Inside the Beiping Hotel, all was peaceful.
Outside the hotel, the sounds of a gunfight echoed relentlessly.
Jiang Yunshen looked calmly at the scene outside the window, with no intention of getting up to help.
"It seems we won't be having this meal after all," Bai Liuyue said, resting her chin on her hand as she watched the black car outside being riddled with bullets.
She also watched President Jiang and Jiang Yushen dodging awkwardly under the cover of their guards.
"Your men?" she asked.
Jiang Yunshen smiled and said, "They are your men."
The door to their private room was suddenly thrown open. The man leading the group wore a black trench coat and carried a heavy scent of blood. His falcon-like eyes were sharp and ruthless.
The heavy thud of his military boots against the floor sounded like the notes of a death knell.
He walked forward, step by step.
His bloodshot gaze locked onto the elegantly dressed couple before him.
"Long time no see, Young Marshal Xie. No, wait, I should call you Marshal now," Jiang Yunshen waved calmly.
"Jiang Yunshen, aren't you afraid I'll blow your brains out with one shot?"
Xie Chengxiao's eyes were cold and stern.
"You've already killed my father and my brother, so spare me. Beiping always needs someone to stand as the figurehead," Jiang Yunshen replied unhurriedly.
A cold sneer escaped Xie Chengxiao's throat.
Paying no mind to his expression, he walked straight up to Bai Liuyue, forcefully grabbed her hand, and pulled her to his side.
His movements were rough, devoid of any tenderness.
"My father is dead."
"Your grandfather was involved."
Just a few short words.
Bai Liuyue saw the surging hatred and struggle in Xie Chengxiao's eyes.
He hated her.
Yet, he couldn't hide how much he cared about her.
Bai Liuyue lowered her eyes and said, "Then kill Bai Wenshan."
Xie Chengxiao let out another light scoff, just as he was about to say something.
A guard behind him spoke up, "Marshal, we need to retreat immediately. Otherwise, once the Jiang family's men react, we won't be able to leave."
Xie Chengxiao turned his head and asked:
"Are both the old man and the young one dead?"
The guard replied, "President Jiang took a bullet to the chest; it's likely fatal. As for Eldest Young Master Jiang, he ran fast, took a bullet in the leg, and was rescued."
"Retreat!" Xie Chengxiao ordered finally, his dark eyes heavy.
Bai Liuyue originally thought he was going to leave and would let her go.
Who would have thought that Xie Chengxiao would holster his gun at his waist, support her waist with his other hand, sweep her up into his arms, and stride toward the door.
Jiang Yunshen, who had been calm just a moment ago, couldn't help but stand up. He pulled out his Browning pistol and aimed it at his back.
"Xie Chengxiao, where are you taking my fiancée?"
Xie Chengxiao didn't even turn his head. The guards behind him drew their guns in unison, aiming them at Jiang Yunshen.
"Take a guess. Is your gun faster, or will my men shoot you full of holes first?"
"The Jiang family needs to leave one person alive. The old and the young won't live much longer. Do you want to throw your life away with them?"
Jiang Yunshen pursed his lips, his gaze conflicted.
Bai Liuyue rested her head against Xie Chengxiao's shoulder, her almond eyes flashing as she said to him:
"Don't worry, Yunshen, he won't hurt me."
Jiang Yunshen slowly lowered his gun.
He watched as Xie Chengxiao brazenly snatched her away.
After a while, footsteps echoed from outside the door again.
Secretary Shen dragged the chest-wounded President Jiang over. Seeing Jiang Yunshen, he said excitedly:
"Thank goodness! Second Young Master, you're still here. Hurry and make a phone call; the President has been shot."
Jiang Yunshen stepped forward, seemingly anxious, but in reality, he patted the nearly unconscious President Jiang with an unforgiving amount of force.
Keeping him awake.
He asked aloud:
"Dad, what happened to you? Where is Jiang Yushen? Why isn't he by your side?"
Secretary Shen frowned and said with a bitter face, "The Eldest Young Master ran away."
"What? Are you saying my brother abandoned our father, who had just taken a bullet, and ran away by himself?"
Jiang Yunshen slightly raised his voice as he spoke, deliberately leaning close to President Jiang's ear.
Secretary Shen immediately realized what this Second Young Master meant.
But he had already instinctively replied:
"Yes, yes, that's correct."
President Jiang clutched the bleeding bullet hole, his face ashen, and hung his head in despair.
...
Bai Liuyue was carried into the suite she shared with Jiang Yunshen.
Located on the twenty-first floor of the Beiping Hotel.
"Why aren't you running away?" Bai Liuyue was utterly bewildered.
He had nearly killed someone on President Jiang's turf, shots had been fired, yet instead of retreating, he dared to stay at the Beiping Hotel.
Xie Chengxiao said coldly:
"My men have already withdrawn. Me staying here is the safest option."
The most dangerous place is the safest place.
No one would guess that after attacking the President at the entrance of the Beiping Hotel, the assailant would dare to stay on the top floor of the very same hotel.
Xie Chengxiao's gaze swept around the room. Seeing that both bedrooms had been used, he asked:
"Which one is your room?"
Bai Liuyue pointed to the one on the left.
But Xie Chengxiao carried her toward the room on the right.
"Hey, Xie Chengxiao, you're going the wrong way!" Bai Liuyue struggled in his arms, her bent legs kicking restlessly.
Xie Chengxiao's voice carried a frosty chill, and the bloodshot veins in his eyes had not faded.
It was obvious that during his recent time back in the Northwest, he hadn't had a single good day's rest.
"I'm not going the wrong way!"
"I'm going to take you right on Jiang Yunshen's bed!"
As his words fell, Bai Liuyue was thrown heavily onto the bed.
Her clothes were disheveled, and through the slit of her qipao, her long, fair legs were exposed, as lustrous as jade.
Before she could react, a massive shadow loomed over her.
Xie Chengxiao tore off the black cape from his back, and his powerful thighs, clad in military trousers, pressed down on either side of her waist.
He propped his other hand beside her head.
His eyes burned with a beast-like ferocity.
"Hey, what are you doing, I..."
Xie Chengxiao leaned down and sealed her unfinished words with his mouth.
The kiss was fierce and brutal, filled to the brim with aggression and punishment.
His other large hand slid to her waist and found the side zipper. Just as he was about to pull it up, Bai Liuyue couldn't help but bite the corner of his lip.
"What are you doing?"
Xie Chengxiao seemed to calm down slightly.
A flash of sorrow passed through the depths of his eyes.
He said:
"My father is dead."
"Your grandfather was involved."
Bai Liuyue stared at him with clear almond eyes and said:
"You hate me? If he hadn't escorted me back to Jinzhong, Marshal Xie wouldn't have met with an accident in the Northwest."
Xie Chengxiao remained silent.
His dark eyes were heavy.
After staring at her for three seconds, another scorching, domineering kiss fell upon her nose, cheek, and neck.
This time, his hand let go of the zipper.
He simply and roughly tore the hem of her qipao.
"I don't hate you."
"I want you."
Just as his palm traveled upward along the edge of her qipao, Bai Liuyue held a silver needle between her fingertips, hovering mere inches from his temple.
Her voice was calm.
"Xie Chengxiao, stop."
Xie Chengxiao's movements abruptly halted, his peripheral vision catching the glint of the silver needle.
"You want to... kill me?" His voice trembled, carrying a trace of disbelief and despair.
The person who had held his hand in the pitch-black private room, who had drawn back the curtains and shone upon him like moonlight, wanted to kill him?
Bai Liuyue's voice was steady, her logic clear as she said:
"I just want you to calm down."
"Since my grandfather was involved in the plot to murder the Marshal, then go to Jinzhong and kill him."
"Instead of pinning me against the bed, kissing me, and claiming me."
"That isn't love."
