Prince Charles was well-known around the world. His face might not have been as instantly memorable as a Hollywood star’s, but at least the majority of celebrities attending this fashion show recognized him.
So, when Prince Charles walked in gracefully with his wife, Princess Anna, the lobby—which had been buzzing with chatter from the commotion—fell quiet. Everyone was caught off guard.
The first in line to the British throne, attending a fashion show at a hotel like this? That seemed a bit out of the ordinary, didn’t it?
With that thought in mind, even the many big-name stars present—some of whom had met Prince Charles before—were stunned and found themselves at a loss for words.
“Your Royal Highness, we had no idea you were coming, so we didn’t prepare a welcome. Please forgive us,” the lobby manager said, bowing respectfully to Charles.
Charles smiled and waved his hand. “No worries. I only decided to come here on a whim a short while ago. Nobody knew beforehand.”
A last-minute decision to come here?
That comment from Prince Charles only made everyone even more puzzled.
Although the prince wasn’t a celebrity or an official with a fixed job, his schedule was usually planned out well in advance.
What gatherings to attend on which days, when to show up at public charity events—all of it was arranged by his dedicated staff. The fact that a prince was attending a fashion show was already surprising enough, but the fact that it was a spontaneous decision made it even harder to fathom.
Their prince couldn’t possibly be that capricious and willful!
However, the lobby manager’s words did help a small portion of the guests—those who were “out of the loop” and didn’t recognize Prince Charles—learn that this ridiculously handsome man was, in fact, the Prince of Britain.
Jiang Fei, for example.
If no one had told him, he wouldn’t have known that this was the Crown Prince of Britain. And even by his standards, that was no ordinary status.
To him, the so-called big stars at today’s fashion show weren’t a big deal—they didn’t carry any special “celebrity aura.” After all, he had reached a point in life where he no longer needed to idolize anyone, and he rubbed shoulders with plenty of famous people. Qiao Yiyi and Gao Qinyuan, for instance, were both close friends of his.
But the Crown Prince of Britain was different. Even Jiang Fei had to take notice.
After all, this prince was the real deal—unlike the SS-rank assassin he had killed a few days earlier, who had called himself “Prince William.”
Come to think of it, that dead SS-rank assassin—who always wore white—had been quite handsome, with a good figure and a bit of a “prince charming” vibe. But after seeing the real Prince Charles today, the difference between the two was stark.
The fake “Prince William” had some semblance of presence, but compared to Charles, he fell far short—his intangible charisma was lacking by a mile.
A knockoff was still a knockoff, after all—hard to compete with the genuine article.
Still, Jiang Fei only gave it a passing thought—he wasn’t overthinking it like some of the other stars.
In his view, whether Prince Charles showed up or not had nothing to do with him. It didn’t matter either way. Right now, his concern was how to deal with the Korean singer Cui Dayuan.
Just then, Prince Charles walked straight over to where Jiang Fei and the others were standing. After thoughtfully scanning the group with his gaze, he asked curiously, “Oh? What seems to be going on here?”
He had received word that Jiang Fei was here, so he had rushed over.
But he wasn’t a mind reader—he had no idea what had happened after Jiang Fei arrived at the hotel.
That’s right!
The “special guest” Prince Charles had mentioned earlier—the reason he was attending this fashion show—was none other than Jiang Fei!
It was precisely because Jiang Fei was at the fashion show that, just a few dozen minutes ago, the prince had suddenly changed his mind on the way home and brought his wife, Princess Anna, here instead.
When Prince Charles’s gaze swept back and forth between the two opposing parties, not only did the previously assertive trio of Li Wen, Gao Qinyuan, and Li Lu start to panic, but even the “victim,” Cui Dayuan, felt a mix of flattery and nervousness.
This was the Crown Prince of Britain! Barring any unexpected turns, he would one day become the King of Britain. His status was something that even Eastern celebrities—let alone Hollywood superstars—could hardly compare to.
And on British soil, Prince Charles’s authority was even more formidable.
Of course, among everyone present, Jiang Fei remained as indifferent as ever.
“Your Royal Highness, here’s what happened. These two parties just had a bit of a dispute. This young lady claims that Mr. Cui was harassing her, while Mr. Cui says that Mr. Jiang assaulted him…” The lobby manager quickly stepped forward and briefly recounted the incident to Prince Charles.
He gave an unbiased account, without favoring either side—just stating what he knew.
Prince Charles listened and nodded, but didn’t immediately comment. His gaze grew more unreadable, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.
Li Wen, Gao Qinyuan, and Li Lu silently groaned.
What rotten luck—Prince Charles had to show up and immediately notice the standoff! What were they supposed to do now?
If it were just Cui Dayuan, even if he were being unreasonable and refusing to let things go, Li Wen and Gao Qinyuan were no pushovers. They could testify for Jiang Fei, and they were confident that once they got to the police station, he wouldn’t be able to cause much trouble.
But now that Prince Charles—whose status was beyond compare—had gotten involved, things were no longer so clear-cut…
Meanwhile, Cui Dayuan, whose hand pain had subsided a bit, felt a mixture of fear and delight. He was the “victim” here, and if he played the part well enough with the Crown Prince backing him, things would go much more smoothly!
The punishment Jiang Fei would face would be far harsher than what Cui Dayuan could have achieved on his own.
With that in mind, Cui Dayuan didn’t go so far as to weep and wail in front of everyone—that would be too undignified. As a pop idol, he still needed to maintain some image.
Instead, he exaggerated his suffering, clutching the hand that Jiang Fei had injured and putting on a performance of agony. He looked like someone constipated and unable to relieve himself—standing there with his backside sticking out, face flushed, veins bulging on his forehead, and hissing through clenched teeth as if the pain were even worse than before!
“Prince… Charles… I didn’t harass anyone… I just wanted to have a word with Li Wen, and then this crude brute who came out of nowhere started manhandling me for no reason! He crushed the bones in my hand! It must be seriously injured—I don’t know if this hand will end up crippled…” Cui Dayuan said, his voice faltering as if from pain. Although he wasn’t crying and pleading outright to Prince Charles, it was practically the same thing.
Prince Charles listened without committing to anything. He wore a faint smile and didn’t rush to call a doctor for Cui Dayuan or put on a show of being approachable and friendly toward foreign visitors—there were no reporters around anyway.
Instead, his gaze shifted from Cui Dayuan to Jiang Fei, Li Wen, and Gao Qinyuan.
Or rather, his eyes had already settled on Jiang Fei. He asked with a smile, “What do you have to say?”
Li Wen quickly stepped forward to explain. “Your Royal Highness, please don’t believe a word this shameless man says! He’s been harassing me for a long time—this isn’t the first time. I’ve always been fed up with him. Today, he went even further and laid his hands on me, using his strength as a man to try and drag me away. Jiang Fei couldn’t stand by and did nothing—he stepped in to help me. Even if Cui Dayuan got hurt, it was accidental, and he brought it upon himself!”
Jiang Fei didn’t speak. Instead, he furrowed his brow.
At first, he had thought that Prince Charles’s arrival here had nothing to do with him. But now, he suddenly realized that it might actually involve him after all.
At his level of cultivation, with the Northern Dark Divine Art’s inner energy already at the second level, his perception of the outside world was incredibly fine-tuned. Although Prince Charles was putting up a good front and hiding his true intentions well enough that others couldn’t tell, Jiang Fei could sense something was off.
“Is that so?” Prince Charles still didn’t commit. Instead, he finally made his target clear, turning his gaze directly to Jiang Fei and calling him by name: “Mr. Jiang Fei, what’s your side of the story?”
So it really is me he’s after! Jiang Fei thought to himself.
“My view is the same as Miss Li Wen’s. I couldn’t stand watching Cui Dayuan act so ungentlemanly toward my friend, so I stepped in to help.”
Whatever Prince Charles’s intentions were, he couldn’t just abandon Li Wen and admit to assault.
Besides, by seeing how the prince handled this, Jiang Fei could get a rough idea of whether the prince’s attitude toward him was friendly or hostile.
“Nonsense!” Cui Dayuan’s face flushed red as he spoke, looking furious. “Your Royal Highness, please look into this matter thoroughly and see justice done for me!”
Prince Charles didn’t say a word. He just smiled amiably at Jiang Fei and asked, “Well then, may I have a private word with you, Mr. Jiang Fei?”
Whoa!
As soon as Prince Charles said that, jaws dropped all around.
What? Have a private chat with Jiang Fei?
Notice the word “may”—it was very polite. Not many people in the world received such treatment from Prince Charles. At the very least, even the biggest Hollywood stars probably wouldn’t get that kind of respect.
And on top of that, Cui Dayuan had just been pleading for justice against Jiang Fei—why was the prince suddenly inviting him so respectfully for a private chat?
That’s way too abrupt a turn!
Prince Charles, are you sure you entered the scene correctly?
Everyone was stunned by the sudden twist, unable to process it—except for Jiang Fei, who had already sensed something was coming. He wasn’t surprised at all. He had known the prince was here for him.
“Sure,” Jiang Fei said with a nod.
There was no point in dodging—since he was on the prince’s turf, it wouldn’t be hard for His Royal Highness to arrange a meeting. So he might as well face it head-on and see what the prince was really up to.
Prince Charles nodded with a smile and said to the lobby manager, “Please take us to a small meeting room.”
This London fashion show was being held at this hotel, which naturally had meeting rooms of all sizes. The lobby manager didn’t dare to be careless and immediately led the way.
“After you, Mr. Jiang,” Prince Charles said, gesturing.
As the two turned to leave, Cui Dayuan finally snapped out of his daze and hurriedly called out, “Your Royal Highness, how are you going to deal with this scoundrel? He—”
Prince Charles glanced back at him. There was no menace in his eyes—they were still gentle and warm. But the person on the receiving end, Cui Dayuan, felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head—chilled to the bone. His voice caught in his throat, and he couldn’t finish his sentence.
This seemingly harmless Prince Charles was no ordinary man.
“Anna, handle things here. Call an ambulance for Mr. Cui. As for the injury, we’ll let the hospital take care of it,” Prince Charles said to his wife.
“Alright,” Anna replied. As the princess, she accompanied Prince Charles to almost all of his events.
By now, she was no longer the innocent, naive commoner girl she had once been—she had learned the ropes. Although Prince Charles hadn’t explained everything in detail yet, she already understood that the purpose of her husband’s special trip today was this young Chinese man named Jiang Fei.
And with that, she knew exactly how to deal with Cui Dayuan.
As Jiang Fei and Prince Charles walked side by side out of the lobby, Princess Anna called for an ambulance and gave some instructions to her staff. The lobby immediately erupted into chaos.
By now, it was clear to anyone with even a little wit that Prince Charles’s late-night visit to the hotel had nothing to do with the fashion show itself—it was all because of Jiang Fei, a Chinese man who had come out of nowhere and didn’t even have an invitation!
Everyone was buzzing with speculation about Jiang Fei’s identity.
What kind of background did he have, to make Prince Charles go out of his way to meet him in person? And what would they be talking about in private?
Because Jiang Fei had arrived with Gao Qinyuan and Li Wen, over a dozen A-list celebrities from the Chinese entertainment industry gathered around them, asking about the situation—who exactly Jiang Fei was and why they had never seen him back in China.
Gao Qinyuan and Li Wen were just as confused as everyone else. They didn’t have a clue what was going on, so they could only share what little they knew about Jiang Fei’s identity. As for why Prince Charles had invited him away—they had no idea.
After hearing about Jiang Fei’s background, everyone was full of admiration—turns out he was such an outstanding compatriot. And with Prince Charles’s actions today, the celebrities were completely won over!
As for Cui Dayuan, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, he now felt like he had fallen into an ice pit. His gaze was fixed blankly on the direction Jiang Fei had disappeared, and he had completely forgotten to keep up his act of being injured.
Because this time, his heart truly hurt…
