Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 163: A Slap for You

Song Zhuozhi immediately stood up, her legs were weak, and she supported herself with a maid as she hurriedly took a few steps forward, asking in disbelief:

"What did you say?"

The messenger had already started crying: "Little General Song died at the border!"

Her mind went blank, a sense of grief surged straight into her heart, her vision went dark, and she fainted to the ground before she could say anything else.

The maids and old nurses swarmed around her.

"Madam! Madam!"

The noise faded into the distance.

In the room, calming incense was burning, and the light fragrance curled around the beast-head incense burner.

Outside the room, white mourning banners were already hung, suppressing the bright colors of the peach blossoms, and casting a pall over the entire mansion.

Song Zhuozhi only woke up the next evening after fainting, lying numbly on the bed, and immediately asked everyone to leave upon speaking.

Although she had a good temper, at such a time, no one dared to say more, only quietly keeping guard outside.

After a while, she endured the pain in her throat and calmly called out: "Lu Jiu."

In the room that was originally empty, a figure emerged from a dark corner and knelt down in front of her bed.

He did not speak, always kept his head lowered, and apart from a conversation they had three years ago when the news of General Song’s death on the battlefield arrived, she rarely even saw him.

She turned her body sideways, looking at his appearance in dark clothing, from this angle she could only see the silver mask on his right cheek, shining with a sharp cold light.

"Go kill the old madam of the General Mansion." She looked at him and softly said.

Lu Jiu was astonished.

He raised his head, meeting her calm and beautiful eyes, quickly lowered his head again, and reminded: "That’s your grandmother, miss..."

"Only fools believe that blood relations are a reason that must be endured."

She sat up, her pale feet casually slipped into embroidered shoes, not caring in the least that the person in front of her would see.

"Of course, the legitimate daughter of the General Mansion, Marchioness Yongcheng, is most dignified and sensible, how could she do something like forcing someone to kill a relative?

This matter could only be done by the third young master of the General Mansion who just took his position, he saw that there was no legitimate heir in the General Mansion and wanted to eliminate the last obstacle, although the old madam loved him very much, he hoped for absolute certainty, and so he acted, understand?"

Lu Jiu suppressed the sense of absurdity and surprise, asking again: "Miss, do you really want to..."

"Do it."

Lu Jiu was silent for a moment, lowering his head even further.

"Yes."

At night, Lu Jiu hurried back to report, but the candlelight in the inner room was already extinguished, he lingered outside for half an hour, not knowing if he should enter.

A lady’s inner room was not a place where one could freely enter and exit, moreover, it usually had maids and old nurses inside.

Just as he was about to leave, a voice came from the window.

"Come in."

Inside, it was not like he imagined, there were no maids or old nurses, only Song Zhuozhi alone.

Song Zhuozhi, dressed in splendid attire, was sitting in front of a bronze mirror, using the light of a single candle to draw her eyebrows.

Her deep purple luxurious robe dragged on the floor, her hair adorned with gold and jade.

"Is it done?"

Although Lu Jiu felt a bit suspicious about this bizarre situation, he still nodded his head and responded: "It is done."

"Good. Tomorrow, I want you to kill the third young master and the fifth concubine of the Marquis Yongcheng’s Mansion. This time, I want them to die together in a brothel."

Lu Jiu frowned slightly but did not ask anything, merely agreed.

It was merely killing two irrelevant people, after all, Song General had groomed him for the purpose of helping his master in such matters.

Only that he had followed the miss for ten years, and had never heard the miss issue such orders.

The legitimate daughter of the General Mansion was dignified, wise, and sensible, although not favored by the old madam in the mansion and occasionally troubled by the illegitimate branch, she had never opened her mouth to order a killing.

Perhaps it was the news of Little General Song’s death two days ago that had stimulated her.

Seeing him agree readily, Song Zhuozhi paused from her eyebrow drawing, turning to look at him.

"Will you do everything I say?"

"Naturally."

"What if I ask you to kill the emperor?"

Lu Jiu was shocked: "Why?"

Her expression was calm, her fingers gently caressed the embroidery patterns on her luxurious attire, and she spoke: "Three years ago, my father died in battle, they were busy with their own strife, indulging in wealth and power, causing my father’s remains to be unable to be brought back home, only hastily buried at the frontier.

Later I got married, one month into the marriage, my husband was sent to the frontier by the new emperor, my brother went with him, now my brother is dead too, yet the debauchery within the imperial palace has yet to cease. The common people know to cry for my father and my brother, yet they do nothing!"

She lowered her voice, questioning like a trapped beast: "Tell me, who in this world most deserves to die?"

Lu Jiu was silent, only speaking after a long pause: "But killing the emperor won’t solve the problem, it will only make the capital more chaotic."

"Who said that?" Song Zhuozhi calmed down her rage again, picked up the ink stick and resumed drawing her eyebrows, a smile spreading across her face.

"As long as I am here, there will be no chaos. Father and brother always praised my superior strategies, understood the hardships of the frontier, and even knew how to arrange troops, only regretted that I was not a man. They made me lose both father and brother, perhaps even my husband will follow in their footsteps, is it too much to ask to take back something in exchange?"

Lu Jiu said nothing, she lifted his chin with the ink stick, took off his mask, her clear eyes looking at him, soft scent escaping her lips.

"You will help me, won’t you? Father gave you to me, now your life is mine, even if I order you to kill yourself, you must comply."

Lu Jiu agreed: "But the General was always dedicated to the country before."

Song Zhuozhi’s expression changed suddenly, giving him a slap across the face.

"I don’t need you to tell me that!"

Then she turned back, coldly said: "Tomorrow, I want to see the bodies of those two people. Get out."

...

"Cut!"

As soon as the director shouted to stop, Yu Xia turned around and pulled Xie Qingci.

"Are you alright?"

Xie Qingci pressed the tip of his tongue against his cheek, catching a glimpse of others gathering around, and shook his head: "I’m fine."

Then he stood up with the force of Yu Xia’s pull.

The assistants rushed over to drape coats around them, Mei handed over a hand warmer, thoughtfully wrapping a heated shawl around her.

Finally, she even tucked a handful of roasted chestnuts into her hand.

Yu Xia once again was thankful for having such a thoughtful assistant and shared two of the chestnuts with Xie Qingci.

"A compensation for slapping you."

Xie Qingci looked at her through the rising fog from the cup, as he took the chestnuts, his thumb brushed across her palm.

"Yu Xia, you’re too kind."

"No, not at all." She quickly withdrew her hand, almost as if she was afraid of the cold, burrowing herself into the hand warmer.

The next scene was for other actors, as the weather was indeed cold, it was not suitable to exhaust the same group of actors consecutively, so the director tried to stagger the filming, after all, this location offered numerous scenic spots.

Yu Xia got to sit and rest nearby, a folding recliner being a staple on the set, and Mei also brought a small blanket for her, making her nest comfortably on the recliner.

After sitting for a while, someone nearby also brought over a recliner and a small storage cabinet.

Xie Qingci smiled at them and very naturally sat next to her.