Yu Huaiqing instinctively moved to block Bai Meizi's path.
"If you want to kill her, you'll have to kill me first!" Yu Huaiqing roared.
Su Yuan's expression turned incredibly ferocious. He no longer cared about whatever Su Canghai was saying, and shouted, "I'm dying anyway, is it too much to ask to take you two adulterers with me? Do you really think I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
Bai Meizi tried to step out from behind Yu Huaiqing, but he held her firmly behind him, rendering her unable to move.
Su Canghai was about to say something, but Su Yuan cut him off, "Dad, I know I'm beyond saving and have nothing left to lose! Let me kill these two, and I'll obediently surrender with you!"
"This is..."
"Alas!"
Though Su Canghai spoke this way, he secretly wished Su Yuan would kill them. In his opinion, Bai Meizi and Yu Huaiqing's forbidden love was the root cause of Su Yuan's downfall. Killing them was understandable. The situation was already at its worst, there was nowhere else to go but down.
Bai Zongmin tried to step forward to intervene.
Su Hao quickly pulled him back and earnestly advised, "Brother Bai, it's best you don't risk it. My elder brother is enraged right now."
Bai Zongmin cursed, "Su Yuan, you bastard, you dare to try and shoot! If my sister is harmed, your Su family will lose another layer of skin!"
Su Yuan let out a hearty laugh. He was already on the brink of death, why would he care about the Su family's interests? He even glared fiercely at Bai Zongmin, "Shut your damn mouth, or I'll shoot you first!"
Bai Zongmin's face turned ashen, and he remained silent. No one wanted to be targeted by this madman, especially one who knew his time was limited.
Seeing this, Su Yuan became even more audacious. He said to Yu Huaiqing and Bai Meizi, "I'll give you two a chance. Only one of you can live. Whoever kneels before me first, I'll spare."
"How about that?"
"Oh, right, I'll count to three. Kneeling after that will be meaningless."
He used their lives as a threat, aiming to break them apart. Su Yuan believed all love in the world began with lust and could never be as unwavering as legends depicted. At least, Su Yuan himself had never experienced such profound affection, and naturally dismissed love-driven sacrifice as a joke.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
After the count, neither Yu Huaiqing nor Bai Meizi knelt. Instead, their gazes grew firmer, and a mocking smile curved their lips.
Su Yuan completely lost it! He fired three shots wildly into the air, his eyes crisscrossed with bloodshot veins. "Fine, fine, fine! Then I'll fulfill your wish, you ill-fated couple, and let you meet on the road to the Yellow Springs."
Bang!
The gunshots rang out. Yu Huaiqing and Bai Meizi's hearts nearly stopped. Strangely, they weren't hit by bullets. Instead, Su Yuan, standing not far away, collapsed.
Su Yuan was shot in his right shoulder, and the gun fell from his hand.
After a moment of shock, everyone looked across the road. Chen Jinzhao was lowering his hand, having fired the shot. As they watched, Chen Jinzhao walked towards them and said to a livid Su Canghai, "Are you alright, Minister Su? The criminal was about to draw his weapon on you, so I fired first to wound him. I believe that's justifiable."
"Chen Jinzhao, you..." Su Canghai was furious. His instinct was that Chen Jinzhao had instigated the entire incident, and now he had wounded Su Yuan right in front of him. This put him in a position where he couldn't even blame Chen Jinzhao, implying he should be grateful instead. How could he tolerate such humiliation?
Chen Jinzhao smiled and said, "No need for thanks. We can take Su Yuan back for investigation now."
Su Canghai remained silent, his face grim. Su Yuan, lying on the ground clutching his bleeding shoulder, stared at Chen Jinzhao with the most venomous gaze. "Chen Jinzhao, I'm in this state entirely because of you. I won't rest even as a ghost."
"What if I told you this has nothing to do with me? Would that make you so angry you'd die?" Chen Jinzhao said with a half-smile.
Su Hao, standing nearby, was completely unfazed. Even if Chen Jinzhao ordered him to do something in front of everyone, who would believe it? The Su family was so afraid of Chen Jinzhao that no one would believe his words, and would instead think Chen Jinzhao was stirring up internal strife within the family. This was why Su Hao dared to act against his elder brother! As long as Chen Jinzhao was still breathing, he was the original sin in the eyes of the Su family!
"Impossible, you did this! Only you would do something so despicable and shameless." Su Yuan wanted to die in confusion, otherwise, he wouldn't rest in peace.
Chen Jinzhao burst into laughter. "If you say so, then it is. I don't mind carrying another misunderstanding."
Su Yuan was about to say more, but Su Canghai stepped forward. "Enough. Come with me and surrender. Perhaps you can get a lighter sentence. If you stubbornly refuse to go, the consequences will be beyond our control."
Su Yuan gritted his teeth and finally followed Su Canghai to surrender.
Su Hao let out a long sigh of relief. After living for over thirty years, this was the first time he felt the air in his home was so sweet. From this day forward, he would be the Su family's primary heir, with no one able to stand in his way.
After entering the house, Su Hao stood still for a moment, then paused and turned back, making eye contact with Chen Jinzhao standing outside the door. Both smiled knowingly. In this storm, they had both obtained what they desired, marking it as a flawless collaboration. After their smiles, Su Hao turned and strode away, towards his rightful position as heir.
Bai Zongmin approached Chen Jinzhao, repeatedly thanking him for his righteous act, without which his sister might have died at Su Yuan's hands. Chen Jinzhao came back to his senses, waved his hand, and said, "It's nothing, just a small effort."
"They are both quite injured. You should take them to the hospital first. Oh, and this Yu Huaiqing is my girlfriend's third brother. I hope your Bai family won't do anything excessive to him."
Bai Zongmin blinked in surprise, then repeatedly nodded, assuring him they wouldn't. Yu Huaiqing looked at Chen Jinzhao gratefully. This statement was like a protective charm for him, ensuring the Bai family wouldn't make things too difficult for him and might even support his relationship with Bai Meizi.
Chen Jinzhao looked at the two women beside him. "Well then, shall we head back too?"
The two women nodded.
After walking for a while, Tao Qiyue felt a bit out of place, standing between Chen Jinzhao and Yu Mengzhi felt like being a third wheel. "You two go back first? I still need to cooperate with Director Wang, so I can't join you," Tao Qiyue said.
Chen Jinzhao initially wanted to ask her to stay, but then realized it might be inappropriate, so he nodded. "Alright, be careful on your way. Don't drive too fast at night."
"Okay, sure." Tao Qiyue nodded. Yu Mengzhi also bid her farewell, and then they watched her leave with Chen Jinzhao.
"Stop looking, she's already far away," Yu Mengzhi reminded him. Chen Jinzhao finally turned his gaze back and said without blushing, "I wasn't looking. I was just thinking about something else."
"Hmph, I don't believe you," Yu Mengzhi said proudly. Chen Jinzhao chuckled. "Well then, how about you dig out my heart and see for yourself, to prove my innocence?"
Yu Mengzhi wrinkled her delicate nose. "Ew, I don't want to!" Chen Jinzhao smiled without a word.
Then, Yu Mengzhi leaned in and said, "Actually, I think you and Qiyue are quite compatible. Why don't you go with her? Fate is truly strange. If it weren't for you, I would still be Qin Fengwu's fiancée, and Qiyue would likely have become my second sister-in-law. Everything changed after you appeared." Her tone became more serious as she spoke. "Seriously, you saved both of our worlds. Why am I with you now, and not Qiyue?"
"Do you know?" Chen Jinzhao never dwelled on such things and shook his head. "Perhaps it's fate. No one can explain fate."
Yu Mengzhi shook her head. "You're wrong." "It's because I contacted you first. If Qiyue had contacted you first, then she would be with you now. This is what they call 'the nearby pond gets the moon first'."
Chen Jinzhao dared not interject, afraid Yu Mengzhi would lay a trap for him. However, after Yu Mengzhi's reminder, he belatedly realized something. The way they met was indeed peculiar, seemingly a coincidence, yet with a subtle hint of manipulation. If this were truly a chess game, who was maneuvering him, a pawn? The fog deepened, obscuring his path ahead. Looking back, there was only emptiness.