The Flourishing Era of Female Merchants

An Mi felt everyone's gazes, but didn't seem to care. She looked towards the stage not far away and met Bai Yi's smiling eyes. An Mi frowned slightly, her face revealing anxiety and unease. "An Mi is clumsy and has stained the white satin with blood. I wonder if... if I could be given another piece of white satin?"

Madam Liu frowned slightly and glanced at Bai Yi. "Of course, the Liu family has no shortage of such a piece of white satin. Someone, quickly go and get a bolt of white satin for Miss An."

As experienced as she was, she had already seen that the King of Bohai seemed to have a special relationship with Miss An. She had not forgotten that this person was chosen by the King of Bohai, and she would give him face no matter what!

A moment later, the maid brought over a white satin. Liu Xu personally delivered the satin to An Mi, intending to replace the piece that had been stained with blood. However, An Mi took the satin first and said politely, "Miss Liu, let me do it myself. It's already too much trouble for everyone, and I dare not let Miss Liu continue to exert herself. So, let me do it myself."

Liu Xu glanced at An Mi, met her gentle and sincere eyes, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke, "That's fine then, I'll leave it to you. Hurry up, there's not much time left."

Liu Xu's final reminder brought a smile to An Mi's lips, a touch of gratitude welling up inside her. Remembering Liu Xu's fate in her past life… An Mi looked at her with a hint of pity. The fate of daughters of the Liu family was always tragic; if Liu Xu in her past life was like that, then what about her Liu'er…?

Anmi felt a tightness in her heart and a dull ache when she thought about Liu'er's situation after her death in her previous life.

"Miss An, what's wrong?" Liu Xu's voice rang in An Mi's ears, pulling her back to reality.

An Mi forced a smile and touched the white satin she had just received from Liu Xu. "It's nothing, I'm fine."

What's wrong with her? At this moment, she shouldn't be worrying or feeling sad. A while has already passed, and she can't delay any longer!

A resolute look gathered in her eyes. Anmi glanced at Liuxu with gratitude. After Liuxu left, she laid out the white satin. No one noticed that when she laid out this white satin with a heart on it, she did not replace the one that had been soiled.

When Anmi resumed her embroidery, the other four had already completed a portion. Each of them was focused on their needle and thread, showcasing their embroidery skills on the white satin. Anmi was also meticulously working on each stitch: straight stitch, satin stitch, loop stitch, chain stitch… Each stitch was perfectly executed, leaving those who had thought she was incompetent and were just watching in awe somewhat dumbfounded. Her movements were extremely skilled and graceful; she was clearly an embroidery expert!

Even Madam Liu's expression changed when she looked at An Mi, and she couldn't help but want to go forward and see what was displayed on the white satin.

Madam Liu wasn't the only one present with this thought, but even if she did, no one dared to act rashly. However, Bai Yi was an exception. As soon as he had this idea, he stood up and, amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd, walked towards the group of people who were focused on embroidery. He stopped only when he reached An Mi's side.

His gaze fell on the white satin in front of An Mi, but when he saw the embroidery on it, his face suddenly darkened, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "This... is this what you embroidered?"

Looking at the skillful technique, but the thing on the white satin... Bai Yi could hardly believe his eyes. A good embroidery requires the surface to be flat, even, fine, dense, uniform, smooth, harmonious, and lustrous. But what he saw now was far from meeting the high standards of luster. The uneven lines and extremely rough stitches were even worse than the purse he had just held in his hand. One couldn't help but sigh: a perfectly good piece of white satin had been ruined!

An Mi slightly raised her eyes and saw the regret in Bai Yi's eyes. She curled the corners of her mouth indifferently, still as composed as ever. "Your Highness, didn't you see An Mi embroidering? What you see is what you get, how could it be fake?"

Bai Yi's thick eyebrows furrowed even more, his deep eyes fixed on An Mi. As if he understood something, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and laughed heartily, "Miss An must have put a lot of thought into embroidering such a rare piece."

Judging from her unhurried demeanor, he was probably only seeing the surface. As for the truth hidden beneath the surface... Bai Yi smiled knowingly, glanced at An Mi who was still focused on her needlework, and then turned and strode back to his original spot.

Everyone was paying close attention to everything that had just happened, trying to glean some clues from it. However, the reaction of the King of Bohai and the conversation between the two only made them more and more puzzled. They were also eager to see what kind of "thoughtful" work the embroidery in front of the second young lady of the An family was.

Time passed second by second, and the five women embroidering became more and more focused. Finally, Liu Zhan glanced at the burnt-out incense sticks and said loudly, "Time's up, ladies. Please mark your names on your embroidery pieces."

Upon hearing this, An Xinlian, An Xinhe, Feng Xianglan, and Yi Zhuxuan all stiffened. In such a short time, no matter how hard they rushed, they still couldn't finish. They glanced at each other and vaguely saw that the others also seemed to be unfinished, which reassured them slightly.

Soon, a maidservant stepped forward and collected the embroidery pieces in front of the five people. When the maidservant walked up to An Mi and saw what she had embroidered, she couldn't help but sneer and show disdain in her eyes. Only then did she vaguely understand the meaning of what the King of Bohai had said earlier, and she couldn't help but say, "It really takes a lot of effort to embroider something so crude!"

These words aroused the curiosity of An Xinlian, An Xinhe, Feng Xianglan, and Yi Zhuxuan. Those nearby immediately stepped forward and saw the embroidery in front of An Mi. They were immediately smug and their smiles were full of disdain.

"I knew it! What good things could she possibly embroider?" An Xinhe rolled her eyes. An Mi spent most of her time doing servant's work in the An family mansion. Even if she knew how to embroider, her skills wouldn't be very refined.

The smiles on the faces of the others deepened, especially those of Yi Zhuxuan. She knew An Mi's embroidery skills. If she had been a little worried earlier about whether An Mi would go easy on her as promised, it seemed that she really was!

Now that Anmi is no longer competing with her, she is bound to be the champion today!

An Mi observed the reactions of the others, but remained unperturbed, holding her embroidery and slowly walking to the maid who was collecting the embroidery.

"Thank you for your trouble, sister." An Mi's gaze fell on a certain embroidery on the tray in the maid's hands, a strange light flashing in her eyes. Just as An Mi placed her embroidery on the tray, she suddenly staggered and lost her balance, falling towards the maid in front of her.