381: These Corrupted Times Drive Artists Into Lawyers

These Corrupted Times Drive Artists Into Lawyers

It took an entire hour of circling the festival for Yujia and Zixu to discover that every booth they came across was rigged. From tossing games to guessing games to dice roll games… Even riddle games, which Yujia thought Zixu of all people would be a king at, were absolutely a scam. These riddle booth owners gave incredibly twisted answers which nobody could guess.0

At the end, there was not a single booth in which Yujia or Zixu managed to win fair and square.

Perhaps it was because of the injustice they felt, or because of the sheer frustration, but the two of them seemed to adopt an attitude of exposing the rigs that were causing them to fail. Zixu had an eye for figuring out the exact tricks these booth owners were playing. Yujia, on the other hand, acted as his personal attorney. In front of the people, the judge, she aided Zixu's act of revealing the truth through her persuasion and speech. By the end of it all, Yujia wondered if she should've perhaps pursued law in her first life instead of art. 

Figuring out the mechanisms of the rigged games saved them from being completely robbed by the booth owners. At times where the two of them didn't ask for their money back, they earned more prizes too, from a cute tiger mask for Yujia to a valuable poetry collection for Zixu.

Nevertheless, although the two of them managed to bring them some benefits, their acts of justice were not ones met without consequences.

Halfway through the festival, as Yujia and Zixu approached another booth, they were immediately turned away by the booth owner. There was no good excuse for it either, with the owner shooing the two of them away while accepting other customers. 

Baffled, Yujia crossed her arms. "Is there a reason we can't play?" she asked, gesturing at the game which appeared to have something to do with goldfish.

The booth owner crinkled her face, shaking her head. "Just leave please."

Yujia exchanged glances with Zixu. He raised his brows. At this, neither of the two could really do anything.

So, they left, going off to find their next game. Their first guess was just that the booth owner was being peculiarly eccentric. Yet once they met that booth, they seemed to fall into a pattern. Other booth owners began to reject them as well. While some gave them one shot, others stopped them from playing before they even stepped near the booth. Yujia and Zixu could only walk away, entirely confused, as they tried to find a game they could play.

In the midst of their confusion of leaving yet another booth before playing a single round, Yujia caught the booth owner's voice from behind them. She heard a sigh of relief, coupled by a, "Thank the skies; they're leaving."

"What?" Yujia spun, making eye contact with the man that just muttered that.

The man flinched back, eyes widening. Yujia must've heard something she wasn't supposed to. "I said nothing!" he yelled.

Zixu had also turned around. He tapped his fan against his chin. "Sir, I'm certain you did say something. I heard it as well."

The owner gave a wincing smile, sweat beading across his forehead. "Sir, you heard nothing."

Could he display his guilt in a more obvious fashion? 

Yujia frowned, pressing on, "I'm sure you said something along the lines of being grateful we were leaving. Why would you be? Aren't we another customer? Aren't you trying to get more people to play your games? What makes us any different customers from those kids—" she gestured at a group of frustrated young teens failing another round, "—over there?" 

Despite the booth owner's plain unease, he managed to stand strong in keeping his story. "Young Lady, I really haven't said a single thing. There's so many people in the festival passing by… are you sure you didn't just hear wrong? Perhaps it was someone else who said what you believed I said?" 

Yujia shook her head. She was beginning to feel like she understood what was happening, but she needed confirmation. Reaching into her wallet, she pulled out a silver ingot and tossed it at the booth owner, who caught it with wide eyes. 

"I don't know what you're trying to hide from us," she said, "but we're plain citizens, so it's surely not a big secret. If you tell us what's been going on, I'll award you another silver. It won't cost you anything, on the other hand." 

The man looked down at the silver ingot he just caught. He looked back at Yujia, hesitance still plain across his face. He then looked back at the silver.

In the end, money still paved a way. 

With gritted teeth, he said, "You swear you will not tell the others what I've told you?"

"We will keep it a secret between the three of us," Yujia assured, gesturing at herself, Zixu, and the man.

"Then, here's how it is." The man shoved the silver ingot into his pocket. "I've heard news to be wary of a young lady dressed in maroon with a tiger mask, coupled with a young man carrying a yellow lantern and a painted fan."

Yujia looked down at her robes. Maroon. She reached her hand up, straightening the tiger mask she had strung to the side of her head. She looked back over at Zixu, who was still carrying that paper lantern he bought at the beginning of the festival and fanning the painted fan she won for him in the first game. 

No doubt, that description featured the two of them.

"Ah, what did we do to deserve that?" she complained to Zixu.

"I sure wonder." He gave her a wry laugh, which she also replied to with a grin. 

Yujia tossed the booth owner another silver. The two of them then left, going down the streets in a blend of festival folks. 

"It's so strange how they get news to each other so quickly." 

"Truly."

Yujia, looking up at the sky, mused, "It's almost like they have some sort of information system. Which customers are easy targets, which customers should be avoided…"

"And we are on top of that list of avoidance," Zixu concluded.

"Indeed."

"A tragedy."

"You think it's illegal to make rigged games?" Yujia tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Zixu replied, "Well, there's no laws against it in the empire." 

"Damn. I was hoping we'd get to track down exactly how this avoidance list gets spread, infiltrate their base, and expose a whole crime ring."

As if this was a completely viable option, Zixu nodded thoughtfully. "I'd support you."

Yujia stopped in her tracks, turning her head in surprise at how solemn Zixu was. She nudged him with her shoulder, laughing. "I was kidding. Even if this was an option, I wouldn't want to do it today of all days."

"Why not?" Zixu appeared genuinely stunned that the two of them were not about to set off on a quest to destroy the corruption behind rigged festival games.

"We're at a festival!" Yujia exclaimed, waving her hands at everything around them. "We're here to have fun, not to shoulder these responsibilities of justice."

Zixu sighed. "You're right. Though still, I have to admit I did have more fun than I should've exposing the scams."

"I did too. They were rigged games, but they still brought us entertainment, didn't it? And I guess that's what's important." She beamed up at him.

"Fair enough," he smiled softly.

Linking her arm with his, Yujia pointed at the river ahead of them. The river, as the main one that snaked through the capital city, was decorated as well for the festival. Quite a few booths set up at the side of the river sold paper water lily lanterns, ones that would float down the river. Evidently, by the number populating the banks of the river, these were one of the more popular purchases of the people. These colorful floral lanterns drifted above the gentle currents of the water.

"Let's go buy some," Yujia suggested. "These can't be a scam."

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