On the street,
passersby stayed away to watch this thrilling scene.
Qiao Ying sat in the car, twisting open a bottle of mineral water to take a sip.
Outside the car, the scene was chaotic with screams constantly - Qin Hanyue and Qin Yan were beating over a dozen thugs armed with sticks.
Qiao Ying rolled down the car window, leaning over it to quietly appreciate the tall and nimble Qin Hanyue in the crowd.
One of the men, desperate from the beating, forgot his employer's urging and took out a gun from his body, aiming at Qin Hanyue and was about to pull the trigger.
A bottle of mineral water was thrown over, hitting his hand to knock the gun out. Then the man was kicked away by Qin Hanyue.
In a flash, the group of men fled with injuries.
"What did you say? So many of you can't even beat one Qin Hanyue?" Hearing Qiao Ying was unharmed without even getting out of the car or fleeing, Karina was furious.
She threw her phone angrily: "Waste, complete waste!"
She soon calmed down and ordered her attendant: "Immediately arrange for those wastes to leave C Country, don't let Lin Cheng trace it back to me."
"Yes."
Lin Cheng was walking and talking business with the King.
A subordinate came in a hurry: "Duke, Miss Qiao and Mr. Qin were attacked when they went out. They just came back. Please go take a look."
Karina came late. Seeing Qiao Ying was indeed safe and sound, she scoffed inwardly.
Outwardly she said, "The Duke should know better than us that you are not from the same world. The Duke's marriage concerns the entire Royal Family and C Country. Miss Qiao got lucky today, but next time may not go so smoothly. The Duke has to be more careful in protecting her."
Staring at Karina, Lin Cheng said: "I will not let today's matter go so easily. He'd better pray I don't find out it was him, otherwise no matter who it was, I will surely make him pay the price."
Inwardly, Karina was not too afraid. Even if Lin Cheng found out, so what? She did all this for the sake of the Royal Family. She didn't believe Lin Cheng would become enemies with the entire Royal Family for the sake of one woman.
Everyone knew perfectly well who did it.
If it were before, Lin Cheng would have definitely seized the opportunity to turn against the King over this and thoroughly call off his engagement with Karina. But now he could not do that.
What he had to resolve now was not just his own engagement.
He also had to uncover the J of Spades hiding within the Royal Family.
The situation was unclear now, and he didn't dare make reckless moves.
From the sofa, Qiao Ying impatiently said, "I need to rest. Tell them to leave."
Karina frowned in displeasure, about to reprimand this ill-mannered girl. But the King stopped her.
The King looked at Qiao Ying, "Miss Qiao, rest well. We'll stop disturbing you." Then he apologized again to Qin Hanyue who was attacked.
After leaving Lin Cheng's place, the King said in a low voice to his daughter Karina, "Next time when making a move, remember to be more ruthless."
Karina: "It's not that your daughter wasn't ruthless enough, but that she didn't expect Qin Hanyue to be able to fight like that."
Karina had intended to kill Qiao Ying. She didn't expect the plan to be ruined by Qin Hanyue.
King: "We can't afford to offend Qin Hanyue. In the future when taking action, try to avoid him as much as possible. I was also thinking of matching him up with your sister, Kara."
Karina: "Understood."
King: "Didn't you send people to investigate the girl's identity? Found anything?"
Karina didn't expect her father to even know about this.
Karina: "Nothing noteworthy about her identity. Just a student. Her family background is middle class in Hua Country. I really don't know what the Duke sees in her."
Lin Cheng had arranged a new identity for Qiao Ying.
Lin Cheng: "I thought you would take her captive and confront Karina directly. Didn't expect you to consider the big picture."
Qiao Ying: "Confront? When I see someone I dislike, I go straight into action. Never needed evidence and stuff like that."
Lin Cheng: "So you didn't mind because you were in a good mood?"
Qiao Ying asked him: "If I had beaten her crippled, could she still attend the state banquet?"
Lin Cheng thought about it: "Hard to say." A thought then occurred to him: "You're not planning to retaliate sneakily, are you?"
At night,
Qiao Ying came out of her room.
Only to encounter that familiar scene again.
"I heard Mr. Qin was attacked when he went out today. I've come to see how Mr. Qin is doing. Is Mr. Qin alright? Not injured, I hope?"
Ever since coming here, Qin Hanyue's gentlemanly manners had only improved day after day. Even if it was just for show, he was too lazy to keep it up now. Qiao Ying rather liked him for his gentlemanly ways in the first place.
And now look at him.
Without a word, the moment he saw who it was, Qin Hanyue shut the door right away.
"Mr. Qin..." Kala had wanted to probe Qin Hanyue's relationship with Qiao Ying, but didn't expect him to avoid her like a viper or scorpion.
Looking at the closed door, and recalling Qin Hanyue's icy gaze, she didn't understand - what charm did Qiao Ying possess that made Mr. Qin who loved his own fiancee so much, turn around and betray that fiancee as well as the Duke for a woman who was already attached?
These two days Kala hadn't looked for Qin Hanyue. Qiao Ying thought she had given up, but who knew it was just the princess's temperament.
On the luxurious big bed, Karina was sleeping soundly, completely unaware of the figure that had arrived beside the bed.
Early next morning,
A sharp shriek echoed throughout the entire sleeping palace.
The servants pushed open Karina's room door to see her standing in front of the dressing table, even her back radiating horror. When Karina turned to face them, and the servants saw her face, they were badly frightened.
Karina hastily changed into a set of clothes, then rushed straight to the hospital.
She scoured all the major hospitals and dermatology clinics throughout the city the whole day, but none could determine what had happened to her face.
The entire Royal Family was worried about Karina's face.
The next few days, Qiao Ying's group of three enjoyed much more peace and quiet.
On the day before the state banquet, guests had already started arriving in succession from all over the country, some staying at the hotels arranged by the Royal Family, some staying in the King's palace. In a flash there were all sorts of mixed company about.
Liu Ying and Yue Ying put on human skin masks, disguising themselves as Qin Hanyue's subordinates to blend into the crowd.
"This beautiful young lady looks quite unfamiliar. Also here to attend the banquet? May I ask if the young lady is attending as a female companion, or as a family member of one of the princes?" A young man in a suit suddenly blocked their way. "The young lady is so beautiful that I couldn't help but want to strike up a conversation."
The man was rather handsome - fair skin, high nose bridge, brown hair, blue eyes, very charming indeed.
Qiao Ying hadn't intended to entertain him, but seeing the enthusiastic young man, her mischievous streak awakened.
"And you are...?" she asked.
"Lai En," the man replied.
Qiao Ying nodded slightly. "So it's Duke Lai En."
The man was surprised. "Young lady recognizes me?"
Qiao Ying: "I've heard of you before. Didn't expect you to be so young. I was on my way to visit Princess Karina. Would Duke Lai En care to accompany me?"
The man: "It would be my pleasure. I haven't gone to visit Princess Karina myself."
Qiao Ying: "Then let's go."
Liu Ying: "I'll head back first then."
Qiao Ying: "What do you mean 'head back'? You're coming along to watch the show."
