[Music recommendation: Honeybee by Olivia Rodrigo]

Anning’s pov

The moment those words left my mouth, I felt a hand wrap around my waist and yanked my body back into the carriage.

Shit, I should’ve just remained quiet.

I swallowed hard. My back was pressed directly onto the front of Wanqing and we all knew what that meant.

"Y-young miss, you shouldn’t..." I trailed off when I felt her push my ponytail out of the way.

"You will watch the way you speak to me, Tiger. Don’t push it." Wanqing whispered, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck.

For a brief moment, I couldn’t move. The faint scent of strawberry floating off her and how soft her breasts felt against me had my brain feeling mushy.

But hearing that arrogance in her words only reminded me of the fact that she was still on probation. In fact, we were.

"You shouldn’t push it too, Wanqing." I said coldly, my hands trailing down my body as I slowly took her hands off my waist. "For someone who promised to change, you’re making quite the effort."

I waited for a moment for her to respond, but I got nothing. I shuffled back to the window and peered out of it, ignoring how tingly my skin felt or the fact that my face had already turned red.

The streets were crowded without a doubt and I could see lots of familiar things. Like candied fruits, honeyed cakes and someone was even selling flowers. When was the last time I received a bouquet?

My lips curled into a small smile at the thought. But I shook my head, this wasn’t the time to dwell on the past.

I probably wasn’t going to return back to my normal life. So, I’d rather get used to this than remain in the past.

"You bear the name Lin Anning and yet you look like you’ve never attended these carnivals that are usually held a few days before the spring festival." Wanqing said suddenly.

I turned to face her and this time, she was looking out of the other window. I couldn’t quite see her face, but it didn’t matter.

"I haven’t." I muttered under my breath, shrugging.

"Before you became a slave, you never..." She trailed off, as if not knowing what to say.

But I couldn’t blame her.

"I haven’t, young miss." I replied, slumping back into my chair.

She also sat back down and brushed a few strands of her black hair away from her face, "Then, enjoy yourself."

My heart skipped a beat at her words. "What do you mean by that?"

"The carnival? Enjoy it." She repeated but when I just kept staring at her, she added. "You may look around."

"You aren’t joking, right?"

"What do you think?" She demanded, raising a brow at me.

My lips stretched into a huge grin before I could stop myself. The look of indifference she had on her face softened and for some odd reason, that made my chest feel funny.

A few seconds later, the carriage finally came to a stop. The moment the door was pushed open, I climbed out of it so quickly that I nearly tripped over my own feet.

The market square was even more beautiful up close and even from where I stood, I could see some children and merchants staring right at us.

I turned around quickly, trying to look at everything at once.

"Tiger, what where you’re going," Wanqing said from behind me.

I ignored her, watching someone walk past me carrying a rabbit shaped pastry. Another person had large lanterns in hand, making him look a bit funny. I wanted to buy all of them and maybe get a little tiger plushie.

Yes, I did hate the nickname but not the animal. Judge me if you want!

"Wanqing!" I called out before I could stop myself, whirling around.

Wanqing had a slight frown on her face, but since she didn’t correct me on the use of her name. I’d stick with that when it’s just us two.

"What?" She asked.

I pointed to a stall nearby, "They’re playing games!"

"Not interested." Wanqing said, crossing her arms against her chest.

Behind us, I could see Yufang approaching with Han Luo and a guard I couldn’t recognize beside her. Good, at least we could run around without getting killed or something.

"But I haven’t even asked you yet..." I drawled out, walking back to where she stood.

Wanqing stared down at me, with softened eyes and said, "It’s quite obvious."

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, I felt someone bump right into me and a slight pinch in my head. Uhm, weird.

"I’m sorry, miss." The person said quickly, bowing.

I wasn’t even given a chance to reply when the person hurriedly walked away. Okay, that was weird.

"Tiger, stay close to me." Wanqing said and when I turned to look at her, her eyes had turned cold.

"Okay." I muttered, coming to stand beside her. "We’re going to play the game, right?"

"Tiger, no." She said firmly but her words only made me grab onto her hand.

"How can you keep saying no to my requests even after you ask me to enjoy myself?!" I half yelled, tugging on her arm.

"You shouldn’t be touching your mistress like that." I heard a voice say behind us and even without looking, I knew who it was. Han Luo.

But Anning was in a good mood and I wouldn’t allow anyone to jeopardize that.

"Please?" I muttered, putting on my best pitiful expression. It felt so embarrassing to do this, but playing games alone wasn’t fun.

Finally, she sighed. "Yay!"

"But, you’ll play the games yourself." She said, but that was enough for me.

I grinned, doing a little dance as I walked ahead of her. "You are the best young miss in the world."

I took two steps forward but then stopped when I realized she had stopped walking. When I glanced behind me, I noticed the tip of her ears had turned pink and she was hiding the lower half of her face behind her sleeve.

Cute.