Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 203: I Want Her

Her fingers hooked under Lu Jiu’s chin, pulling open his shirt.

Several scars crisscrossed across his chest.

Her slender, fair fingers traced along those scars, adding to his pain, yet he remained motionless, letting her toy with him.

"These scars aren’t pretty," she seemed to regret, "People in the palace really are clumsy."

As she spoke, she tore off a scab.

"The new flesh should grow together to look nice. Ah, this is where the heart is, does it hurt?"

Lu Jiu: "No, it doesn’t."

She squatted in front of him despite her status, poking her fingers into the wound, coquettishly asking, "What if I gouge your heart out?"

He had no way to answer that.

"Such a blockhead, how could I gouge your heart out," Song Zhuozhi raised his chin lightly, staring directly at him, "You promised to always put me first, right?"

"Yes. Lu Jiu is always the most loyal Shadow Guard to the Miss."

"That’s good, my love for you wasn’t in vain. Jiu, I won’t blame you for messing up this matter. You had the ability to kill the first emperor, so you can definitely kill the second, right?"

She knew he was seriously injured, yet still urged him to go to the palace and assassinate the Eleventh Prince a second time.

How could this be love? It’s manipulation, deceit, a trap.

It’s definitely not love.

He had once witnessed the past daily interactions between Song Zhuozhi and Marquis Yongcheng, lowering their heads and blushing with shy smiles, occasionally sharing a warm silence when catching each other’s eyes.

He was worlds apart from Marquis Yongcheng, merely a pawn she could tightly hold onto.

But, who told him to fall for the sweet nothings he shouldn’t have heard, and crave the thoughts he shouldn’t have entertained?

He stared at the entwined flower patterns on her skirt and said, "Yes."

Then, as if compelled by a ghostly whisper, he added, "Marquis Yongcheng is already on his way back to the court."

Song Zhuozhi’s hand paused in stroking his wound.

"Marquis Yongcheng, right, there’s still Marquis Yongcheng. Jiu, why don’t you go kill him first, if Ji Jin Yu returns alive, it will be very disadvantageous for us. Only if he’s dead can we always be together."

For a moment, Lu Jiu was tempted.

He had already killed many, what’s one more Marquis Yongcheng?

Just like she said, if Marquis Yongcheng Ji Jin Yu was gone, they could always be together. Even if not in a normal relationship, she didn’t really love him, but just staying together like this wasn’t so bad...

No, he couldn’t kill Ji Jin Yu.

If Ji Jin Yu died, the border would be in chaos, and no second person capable of leading an army could be found in court. The country would be lost, peace couldn’t be maintained, how could they talk about living in harmony?

He lowered his head in refusal.

"Miss, I’m afraid I can’t kill both the Eleventh Prince and Marquis Yongcheng."

His injuries were worse than they appeared, perhaps before he could kill either, he’d meet his end under someone else’s blade.

Song Zhuozhi frowned, sat back on the stool, and gently brushed his temple.

"Useless. Alright, then—kill the Eleventh Prince."

Lu Jiu’s heart sank.

"I will strictly follow the master’s orders."

...

"Cut!"

Yu Xia quickly withdrew her hand, and Xie Qingci instinctively tried to catch her, grasping at the air.

She stood up and walked behind the director to check the filming effects, leaving him kneeling on the ground, unmoved.

She was experienced and detached too quickly, only he remained immersed in the role, not yet reacting due to some overlap with reality and the drama.

The other actors secretly glanced at him, then at Yu Xia, exchanged a look, and sighed.

Poor Xie, hitting a hard wall the first time he liked a girl.

Xie Qingci stood up after a while, also walking behind the director, silently listening to him and Yu Xia converse.

He was tall, and when looking into the camera, his gaze could easily sweep over her, noticing her delicate ears, the dazzling gold and jade on her head, the stray hair by her ear, her long lashes, and her eyes no longer looking at him.

He suddenly felt his heart ache with a bitter, suffocating sensation.

After talking with the director, Yu Xia gave him no chance to speak, directly calling He Ci to bring the clothes over.

Xie Qingci could only watch her walk away.

Mr. Yang came over and patted him: "Come on, your lips are turning white from the cold."

He silently sat back in his place, everyone on set tacitly not speaking loudly, Luo patted his shoulder and sighed:

"Maybe it’s time to give up."

Xie Qingci said nothing, continuing to send messages in a pinned chat.

Since he wasn’t blocked, he didn’t even know if she had read those messages.

If she had, why couldn’t she reply with even a single sentence? If she hadn’t... if she hadn’t, what was he supposed to do?

Yu Xia’s coldness terrified him, she was angry, was she really thinking about breaking up?

The reclining chair for resting was just a few meters away, yet she no longer looked his way.

During filming, they could embrace and express their love, but the moment the director called cut, she could detach immediately.

Even being in the same crew, seeing each other every day, even having physical contact in the scenes, they were worse than ordinary colleagues.

Especially for someone like Xie Qingci who had tasted sweetness, the gap was huge, and he even had some trouble distinguishing between life inside and outside the drama anymore.

"Take your medicine," Mr. Yang brought the hospital-prescribed medication, asking in a low voice, "Do you really think the fever’s gone? Still feeling bad?"

Xie Qingci shook his head weakly.

"Thank you, Mr. Yang, I’m much better now."

He said this, but by evening, the fever hit him again.

Luckily, Mr. Yang had an assistant stay with him in advance, waking up to his distressed muttering in the middle of the night and quickly turning on the light to check on him.

"Xie Qingci? Qingci?"

"Give me the phone," Xie Qingci said, his eyes reddened from the fever, voice hoarse like sandpaper scraping his throat, "I want her, I want her."

The assistant’s nose tingled with emotion, handing the phone over, and gently trying to reason with him:

"I don’t know what happened between you two, but if it’s just you who likes her, then she’s perfectly entitled not to respond. Mr. Yang also mentioned, don’t do anything foolish, maybe you just got too into the character and fell for that role."

Xie Qingci stubbornly picked up the phone and called Yu Xia.

The call rang for a long time before eventually falling silent.

She still didn’t answer.

The assistant offered his own phone: "You want to try with mine?"

He nodded, carefully inputting Yu Xia’s number despite the dizziness, then clenched the phone anticipating her to pick up.

Alas.

She still didn’t pick up.

With the last bit of consciousness he had, Xie Qingci deleted the call records on the assistant’s phone, then quietly took the fever medicine, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Yu Xia only found out the next day that he had another fever.

She saw the missed calls from two numbers on her phone in the morning, but didn’t attend to them.

Upon arriving on set and seeing Xie Qingci sitting there, his face pale, getting makeup done, she only glanced briefly.

After changing into her costume, Mei brought her a small bread for breakfast, hesitated, then mentioned that Xie Qingci didn’t seem well.

She calmly replied, "I think he’s fine."