The request of the dead Qingli was for her sister to die a miserable death. If she were to finish things off at this moment, it is unlikely that Qingle will die miserably. Rather, she would just die with grievances. Who in this world does not die with grievances? It would be the Lady letting her off too lightly.
"Mother, it seems that this is quite a gathering. Even his Highness is here. May this humble daughter ask, for what purpose has everyone gathered here at this late hour?" Qingli continued to press for answers.
The Duchess took a step back as she tried to stop herself from trembling. The look Qingli gave her was as if she knew exactly what had happened. The Duchess gripped the inside of her sleeves as she steadied herself. There is no way this dense little brat will know that she and her daughter had schemed against her.
"Li er, why did you not wear your veil?" The Duchess tried to steer the topic to another one of Qingli's pain points to shake off her momentum. That long scar that stretches from her cheek diagonally up to her forehead has only started healing so the edges are still rough. The skin around the scar was a little red with inflammation and Qingli was sure that if she does not take proper care of it, the wound will be infected and it would be a permanent scar.
Although this body is not hers, she would still need a decent appearance for two reasons. One to gloat at her mother and sister, and the other, to execute her revenge. Having a beautiful face makes her job a bit easier so after this entire farce, Qingli will need to use a bit of black magic to erase this wound. But now, she has to settle some scores.
"I was rushed out of my room and such an hour so I forgot about it. Does Qingli's face disgust you, Mother?" Qingli grimaced as she held up her long-sleeve to hide her face as if she was worried her hideous face might cause her mother to fall ill.
The Duchess felt that this girl has become smarter. Not only did she not get flustered, she even managed to put her mother in such a tight spot. If the Duchess continued to ask Qingli to put on her veil, it would really mean that she was disgusted by her face. A mother who was disgusted by her daughter's face, if this were to be known to the masses then what would become of her reputation?
However, if she were to drop this matter and act like a loving mother, it would a slap to herself. Qingli, who is the daughter of that wretch that stole her husband's heart from her and her husband's favor for her daughter. For the Duchess to treat her well, how could she treat her well? If not for the fear of her husband finding out her schemes and divorcing her, she would have already killed Qingli a thousand times!
Such thoughts ran through the Duchess mind and these thoughts could not be hidden from Qingli. She rolled her eyes behind her sleeve. The Duchess was not someone who would show her emotions on her face. She must have been too agitated to conceal her thoughts or maybe it's just Qingli, who has good observation skills.
To defeat the Duchess and her daughter is actually quite easy. All she had to do was to take away their position, knock them down from their pedestal. Women like them value their position very much and their position was given to them by Duke Qian. Duke Qian favors his eldest daughter and this gave Qingli a much higher position than Qingle and maybe even the Duchess since he was forced to marry her. This made both the Duchess and Qingle feel threatened
"There is no need to hide your face, put your hand down." Duke Qian snorted angrily. The accident that damaged his daughter's face was a thorn in his heart. Qingli had resembled her biological mother quite a bit. Seeing his daughter's face would sometimes remind him of his beloved childhood friend and for it to be damaged was a really upsetting matter to him.
The Crown Prince was even angrier for he knew how depressed and sad Qingli was because of her face. Which mother would deliberately poke at her daughter's sore spots? And the question that the Duchess asked her daughter when she came out, what was her intention? For an unmarried lady to be questioned like this, what is left of her reputation?