Chapter 21: Who Gave You Permission to Raise Your Blades Against Her?

She paused, her tone light and airy as she added, “Let’s be clear—I didn’t start this. It was self-defense.”

Meng Yueling’s face contorted with fury and humiliation. Struggling to prop herself up on an elbow, she snapped at the two bodyguards, “Are you both useless? Can’t even handle a single woman?”

The bodyguards, jolted back to their senses, scrambled to their feet and charged at Gu Ci once more.

Gu Ci leisurely flexed her wrist, calmly observing their approach. Without needing much thought, she read their movements, predicting their next steps with ease. Her body responded in an instant.

One bodyguard reached for her hair, but Gu Ci’s elbow drove mercilessly into his stomach, followed by a swift, high kick to his forehead.

Pain twisted his gut and stars danced behind his eyes.

The other tried to ambush her from behind, aiming a sweeping kick at the back of her knees to knock her down. But before his leg connected, the figure in front of him disappeared. Alarm shot through him, and a chilling sense of danger prickled at his back.

Gu Ci seemed to materialize behind him like a ghost, her long leg flashing out in a lightning-fast arc, striking the back of his knee with force.

Meng Yueling’s eyes widened in disbelief, and she could only sputter with rage, “Useless! Both of you are useless! If you don’t beat her to death today, I’ll have the butler fire you the moment we get back!”

No sooner had she spoken than a shadow loomed over her.

Gu Ci’s face hovered above, her expression half-amused, half-menacing, like the devil himself. “Who did you say you were going to beat to death?”

Meng Yueling glared at her, pride and fury burning in her eyes. “You, of course, you wretch! What, are you going to dare lay a hand on me?”

Though she feared Gu Ci’s strength, she didn’t believe Gu Ci would dare do anything to her. After all, she was the heiress of the Meng family—even the Gu family wouldn’t dare cross her, so how could Gu Ci? If Gu Ci touched her, she’d never be able to set foot in Songdu again.

But before the thought had finished, Gu Ci smacked her on the head.

Gu Ci propped her chin on one hand, drawling lazily, “That’s all?”

Never in her life had Meng Yueling been so humiliated.

At that moment, she saw her two bodyguards stagger to their feet, pulling out electric batons as they crept up behind Gu Ci.

She gripped the small knife she always carried, ready to slash it across Gu Ci’s face at any moment.

A venomous smile twisted her lips. “Gu Ci, let’s see how arrogant you are without that pretty face!”

Her blade never reached Gu Ci’s face but scraped her arm instead. Just a little more force and she’d have gashed Gu Ci’s arm open.

But in the next instant, her smile froze.

The bodyguards hadn’t even managed to touch Gu Ci before a man appeared out of nowhere, kicking them both back into a flowerbed. Their clothes tore on the branches, leaving them even more disheveled.

A polished shoe knocked the knife from her hand, then pressed crushingly down on her wrist.

Rong Ye pinned Meng Yueling’s hand under his heel, his presence cold and commanding, exuding an innate air of superiority. “Who gave you permission to draw a knife on her?”

He’d already been furious when he’d seen Meng Yueling, on the surveillance monitors, threaten to strip Gu Ci’s clothes. When the bodyguards advanced with electric batons, his anger reached its peak.

If he hadn’t worried about frightening Gu Ci, Rong Ye would have been far harsher. “So young, so ugly—and yet so malicious?”

Meng Yueling’s face blanched with pain, and Rong Ye’s oppressive aura left her too cowed to utter a word. Compared to him, Gu Ci’s earlier throw had seemed almost gentle.

Sensing someone approach from behind, Gu Ci instinctively tensed to react, but paused when she recognized Rong Ye’s voice.

She stood, dusting off her clothes. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s fine. I’m in no hurry.” Facing Gu Ci, Rong Ye’s demeanor softened, extending a hand to her in a gentle gesture.

If one ignored the fact that his shoe was still grinding into Meng Yueling’s wrist, he did indeed seem quite genial.

As the two walked off without a backward glance, Meng Yueling’s heart finally settled—only to brim with undiluted hatred as she stared at Gu Ci’s retreating back.

Not long after, a waiter from the Imperial Banquet approached.

Upon spotting the lobby manager, Meng Yueling’s eyes lit up and she immediately adopted an imperious tone. “Those two just assaulted me in your restaurant! Go and bring them back here at once!”

When the manager’s expression remained unmoved, she huffed, pulling a golden VIP card from her purse and waving it under his nose. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m a gold member here! Don’t tell me Songdu has never seen a gold card?”

Imperial Banquet had branches in every city of Mianzhou. More club than restaurant, it was essentially a private society.

Membership was tiered: regular VIP cards allowed reservations only in the main dining rooms and booths. The Gu family, for example, held a regular card—they’d had to call in countless favors just to secure a private room for tonight.

Above regular VIP cards were advanced levels: platinum, gold, silver, diamond, and white gold, from lowest to highest.

Meng Yueling had begged her father for ages before he finally gave her this card, which made her the envy of her friends in the capital.

Imperial Banquet was no ordinary establishment; rumor had it that its owner held sway over Mianzhou’s entire economic lifeblood.

Gu Ci and that man dared lay a hand on her, a gold member, here—they were finished!

The manager maintained his formulaic smile, but his gaze toward Meng Yueling was subtly amused, even odd.

He’d rarely seen gold cards here; lately, he’d only encountered silver, diamond, even white gold. For instance, Miss Gu’s dining companion tonight was a white gold member.

Songdu might not be as grand as the capital, but Imperial Banquet still attracted the most powerful figures. After seeing so many diamond and higher members, a gold card simply failed to impress.

And besides…

His polite smile didn’t waver, but his words made Meng Yueling’s face drain of color. “I’m sorry, Miss Meng. Our owner has instructed us to escort you out of Imperial Banquet.”

“What did you say?” Meng Yueling could scarcely believe her ears.

The next moment, the manager reached out and took the gold card from her hand.

She saw that three burly, black-clad security guards had appeared behind her.

Foreboding churned in her chest. “On what grounds are you taking my card? Give it back!”

The manager ignored her. Right in front of her, he snapped the card in two and discarded the pieces.

Then, with a wave of his hand—