Elsewhere—
The loud gunshots quickly threw the venue into chaos. Guests screamed in terror.
When Bai Geping opened his eyes, he saw the gun smoking in his hands—and in the distance, the tall man holding the Zuo family’s Alpha heir, one of the engagement’s main figures, whose condition was unknown.
He could see red blood dripping, staining the marble steps.
In that instant, he realized he was in serious trouble. He was finished!
His mind spun wildly—what if he had accidentally killed the Zuo family heir?!
Could he still escape now?!
Would that old fox Zuo Zoujian ever spare the man who murdered his only Alpha heir?!
Panic overwhelmed him. His mind flooded with all the ways he might die—but he couldn’t accept dying because of that idiot Yu Dongying!
He immediately threw the gun away and shouted frantically, “It wasn’t me! It was all Yu Dongying’s fault—he forced the gun into my hands and made me shoot!”
Zuo Zoujian looked over, face turning pale with horror.
The Zuo heir, Zuo Shihuan, was unmoving in the tall man’s arms, his head buried against the Beta’s chest with no reaction, while the man’s arm bled continuously.
For a moment, even Zuo Zoujian thought his heir might be dead. Rage and killing intent surged in his eyes as he glared at Bai Geping, who was desperately trying to shift the blame.
Bai Geping felt his back go cold under that stare. Trembling, he pointed toward the drunken Yu Dongying, who was retching and sobbing incoherently on the ground.
“It was him! It was Yu Dongying!”
Father Yu, realizing the situation was dire, immediately retorted, “Yu Dongying was drunk—but you weren’t! He told you to shoot, and you just did it?!”
His foolish son had caused a catastrophe, but no matter what, he had to protect his life.
The Zuo family’s long-standing arms and mecha business was no joke. This was no longer a situation where Father Yu could push back or argue with that old fox Zuo Zoujian.
If Zuo Zoujian’s long-awaited Alpha heir died here, the Zuo family’s wrath would be something the Yu family could never afford. If the heir was gone, no engagement would matter.
To protect the Yu family—to save his idiotic eldest son—Father Yu had no choice but to shift the blame as hard as he could.
He glared at Bai Geping and barked, “You can’t escape this! Everyone saw you pull the trigger! Your fingerprints are on the gun—no matter what, even the police won’t believe your excuses!”
Bai Geping retorted, “No, I didn’t—”
Seeing that the argument was about to continue, Zuo Zoujian barked coldly, “Enough! Stop arguing! He’s fine. If you keep it up, don’t think you’ll be leaving here easily!”
Father Yu and Bai Geping instantly shut their mouths, not daring to speak again.
The atmosphere turned extremely tense.
Zuo Zoujian’s icy gaze swept over the two men, then slowly turned to Zuo Shihuan, who had just stepped down from Gu Heng’s arms. At that moment, Zuo Shihuan was still anxiously looking at Gu Heng’s wound — blood was still oozing from the graze where the bullet had skimmed his arm.
But Zuo Zoujian didn’t care at all about that unidentified Beta man.
Even though that Beta seemed to have saved Zuo Shihuan, in Zuo Zoujian’s eyes, it merely made up for his earlier mistakes. Deep down, he remained extremely displeased with the Beta who had ruined the engagement banquet.
If it hadn’t been for that Beta, things wouldn’t have escalated like this. Someone almost died, and the engagement banquet the Zuo family had spent so long preparing had turned into a ridiculous farce.
His gaze focused sharply on Zuo Shihuan.
Confirming that Zuo Shihuan appeared unharmed — walking normally, no visible injuries, and that the blood on his body wasn’t his own — Zuo Zoujian finally relaxed. He turned to glare down at the two members of the Yu family and said coldly, “I told you to drive someone out, not to kill a member of my Zuo family. Luckily, Zuo Shihuan is unharmed. Otherwise, every last one of you from the Yu family would be washing your necks and waiting for me to take your heads!”
Hearing that, Father Yu actually felt a wave of relief.
Though Zuo Zoujian’s tone was full of anger, at least there was still room to maneuver. When the man was silent earlier, staring at them with that dead-eyed expression, that had been terrifying.
Father Yu hurriedly lowered his head to apologize. “Y-Yes, it’s all my fault for not teaching my son properly. He nearly harmed your son. Whatever compensation you ask for, our Yu family will gladly offer it.”
Zuo Zoujian gave a cold snort. “Do you think my Zuo family needs your petty compensation?”
Sweat streamed down Father Yu’s plump cheeks, but he didn’t dare wipe it away. Cautiously, he asked, “Then… what would you have us do?”
Zuo Zoujian slowly lit a cigar, his eyes sharp and cold as he smiled. “What can I do? I don’t want to dirty my hands. After all, the Zuo and Yu families are joined by marriage — making a bigger scene will only amuse outsiders. But since you said yourself your son was poorly raised, why not teach him properly now? That’s not too much to ask, is it?”
Father Yu immediately said, “I’ll take my useless son home right now and give him a good beating!”
Zuo Zoujian’s voice turned icy. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Now. Right here.”
Father Yu’s mind went blank for a moment. Unsure of what Zuo Zoujian meant, he turned to look at his eldest son, Yu Dongying, who lay drunk and senseless nearby after causing the disaster.
He could have just slept through the whole mess, leaving his father to clean up after him and endure this old fox Zuo Zoujian’s wrath.
Rage surged in Father Yu’s chest.
Gritting his teeth, he ruthlessly slapped Yu Dongying awake, hitting him hard enough to make him cry out.
Yu Dongying covered his head, begging for mercy. “Dad—Dad! Why are you hitting me?”
Father Yu struck him even harder, saying through clenched teeth, “You disgraceful fool! I’m hitting you for your own good! You’ve disappointed me too much!”
If he didn’t beat him properly, how would he appease Zuo Zoujian?
And truthfully, Father Yu was furious himself. At first, he only meant to put on a show of punishment, but the longer he went on, the better it felt — venting his anger with every blow, until he almost couldn’t stop.
Yu Dongying’s head was covered in lumps, looking utterly pitiful. But anyone who knew what he’d done would think that even harsher punishment would still be well deserved.
When Father Yu finally stopped, he scolded furiously, “I should have beaten you long ago! I’ve spoiled you rotten! From now on, I’ll find you a fierce Omega wife to keep you in line — that old Hu family’s daughter seems like a good choice.”
Originally, Father Yu had planned to find his eldest son a refined, well-matched Omega — giving him the best of everything. But now he saw that such pampering had only ruined him. The boy had no understanding of his father’s hard work and kept causing trouble again and again.
Yu Dongying hadn’t made a sound from the beating, but when he heard that his father wanted him to marry Old Hu’s daughter, he howled in despair. “Dad, no! I swear I’ve learned my lesson!”
That Omega daughter of the Hu family was tall and muscular, a soldier for many years — fierce and skilled in combat. Rumor had it an Alpha once tried to harass her, only to get beaten to a pulp.
Yu Dongying had always preferred the traditional, gentle, petite type of Omega — soft and sweet — not one taller, stronger, and more Alpha-looking than himself!
The thought that he might one day be the one getting beaten to a pulp made him pound the floor and wail in agony, his cries even more miserable than when his father had hit him earlier.
Meanwhile, Father Yu grew more and more satisfied, even worrying that his stupid son wasn’t worthy of such a fine Omega girl.
He had completely given up hope of grooming his son as an heir — no longer expecting Yu Dongying to make the Yu family thrive, only praying he wouldn’t destroy it.
Sighing inwardly, Father Yu still had to put on a submissive face. Dragging his useless son along, he bowed and said humbly to Zuo Zoujian, “I’ve already punished this disgraceful son of mine. I’ll take him home now so he won’t cause any more trouble.”
Zuo Zoujian nodded indifferently.
Father Yu finally exhaled in relief, quickly pulling his son away.
Yet a pang of regret struck him — this engagement with the Zuo family was surely doomed now. He had once hoped to profit from it, but at this point, keeping his foolish son alive was the best he could hope for.
However, after just a few steps—
“Stop. Who said you could leave?”
Zuo Zoujian’s voice suddenly rang out behind them. Father Yu’s heart jolted in terror, thinking he was about to demand something impossible.
He turned around—
And the anxious expression on his face suddenly relaxed.
Zuo Zoujian wasn’t talking to Father Yu—he was speaking to the shameless man trying to sneak away behind him: Bai Geping.
When Father Yu turned to look, Zuo Zoujian exhaled a stream of cigar smoke and arched a brow with a lazy, rakish smile. “What? The Yu family wants to plead for him now?”
Father Yu’s eyes immediately filled with disgust. The moment he remembered what Bai Geping had done earlier—those vile, selfish acts, trying to dump all the blame onto the Yu family—any trace of sympathy vanished.
He wasn’t senile enough to forget grudges. In fact, he had long found this son-in-law unpleasant. The only reason he’d tolerated him was because Bai Geping had cared for his eldest daughter, Yu Liyi, for years and had never remarried another Omega.
But now, his younger daughter Yu Lizhu’s words seemed to make sense—this man really was abnormal. He wasn’t some devoted husband at all; who would stay faithful to a wife who had become a vegetable, never taking another spouse?
Still, since the matter with Yu Liyi had happened so long ago, even holding resentment wouldn’t change the fact that she was now a living corpse. Bringing her back home would only mean feeding another useless mouth.
But that didn’t mean Father Yu wouldn’t seize the chance to kick Bai Geping while he was down.
“Of course not,” Father Yu sneered coldly. He cast a disdainful glance at the trembling Bai Geping, then said to Zuo Zoujian, “He’s not part of the Yu family. He has nothing to do with us. You may deal with him as you wish.”
“That’s good.”
Zuo Zoujian bit down on his cigar, his gaze sharp and merciless as he looked down at the cowering man. Slowly, a smile curled across his lips. “What’s this? You stir up trouble on my family’s turf and think you can just sneak away like a rat in the dark?”
With a vicious kick from his polished leather shoe—
“You think it’s that easy?”
Bai Geping fell backward, clutching his chest. His narrow eyes flashed briefly with hatred, but outwardly he lowered his head meekly and said, “I wasn’t trying to escape. I’ll apologize to the young master of the Zuo family right away. Thank goodness he’s unharmed—but I was forced! It was Yu Dongying who made me do it!”
Still daring to make excuses in front of him.
Zuo Zoujian gave a signal with his eyes to the two bodyguards and sneered. “Forced? Whether you were or not—even I didn’t draw a gun when driving someone out. What gives you the right to fire one on my property?”
As the two large bodyguards approached, Bai Geping’s expression turned panicked. He staggered back. “What are you doing?!”
Soon he was forced down onto the ground. From his position, all he could see were Zuo Zoujian’s glossy black shoes stepping toward him.
“Which hand did you use to pull the trigger?”
Bai Geping didn’t dare answer. Sweat soaked his forehead and dripped down over his eyelids.
When no response came, Zuo Zoujian didn’t lose his temper. He casually asked one of the bodyguards, “Did you see which hand he used?”
“Right hand,” the bodyguard replied.
“Good. I’m a fair man. Since you dared to fire a gun on Zuo family grounds, taking only your right hand seems fair, doesn’t it?”
Bai Geping’s pupils constricted in terror. He could only watch as the bodyguards seized his right arm. It was only then that he truly realized Zuo Zoujian was not someone he could ever bluff or manipulate.
Ash fell from Zuo Zoujian’s cigar—landing directly on Bai Geping’s exposed hand—as he pressed the toe of his shoe down leisurely, as if he were merely grinding out cigarette ash.
He took another slow drag of his cigar, then pressed down harder, twisting the shoe against Bai Geping’s palm.
It didn’t look painful, but Bai Geping’s face contorted grotesquely in agony. His bloodless hand turned a mottled purple-blue as it swelled, and the two bodyguards held him down so firmly he couldn’t even struggle.
Terrified he’d lose the use of his hand, Bai Geping cried out desperately, “Master Zuo, I was wrong! Please, spare me!”
Zuo Zoujian looked down at him with cold indifference. “Now you know you were wrong? Even I wouldn’t dare do what you did—so what gave you the courage?”
Bai Geping protested bitterly, “It wasn’t me—it was Yu Dongying! He forced me!”
Zuo Zoujian found that boring. He sneered, “Who could possibly ‘force’ you? Even if Yu Dongying shoved a gun into your hands, so what? You knew he was drunk. You could’ve fired a blank into the ceiling to humor him. But you chose to aim at a person.”
“I see nothing that says you were forced. On the contrary, it looks to me like you wanted to shoot. I don’t even know whether to praise your aim—or mock your lack of it…”
He crouched down slightly, cigar hanging from his lips, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. His voice dropped low, slow, almost seductive.
“When you saw my boy nearly die—besides panic and fear—you felt a little bit happy too, didn’t you?”
Bai Geping’s face went pale and ashen, as though that sentence had exposed the filthiest corner of his soul. Still, he stubbornly denied it. “No! I’d never do that—it was an accident! I didn’t even hurt your young master! But now, Old Master Zuo, you’re assaulting me in public—won’t that harm your family’s reputation?”
Zuo Zoujian nodded mildly. “You make a fair point.” Then he smiled thinly, eyes still glacial. “I really shouldn’t be taking justice into my own hands. I should call the police—have them arrest you. After all, you fired a gun and injured someone, and everyone here saw it.”
He straightened, brushing off his shoe. “Hurting you dirties my leather anyway. And though I don’t much like that Beta Zuo Shihuan brought home, he was injured too. Our Zuo family lawyers can handle this. A few years in prison for you—plenty of time to ‘reflect and heal,’ don’t you think?”
Bai Geping’s head snapped up, his face twisted in horror. For the first time, he was truly terrified. His lips trembled as he begged, “I don’t want to go to prison! It was an accident! The Zuo family is powerful and noble—surely you wouldn’t stoop to pursue a small fry like me? You called me a rat, didn’t you? Then just let this sewer rat go—no need to dirty your noble hands!”
“Accident or not, you can tell it to the police,” Zuo Zoujian said, chuckling. “You’ll have a few years to explain yourself—while working a sewing machine, perhaps.”
He laughed softly as he spoke—but in Bai Geping’s eyes, that smile was nothing short of demonic. None of his petty tricks could ever match this devil.
“No—no—!”
Bai Geping gritted his teeth and shouted, “I don’t want to go to prison! If I go in for a few years, I’m finished! Master Zuo, didn’t you say you wanted to break my hand? Go ahead and do it then—I won’t even make a sound!”
Zuo Zoujian found that boring. With a cold wave of his hand, he said flatly, “Too late. What, you want me to commit vigilante justice? I don’t feel like taking on that kind of charge.”
He then motioned for the two bodyguards to release Bai Geping.
But once freed, Bai Geping felt no relief—only more crushing pressure. Watching Zuo Zoujian, that cunning old fox, about to turn and leave, he clenched his teeth and made a rash decision.
“If I cripple one of my own hands, that wouldn’t count as vigilante justice, right?”
Zuo Zoujian raised a brow and turned back, looking at him with faint amusement.
The next second, he saw Bai Geping take a deep breath, his narrow eyes hardening as he stared at the electric baton hanging from a bodyguard’s belt. He asked to borrow it—and without holding back in the slightest, struck it down hard on his own right arm.
A muffled grunt escaped him instantly as his arm fell limp. He didn’t leave, though. Instead, he stood there, gloomy and motionless, waiting for someone to speak.
Zuo Zoujian took the cigar from his mouth, walked over slowly, and patted Bai Geping’s tense shoulder. Leaning close to his ear, he said quietly, almost kindly,
“If you’d aimed at that Beta from the start, I would’ve let you go long ago. Now—get lost.”
The moment Bai Geping heard that, his whole body loosened. He didn’t say another word, just dragged his now useless arm and bolted away—so fast that Zuo Zoujian thought he must have the wrong surname; surely he was a racehorse, not a Bai.
With that small nuisance dealt with, Zuo Zoujian still hadn’t forgotten the real problem—the one that had kept him running around all night.
His sharp gaze turned toward the true source of his trouble: that Beta man.
Just a bit of blood on his arm—and Zuo Shihuan was circling him with such tender concern? Even as a father, Zuo Zoujian had never received that kind of careful attention from his son.
For a brief moment, his heart soured with envy. He bit down on his cigar and walked toward them with a scowl.
***
“No. You’re going to the hospital with me right now.”
Zuo Shihuan’s face was filled with anxious worry. Even after checking Gu Heng all over and confirming that aside from the grazing wound on his arm, there were no other injuries, he still couldn’t relax.
“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch—I’ll put some ointment on it, and it’ll heal in no time.”
Gu Heng had suffered far worse before. This was merely a graze. It looked bad because of the blood, but with his top-tier S-class Alpha physique and recovery speed, it would be fully healed by morning—without even a scar.
Still, Gu Heng rather enjoyed the way Zuo Shihuan fussed over him. The curve of his dark eyes softened with deep affection; he almost wished this moment could last forever.
“You can’t just brush it off like that. At least have a professional doctor clean and dress the wound. You’re coming with me—now!” Zuo Shihuan’s brow furrowed, his tone serious and unwavering.
Gu Heng raised his hands in mock surrender, smiling. “Alright, alright. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
A voice broke through the tense atmosphere.
Zuo Shihuan froze, expression tightening as he turned. “Father.”
Zuo Zoujian bit down on his cigar, casting a disdainful glance at Gu Heng before shifting his gaze back to his son. His tone was casual but edged.
“Zuo Shihuan, where are you off to? Shouldn’t you be at your engagement banquet right now? Miss Yu’s been waiting for you all this time. Is this how a fiancé behaves?”
Zuo Shihuan fell silent, guilt clouding his eyes as he lowered them.
Just as Zuo Zoujian expected.
He knew his Alpha son’s temperament well—conscientious, disciplined, and responsible. The type who would never leave anything half-done.
Before this fiasco, everything had been fine. If that improper Beta hadn’t suddenly appeared, seducing and distracting his serious, obedient son, the engagement would never have been ruined.
His dissatisfaction toward that Beta ran deep.
Zuo Zoujian exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice calm but cutting. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your banquet? The guests have been waiting long enough.”
After a long silence, Zuo Shihuan clenched his fists and finally said with difficulty, “Father, I don’t want to go back.”
Zuo Zoujian’s face darkened—but he still forced a smile. “I’m not some cruel father trying to tear apart lovers. If you want to introduce this Beta to me, I could be willing to listen someday. But…”
His tone suddenly shifted.
“As a Zuo family Alpha, there’s something you need to learn. No matter how many lovers you have, they should never interfere with your proper duties. A legal wife is the one who stands beside you for life. A Beta? Hmph. Those are just things you keep out of sight.”
Hearing his father’s condescending words about Gu Heng, Zuo Shihuan’s brows furrowed in anguish and anger. His fists tightened; he was about to speak up—
But Gu Heng stopped him, stepping forward.
With a polite smile, Gu Heng said, “Father-in-law, no need to wait for later. I can introduce myself right now.”
Zuo Zoujian was briefly amused, curious about this bold Beta who dared stand before him. He’d already been planning to mock and humiliate the man—to make him retreat on his own.
But that single form of address stunned him completely. His mind blanked.
One sentence—and his composure cracked.
His expression turned black, and he roared, “Who the h*ll are you calling father-in-law?!”
