Du Lai gave a cold laugh. “If I let her go right now, I have no way out either!”

Qiao Na remained completely calm and proposed: “If you release Miss, I can arrange a vehicle for you. However, of your associates, I can only free one. Otherwise I would face punishment from the master as well — and I would die.”

She swept a glance over the bound men on the ground and said evenly: “Choose one.”

Bai Youwei watched from the sidelines, inwardly impressed. The tutor had smoothly bypassed Du Lai’s original demand entirely, and thrown out this “choose one” dilemma — leading him to instinctively stop thinking about “releasing all his men” and start thinking about “which one to release.”

Du Lai had Fu Miaoxue in a choke hold and his nerves were already stretched to breaking point. He likely wouldn’t think it through carefully — the verbal trap would scramble his reasoning.

His gaze swept over the men on the ground, lingering on one face.

Qiao Na noticed. Without giving Du Lai time to reconsider, she immediately instructed the bodyguard beside her: “Remove his handcuffs.”

The bodyguard hauled that man upright, produced a key, and began unlocking the cuffs.

Click.

The handcuffs opened. The bound hands came free.

The moment Du Lai’s nerves eased the tiniest fraction, Qiao Na suddenly raised her arm and fired directly at him.

Bang!

Then immediately another shot — bang — straight into the head of the man whose handcuffs had just been removed.

Du Lai dropped hard to the ground and went still.

The air around them froze.

Qiao Na lowered the arm holding the gun and produced a white handkerchief, wiping the barrel with a blank expression.

The others remained calm, as though they’d seen all this before, going about the business of tidying up the scene without a word — the living were locked away, the dead were removed.

Fu Miaoxue touched the red marks on her throat and followed Qiao Na with a stream of chatter: “Did you have to shoot him so hard? I finally found an entertaining plaything — what if he dies? How bad are his injuries? Will he recover? When he does, will it affect how well he moves? I’m telling you, you have to get him better, do you understand? He still has to do magic tricks for me…”

Qiao Na finally lowered the gun and pressed her brow together. “Miss, if you wish to watch magic, you can simply have a professional magician brought in.”

“What would be the fun in that?” Fu Miaoxue looked down at Du Lai on the ground, then raised her foot — clad in a gleaming red high heel — and gave him a light nudge with the toe of her shoe. A smile curved her lips. “I like this kind of stray dog. More interesting.”

Qiao Na’s expression didn’t change. “I’ll contact a doctor and have surgery arranged.”

Fu Miaoxue’s eyes lit up. “How long until he’s recovered after the surgery?”

“That depends on his constitution.” Qiao Na said lightly. “Miss need not worry too much — I’ll make all the necessary arrangements. It’s already very late. Please return to your room and rest. There are lessons again early tomorrow morning, so please mind the time and don’t be late.”

Fu Miaoxue’s face immediately filled with distaste.

“Yes, yes, fine, I’m going to sleep…”

She turned to go, took two steps, then stopped and called back to Qiao Na: “Make sure he recovers. Do you understand?”

Qiao Na nodded. “Yes, Miss.”

Fu Miaoxue still wasn’t satisfied. “When the surgery is done, have him moved to my room.”

Qiao Na frowned. “Miss, that would be highly improper.”

“He’s nothing but a dog. What’s improper about it?” Fu Miaoxue said. “Put a collar on him, lock him in a cage. I want to be able to see him at all hours.”

Qiao Na sighed in resignation. “Very well. I understand, Miss.”

Only then did Fu Miaoxue look satisfied. She curved her lips in a small smile, hummed a little tune to herself, and walked back to her room.

Bai Youwei had witnessed all of it.

She watched Du Lai being carried away. Two maids came in with cleaning tools and scrubbed the bloodstains from the floor. The brief commotion wound down like a farce that had resolved itself into nothing, and the estate settled back into its usual quiet.

Bai Youwei thought for a moment, then fell into step behind the group carrying Du Lai, deciding she’d better check on his condition first.