Chapter Sixty-Nine: Who to Hit? Who to Hit?

Liu Yunfei grew increasingly furious as he spoke, and Yu Qing grew more frightened, fearing that Liu Yunfei might kill David. She wept, clutching Liu Yunfei’s hand. “Let him go, please—I love him.”

“You still love him? Oh, my God!” Liu Yunfei was so angry he could hardly speak, choking on his own rage.

When he glanced up, he saw that a cruel smile had reappeared at the corner of Lawrence’s mouth. The old fox stepped forward two paces. “Since Miss Yu has already forgiven him, Your Highness, why not show some generosity and let him go? Their stronghold in Florence has been wiped out—he’s alone now, he won’t be able to stir up any trouble.”

Yu Qing looked at Liu Yunfei through tear-filled eyes, grateful for Lawrence’s words on her behalf. The sight moved Liu Yunfei, but he suddenly found it all laughable. He threw his head back and laughed for three minutes before saying, in Chinese, “Love without dignity, without shame—this is a twisted kind of love. What does it have to do with me? Why am I worried? You’ve already forgiven him, so why should I be angry? If someone insists on being a fool, crying and begging for it, why should I stop her and make enemies for myself?”

Suddenly, Liu Yunfei understood—everyone walks their own path. Often, even when we know the road we’ve chosen is wrong, we still persist. No one can save you from your own choices; even if you hold her back, she’ll only regret it when the misfortune comes. Some things need be said only once or twice; whether others listen is not your concern. You speak for her own good, but if you say too much, she’ll only come to hate you.

“Can’t you see? If I let him go, he’ll run straight to Hardy. He’ll keep doing evil, hurting more people! And if you follow him, next time he’ll make you go with other men—have you thought about that?” Liu Yunfei tried to reason with her one last time, but it was useless.

“Lawrence, just let him go.” Liu Yunfei was so disgusted he could not bring himself to utter that shameless man’s name.

Lawrence immediately picked up the phone and pressed several buttons. “Bring him in.”

The interrogation room couldn’t be far, for soon the tattooed man came in, pushing David ahead. David hadn’t expected to see Yu Qing; the moment he spotted her, he rushed over, dropped to his knees, and clung to her legs, sobbing, “Qing, please beg them to let me go—I won’t do it again, I swear!”

Liu Yunfei regarded this useless, shameless man with contempt. He turned away, waving his hand to signal that David could leave; he didn’t want to look at this scum even for a moment. Lawrence gave the tattooed man a look, and the man stepped forward, dragging David out.

But at that moment, something unexpected happened. David felt the tattooed man slip a pistol into his hand. Looking up, he saw the man winking at him. David was overjoyed; a wicked thought flashed through his mind. He wanted to sleep with that woman, too! Ha! There really is no dead end in this world. You think I’m a coward? Now let this shameless and cowardly man teach you all a lesson.

David quickly gripped the gun, spun around in one swift motion. Whom to shoot? The prince had supernatural powers; even if he shot him, it would be useless. Lawrence was the master here; if he killed him, he wouldn’t get out alive. The tattooed man was on his side, and he still needed his help. Whom to shoot? Whom?

David hesitated, clutching the gun, mind racing. In a flash, a wicked scheme took root. He strode forward, yanked Yu Qing up, and pressed the gun to her temple, shouting in wild delight, “Hands up, all of you, or I’ll kill her!”

Liu Yunfei spun around in alarm—no one had expected this. No one had thought that such a useless piece of trash would pull a move like this.

Lawrence spoke first. “Put the gun down. We already agreed to let you go. Release Miss Yu, and you can walk out of here.”

“I’m not leaving! You like this woman, don’t you? Give me a million and I’ll let her go. Ha!” David was ecstatic. The mission had failed, but at least he could walk away with a million. How clever, he thought, how very clever.

Liu Yunfei couldn’t believe the depths of shamelessness—using his own girlfriend as a hostage to extort ransom from his romantic rival. “Yu Qing, you were just pleading for him. See for yourself, this is the man you love.”

Liu Yunfei was about to say more when a thunderous gunshot shattered his thoughts and blood sprayed everywhere. David’s face was frozen in despair, a bloody hole blooming in his forehead. Looking back, Liu Yunfei saw Lawrence lowering a smoking pistol. David tried with his last ounce of strength to pull the trigger, but instead of a gunshot, there was only a soft click—the gun was empty. His last thought before death: Such a despicable trap!

“David…” Yu Qing lunged onto David’s corpse, shaking him desperately. But no matter how hard she shook him, Liu Yunfei knew the man was truly dead—a bullet to the forehead. Lawrence had been ruthless, but it was nothing more than David deserved—not worth a shred of pity.

Lawrence tucked the pistol under his arm, walked over, gave Liu Yunfei’s shoulder a gentle pat, and left with the tattooed man. Yu Qing was still sprawled across David’s body, weeping. Liu Yunfei went over and patted her waist, saying nothing. To be honest, he felt no sympathy for the man; he was afraid that if he spoke, it would only make Yu Qing feel worse. So he simply squatted there for a long time.

Eventually, Yu Qing’s sobs grew weaker. She turned and glared fiercely at Liu Yunfei, pointing at him. “It’s all your fault! You killed him, you murderer!”

“Didn’t he deserve to die? Even at the very end, he was thinking only of doing evil. I see now there’s nothing more to say between us.” Liu Yunfei felt increasingly that Yu Qing was beyond reason; he had no desire to speak further. He had done all he could, said all that needed to be said—there was no need to repeat himself. He stood up, ignoring Yu Qing’s wailing, and left the room.

Stepping out of the small building into the sunlight, Liu Yunfei felt the weight inside him lift. He tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and let the sun bathe him. Is this love? Is love really so blind? Perhaps the hearts of youth are simply too soft. Until today, Liu Yunfei had never realized people could be so selfish and shameless. Today, he truly felt tired of meddling in this woman’s affairs. He sighed, did not look back, and walked straight out of Lawrence’s house, climbed into the Ferrari, and drove toward the Knights’ Castle.

When he got back, he called the old prince and told him everything that had happened. He added that, had it not been for him, negotiations would have continued as normal. Lawrence was now firmly on their side; any thought of defecting to Hardy was utterly impossible.

After that, Liu Yunfei shut himself away in his bedroom. He felt as though he were suffering from a severe flu—weak, drained of energy. Lying on the bed, he thought of the beautiful nights he and Yu Qing had spent here, of the first time he’d seen her at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, of that night in the Chinese restaurant, the girl with the flowers and her happiness. Suddenly he remembered the granite base. Liu Yunfei leapt from the bed, quickly found the granite base on his desk, the golden flower on top still gleaming brilliantly. “Yu Qing, I love you, forever.”

He stroked the inscription with his thumb, seized the base, wanting to smash this token of falsehood. But as he raised it, he hesitated. So he stood there, in front of the desk, until darkness fell and Ram called him to dinner from outside. Liu Yunfei still couldn’t bring himself to destroy it. Though Yu Qing had deceived him, his feelings had been genuine. The base was a record of that love, and he was reluctant to let it go.

While eating, he realized Yu Qing hadn’t returned. He worried, but another voice inside told him to leave her alone.

Yet the next morning, Lawrence arrived at the Knights’ Castle with Yu Qing in tow.

“Oh, my dear prince, I’ve brought your princess home,” Lawrence announced, wearing that same infuriatingly charming smile.

Liu Yunfei hadn’t expected Yu Qing to return. Had she come to her senses? Or did she have some new purpose? He said nothing, merely welcomed her as before, taking her bag, gently hugging her, patting her back. “Say nothing now. Go upstairs and rest. May God bless the kindhearted.”