After Kissing the World-Weary Female Supporting Character [Transmigration] - Chapter 44

Today’s filming included a small climax, which was also Ji Ruyue’s last scene—the death of Mu Yu. In the original book, this segment was unimportant, glossed over in a few words. But after Qi Nanchun’s revisions, Mu Yu’s death was not only pushed back but also became the direct catalyst for Fang Miao’s change in attitude: to bring down the wicked Empress who caused Mu Yu’s death, she truly shifted her focus from culinary arts to palace infighting, slaying gods and Buddhas in her path to the Empress’s throne. The Emperor, in turn, disbanded the harem, fulfilling his youthful promise.

Song Xingzi was overly excited last night and suffered insomnia all night. She was listless all morning, taking a small stool and dozing off whenever she wasn’t needed for a scene. It wasn’t until Ji Ruyue made her appearance that Song Xingzi sprang up like she was injected with adrenaline, eagerly running over to the cameraman: the viewing angle here was the best, and there was no risk of being filmed and causing a re-shoot.

The mastermind behind the Emperor’s previous assassination attempt had been identified, but the person held high power and influence in the court, controlling a significant force through factionalism. To thoroughly purge the corrupt officials, the Emperor decided to travel to a temporary palace, under the guise of avoiding the summer heat, to lure out the restless mastermind. Because the journey was fraught with danger, the Emperor naturally did not want his ‘white moonlight’ to accompany him and risk danger, so he only brought a few consorts, including the currently favored Consort Mei (Fang Mei, played by He Ya) and Beauty Miao (Fang Miao, played by Song Xingzi). Of course, Fang Miao’s main function was still to be a chef. But the Emperor forgot that women in the deep palace are sometimes more cruel than swords outside the palace, especially a woman consumed by jealousy who has endured for so long.

This scene depicts how, while the Emperor was experiencing thrilling assassination attempts at the temporary palace, the Empress, who learned that Mu Yu’s family was involved in the conspiracy, finally couldn’t hold back. She drastically increased the trace poison that Mu Yu had been consuming daily in her ginseng soup. This, combined with the freshly stir-fried tea leaves Fang Miao had given Mu Yu, created a tea that took Mu Yu’s life.

This scene had little action; the difficulty lay in conveying the character’s emotions—how to express Mu Yu’s world-weariness, helplessness, relief, yet lingering regret. Mu Yu’s heart had died long ago in the palace’s daily strife, but she had forced herself to live for her family and relatives. That’s why she drank the ginseng soup, despite knowing it was poisoned, for years. This final bowl of poison was perhaps the release she had craved.

“The ginseng soup today seems exceptionally strong?” Mu Yu glanced at the porcelain bowl handed to her by the maid, saying languidly. The summer heat was oppressive; she had been listless lately, often sitting all day on the imperial concubine’s couch draped in a thin silk blanket.

The maid remained silent, maintaining a respectful bent posture.

Mu Yu took the porcelain bowl, her eyelids half-closed, lazily staring at the clear soup for a moment. She glanced at the silent maid, sighed, and drank it all. Then she gently beckoned to her chief maid by the door, “Ling Long, help me to the courtyard. My pomegranate flowers have bloomed.”

“Why did Your Ladyship suddenly decide to see the flowers?” Ling Long walked over, supporting Mu Yu’s arm, and slowly walked her into the courtyard. “But the pomegranates are blooming exceptionally beautifully this year. This is the first time since I entered the palace.”

Mu Yu sat down on a small stone stool, not answering. She looked up blankly at the pomegranate flowers, which were as bright as red clouds.

Flowers bloom and fade in their own time. I never dreamed of eternal life. The life I wanted to escape was that of an Imperial Concubine in the Great Wei Palace in year 128. Other people, I know they all envy my life, but I fear it, I fear its unchanging monotony and lack of novelty.

“Sometimes, I truly feel that this life of an envied Imperial Concubine is a death sentence,” a breeze blew through, and Mu Yu reached out, catching a fiery red pomegranate petal, whispering to herself, “A slow dismemberment of my soul, do you understand?”

“Your Ladyship,” Ling Long was frantic, kneeling on the ground with blood in her voice. “Please don’t say such frightening things to your servant.”

Mu Yu didn’t answer her. The pain in her heart was churning. She reached out, pouring herself a cup of cold tea—the mulberry leaf tea Fang Miao had stir-fried for her. “Tell me, what is that little girl doing now? She will live well, right? She can adapt to any life.”

Ling Long screamed in terror. “Your Ladyship, Your Ladyship! Stop talking, stop talking! Call the imperial physician! Hurry, go call the imperial physician! Your Ladyship is spitting blood!”

Mu Yu lay slumped over the stone table, gazing at the azure sky. The brilliant figure of a flying bird crossed the cloudless blue. After a long time, she softly laughed, “Ling Long, don’t blame anyone. Help me protect that little girl.”

“No, don’t, Your Ladyship—”

Ling Long’s mournful shriek echoed across the set. This suffocating atmosphere lasted for a long time before Zhao Yu sighed contentedly and called out: “Cut! It’s a wrap! 15 minutes intermission. Prepare for Scene 58.”

Ji Ruyue spat out the blood packet in her mouth. The metallic taste of rust lingering in her mouth was truly unpleasant.

“Water,” Ji Ruyue said, walking up to her assistant. Before she could finish, the assistant unscrewed the thermos and handed it over, along with a paper cup.

Ji Ruyue rinsed her mouth and felt a little better. She suddenly noticed that Song Xingzi, who usually stuck to her side the moment a scene was done, was nowhere to be seen.

Where did she go? She was just getting a nosebleed over Gu Yu’s photo yesterday. Is she already not clinging to me anymore today?

Ji Ruyue coldly scanned her surroundings and spotted a certain person behind the cameraman, whose face was stained with tears and who was frantically pulling tissues from the assistant’s box to wipe her eyes.

That look… it was practically a human tissue shredder.

Boo hoo hoo, the scriptwriter has no heart! The scriptwriter is not human! Why did Mu Yu have to die when Fang Miao was absent? And become a crime suspect! Why! Mu Yu is so good, why was she murdered! Boo hoo hoo hoo, Ji Ji is so good, why was she forced to jump off a building by the male lead! What kind of idiotic plot is this! Boo hoo hoo…

Fully immersed in the misery of Ji Ruyue’s life in the novel, Song Xingzi was crying and sobbing curses, “Boo hoo hoo, idiot, idiot, boo hoo hoo…”

Ji Ruyue walked over and heard Song Xingzi calling someone an idiot repeatedly: “…” Suddenly, she didn’t want to talk to her.

Lost in her immense sorrow, Song Xingzi was completely oblivious, wiping her tears with tissue paper, still not forgetting to curse, “Idiotic, idiotic author, idiotic novel, boo hoo hoo… Li Yebai is also an idiot, mentally challenged…”

Ji Ruyue said nothing, curiously waiting for Song Xingzi’s next words.

The assistant couldn’t bear it anymore and quietly prompted, “Cough, cough, cough, Teacher Song, Teacher Song? Little Boss Ji is here.”

“What do you want?” Song Xingzi asked with a heavy nasal voice. She turned and saw the expressionless Ji Ruyue. Her tears, which had just subsided, surged again like a breached floodgate, becoming uncontrollable.

“Waaah—Ji Ji, boo hoo hoo, Ji Ji…”

Like a wronged child finally seeing a trusted person, Song Xingzi wailed, turned, and hugged Ji Ruyue, smearing her with snot and tears.

Ji Ruyue: “…” She told me she’s an adult, but under the skin, she’s really just an elementary school student, right?

Ji Ruyue coldly pulled her into the makeup room and shoved a new box of tissues at her.

“Boo hoo hoo, Ji Ji, Ji Ji, you, you won’t even comfort me, won’t even comfort me!”

Song Xingzi was practically gasping for breath from crying.

Ji Ruyue patted Song Xingzi’s shoulder very coldly, her hoarse, smoky voice low, saying flatly, “Don’t cry.”

Thinking of Ji Ruyue’s “confession” last night, Song Xingzi sweetly wiggled her arm. “Ji Ji, kiss me, kiss me, and I won’t cry anymore.”

Her voice was sickly sweet, the taste of a girl’s first love.

Ji Ruyue: “…”

“Don’t you like the type like Gu Yu?”

Song Xingzi’s tear-stained red face froze. She asked back with extreme seriousness, “What nonsense are you saying, Ji Ji? Who told you that!”

You just secretly promised me your life last night, said those words to me, and now you’re suspecting I have another dog on the side! How can Ji Ji be like this! Hmph!

Ji Ruyue: “…” Isn’t your uncontrolled nosebleed obvious enough? Why do you look like I abandoned you after getting my way? Did the script for the elementary school student get flipped?

Ji Ruyue didn’t answer, merely letting her cool, placid eyes drift between Song Xingzi’s nose tip and forehead. Song Xingzi immediately understood Ji Ruyue’s meaning, covering her nose and saying in a muffled voice, “Th-That was because I was thinking of Ji Ji that I got a nosebleed! It wasn’t because of Gu Yu! That one photo of hers looked a lot like Ji Ji! I, I just couldn’t help but think of Ji Ji with her bare back! It has nothing to do with her! I only like Ji Ji’s type! I only like you!”

Ji Ruyue already knew Song Xingzi saw herself in the male lead’s position, but hearing such a genuine and honest confession was different. Ignoring the joy of hearing that Song Xingzi didn’t like Gu Yu, Ji Ruyue became flustered, the tips of her ears unconsciously flushing red.

“You, you like me?”

“Yes!” With Ji Ruyue’s “confession from last night” as her foundation, Song Xingzi was completely unafraid of the possibility of having been doomed from the start. She lifted her head, her gaze burning as she looked at Ji Ruyue. “It’s the kind of love where I want to hug you, kiss you, sleep with you, and be your wife! It’s the kind of love where I want to be with Ji Ji forever! It’s the kind of love where I get a nosebleed thinking of Ji Ji!”

Stared at by such a genuine, fiery gaze, Ji Ruyue felt helpless for the first time. The hidden motives behind her calculations seemed to have nowhere to hide. “I, I’m very happy, but…”

“Stop, stop right there!” Song Xingzi grabbed Ji Ruyue’s hand and leaned closer.

Oh no! I know this plot point! Isn’t this the “moved but must refuse” opening from the novels? No way! You confessed to me last night, how can you trick me?

Song Xingzi gripped Ji Ruyue’s cool hand and pressed it against her own warm, flushed face, wearing a look of deep understanding. “Ji Ji, I know you like me, but our main goal right now is to take down the male lead. The matter of dating is not urgent, and we’re practically dating now anyway. I heard someone say that behind every successful woman is another woman who silently supports her. Let me be the woman behind you!”

Ji Ruyue let Song Xingzi hold her hand obediently, feeling the continuous warmth radiating from her palm.

“But, but…”

The heat in her palm intensified.

Song Xingzi blinked her eyes, which seemed to hold countless stars, and shyly said, “Can you just kiss me first? For a pre-girlfriend benefit?”

Ji Ruyue’s light-colored pupils reflected Song Xingzi’s face, flushed with shyness. She nodded, cupped Song Xingzi’s head, slightly tilted her own, and brought her cool, soft lips down onto the warm, soft cheek.

A touch and then a release.