Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 175: Burning Spring, Part 2

"Lu Jiu, come out."

Song Zhuozhi finished her critiquing of the accessories, using a golden hairpin to fiddle with a wooden comb. Only when she heard the sound of the wooden teeth breaking did she smile in satisfaction.

When Lu Jiu came out, he stood behind her, silently awaiting instructions.

But unlike the previous two days, she didn’t tell him to kill anyone, she simply asked,

"You’ve watched over her for so many years, tell me, isn’t she pitiful?"

Lu Jiu felt it was strange and remained silent, avoiding giving an evaluation.

However, Song Zhuozhi seemed determined to force him to say the word "pitiful," and any slight misstep would arouse her fury.

"Won’t you speak?"

The sharp end of the golden hairpin poked into his shoulder. She held the thin lotus on the hairpin and blood flowed from her hand, dripping onto him.

"Speak! Isn’t she very pitiful?! The most pitiful fool in all of the capital city, insignificant in anyone’s eyes!"

Lu Jiu kept his head down, as if impervious to the pain.

He was sure something was wrong with her, but he didn’t know how to fix it.

"The young lady is praised by everyone as the legitimate daughter of the General Mansion, virtuous, intelligent, and noble. After marrying into Marquis Yongcheng’s Mansion, she was also admired as the Marchioness. How could she be considered pitiful?"

"Lies," she used the blood-stained hairpin to dislodge his mask, leaning in coldly, "You’re all lying, deceiving her. Making her believe she’s happily married, thinking this kind of life is normal."

"In reality, she’s the most foolish and pitiful person in the capital. Her father and brother only think of the country, not the family. Her grandmother favors her half-sisters, her stepmother is unkind, her husband unloving, and any wayward woman can step on her. Yes, they say she has a kind heart. What does it mean to be kind? It’s clearly cowardice and incompetence, stupidity!"

The hairpin traced from his face to his neck, as if it might pierce his skin with the slightest carelessness.

"And what about me? Look, I just gave the word and you killed them for me. She keeps you by her side without knowing how to use you, truly a fool. Now, tell me, isn’t she pitiful?"

Lu Jiu didn’t even blink as she smeared blood across his face.

Even when he spoke, it wasn’t to answer her question.

"The General loves you very much, always thinking of you."

Song Zhuozhi erupted in rage, the hairpin slashed open his neck, and she slapped him across the face after casting it aside.

"Did I ask you that?! You’re nothing but my dog; whatever I ask, you should answer!"

She lost control, shouting furiously before collapsing with a pale face.

Lu Jiu instinctively caught her, the warm softness in his arms made his muscles stiffen for a moment.

Song Zhuozhi fainted again, staying unconscious for more than half a day.

When she woke up, a maid came to report that the third young master of the General Mansion had killed his grandmother and was discovered by the servants. Now the third young master had been captured, and the stepmother and second young lady were waiting outside the Marquis Mansion to see her.

Song Zhuozhi, with a throbbing headache, massaged her temples, her expression incredulous.

But whether or not to see those two outside the mansion, she decisively refused and told them to report it to the authorities and investigate the case thoroughly, judging as they see fit.

Upon hearing that the funeral for the third master of the Marquis Mansion and the fifth madam was hastily arranged and they were to be buried today, she was so shocked that she steadied herself against the maid’s hand and hurried out.

Passing the corner where Lu Jiu usually lingered, she didn’t spare him a glance.

Inside, Lu Jiu felt increasingly out of place.

He thought it was a shock that had radically changed her, but now it seemed more like she’d been split into two people.

However, it seemed there was still hope for her recovery.

With his mind at ease, he followed behind, concealing his presence.

After Song Zhuozhi saw the bodies of her third brother and fifth sister-in-law, she returned to the courtyard with an uncertain expression.

The wound in her palm continued throbbing painfully, and the maids and nannies said she’d done it herself without realizing it. She thought she’d cut it on something sharp, but paid it no mind, her thoughts occupied by the affairs of both her natal and marital families.

Could this be a coincidence?

She felt there was something she’d forgotten, some fragmented periods of blank time.

So much had happened recently — her brother died, her grandmother died, her half-brother was caught, the fifth madam who often troubled her died, because of an affair with the third master... Her head pounded and she weakly fell onto the bed to rest.

As she turned sideways, her gaze swept over a crevice inside the bed and spotted a glint of gold. Picking it up hesitantly, she discovered it was a lotus hairpin she rarely wore, now stained with blood.

...Whose blood?

Her heart pounded wildly, black and white shadows cloaked the scene before her eyes, and an unusual pain coursed through her body, twisting her expression into a contorted grimace.

By the time Lu Jiu noticed her odd condition, she’d been lying on the bed for quite a while.

"Miss?"

No response, he stepped out from the shadows, hesitantly reaching to turn her over.

Face pale, just as when she’d fainted previously. As he relaxed, his nostrils flared slightly, detecting a strong smell of blood.

Where was the injury?

Following the scent, he looked towards the area underneath Song Zhuozhi. The hem of her pure white skirt was stained with blood, forming a terrifying mottled pattern.

She... had a miscarriage.

Only a month after the wedding, Marquis Yongcheng had been sent to the frontier, and now two months later, she had lost her child after losing her father and brother, with her husband absent.

Lu Jiu was momentarily stunned before rushing out without delay, heading straight for the physician’s quarters.

...

"Cut!"

Yu Xia opened her eyes, reaching out to touch the blood trickling from the blood pack.

"This upgraded blood looks so real in color."

The director bantered with her for a bit, and other actors chimed in.

Only Xie Qingci, who had run back from the door, stared at the blood under her skirt and her extremely weak look after makeup, speechless for a long time.

Yu Xia looked at him curiously, "Xie Qingci, what’s wrong? Feeling squeamish at the sight of blood?"

The others looked at him and laughed.

"No way, right? He didn’t faint just now."

"Getting squeamish at fake blood? Wouldn’t that mean he’d faint at red paint?"

"Xie Qingci, are you really fainting? Can’t even speak?"

Xie Qingci snapped out of it, "No, just thinking, is miscarriage really that frightening? Does the blood really flow like that?"

A female actor who’d gone through marriage and childbirth said, "Yes, miscarriages are quite terrifying, one wrong move can cost two lives. But Little Xie, you’re impressive, thinking so deeply from filming a scene, keep it up, you’ll be a good husband."

Xie Qingci smiled politely.

Yu Xia thought to herself, could he really be immersed in the scene? His smile seemed strained, as if he’d truly witnessed her experiencing a miscarriage.

During the lunch break, he still appeared in a daze, sitting in a corner of the set, his food turning cold, barely touched. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Mei, unaware of the latter part of the film’s script, thought her premonition had come true, solemnly passing the takoyaki she bought to Yu Xia, saying,

"Sis, go on. Look at him now, all dazed and downcast, clearly he’s genuinely upset, torn by disbelief regarding Song Xi and you, and his own insecurities, to the point he can’t eat! It’s the perfect moment for your takoyaki to save him!"

"...I bought these for myself. And you, did you rob an entire octopus family? Putting takoyaki in a family bucket, He will scold us both to death!"