Like in her previous missions, Jun Zishu found that her trait of having big breasts had stubbornly followed her to this mission as well. Despite her current childlike body, she was already in possession of breasts that even adult women would envy.
Of course, Jun Zishu wasn't trying to act indecently with Luo Minghuan by moving Luo Minghuan's hands onto her breasts. It was merely an accident caused by her sleeping posture and size.
However, Jun Zishu didn't think much of the physical contact, so she continued embracing Luo Minghuan's hands, pressing them against her chest.
Jun Zishu felt that her mission this time was much easier than even her first mission. Though, they were similar in that she needed to move the mission targets' hearts.
If Jun Zishu wanted to change Luo Minghuan's fate and bring salvation to her, she would need to help Luo Minghuan walk out of the cage in her heart. She couldn't let Luo Minghuan continue falling into the darkness. Meanwhile, to do so, she would need to introduce Luo Minghuan to the love and peace that existed in this world.
The role of a fool was actually the best cover Jun Zishu could ask for. She didn't even need to persuade Luo Minghuan that she was on her side. Because she was a "fool," she wouldn't raise any suspicions even if she acted coquettish and obedient to get closer to Luo Minghuan's heart.
For a time, Luo Minghuan contemplated whether to retract her hand or keep the situation as it was.
The hands that had remained frosty all year round suddenly started to boil now.
However, Luo Minghuan had no way of misinterpreting Jun Zishu's actions. After all, despite being husband and wife, both of them were girls. Moreover, the "wife" in question was even a dullard.
"Does it feel warmer like this? How can your body be so cold? You've been taking medicine, right? When will you get better?"
In the little dummy's word, getting sick meant having to take medicine. Meanwhile, after taking medicine for some time, one's body would naturally get better.
"Probably never."
Luo Minghuan's voice sounded a little chilly as she spoke. After suffering for so many years, she no longer held any expectations for her body. Even if she didn't really believe that her life expectancy was only 25 years, she had already accepted her fate.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have accepted this farce of a wedding in the first place.
Fate decided a person's life and death. What did marrying another person have anything to do with fate?
"That won't happen. You will get better. My mother said that if we get sick, we will get better so long as we eat well and sleep well."
Jun Zishu used her feet to hook Luo Minghuan's calf, her actions making it seem like she wanted nothing more than to press her entire body against Luo Minghuan.
"Mhm."
Luo Minghuan didn't bother explaining that her illness had been with her since she was born. Even after taking medicine for so many years, not once had she seen any improvement in her condition.
"How about you sleep facing the other side, Husband? That way, I can hug you and warm your body. As you are right now, I can only warm half of your body," Jun Zishu said while trying her best to press her body against Luo Minghuan and share her body heat.
This was the first time Luo Minghuan had hugged someone to sleep. Although her mother would always hug her to sleep when she was a child, ever since her mother left, she no longer slept with anyone else.
The soft and fragrant body curled up in her embrace provided her a comforting warmth on this chilly night. Moreover, this warmth wasn't limited to just physical, but also psychological.
"Did your parents tell you anything else when you came here?"
"Mother told me to be good and don't make you angry. Father didn't tell me anything," Jun Zishu answered truthfully, the way she spoke sounding a little silly.
"Were you not scared when you came?"
"I wasn't scared. It was very fun. I will also have a husband to play with me here and give me tasty things to eat."
"Is that all you want?"
"I'll be happy so long as I have tasty things to eat. Actually, there were also other people visiting our house saying that they wanted to make me their wife. But Mother would always chase those people away with a broom and tell me that they are bad guys," Jun Zishu mumbled, expressing her confusion over the complexity of the adult world.
Luo Minghuan's fingers moved slightly, realization dawning upon her.
The little dummy had a beautiful and lovable appearance. She was even well developed in certain parts of her body. Had she been sound of mind, there would've been countless people seeking to marry her.
However, being dumb couldn't be considered too huge of a flaw, either, since it meant that she would be easy to coax. It was also very unlikely that she would cheat. Thus, there should still be plenty of men seeking to marry the little dummy.
Fortunately, the little dummy's parents had protected her well and did not rashly give their daughter away like other families. Otherwise, the little dummy might not be as innocent as she was now.
Afterward, Jun Zishu continued cheerfully telling Luo Minghuan about interesting matters she encountered. Though, all of her topics were related to her friends in the village one way or another.
However, Luo Minghuan did not feel bored listening to Jun Zishu's stories. Instead, she patiently listened to her and even provided responses from time to time.
Partway through her storytelling, Jun Zishu's voice started growing softer and softer.
Noticing this, Luo Minghuan opened her eyes and pulled the quilt over Jun Zishu.
...
Jun Zishu and Luo Minghuan needed to wake up early the next day to meet the parents.
However, when Ruyun knocked on the door, Luo Minghuan had Ruyun pass on the message that she was feeling unwell and would postpone the meeting to whenever she was feeling better.
After this little interruption, Luo Minghuan became fully awake. Having nothing better to do, she decided to observe her slumbering wife.
Jun Zishu was still sound asleep in Luo Minghuan's arms, a comfortable smile on her face. Then, seemingly dreaming of something tasty, she smacked her lips a few times before turning her body in Luo Minghuan's arms.
After turning away from Luo Minghuan, though, Jun Zishu's eyes opened, not a hint of sleepiness within them.
Luo Minghuan shared a delicate relationship with the Luo family.
The number of people in the Luo family hoping for Luo Minghuan to live wasn't many. Yet, strangely enough, those who wished Luo Minghuan were dead also hoped that she could live a little longer.
As for Luo Minghuan, she hated everyone in the Luo family. However, as her wings had yet to fully mature, she could only bide her time as she plotted her revenge.
Although Jun Zishu's mission in this world was much simpler than her mission in the previous world, it wasn't easy either.
Jun Zishu didn't need to do anything complicated for this mission. All she needed to do was get into Luo Minghuan's heart.
Her heart was much darker than anyone else's.
Luo Minghuan had a relatively happy childhood. Although she was born with poor health, she had loving parents. So, she never had to worry about food and clothing.
Luo Minghuan also had an elder brother who was one year older than her. Her elder brother was also the Luo Manor's eldest young master.
However, when Luo Minghuan was five years old, someone had pushed her and her elder brother into a pond on a certain day. Although Young Master Luo was only six years old at the time, he had already learned to take on the responsibility of an elder brother. Thus, after falling into the pond, his first reaction was to keep her little sister afloat, preventing her from drowning.
After Luo Minghuan was rescued, she caught a high fever and had practically taken one step through death's door already.
As for Young Master Luo, he had already stopped breathing when he was rescued out of the water.
Madam Luo was devastated by the tragic accident. Not only did she lose her son, but her daughter was even on the brink of death. As a result, her body, which was already in poor health, became even worse.
Fortunately, Luo Minghuan eventually overcame her fever and survived the tragedy. However, guilt filled her heart when she regained consciousness and found out about her elder brother's death.
After an investigation was conducted, it was found that the attacker was a servant who bore a grudge against the Luo Manor.
Luo Minghuan wore an expressionless face when she watched the servant get beaten to death, her face never moving even at the slightest. After that incident, she also stopped being as innocent as before and became a little taciturn.
It was also around this time that a wandering taoist visited Yunshui Town.
Madam Luo had requested the taoist to look at the condition of her daughter's body, only to hear the taoist saying that Luo Minghuan wouldn't live past 25.
Shocked by the news, Madam Luo knelt and repeatedly kowtowed as she pleaded for a solution from the taoist. She had already lost one of her children, so she couldn't let her other child meet with such misfortune as well.
The taoist gave Madam Luo a solution before leaving, but he also sighed and said it might not be effective.
Although Madam Luo intended to hide the prophecy about her daughter's unfortunate fate, someone failed to keep their mouth shut, and Luo Minghuan found out about it.
When Luo Minghuan learned of her fate, she grew even more taciturn. Apart from when she was in front of her parents, she would seldom wear a smile on her face.
However, at the same time, Luo Minghuan also started showing excellent talent in doing business. As she grew older, this talent of hers only grew better.
After some years had passed, her health started taking a turn for the better, and she became able to follow Lord Luo when he went out to do business. She even helped her father revitalize two failing shops.
Even though Luo Minghuan was only 13 at the time, nobody dared to underestimate her.
After these achievements, everyone in Yunshui Town also realized that the Luo family possessed such a remarkable second young miss. Despite being a girl, she was amazingly talented and stunningly beautiful.
Everyone in the Luo family originally thought that things would continue like this. They believed that the taoist's prophecy was nothing but cow feces and that Luo Minghuan could live past 25.
Unfortunately, life wouldn't always turn out satisfactory.
At the age of 13, Luo Minghuan's improved health suddenly started deteriorating rapidly. She even fell into a coma for two days at one time.
After the coma, her body's health only grew even worse.
When Luo Minghuan was 14, Madam Luo passed away due to illness.
The Luo Manor's current Madam Luo was a mistress-turned-main-wife of Lord Luo's, and it was something that took place half a year after Luo Minghuan's mother's death.
Luo Minghuan naturally hated her father for this. However, she wasn't a brainless buffoon, and she gradually discovered that her mother's death wasn't as simple as it seemed. Even the drowning incident that took her elder brother's life all those years ago started looking suspicious.
It turned out that killing intent filled the seemingly harmonious Luo Manor.
Beneath that seemingly perfect appearance was a root system that had long since decayed.
It was also after making these discoveries that Luo Minghuan's heart had thoroughly fallen into darkness.
Jun Zishu wanted to sigh when she looked through Luo Minghuan's past.
Despite never having sinned before, she was subjected to deception time and again.
What chilled one's heart wasn't evil and malice that existed on the surface, but the dagger hidden behind goodwill instead.
Luo Minghuan's innocence had died when she was five years old, and her kindness had died when she was 14.
Luo Minghuan's body had already been in a terrible state. After making these shocking discoveries, her heart fell into an even more depressed state.
Her mother's death had dealt a fatal blow to her mental state, and her father's decision to let his mistress take his mother's place caused her to faintly realize the truth, which, in turn, sent her heart plunging into a bottomless abyss.
Jun Zishu didn't know whether Luo Minghuan could live past 25. In the original storyline, Luo Minghuan had already sent everyone in the Luo Manor down to hell with her at 23 and committed suicide shortly afterward.
To Luo Minghuan, there was probably no meaning left for her to stay in this world.
Jun Zishu felt that her job was to become the reason for Luo Minghuan to continue living.
She needed to bring light, hope, and happiness to Luo Minghuan.
It didn't have to be in the form of husband and wife. It could also be in the form of sisters. If Luo Minghuan wanted it, Jun Zishu could even do it in the form of mother and daughter.
...Nevermind. A mother-daughter relationship was a little too much even for Jun Zishu.