Arc 2: Part 6
Xiao Qingwan resembled the original owner, Bai Zhu, in appearance, but in contrast to Tong Su who always showed her natural face, she typically wore makeup and rarely showed herself without it.
She painted her delicate eyebrows like distant mountains, dabbed cherry red on her lips, and her oval face was intricately whitened with makeup. Her elegant gown traced her slim figure, presenting a distinctly contrasted image against Tong Su's coarse linen clothes.
With feigned concern, Xiao Qingwan wiped her tears, "Sister, it was hard for me to convince our brother to let you return home. After you promise to go back, you have to behave well. Absolutely do not disobey your sister. Your sister will take you away from here, and you won't have to suffer anymore, understand?"
Tong Su calmly set down the water bucket.
If it had been the original body's owner, she would have certainly tossed the bucket aside at this point. She would consider her sister as her savior, sobbing pitifully, apologizing and begging her sister to take her back to the Xiao family, no longer wanting to stay and suffer on the farmstead.
But.
Tong Su slightly lowered her eyes, appearing timid yet firm.
"Sister, I'm not going back."
"What, you're not going back?" Xiao Qingwan unconsciously frowned, "Why won't you go back?"
"Sister, Bai Zhu does not understand. Bai Zhu has no idea what mistake she committed that she was sent to the farmstead."
Tong Su lifted her head. Her small face was full of confusion and injustice. She nervously wrung her hands, her frail shoulders trembling visibly. Like a tiny shoot shivering against an incoming storm, she displayed a fearful face, helplessly staring at the tempestuous sky.
The look on Xiao Qingwan's face darkened, her voice carrying an obvious warning and reprimand: "Bai Zhu, haven't I said before, if sister says you've made a mistake, then it's a mistake. Are you going to disobey your sister now?"
"Bai Zhu dares not!" Tong Su hastily shook her head. Xiao Qingwan's reprimand was enough to make her eyes water and almost burst into tears.
"That's good you dare not. Bai Zhu, don't forget, your sister is very strict. Whoever dares to deceive her, she will definitely punish them! Do you understand?"
As Xiao Qingwan loudly rebuked, looking at the timid and fearful Bai Zhu, a sense of malicious satisfaction started to slowly rise in her heart.
In her previous life, the regal queen who stood high above the stairs accepting her humble kneel, now, was reduced to a pitiful creature she could mold and squeeze at whim!
"She will definitely be punished? Sister, then why didn't you punish those who lied to you?"
Suddenly, Tong Su spoke, pointing her hand towards a group of seemingly gleeful old women watching from the corner.
The old women pointed at themselves in confusion, "Us?"
Tong Su said, "Sister, they were lying to you—they said that you purposefully made me suffer here. That way, when you rescue me, I would believe that only you in this world would take care of me, I could only believe in you."
The icy and poisoned glare of Xiao Qingwan swiftly shifted towards the old women!
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
The old women were frightened, their bodies trembling, their faces as pale as paper. They knelt down, crying out in panic, "We've been wronged! Where would we dare? Miss, we wouldn't dare say such words. Even if we had the courage of heaven, we wouldn't dare! You specifically instructed us to take good care of the second miss. How could we dare to insult her like this?"
Tong Su calmly interjected, "You're lying to my sister again. My sister said that as long as she's protecting me, no one could bully me. But just now, you forced me to fetch water, didn't give me food, and locked me in the firewood room for an entire night..."
The faces of the old women kneeling on the ground turned red.
These orders were originally from the eldest daughter!
They had followed the eldest daughter's orders. Yet, as soon as the second daughter spoke, it seemed that the old women had turned into cruel servants who bullied their master.
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