Anning’s pov

"What the heck did I tell you about stepping out of line in front of them?" Lanzhin yelled, poking me in the chest with her index finger.

The moment she had learnt of me walking out of the receiving room before the guests left, she pulled me into an empty room and here we are now.

Although I was trying my very best to actually focus on what she was saying. Why, you might wonder?

Well, let’s just say I might have offended some noble playboy and the male version of Wanqing. You know, the expressionless face and the saying-only-one-word-per-minute type.

I had no freaking idea how Tang Jiangxuan thought I resembled that man.

I mean, my personality was totally different from his.

I bit on my lower lip as my inner diva literally screamed, That doesn’t change the fact that you look like freaking twins.

She wasn’t wrong though.

"Lin Anning, are you listening to me?!" Lanzhin half yelled, staring right into my eyes.

I nodded quickly, not wanting to upset her. With all the attention I had drawn to myself, walking out of that room before the guests had left had caused a huge uproar.

"I’m not sorry for what happened," I said calmly, folding my arms beneath my bosom. "They tried doing things I didn’t like. I might not have smacked them in the head, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t leave."

"They did what you didn’t like?" Lanzhin repeated in disbelief. "What exactly did they do? Touch you inappropriately? Try to propose to you?"

My breath caught in my throat at her words.

There were nobles who actually did that?

I asked myself even though I didn’t want to believe it.

"If they did that or even more, you were meant to put up with it. In this house, you are nothing but a slave."

"Young Miss Wanqing owns your body, your soul and your mind. She placed me in charge of you and I asked you to put up with their bullshit," she said, placing both hands on her hips.

"Why can’t you just think of anyone except yourself?"

At that moment, I felt something inside me snap.

I let out a small chuckle, reaching up to free my silver hair from the ponytail.

"I should put up with them harassing me, is that what you mean?" I asked.

Just as she opened her mouth to continue, I took a step closer to her.

"Even if Wanqing owns me, it doesn’t give her or anyone the right to whore me out to those old men. I have hands, Lanzhin, and I would not hesitate to use them."

For the first time in a few months, I watched an emotion dangerously close to fear appear in Lanzhin’s eyes.

It made me feel nothing but satisfaction.

Yes, she called me selfish.

I wouldn’t argue or try to justify my actions.

These people knew absolutely nothing about me. About how I died or how I even ended up here.

They just knew I was nothing but a slave.

"General Gu summoned Wanqing to his study," she said after a few minutes of silence.

Her words made me freeze.

The satisfaction I’d felt moments ago disappeared so quickly that I almost wondered if I had imagined it.

"...What?" I asked quietly.

Lanzhin looked away from me and said, "He called for her right after the guest left."

I felt my heart drop to my stomach at her words.

No. No, no, no.

My mind immediately went back to when Wanqing had been whipped. I could vividly remember how deep the whips had cut.

I remembered how the cold Wanqing had winced when I cleaned them up and how she brutally ignored my apologies later.

’This is the price I pay for your attitude’

I thought things would change by now. I wasn’t even her maid anymore.

Why the fuck couldn’t she teach her old man a freaking lesson!

She was about to get married. I for one knew her children wouldn’t want a wimp as a mother.

But why does General Gu want to see her?

Was it because of those guests? Tang Jiangxuan and the silver haired man?

Or

Because of me?

My hands curled into fists beside my body, my fingers digging into my skin.

I made sure to be polite the moment I snapped inside that room, but considering how I spoke to Jiangxuan.

I had disrespected him.

I even walked out before the guests left. That could be seen as an embarrassment, even though I didn’t quite understand anything.

"But I was the one who did something wrong." I muttered, swallowing hard.

I couldn’t blame anyone else, because it had been my mistake.

Lanzhin didn’t respond to my words and I took that as an opportunity to keep speaking.

"I was the one who walked out." I said, a bitter laugh escaping her lips.

Although there wasn’t anything funny about this situation.

"I really do know how to ruin everything, don’t I?" I asked and that finally had Lanzhin sighing.

"Do you really think this is the time for you to laugh?" asked Lanzhin.

I shook my head. Nothing was funny but at the same time, this situation was.

If General Gu decided someone had to pay for today’s events, he wouldn’t call me.

He never seemed to want me to pay for my actions. It was always Wanqing.

It made me doubt if she was truly his daughter and not just another person living in this residence.

My chest started to hurt seconds after as I thought of how I had spent months convincing myself that whatever existed between us meant nothing.

That I didn’t love her but I could definitely move on.

Then why did the thought of her getting hurt because of me make me feel sick?

I pressed the heels of my hand against my forehead.

Maybe Lanzhin was right, I was truly selfish. Even though I knew that already.

I had been so focused on keeping where I had come from a secret that I hadn’t stopped to consider the consequences.

"Do you think I can take the punishment on her behalf?" I asked softly.