In the pitch-black night, two small figures flew out of the princess’s residence, which was filled with experts. They soared over one mansion after another, then flew above the city walls and out of the capital.
The soldiers guarding the city stared straight ahead, completely unaware that two children had flown dozens of meters above their heads. They did not hear the slightest sound.
Xi Qingyue headed straight for the estates outside the city. She was not a magnanimous person. Since those people liked gossiping about her so much, she would grant their wish and pay a visit to their estates and shops, leaving them no time to think about other troublesome schemes to harm people.
Held in her arms, Xi Weilan grew more and more excited as they flew higher and higher. “Big Sis, we’re flying so high! I’ve never flown this high before. Even Sister Jinshuang can’t fly this high.”
“Mm. This is something only Big Sis can do. In the future, Big Sis will be able to fly even higher. When that happens, I’ll take you even higher to look at the clouds,” Xi Qingyue said with complete confidence.
Her powers would continue to grow stronger. Each time, she would become more formidable than before. The influential families of the capital were nothing in her eyes.
If, after tonight, those people still intended to punish the sisters, then next time, she would do far more than simply take a few things.
In less than fifteen minutes, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan arrived at an estate belonging to the Duke An’s household. It was a farm in the northern outskirts of the capital.
The estate extended for more than a dozen miles in every direction. There were ten thousand mu of fertile farmland alone, leaving the sisters rooted to the spot in shock.
Besides the vast fields, there were also rolling forests, extensive orchards, and a separate pond used for raising fish. The chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep were all kept in their own enclosures as well.
Standing in midair, Xi Qingyue could not help sighing. “As expected of a duke’s household. It seems I really haven’t seen enough of the world. They may not have the money to renovate their residence for the time being, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always be short of funds. The things in this estate alone are worth quite a lot.”
“Big Sis, what are we going to do about all those orchards? There seem to be too many for us to pick them all,” Xi Weilan said, pointing at the orchards below with a look of regret.
Xi Qingyue pinched her little cheek and smiled brightly. “Don’t worry. I’ll simply store all these orchards in my space. The plums haven’t ripened yet. When they do, you can eat them whenever you want.”
She glanced over the orchards below. The peach trees had been planted in several varieties. Some of the peaches were already ripe enough to eat, while others would not mature until later. She decided to take them all. They would not spoil even if she could not eat them all at once, and they would certainly come in handy someday.
First, she swept the surroundings with her powers. After locating the guards watching over the woods, she went down, knocked them unconscious, and carried them into the estate.
She then rendered everyone in the estate unconscious as well, ensuring that they would sleep until noon the next day. Only then did she take Xi Weilan and begin roaming around, taking whatever she pleased.
The two of them wandered all over the estate. Everything stored in the cellars was emptied, and Xi Qingyue took away all the grain kept there as well. Perhaps part of the supply had already been sold, because there were only a few thousand jin of grain left, but she did not mind in the slightest.
After clearing out the estate, they went to the pond. Xi Weilan pointed at the fish swimming inside and asked excitedly, “Big Sis, can we take these fish too? I want to eat the sauerkraut fish you make.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and nodded. “That’s easy. Watch carefully.”
With that, she activated her water-based power. The entire pond surged skyward, but instead of falling back down, the water remained suspended in midair, exposing row after row of fish below.
A small whirlwind swept through the empty pond bed. Not a single fish remained, while the water suspended overhead poured back into the pond. At first glance, everything seemed unchanged—except that all the fish were gone.
Inside her space, a small pond now contained countless lively, splashing fish. Xi Qingyue had prepared this pond earlier but had left it empty. The fish and shrimp she raised were all in another large lake. As her space had upgraded, the lake had appeared long ago, though she had never tasted any of the fish or shrimp from it.
This was the first time Xi Weilan had seen Xi Qingyue use her water-based power. She was so astonished that her mouth fell open, and then she began clapping excitedly.
“Big Sis, this is so much fun! I want to play too.”
Xi Weilan shouted with excitement. Children naturally loved playing with water, and she was no exception.
Xi Qingyue smiled and waved a hand in front of her. Several streams of water began circling Xi Weilan. When the cool water brushed her cheeks, she even reached out to touch it. Her little face lit up with delight.
Her clear giggles rang beside Xi Qingyue’s ears. Xi Qingyue let her play with the water, knowing that no one would hear them anyway.
Once Xi Weilan had played enough, Xi Qingyue used her wind-based power to dry the water from her clothes and body. Only then did she take her toward the orchard they had noticed first.
Looking at the dense forest of fruit trees before them, Xi Weilan frowned worriedly. “Big Sis, won’t they suspect something if all these fruit trees disappear?”
Xi Qingyue nodded approvingly. “Mm, they certainly will. But they don’t know we did it, and suspicion won’t help them. Even if they find out, there’s nothing they can do to us. They might even become afraid of us. Don’t worry. We’ll take them first and deal with the rest later.”
At this point, even the emperor did not frighten her. What else could she possibly fear?
She immediately activated her earth- and wood-based powers. Moving the entire forest into her space all at once was too difficult, since the orchard was simply too large. But transferring the trees section by section was easy enough.
She sent Xi Weilan into the space, then moved the fruit trees in one section after another, allowing the little girl to watch them appear out of thin air.
After fifteen minutes, the entire orchard had been moved into Xi Qingyue’s space. She then flashed into the space herself.
The fruit trees were planted in a separate section of the cultivation area, apart from the apple, pear, and other trees she had planted earlier.
Xi Weilan was munching on an apple. Her brows had lifted, and her eyes had narrowed into delighted crescents. The moment she saw Xi Qingyue enter, she hurried over with another apple in her hands.
“Big Sis, you must be tired. Have an apple too. We can go out after we finish eating.”
Looking at the thoughtful little girl before her, Xi Qingyue accepted the apple and began eating. With a thought, two reclining chairs appeared behind them. The sisters lay down, gazing happily at the fruits of their labor.
After that, Xi Qingyue and Xi Weilan visited more than a dozen estates in total. The other families’ estates were not as large as the Duke An household’s, so their work went much faster.
It was not until the fifth watch of the night that the two, having been busy for most of the night, finally returned to the princess’s residence.
Xi Weilan rubbed her eyes and flopped onto the bed. “Big Sis, I’m so sleepy.”
Xi Qingyue walked to the bed and settled her down comfortably. Then she yawned and lay down beside her. “Go to sleep. Tomorrow, we won’t get up until after noon.”
The two of them slept soundly. A trace of a smile still lingered at the corners of Xi Weilan’s lips, and she had no idea that she had just taken part in something earth-shattering.
The first household to realize that something was wrong was the Duke An residence, because Xi Daniu had returned to the capital.
After leading the people from Chengjia Village on a hurried journey, he had finally arrived by carriage at the estate outside the capital. He had originally planned to settle them there temporarily.
At the manor, they could put them to work farming, or have them clear land in the mountains and forests. The orchards also needed plenty of hands. Even if they didn’t want to stay, they could lodge there temporarily; later, he could put in a word and find them a village to settle in on the outskirts of the capital.
What he hadn’t expected was that, upon returning to the manor, he would find the orchards stripped bare, everyone in the main house sleeping like the dead, and every last thing in the storeroom stolen.
