The girl whose foot had been stretched out cleared her throat before stepping forward. There was a smug look on her face, the kind worn by someone who thought they had already won.

"You really don’t know your place, do you?" she asked, looking Anning up and down. "You shameless slut. You’re nothing but a slave, yet you walk around acting as though you’re above everyone else."

The girls standing behind her laughed at her words.

"You should be careful," the girl continued. "People like you don’t usually live long. Haven’t you figured that out yet? Or are you too busy wondering why Young Miss suddenly left without telling you?"

Anning’s fingers curled tightly around the empty air beside her.

The words struck exactly where they were meant to.

For a brief second, she could feel that ache in her chest returning. The humiliation of finding out Wanqing was gone from Lanzhin made her feel sick.

Without a goodbye, without telling her directly that she was dismissed from her duties.

Anning took in a deep breath, then replied flatly. "I don’t care what your Young Miss does,"

She lowered her gaze to the clothing scattered around her feet.

"If you think playing pranks with me is fun," she said, lifting her eyes back to the girl, "then I hope you’re planning on picking these up."

The maid blinked before scoffing loudly. She glanced over her shoulder at the girls standing behind her.

"Is she speaking to me?" she asked, disbelief dripping from every word.

The others giggled and Anning almost joined them. Of course.

She had just wanted to stay low-key. She just wanted to wash these clothes, avoid trouble and just survive.

Apparently, the universe had other plans for her.

"If those clothes aren’t picked up within the next minute," Anning said calmly, "I’ll make you do it, myself."

The maid let out an exaggerated coo, then said, "Residence rules clearly state that servants aren’t allowed to fight."

She tilted her head mockingly.

"So you’ll have to pick them up yourself."

Then she spun around, clearly intending to walk away as though Anning was someone she could just dismiss.

For a few seconds, Anning said nothing as she watched the girl walk away.

The crowd around them watched in awe as Anning finally moved.

She moved quickly, planting herself in front of the girl that had been walking away. She took one step toward the girl, making the maid take one backward.

"Don’t you dare." The maid said, her eyes narrowed.

Anning reached out with heeding to her words, she wrapped the girl’s hair around her fists and yanked on it.

The girl let out a loud scream, one that echoed through the corridor.

"What are you doing? Ya! Let go of me!" The maid said loudly, clawing at Anning’s hand.

Anning didn’t even flinch at what she did, she merely tightened her grip on her hair.

The maid wrapped her hand around Anning’s wrist, trying to pry her hair off her fingers, but Anning didn’t budge.

She had always been underestimated and Anning found it annoying. After all, she was stronger than most people here.

"You just said fighting isn’t allowed," Anning said softly.

Then yanked the girl’s hair forward, making the poor girl stumble toward her with a scream

"You can’t do this to me, I won’t allow it." She screamed.

But her protests were entirely useless, Anning dragged her toward the pile of clothing scattered across the floor.

The maid tried to dig her heel into the floor as she struggled but Anning just pulled at her hair with more force, making her hiss in pain.

"You are insane!"

One of the girls behind them finally stepped forward and said, "You should let her go."

"Take another step forward." Anning said, snapping her head toward her.

The girl frowned at her words.

"If you’d like to replace your dear friend," Anning continued, "please do."

The girl was left speechless by her word, her face turned pale instantly.

Then she lowered her gaze and took several hurried steps backward.

Satisfied, Anning shifted her attention back to her prey of choice. The girl’s eyes had turned red at that point.

"You’ll regret this," she hissed.

Anning didn’t respond, she merely released her hair. But just when the maid in question smiled in relief, Anning gave her a hard shove.

The maid fell to the ground with a startled cry, barely managing to catch herself with trembling hands.

When she looked up. She had tears streaming down her face.

"Start picking them up." Anning said coldly, staring down at her.

"What?" The girl asked, blinking.

"I said, pick them up." Anning repeated

The maid’s lips trembled as she tried to say something. She looked at the crowd hopefully but no moves to help her.

"I can always do more than shoving you." Anning said, shrugging slightly.

That was enough. The girl sniffed and then repositioned herself before she began gathering the shattered clothing.

Around them, whispers spread through the watching servants.

Some seemed impressed that Anning didn’t let the maid walk over her, some called her vicious and others looked at the maid with nothing but sympathy.

But Anning didn’t particularly care. She folded her arms across her chest and watched the maid that was picking the clothes at a really slow pace.

"Hurry up." Anning said, clapping her hand once. "At this rate, you’ll be the one washing all of them too."

The maid flinched but still nodded firmly as she moved faster.

Tears continued rolling down her cheeks as she scrambled around the floor, collecting every piece of clothing.

Anning shifted her attention toward the crowd that had gathered around them. Her gaze met their eyes one by one.

A few of them avoided meeting her eyes, but she didn’t care.

"Try messing with me next time," she said calmly. "And this could be you too."

No one spoke, they didn’t need to.

The only sound left was the maid’s quiet sniffles and the rustling of fabric. Eventually, the final piece of clothing was picked up by the maid.

The girl stood to her feet before holding out the thick bundle toward Anning.

Anning accepted it and then, much to everyone’s surprise. She offered the crying maid a small smile.

"See?" she said. "That wasn’t so difficult."

The girl stared at her in disbelief.

Without waiting to witness whatever reactions the crowd wore on their faces, Anning adjusted the pile of clothing in her arms and continued down the corridor.

Her back remained straight and she never looked back at them.

If this residence wanted to paint her as some villainous slave who didn’t know her place, then so be it.

At least villains weren’t easy targets.

And if surviving in this place meant becoming someone others feared approaching, then Anning could live with that.

After all, kindness hadn’t gotten her very far.