Anning’s pov

"You see, I have somewhere to be and I really need to leave," Yufang said, finally pulling Wanqing’s attention away from me.

"Like I said, get into the carriage or get lost." Wanqing crossed her legs and leaned back against the seat like she owned the whole world.

The guard with us glanced between Lady Yufang and me before shrugging and heading over to the horses.

I stayed right where I was. Hungry. Tired. And completely confused. And it was only morning. Were these people trying to kill me?

I took a step forward. "Lady Yufang, what is it going to be?"

"Tiger. Get into this carriage," Wanqing said coldly the second the words left my mouth.

I turned my head in her direction and she was already looking at me. No, not just looking... It felt more like she was staring at me.

Why did I suddenly feel like a rabbit being watched by a tiger? I swallowed hard and looked away first.

Yufang sighed dramatically, placing one hand on her cheek. "I see. It seems as though I have lost."

"You were competing with someone?" I blurted out.

"No. At least not with you." She responded, glaring at me.

"I see."

Then why did she say that? Nobles were truly difficult to understand. Yufang smiled, this time it looked slightly genuine.

"Since Jiějiě is so determined, I shall take another carriage." She said softly.

I nodded immediately, not bothering to hide my satisfaction. "That’s a wonderful idea."

She looked at me with a frown, and I stared right back.

"..."

"..."

The fuck was she looking at?

After a few seconds of staring into my eyes, she let out another sigh and turned around. "I’ll see you there, Anning."

I frowned. That sentence of hers didn’t sound threatening at all, but somehow it just made goosebumps form on my skin.

The moment she walked away from the carriage, I turned and climbed into it before Wanqing would threaten to throw me inside herself.

I made sure to sit across from her and completely out of her arms reach. Even as the carriage began moving forward, I made sure to remain still.

I stared at the curtains that swayed along with the wind. Slowly tracing the patterns woven onto the curtains.

"Tiger." Wanqing said, her voice sounding slightly airy which was weird.

I flinched at how different her voice sounded , "Yes, young Miss."

"Come here." Wanqing said, patting the space beside her.

"I can hear you just fine from here." I responded with a frown on my face.

She didn’t respond, then looked at me for a long moment before saying again. "Anning, come here."

I stood up from my seat and carefully sat beside her, while making sure to maintain some sort of distance between us.

Wanqing turned her head to stare at me, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Move closer."

I shook my head, already getting ready to refuse, "I think this is okay, we don’t need to—"

Wanqing, on the other hand, looked entirely satisfied. Was there something I had missed?

"Closer, tiger." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

I scooted closer to her and by the end of it, the end of our sleeves were touching. I stared at our hands, before slowly lifting my head.

"Young miss, are you afraid I might escape or something?" I asked, after a few moments of silence.

"Yes." Wanqing answered without hesitation.

I wasn’t expecting her to say yes. I didn’t even know whether to feel offended or merely flattered by her answer.

The carriage fell silent again and only the sound of the moving wheels and things moving past us filled the air.

Then, Wanqing asked, "Why didn’t you eat before even following her?"

I nearly groaned at her question. "I had something to eat before living."

I responded, offering her the widest and most polite smile I could muster.

"Stop lying to me." She said sharply, making my smile drop.

"I had some water to drink before leaving." I ended up saying. It was better to say that than say I was yet to eat, right?

Wanqing didn’t reply immediately, she leaned back against the chair and sighed. "You skipped breakfast."

"Can we just drop it?" I snapped, reaching up and grabbing a stray strand of hair.

She looked at me as though I had grown a second head and murmured, "You are really strange."

"I could say the same about you." I huffed, crossing my arms under my chest.

The corner of her lips arched slightly at my words. Did she just? No. That wasn’t possible.

I thought to myself, maybe the hunger was making me see things. The great Gu Wanqing smiling?

Thankfully, that sound coming from outside the carriage saved me before any further embarrassment.

I could hear drums, some weird music playing in the air and the sound of children laughing made me feel... excited?

I turned to the nearest window and unable to resist the urge, I lifted the covers.

But then froze.

These streets, I could recognize them even in my sleep. This was the same market I had become a slave at and also met Wanqing at. But now, it looked totally different.

The streets were overflowing with people. Red lanterns could be seen hanging from the roof of various buildings. Colorful banners had been hung in front of every stall with words on them that had been written in Chinese.

My name might be Lin Anning but trust me when I say, I wasn’t that fluent in Chinese.

Everything was extremely beautiful and this was the first time I was seeing anything like this.

"Young miss..." I drawled out, my eyes fixed on the children than just ran past the carriage.

"What is it?" Wanqing responded. Just from her tone, I knew there was bound to be some sort of frown on her face.

"There are so many people outside." I said. "It wasn’t like this before."

She scoffed and said in a ’duh’ tone. "I can see that too."

I turned around and glared at her before saying, "Quit talking to me like that."