"Where did she go?" Anning asked, unable to keep the confusion out of her voice.

But Lanzhin’s expression didn’t change despite her question.

"Wherever the Young Miss went isn’t your concern." She replied flatly. "Your only concern right now should be focusing on your duties and actually trying to get them done."

"I can’t do this." Anning muttered, staring at her.

Lanzhin uncrossed her arms, dropping them to her side. "If you fail to complete your work, you will be punished."

Her words barely registered in Anning’s mind. She still couldn’t believe Wanqing had just left.

Without even saying a single word to her, despite how they parted ways last night.

Anning blinked, trying to process it. Because she had failed to know her boundary or did she leave because she wanted to?

She just wanted them to be a tad bit closer, to know whether what existed between them meant anything.

They had freaking kissed! Wanqing even got whipped for her and she even apologized.

Something Anning didn’t do very often.

The way Wanqing had refused to hand her over to the imperial princess, did none of that matter?

She felt something in her chest shatter. It didn’t hurt that much but it made her feel uncomfortable.

Before she could sink deeper into her thoughts, something smacked her right against the forehead.

"Ow!" She hissed, raising a hand to rub the spot that had just been flicked.

"What was that for?" She asked the older woman standing in front of her, watching as she lowered her hand.

"It isn’t the end of the world just because the Young Miss isn’t here," she said. "It just simply means, whatever you do now has consequences."

Anning opened her mouth to argue but instantly decided against it.

Lanzhin turned around slightly, pointing toward the pile of clothing abandoned on the floor.

"You are going to be washing those. That is your first task for the day." Lanzhin said.

The moment she finished speaking, silence stretched between them. Anning glanced at the pile of clothes with dull eyes and back at Lanzhin.

Then at the clothes again before asking, "Can I quit?"

Lanzhin stared at her for a few seconds, then let out a high pitched laugh. Like, she literally laughed.

When the older woman’s amusement finally disappeared, she said, "You are not allowed to quit. Unlike the other maid’s, you are a slave. Even if you managed to get past the front gates, you’d simply be dragged back."

Anning’s lips curled into a very weird looking smile as she muttered, "Fantastic."

"You should finish this quickly and then meet me in the kitchen afterward. We need to find something more presentable for you to wear." Lanzhin continued.

Without waiting for a response, she stepped past Anning and walked out of the room.

The moment her door slid closed, silence filled the room. Anning didn’t even bother moving, she just stared at a random wall.

When she moved her gaze slowly toward the heap of clothing, her eyes instantly turned glassy.

She just wanted to go home. The thought appeared in her head without warning.

Life here was so exhausting, boring and just unfair. She wasn’t even sure what she had done to deserve any of this.

But still, it wasn’t as though she loved Gu Wanqing. Right?

Yes. It wasn’t very obvious she wasn’t in love, she simply liked the arrogant woman.

The same woman who had kissed her and the same one who somehow managed to become entangled into every terrible thing happening in her life.

Then why did she leave? Why did she have to leave her behind in this awful place?

Why had she turned Anning back into nothing more than another servant walking through the halls with dirty laundry?

Anning felt a warm tear roll down her cheek and that made her freeze. Her hand immediately shot upward as she wiped it away so quickly as though it never even happened.

She could feel her heart racing within her chest as she whispered, "I am not in love."

Then she said louder, nodding to herself. "I am literally straight. Very straight."

She paused, then added in a small voice. "Probably."

She took in several deep breaths, slapping her cheeks several times until the sting somehow grounded her.

If whatever had happened between them meant nothing to Wanqing, then that was that. She had given up.

She wouldn’t be the one to chase anyone. She wouldn’t bother wondering about anything.

She just had to survive. Stay out of trouble and earn money somehow.

That money would be her escape plan to live a normal life

After calming herself down, Anning tied her hair into a messy bun before crouching down to gather the clothes into her arms.

Then she stepped outside. She knew the laundry was being handled near the bathhouse, so she headed in that direction.

The walk there should have been simple and relaxing. Instead, she quickly realized something was wrong...

The servants were staring at her, pausing mid conversation. Some of them glanced at her before quickly looking away, while others didn’t even care to pretend.

As she walked past them, she heard the whispers that followed right behind her.

"Look at her."

"After everything she did to Young Miss..."

"They still allowed her to work here?"

"I heard she’s actually in love with Young Miss. Can you believe it?"

"Speaking to the Young Master like that... doesn’t she value her life?"

Anning tightened her grip on the clothes as she bit on her lower lip. Seriously?

This was what everyone had decided to focus on? She had to resist the urge to claw somebody’s mouth off their face.

She took a deep breath before asking herself, had Wanqing told someone?

No, that wasn’t possible. Gu Wanqing would bother speaking to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.

Which meant, someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation. Perfect.

As if her life wasn’t already complicated enough. She just had to be included in their gossip.

Anning kept her gaze fixed to the floor as he continued walking. She decided to pretend she couldn’t hear them.

She pretended every word whispered about her wasn’t making her even more upset.

Unfortunately, she had been so distracted by her thoughts that she didn’t notice the group approaching from ahead.

The moment her foot caught on something, her heart stopped beating.

"No..."

She felt herself stumble, the clothes in her hand slipped from her grasp. White fabric scattered across the floor.

Anning had managed to steady herself but for one terrible second, she simply stared.

Her heart sounded against her ribcage. She had been sure to check the path in front of her before walking.

She knew she had checked. Slowly, she turned around and spotted a group of girls standing behind her.

Dressed in identical maid uniforms and one of them still had her foot slightly extended. They laughed as one of them pointed at her and said something.

Anning stared at them for a few seconds, then scoffed. She shook her head in disbelief, folding her arms across her chest.

"Ladies," she said calmly. "Do we have a problem?"