temples and said in a deep voice, "Most of Yan'er's mediocre martial arts were taught by him. This man knows Yan'er no less than I do."
Bai Zheng nodded and then carefully looked at Captain Mo. "Since you have a teacher - student relationship with Miss Zheng, I'm sure you sincerely hope to find the real murderer for Miss Zheng, right?"
Captain Mo's eyes darkened, and he replied gnashing his teeth, "I will never let the person who killed the young lady go!"
"That's good. I hope you will have a fair competition and don't wrong an innocent person."
Due to her lack of understanding of Qing Shao's abilities and her worry that Qing Shao would be injured again, Bai Zheng had to remind Captain Mo emphatically.
Captain Mo didn't say a word. He just gave Bai Zheng a deep look and suddenly shouted, "Take this!"
Qing Shao, who was still rubbing her wrists, suddenly looked up and saw the opponent advancing with an iron - palm strike.
Qing Shao didn't have time to think about anything else. She quickly took a step back to the side. This step was like standing on ice, and she smoothly slid several meters away.
Seeing Qing Shao change her position, Captain Mo also turned around and pressed forward again. Although Qing Shao was no match for him in strength, she was very flexible because of her small stature.
She tapped the ground with her left foot, lifted her right foot into the air, and flipped her extremely soft waist, barely avoiding Captain Mo's powerful palm strike.
In an instant, the two fought bare - handed for more than ten rounds.
Everyone held their breath in excitement.
But Bai Zheng stared at the cloth bandage on Qing Shao's arm, which was getting darker and darker, and her eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper.
No, this was too passive!
From the moment Zheng Yan's death was discovered until now, she had always been in a state of being constantly attacked by the opponent and barely defending herself.
As a result, now Qing Shao, who was clearly injured by a knife, still had to compete with others for her sake.
Even if Qing Shao was good at martial arts, it was inevitable that the wound would be affected during the fight, and it would definitely hurt more.
Even if Qing Shao won this round, how much slander was waiting for her later?
Moreover, once Feng Jingyang really found the jade pendant she had thrown out, she would ultimately have to bear the charge of murder because she couldn't produce enough evidence.
This couldn't go on like this.
Bai Zheng's eyes became firm.
Rather than sitting waiting for doom, it was better to take the initiative to attack!
Moreover, she wasn't completely passive. At least, she had already learned the truth about Zheng Yan's death from Qing Shao.
Suddenly, Bai Zheng thought of something. She glanced at Feng Jingyang indifferently, but her gaze fell on Feng Linche, who was sitting on the upper seat holding the jade pendant.
Feng Linyuan beside her followed Bai Zheng's gaze and also looked at Feng Linche.
"Does Zheng'er mean...?" Feng Linyuan raised his eyebrows slightly.
Bai Zheng nodded and said concisely, "The jade pendant."
Just as the two reached a consensus, in the middle of the main hall, there was a tearing sound. Qing Shao found a gap in the opponent's defense. She clawed with her five fingers and tore the opponent's clothes from bottom to top. Suddenly, Captain Mo's chest was completely exposed.
"Good!" The King of Yi was the most straightforward. He had watched the fight with great pleasure and couldn't help but praise, "Sure enough, she's a person trained by A Yuan."
Feng Jingyi also smiled and said, "Even the teacher of Miss Zheng can't hurt this maid at all, let alone Miss Zheng, who had a broken leg. It seems that there's another reason for the injury on this maid."
The faces of Feng Jingyang and Concubine Zhao were extremely ugly.
"But this injury was clearly caused by the knife in Miss Zheng's hand!" Bai Di showed a fierce look. Her eyes were like sharp swords, wishing to pierce two bloody holes in Bai Zheng's face.
"This injury was indeed caused by Miss Zheng's knife, but there's obviously another reason for it." Feng Linyuan said calmly.
"Being injured by the deceased, what other reason could there be?" Concubine Zhao roared angrily.
Feng Linyuan didn't look at her. He only looked up at Feng Linche on the upper seat. "I wonder if Your Majesty can let Zheng'er take a closer look at this jade pendant?"