Pinglu City, in a residential courtyard district not far from the academy.
The faded red walls and white tiles bore many traces of time and weather. The area looked unremarkable, but the identities of those living here were anything but ordinary.
At dusk, after Yelena returned to one of the small courtyards, a middle-aged woman cleaning the yard straightened up and saluted. "Princess, you have returned."
Yelena nodded. "Sigaqin, I have a task for you."
"Please give your orders, Princess."
"Investigate the Xisiya settlement here and find the people my brother sent."
The woman named Sigaqin raised her head in surprise. "That person... sent people here? Does he dare threaten your life?"
"He is not threatening me. He is threatening my teacher."
Yelena's snow-like face was filled with killing intent and coldness. This was another side of her that no one at the academy had ever seen.
"Our competition has no reason to involve outsiders. He has crossed the line."
"Perhaps this means that person is afraid," Sigaqin said. "He is afraid that you will surpass him. Otherwise, there would be no need for such tactics. This is good news for you, Princess. It proves that his confidence is lacking."
Yelena neither confirmed nor denied it.
Sigaqin asked, "Once I find them, how would you like me to deal with them?"
"Kill them," Yelena said without hesitation.
"Yes."
After speaking, Yelena returned to her room and sat down to think.
Sigaqin's words had reminded her of something.
If her brother had enough confidence in his own ability to compete, why would he need to resort to such underhanded tactics?
Doing this was precisely proof that he lacked confidence in himself.
However...
Yelena recalled what Guan Tong had told her earlier.
From the sound of it, Guan Tong seemed to want