Chapter 107
Chapter 107
“Silly Yuanyuan.”
Luo Minghuan sighed and pulled Jun Zishu into an embrace, disregarding the fact that they were at the Luo Manor’s entrance and that several servants were watching nearby.
“I know I’m not smart. Everyone calls me an idiot, but I’m really not stupid. Please don’t throw me away, okay?”
Jun Zishu buried her head into Luo Minghuan’s chest, her expression looking incredibly aggrieved.
“I won’t throw you away. You’ve already married me, so you are my wife. How can I not want you?”
Luo Minghuan gently patted Jun Zishu on the back. Then, after hearing a muffled response coming from the person in her arms, she pulled Jun Zishu onto the nearby carriage.
Before Jun Zishu got onto the carriage, though, she made sure to grab five skewers of candied haws and clutched them in her hands. She planned to bring them back to share with her little brothers and sisters.
Subsequently, the carriage traveled into the distance, gradually moving toward a desolate area outside the town.
The original owner’s hometown was a small and unassuming mountain village. Although her family was related to Luo Minghuan’s mother, her mother was the thrice-removed cousin of Luo Minghuan’s mother. Even the current Madam Luo had invested a lot of effort before she managed to find out about and locate the original owner.
When the carriage entered the village, everyone in the village gathered around to gawk at it.
Following her memories, Jun Zishu led Luo Minghuan to her home. Then, after passing the candied haws to her little brothers and sisters, who were playing outside the house, she ran to her parents and started behaving spoiled in front of them.
She was a dedicated worker, so she wouldn’t let go of even the smallest detail in her acting.
After greeting her parents, Jun Zishu ran outside and played with her siblings. As for Luo Minghuan, she stayed inside and had a chat with her in-laws.
Although Jun Zishu didn’t know what Luo Minghuan said or did to the two adults, she noticed dazzling smiles on the husband and wife when she bid goodbye to them.
Before they parted ways, Jun Zishu’s mother dragged her aside and reminded her not to follow strangers, to which Jun Zishu nodded perfunctorily in response. She wasn’t actually stupid, anyway.
Afterward, the carriage started making its way out of the village and back to town.
While on the carriage, Luo Minghuan noticed a reluctant expression on Jun Zishu’s face.
“Feeling reluctant?”
“Mhm… But Mother said that a married daughter is like spilled water and that I shouldn’t always think of home. Why am I water? I am clearly human,” Jun Zishu said sullenly.
“You little dummy.”
Luo Minghuan pinched Jun Zishu’s cheek, enjoying the soft and pleasant sensation.
Jun Zishu let out a hum before leaning into Luo Minghuan and closing her eyes.
“Tired?”
“No.”
“Hungry?”
“Hungry.”
Luo Minghuan and Jun Zishu did not have lunch in the village. Even though Jun Zishu’s parents wanted to keep them for lunch, they were also aware that Luo Minghuan had a sickly body and that the food she typically ate was finely crafted. Thus, they didn’t keep the two newlyweds for lunch.
When the carriage eventually arrived back at the Luo Manor, the manor looked as peaceful as always. Nobody would ever imagine that the Luo Manor’s Seventh Madam had left this world together with the child in her stomach today. It seemed like nobody was grieving over this matter as even the servants were still going about their daily tasks like usual, none of them talking about this matter.
Because Luo Minghuan and Jun Zishu had made a trip out of town, the Luo family members had already gone ahead and eaten lunch without them. So, Luo Minghuan had Ruyun go to the kitchen and get the servants there to cook up another meal.
As Luo Minghuan preferred eating vegetables over meat, Jun Zishu polished off most of the meat served.
Luo Minghuan had also told the kitchen to make Jun Zishu’s favorite meatballs topped with glutinous rice and fried yellow croakers, making Jun Zishu very happy as she ate.
An hour after they finished lunch, Luo Minghuan had to take her medicine. Meanwhile, as soon as Luo Minghuan drank her medicine, Jun Zishu promptly handed her a skewer of candied haws.
“Eat this.”
Luo Minghuan was briefly stunned before she shook her head.
“Candied haws are sweet and sour. The medicine is very bitter,” Jun Zishu explained her thought process as she moved the candied haws further forward. Now, they were almost touching Luo Minghuan’s lips already.
Ruyun had bought so many candied haws that Jun Zishu couldn’t possibly finish all of them by herself. Even after distributing the candies to the servants working in Luo Minghuan’s courtyard, a few skewers remained.
“I’m not afraid of the bitterness.”
Despite saying so, Luo Minghuan still pulled a candied haw out of the skewer with her mouth, a sweet and sour taste immediately spreading across her tongue. As she relished the long-forgotten taste, she realized that it had been many years since she had eaten any candied haws.
“You’re amazing, Husband! I’m very scared of bitterness,” Jun Zishu praised before she started eating the rest of the candied haws on the skewer.
After Luo Minghuan was done with her haw, she spat the pit onto her handkerchief. Then, she spread out her palm in front of Jun Zishu and waited for her to spit out her pits.
Luo Minghuan remembered that she hated drinking medicine when she was a child. The bitter smell emanated from the porcelain bowl was something she had always wanted to avoid.
However, her body was so weak that she would fall into an even worse condition if she didn’t drink the medicine.
Meanwhile, whenever she was done drinking her medicine, her mother would always coax her. Her elder brother would also do her best to distract her from the bitter taste. Afterward…she understood that the medicine she drank was supposed to keep her alive. So, she stopped resisting and even took the initiative to drink her medicine.
By now, she was no longer afraid of bitterness because she was already used to it.
After Jun Zishu finished the entire skewer of candied haws, she spat the pits into the handkerchief on Luo Minghuan’s palm. Then, Luo Minghuan folded the handkerchief and left it on the table for Ruyun to clean up afterward.
Later on, Luo Minghuan went to the study while Jun Zishu sat in the courtyard.
The weather was nice today, the sun remaining unobstructed as it hung high in the sky. The wind, though, was a little chilly.
Laying back in her recliner, Jun Zishu quietly observed the blue sky.
[They are coming, Host. Will you be going?]
The “they” Little Fairy mentioned referred to the people who had murdered the original owner in the original storyline.
According to the original storyline, Luo Minghuan didn’t share a close relationship with the original owner. They had slept in different rooms since the day of their marriage. Needless to say, Luo Minghuan didn’t accompany the original owner back home, either.
Meanwhile, when the original owner was resting by herself in the courtyard, several people had come to invite her out to play. Dumb as she was, she happily followed those people and never returned.
Afterward, the original owner was found dead inside a well. According to the children who played with her, she had accidentally tripped and fallen into the well. Naturally, none of them had tried to save the original owner. By the time the servants came to rescue her, she had already drowned to her death.
Of course I’ll be going.
A cold glint appeared in Jun Zishu’s eyes as she answered Little Fairy.
However, Jun Zishu wouldn’t be letting herself “accidentally” fall into the well. It was about time she taught some people a lesson.
Ruyun had followed Luo Minghuan into the study, so the servant waiting on Jun Zishu was a different maid. When the maid came to report to her about a visitor, Jun Zishu put on a surprised expression.
“I came to find you to play, Sister-in-law,” Luo Ziying, who stood behind the maid, said with a smile.
When Jun Zishu saw Luo Ziying, the first thing that came to her mind was the girl’s indifference when she watched over the Seventh Madam in the punishment hall this morning.
That was the true Luo Ziying. In this manor known as hell, she had long since lost her childish innocence. Should a man one day move her heart, she would probably become embroiled in a new household war just like her mother.
Jun Zishu didn’t know how Luo Ziying died. Or, more specifically, she wasn’t sure if Luo Ziying had died in the original storyline. Though, it didn’t matter since the girl wouldn’t have a good end either way.
“I remember you. We met yesterday, right? What is your name again?” Jun Zishu asked as she curiously looked at Luo Ziying.
“My name is Ziying, and I’m seventh in line.”
“Oh. Little Seven… Little Seven, Little Seven… It sounds like Little Chicken. Little chickens are cute,” Jun Zishu said, smiling.[1]
Luo Ziying’s mouth twitched when she heard Jun Zishu’s way of calling her. She didn’t think that being called Little Chicken was cute at all. Even so, she still did her best to maintain her smile.
“Sister-in-law, you said you wanted to play with me. The others are waiting for you outside. Let’s go out and play together.”
“But I don’t want to go,” Jun Zishu said, revealing a reluctant expression. She had previously told Luo Minghuan that she found Luo Ziying strange. Wouldn’t it be very strange if she happily followed Luo Ziying now?
Fortunately, Luo Ziying was determined to invite Jun Zishu out to play. Meanwhile, Jun Zishu pretended to be persuaded as she followed the girl, who was shorter than her, out of the courtyard.
Standing outside the courtyard were the Luo family’s Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master, and Eighth Young Master. The oldest was thirteen, and the youngest was ten. They were dressed in silk and satin, and all three of them wore varying expressions on their faces.
Jun Zishu noticed that the Fifth Young Master looked at her with a sticky and disgusting gaze. Although she pretended not to notice on the surface, on the inside, she very much wanted to break this little fellow’s little fellow with her bare hands.
Or maybe not. It was too disgusting to use her bare hands.
…
There were no interesting games inside the manor, so everyone eventually settled on playing hide-and-seek.
Of course, the Luo Manor was too massive for a simple game of hide-and-seek between children, so they decided to limit their playground to an unoccupied courtyard.
The courtyard used to belong to the Fifth Madam. After the Fifth Madam died, nobody else stayed there. Moreover, because of rumors saying that the courtyard was haunted, even the servants did not dare to come to tidy up this place. Thus, the courtyard was currently in a desolate state.
There was a well in the courtyard. Although Jun Zishu couldn’t see the bottom due to the darkness, she knew for a fact that the well had yet to wither. There was still water inside.
It was decided that the Fifth Young Master would be the seeker. As for everyone else, they promptly split up and started finding a good place to hide.
Jun Zishu perfunctorily hid inside a room’s closet, intending to wait and see what would happen.
The current situation was slightly different from the original storyline. The original owner was the first round’s seeker in the original storyline.
Out in the courtyard, although the Fifth Young Master was still counting out loud, his eyes had already started looking around.
At this time, Luo Ziying had already come out of her hiding spot and stood out in the open, a disgusted expression on her face as she patted away the dust on her body. Then, she pointed the Fifth Young Master to the room where Jun Zishu hid.
Seeing this, the Fifth Young Master let out a laugh before heading straight for the room.
Luo Ziying frowned as she looked at her elder brother’s back. Then, she left the courtyard without sparing him another glance. When the Sixth and Eighth Young Masters saw this, they briefly exchanged a glance with each other before hurriedly leaving the courtyard as well.
When Jun Zishu listened to Little Fairy’s report regarding the naughty children’s actions, she guessed that they must’ve altered their plans on the spur of the moment.
The four children had joined together to kill the original owner in the original storyline. Now, though, the Fifth Young Master was seemingly having thoughts about Jun Zishu. So, Luo Ziying must’ve decided to kill two birds with one stone and deal with her elder brother as well.
Despite being a child, Luo Ziying behaved like the Devil himself.
[He’s here, Host.]
Don’t worry. He’s not even as tall as me, yet he wants to make a move on me?
Jun Zishu calmly waited inside the cabinet. Then, as soon as the Fifth Young Master opened the cabinet and was about to pounce on her, she dodged sideways and ran past him.
“I see you! You can’t run away!”
“You need to catch me for it to count,” Jun Zishu said, making a silly face at the Fifth Young Master before running out of the room.
The Fifth Young Master chased after Jun Zishu excitedly. However, just when they were about to reach the well, Jun Zishu made a sudden U-turn and grabbed the Fifth Young Master by the back of his shirt.
“What are you doing?!” the Fifth Young Master shouted, caught off guard by Jun Zishu’s actions.
Jun Zishu smiled at him in response. Then, she pushed him in the direction of the well, causing him to stumble and fall into it.
When Jun Zishu heard the sound of a splash coming from the bottom of the well, she pretended to panic and started shouting for help.
…
TL Notes:
[1]Little Seven, Little Chicken:
Little Seven – 小七(xiǎo qī)
Little Chicken – 小鸡 (xiǎo jī)
Qi and Ji sound somewhat similar, especially when one doesn’t pronounce them perfectly.