"Sister, you have come?" Qingle forced out a smile as she greeted Qingli at the entrance of her courtyard.
She had been copying those dreadful books when her maidservants came to inform her about her sister's arrival. If it was in the past, she would happily welcome Qingli over and bully her to vent her frustrations but after yesterday, Qingle feels that her sister seems to have become scarier than before. Qingle dare not taunt her openly and can only wait and observe.
"I was wondering if my dear little sister was hungry so I have bought some soup along. I remember sister likes it very much. Take a break from copying and have some." Qingli put on her gentle elder sister look as she replied Qingle.
"Soup?" Qingle glanced at the maidservant behind Qingli and then at the pot which she was holding. Steam was coming out from the pot as it has been reheated not long ago and given that her sister came with such goodwill, if Qingle was to reject her, her Lord Father might just add the number of copies she has to complete.
Either way, this is not the first time her elder sister had come to her courtyard giving her good things. The previous time was some jewelry and now it is soup. Nothing out of the ordinary. Qingle was almost happy to welcome her sister.
"Elder sister is thoughtful, please come in." Qingle stepped aside and lead the way into her courtyard.
The servants took the soup from MianMian and served it to their mistress. Qingli declined a serving with the reason that she has a late dinner. Qingle did not suspect anything as she took a sip and gave a warm smile.
Indeed, the soup is sweet, just the way Qingle likes it. Looks like her elder sister is still the same ignorant and kind elder sister she has always been. Who knows where she got her courage to oppose her mother and sister yesterday? She was almost scared of Qingli but looking at her now, she seemed harmless.
"Does younger sister like the soup? I remembered to remind the cook to make it extra sweet just like how you like it, I hope younger sister likes it." Qingli smiled as she watched Qingle take sip after sip.
"This soup is extremely delicious, elder sister. I wasn't feeling very hungry but after taking a sip, I suddenly feel as though I can finish this entire pot." Qingle replied enthusiastically. She was not lying about this. Qingle had dinner and she is not the type to eat supper so as to maintain her figure.
She planned to finish one bowl just to give her sister some face but she just could not stop drinking the soup. If she stopped drinking it, she would feel uncomfortable and asked for another serving and this continued until she finished almost the entire pot while chatting with her sister.
"Young miss, there is no more left." One of the servants whispered into Qingle's ears when she asked for more.
"No more left?" Qingle could not help but feel dejected.
Seeing Qingle's face, Qingli let out a soft giggle.
"It is eldest sister's fault, I have not expected younger sister to like the soup this much. Elder sister promises to bring more over the next time," Qingli rubbed Qingle's head in a loving gesture like how she used to do it. Unknowingly to all but herself, Qingli injected some dark energy into Qingle before she retracted her hand.
Qingle pouted at her eldest sister. "Elder sister, when is the next time?"
"How about a few days later?" Qingli played along.
"Tomorrow!" Qingle demanded and whined. This was usually how she would act when she wants something from Qingli and she would always get her way because Qingli pampers on her little sister.
After Qingli promised, she left the courtyard with an empty pot and returned to her courtyard. She took note of MianMian's pale face and keep track of her movements, restricting them so that she is unable to pass any information out of her courtyard.
As for how she restricted MianMian's movements, she did it the simplest way. After she called MianMian into her inner chambers, Qingli used the dark arts to hypnotize her. She injected a simple thought into MianMian and that is she is sleepy. No matter how much she slept, she is always sleepy.
It was no surprise when MianMian fell asleep while tending to Qingli and was reprimanded by Yu Ling but Qingli stopped her.
"It seems like you have been really tired these days. Why not you go and rest? Once you feel better, you can come back." Qingli smiled before she went about her day.
MianMian thanked Qingli before retiring to her room.
I will not have to worry about this little spy for the next few days was what Qingli thought to herself happily.
The next few days, Qingli repeatedly supplied Qingle with the soup. Everyone thought that the second young miss had got addicted to the soup and wanted to ease Qingli's burden of delivering the soup by making it themselves and delivering it to Qingle. But who knows that Qingle would reject all of them and demanded that she will only drink the soup her sister made even to the extent of throwing a tantrum.
Lord Qian wanted to scold Qingle for being so demanding but Qingli had reassured him that it was no trouble at all. Lord Qian was helpless. He knows how much Qingli pampers her sister and could only watch as she delivers Qingle soup every day.
The Duchess was still recovering from her face injury so she did not hear anything about this matter. Her servants thought that it was trivial as the eldest young miss had always done this in the past, showering the second young miss with gifts and much pampering so they did not bring it up to their mistress either. If the Duchess knew that her precious daughter was acting like this the past few days, she would know that something was not right.
No matter how much Qingle loves to exploit her elder sister's kindness, she would never go until this extend. And for a soup? That is even more out of Qingle's character. Unless that soup is made of gold, why would she make such a big fuss over this soup? But the duchess was unaware of this matter entirely as she laid in bed with a servant holding a warm towel against her face to ease the bruising while she drinks the bitter Chinese medicine prescribed by the physician.
However, even if the duchess knew and wanted to interfere, there is no way Qingli will allow her to do so.
Qingli could not kill them directly. The rules of the world do not allow that. If she were to break those rules, there will be divine punishment. In order to exact Qingli's revenge and fulfill her requirements, she is allowed to use her powers to indirectly influence and steer the situation to her favor. Unless her life is being threatened like back in the forest, she cannot directly kill any human. Even back when she injected the dark energy into Qingle, it only acted upon another element and will not directly cause any harm to her.
Qingli did not have to wait too long for the soup to take effect. Less than a week later, Qingli woke up to the duchess screaming at the entrance of her outer chamber.