After Redeeming the Female Lead, I Faked My Death and Escaped - Chapter 20.1

Grasslands, white clouds, and warm light filtering through the trees.

That familiar figure seemed right before her eyes always there, always within Gu Qingzhu’s reach, always yielding, always ready to embrace her at any moment.

Her lips parted, and Gu Qingzhu instinctively poured out her emotions. She couldn’t hear her own words clearly, only sensing that they were somehow important to her.

Yet the figure didn’t grow clearer despite her longing. On the contrary, it became increasingly blurred, like mist dissipating in the sunlight with a gentle breeze.

The final scene was of her own body sinking deep into the lake.

Why had she disappeared?

When Gu Qingzhu jolted awake from the dream, her back was already drenched in sweat.

The IV needle still taped to the back of her hand was abruptly dislodged by her sudden movement. Blood welled up as she looked around, unfamiliar surroundings, dim lighting. Without hesitation, she instinctively called out, “Ying”

Ying what?

Her thoughts scattered. Gu Qingzhu abruptly bit her lip, cutting off the next word.

Who had she wanted to call? Ying Xu?

Why?

Standing by the bed, her breath trembled, the surroundings still feeling like that crystal-clear lake. When she opened her eyes underwater, all she saw was the translucent sunlight,

And an endless expanse of blue.

Just like Ying Xu’s eyes.

Gu Qingzhu pressed her fingers to her temples, forcing herself to stay calm. But at that moment, the door was pushed open with the lightest touch. The person entering wore an expression of cautious concern, their eyes filled with deep worry.

“Qingzhu”

“Were you, just calling for me?”

Gu Qingzhu stared at her in shock.

For a fleeting moment, she even superimposed the Alpha’s shadow onto the figure from her dream, as if the one she had been searching for was Ying Xu.

The metallic taste of blood in her mouth forced Gu Qingzhu to restrain herself.

“Why are you here?”

But the voice that came out was hoarse.

“You have a fever,” Ying Xu said softly. “Assistant Lu mentioned you didn’t want to go to the hospital but are used to having someone by your side when you’re sick”

Only with this reminder did Gu Qingzhu belatedly realize how heavy her body felt.

“You don’t have to listen to her,” Gu Qingzhu said coldly. “Leave.”

She thought she had made herself clear, but the Alpha’s gaze lingered, shifting from her face to the back of her hand.

Noticing the direction of that gaze, Gu Qingzhu instinctively hid her hand behind her back.

The next second, she suddenly realized how ridiculous the gesture was.

So what if Ying Xu saw? Did she need to show weakness in front of her?

Ying Xu didn’t speak but stepped closer. In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Gu Qingzhu’s mind.

There were no outsiders here. What did Ying Xu want to do to her? Had she finally reached her limit, ready to reveal her “true nature”?

Surely, surely

The Alpha must want to harm her.

Emotions tangled together, and in that moment, Gu Qingzhu desperately wanted to flee. Yet her body felt leaden, unmoving.

Only her fingertips trembled slightly.

Then, Ying Xu reached out.

The next second, a soft palm rested against her forehead.

“You still have a slight fever.”

Hearing the woman’s murmur, Gu Qingzhu’s breath hitched. The lingering fear from her dream still clung to her, and in that moment, she even felt a strange sense of having “survived a disaster.”

“I’ll go prepare another dose of medicine. Qingzhu, you”

“I don’t need it.”

Gu Qingzhu turned her face away, evading the touch.

She didn’t want to see Ying Xu’s face.

Because it would make her see the rainy mausoleum through those eyes, and see herself more clearly in the dream, submerged by the lake water.

“About yesterday… whatever you want, go tell Shan Qiaoyun. She’ll arrange it for you.”

“I understand.” After a long pause, Gu Qingzhu finally heard the woman respond. “Ms. Shan is very worried about you. She told me to call her back if you woke up.”

Gu Qingzhu didn’t reply.

In her ears, Xu Ruo’s mockery was especially piercing.

“If the dead knew, if they saw, would they be happy for the actress Gu”

Physiological reactions couldn’t deceive anyone.

Gu Qingzhu knew that the reason she thought of Ying Xu when she saw the lake was simply because, ever since she noticed the woman’s unusual eye color, the definition of anything blue in her world had become blurred.

Until, in the end, only the two words “Ying Xu” remained.

It wasn’t until the door closed softly that she finally stared at the pale ceiling. After a long while, she found her device and sent a message to the mansion’s staff.

Throw away everything blue.

Wei Xuyan’s words weren’t just ironclad in the eyes of the Xu family.

Gu Qingzhu also held them in particularly high regard.

Wei Xuyan said it was over, and so the matter was concluded.

After a brief period of rest in the main city, Gu Qingzhu’s illness still showed no signs of improvement, remaining at a low-grade fever. Shan Qiaoyun wanted her to seek treatment, but Gu Qingzhu, unwilling to delay the trip, returned overnight.

On the day she returned to the mansion, Ying Xu noticed a subtle change in the surroundings, all the perfectly placed blue decorations had been abruptly replaced with gray in just a few days.

The sky suddenly took on the grayish hue of rusted earth, starkly out of place.

The dining table was already set with an exquisitely decorated dinner, and the staff maintained a polite smile: “Miss Gu, Miss Xu, please enjoy your meal.”

In front of Gu Qingzhu, the staff addressed Ying Xu in the way she preferred, as usual.

After some time, Ying Xu had grown accustomed to it.

But hearing it, Gu Qingzhu’s grip on the knife and fork tightened abruptly.

Xu Ruo’s deal with her had ultimately been exposed. Wei Xuyan kept her promise within days, the Xu family not only withdrew their investments from Xu Ruo’s company but also ruthlessly severed several nearly finalized projects.

Overnight, Xu Ruo fell from grace into the mud. But as a peripheral member of the Xu family who had only recently appeared in the public eye, others, though lamenting Wei Xuyan’s ruthlessness, had no interest in wasting time on someone worthless.

Yet, in recent days, Gu Qingzhu’s private number had been bombarded with the beta’s malicious curses, every word targeting Xu Ying, each one piercing.

Reading those messages, Gu Qingzhu finally realized how absurdly wrong she had been.

She had actually wanted Ying Xu to replace Xu Ying and had wavered because of it,

Remembering the illusion from that day, Gu Qingzhu spoke coldly: “From now on, don’t call her that.”

“Call her what she is.”

For a moment, it wasn’t just the staff who paused Ying Xu did too.

She hadn’t expected that a single fever could bring about such a drastic change in Gu Qingzhu’s attitude.

Was this a sudden desire to show Ying Xu some respect?

Or had she finally realized that Ying Xu and Xu Ying weren’t the same person?

The staff, quick to read the room, complied sincerely: “Miss Ying.”

Ying Xu responded with a faint smile.

Gu Qingzhu, feeling unwell, returned to her room after dinner.

Ying Xu finally felt her stomach satisfied, after several days of wandering, the hotel food was always far inferior to the chef at the mansion.

Perhaps it was the taste, or perhaps it was simply the difference in meaning. Setting aside Gu Qingzhu, Ying Xu had a very favorable impression of everyone else.

Just as she was about to head upstairs, a servant hesitated with a blue tube in hand, seemingly unsure where to place it.

Ying Xu asked, “What’s this?”

The beta replied cautiously, “It’s medicine that Miss Gu left before.”

“What’s it for?” Ying Xu didn’t pay it much mind. “If it’s new, it’d be a waste to throw it away.”

Until she heard the woman’s response: “It’s for relieving bruises.”

The smile on Ying Xu’s face faded slightly.

Her gaze lingered on the ointment as she asked, “When was it left?”

The date the very night Gu Qingzhu had nearly killed her.

Ying Xu found it amusing. What was Gu Qingzhu doing? Regretting it after the fact?

She reached out. “Since it’s new, give it to me. It might come in handy later. No point wasting it.”

The beta said hesitantly, “Miss Ying, if Miss Gu sees it, she won’t be happy.”

“I’ll make her happy.”

Her body sank back into the warmth of the bed, the room lit only by a dim yellow lamp.

It seemed only at times like these that Ying Xu truly had time to rest.

She skimmed through Sheng Qiuyu’s messages.

The omega was easy to soothe. Whether Ying Xu’s words were true or half-truths, as long as Ying Xu said them, Sheng Qiuyu believed unconditionally.

This kind of sincere trust always comforted Ying Xu. The woman’s uniquely expressive writing also had a way of dispelling Ying Xu’s gloom.

After replying to each message, Sheng Qiuyu began chattering away in response.

But Ying Xu had already opened Cheng Jun’s chat window.

Though Ying Xu had told her Cheng Fei’s matter could be left unmentioned, Cheng Jun was persistent. Over the past few days, she always started with Cheng Fei and ended with greetings her intentions obvious.

However, the alpha’s messages no longer carried their usual flirtatious tone, instead becoming much more composed.

Upon hearing that Ying Xu would return to the set the next day, both women expressed joy and promised to give her a surprise.