Anning let out a soft laugh, deciding to brush off Wanqing’s words after all, they might be nothing but a passing joke.

"More trouble out of sight huh? I’ll keep that in mind."

She stood up from her crouching position, reached for Wanqing’s robe draped over the side of the bed and helped Wanqing slip it on carefully, mindful of the bandages underneath.

Her fingers brushed lightly against the fabric, avoiding anything that might cause her pain. The room felt strangely peaceful after the chaos of the day, and for a moment, Anning allowed herself to think things had actually settled down.

A few seconds later, a soft knock interrupted the silence. Anning stepped away from Wanqing and moved to answer the door. When she pushed open the door, the maid on the other side gave her a sharp glare... practically shoving the tray into her hands before turning on her heel and storming off without saying a single word.

Anning stood there, blinking in confusion. "What was that about?" She muttered.

Well, it was probably just another person who hated her or just didn’t like how she behaved. She shook it off and carried the tray inside.

Wanqing was already fully dressed now, seated gracefully on a cushion with a low wooden table in front of her. The soft candle light gently illuminated her face.

Anning approached quietly, lowered herself to her knees on the floor right in front of her. She lifted the lid from the tray and the warm, savory aroma of rice, steamed vegetables and seasoned fish filled the air.

At that point, Anning’s stomach let out a loud, embarrassing grumble that echoed through the silent room.

Anning felt heat rush to her cheeks. She looked up immediately and met Wanqing’s intense gaze. Her dark eyes didn’t waver even a bit, watching her with an unreadable focus that made her heart skip a beat.

She quickly glanced away, then spoke as she started standing, "Enjoy your meal."

Before she could even straighten her posture, Wanqing’s hand shot out and caught her arm. Her grip was firm but not enough to hurt Anning.

Anning froze, baffled at the sudden movement. Then, she calmly pried Wanqing’s fingers off her wrist. "Is something the problem?"

Wanqing stared down at the food for a few seconds, then lifted her eyes to Anning.

"Since you chased off the maid who was supposed to attend to me," she said, her tone carrying that familiar arrogance, "you will feed me in her place."

Anning raised an eyebrow at her, her eyes moving around Wanqing’s face.

"You’re joking, right?" She asked.

She couldn’t help but wonder why a grown woman like Wanqing would even ask her to do something like this. It felt ridiculous.

But the completely blank expression on her face made Anning sigh in defeat, her shoulders slumping.

It was not like she had deliberately sent the girl away because she didn’t like her. The maid had been acting like a pervert, enjoying herself far too much. In a way, Anning felt as though she had done Wanqing a favor.

"Arrg, fine." She muttered, picking up the chopsticks. She stepped closer to Wanqing and sat down beside her. She carefully selected a piece of fish and some vegetables.

She then lifted them toward Wanqing’s mouth, watching as the other woman leaned forward slightly. Wanqing parted her lips, accepting the food in an elegant way.

She chewed slowly, her jaw moving in a smooth rhythm and then swallowed. The tip of her tongue peeked out of her mouth as she ran it across her lower lip.

It was such a simple thing, but Anning found herself staring longer than she should have. A strange warmth stirred in her chest as she wondered for a second, how those lips might feel against her own skin...soft and maybe a little demanding.

She quickly shoved the thought to the back of her mind, annoyed that she was even thinking like this.

The room remained quiet, except for the occasional sound of Wanqing swallowing and Anning’s soft sighs of lingering frustration.

Bite after bite, Anning could feel the tension between them and it felt oddly intimate. Anning had to force herself to focus on the task, trying not to let her mind wander too far.

After some time, curiosity got the better of her. She brought another spoonful of broth closer to Wanqing’s lips and asked the question that had been bothering her since that little adventure involving Gu Ruiqing.

"Your mother mentioned she lost one of her children before you. Who was that?" She asked softly.

But the moment those words left her mouth, Wanqing’s hand moved like lightning. She slapped the spoon out of Anning’s grasp.

Hot broth and bits of food splattered across Anning’s hand and a bit on her dress. Wanqing pushed herself to her feet abruptly, her face drained of all color.

She pressed her eyes close as her body trembled, her hands beside her body curled her into fists.

Anning stared up at her frozen in place, her heart racing against her ribcage.

’Did I say something wrong?’ she asked herself inwardly.

Poor Anning had no idea this was such a painful and still fresh wound for Wanqing and the entire Gu family.

Anning felt her stomach clenched tightly from nervousness. She had not meant to hurt Wanqing, not after everything else that had happened today.

"Wanqing.. you don’t have to tell me anything. If you don’t want to." Anning said quickly, her voice softer than usually. She remained seated, looking up at Anning with genuine regret visible in her eyes.

"I was just being curious. I didn’t mean to overstep. I’m sorry."

Wanqing drew in a sharp, shaky breath. When she finally snapped her eyes open,the mix of pain and anger swirling in them made Anning’s stomach drop.

"Get out."

The words cut through the air, leaving not room for arguments. No room for any of the lingering softness they shared moments ago. Wanqing stood there, still trembling slightly, she didn’t even look at Anning.

Anning bit on her lower lip, wondering if what she did was this bad. She hesitated for a second, wanting to eat more, to fix whatever she had just done.

"I just said, I didn’t mean to over step. You don’t have to be so rude about it." She snapped, not bothering to do what her heart truly wanted.

She slowly rose to her feet, the back of her hand was slightly scalded. But she would deal with that later. Without sparing Wanqing a word, she walked toward the door.

Although she might have snapped at Wanqing a few moments ago, her chest still felt stuffy... maybe from both guilt and anger. As she touched the doorframe, she glanced back once.

Wanqing hadn’t moved, she looked so stiff, like she was trying to hold herself back together. But this time, she was staring at Anning.

Anning pushed the door open and stepped out into the hallway, sliding the door behind her close. The hallway felt slightly cool that night, but it did nothing to ease the heavy feeling in her heart.

She leaned against the wall for a moment, replaying the scene in her head. And truly, she had been careless.

One reckless question and whatever truce they had acted on that evening had shattered again. She did not know the story behind Wanqing’s family, but she could feel the depth of that pain. And somehow, she had foolishly thought it was right to ask that question.

A part of her wanted to go back in and apologize. But another part, the tired and overwhelmed side of her, knew it was better to give Wanqing space.

She wasn’t the clingy type and hated when someone acted rude towards her..

As she started walking down the corridor, she realized, whatever fragile connection they had built that night was broken again.

This time, Anning wasn’t sure she wanted to mend it. Or if Wanqing would even let her try.

As Anning walked through the corridors, she noticed how empty the residence was now and even though it was slightly creepy, it managed to calm her down in a weird way.

She had been walking for quite some time and finally got to the servants quarters. She remembered she was supposed to meet her roommate today. But, she hoped the said roommate would have a small accident.

One that led to her death, maybe even pneumonia (If it already existed at this time) or maybe she snuck off to meet some lover.

Anning found herself skipping toward her room. She was yet to inform Wanqing about her need for a salary, clothes and something to place over the bed. She had been so distracted the entire day, that she forgot to do the most important thing.

When she finally came to stop in front of the room, she didn’t bother knocking as she knew the room might still be empty. She pushed the door open and stepped in.

But the moment Anning did that, she was surprised to see someone an inch shorter than her staring up at her. That wasn’t even the most surprising thing, the said person’s first was painted...white?!

"Shit!"