Anning’s pov (Not Edited).

I stared at Wanqing, hoping this was some kind of joke. She stared back at me with an expressionless face.

Ugh, I looked away first and with all the dignity I had left, I took a seat beside her. None of us said a word after that, she just continued eating as though I wasn’t even there.

I calmly stared at the bowl of porridge she was yet to touch whilst cursing her.

"You keep staring at my porridge," Wanqing said, making me flinch. "So you want some?"

I slowly turned and found her staring at me with a raised brow. I offered her the sweetest smile I could muster then responded, "I’m okay. Thank you."

I sat there like an idiot. Now, holding Wanqing’s empty tray as she calmly finished the last of her tea. The morning light filtering in through the window made me feeling slightly hot and sitting down this long only made my sore ass worse.

So, this is what I get for showing up.

Finally, Wanqing placed her tea cup and chopsticks onto the tray before looking up at me, saying, "Return the tray back to the kitchen."

I nodded quickly, preparing to rise and eager to escape this place. "Yes, Young miss. "

I lifted myself to my feet, tray in hand as I turned toward the exit.

"Oh and take the dirty laundry with you. I need them washed." She added just as I took two steps away from her.

I froze, taking in a deep breath to calm myself. Slowly, I turned around and there, neatly folded at the foot of her bed, was a pile of clothes. When I say a pile, I mean enough to clothe half of the servants.

"Young miss... all of those?" I asked, my voice coming out higher than I intended.

"Do you have a problem with it?" Wanqing asked.

I glanced at the clothes again and said, "How am I supposed to carry all that?"

"With your hands," she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I’m trying my best not to get angry, Young Miss." I whispered through clenched teeth.

She was definitely doing this on purpose. I could feel annoyance bubbling to the surface and it was mixed with heavy regret. I shouldn’t have gone to General Gu’s office. If I hadn’t gone, this wouldn’t have happened.

"I heard people call you she hardworking maid of the Gu residence," Wanqing added smoothly, her lips curling into a small smirk as she paused. "You wouldn’t want to disappoint them."

I stared at her, then let out a long suffering sigh. I walked to her bed side, gathered the enormous pile of clothes, balanced the tray on top of it. Then, I shot her my best glare.

Wanqing pretended not to notice as she had already shifted her attention to a parchment in front of her.

Carrying everything had been a complete nightmare. The tray kept tilting, threatening to slide off the large mountain of fabric. I had to walk like a crab through the halls, arms strained and my eyes lacking any form of emotion.

As I walked past a few maids, some of them stopped to stare. One of them had to audacity to actually laugh.

"I thought she was the Young Miss’s personal maid again?" Another maid whispered, loudly enough for me to hear.

"Looks like the Young Miss is finally teaching her a lesson." A different person said, giggling.

I ignored them completely. They could laugh all they want, but I hope they’d still find this funny when karma comes to bite them.

The mental image of them struggling brought a tiny spark of humor to my misery. It was almost worth the humiliation.

By the time I reached the kitchen, I couldn’t feel my arms anymore. I dropped the tray with a loud clatter, then paused to take in deep breaths.

Never again. I’m never making a bet or even losing a bet to her ever again.

I was still catching my breath when I spotted Lanzhin walking by, her face holding that usual stern expression of hers.

"Lanzhin!" I called out, quickly catching up to her while struggling with the massive bundle of clothes.

Thankfully, Lanzhin stopped walking the moment she heard her name.

"Look at this!" I said, gesturing around with my free arm. "Does this seem fair to you? She could’ve let me do my old job in peace. I was perfectly content with working around the residence."

Lanzhin glanced at the pile of clothes, then at my face. She looked strangely amused.

Why?

I frowned. "What?"

"It looks like the young miss isn’t still upset with you for serving those nobles, these past few months." She explained, smiling faintly.

Why would Wanqing be upset because of that? I had to do it if I wanted to survive or did she perhaps forget she left was the one who left me behind?

I blinked. "What do you mean by that?"

Lanzhin simply patted my shoulder, then said, "I wish you all the best."

And then she walked away, leaving me standing there with my mouth hanging open and an arm filled with clothes.

Why couldn’t she just tell me what she meant? What was the use of speaking in riddles?!

Feeling both frustrated and confused, I headed toward the bathhouse where I could finally take care of these laundry.

****

Washing the clothes looked longer than I had expected. As I scrubbed and then rinsed, I started noticing something odd.

Most of Wanqing’s garments weren’t even dirty. A few of them looked like they hadn’t even been worn in a long time and one of them still smelt like her.

She definitely did this to punish me. I thought, wringing out a perfectly clean inner robe with more force than necessary.

But did I care about that? No.

Wanqing was just being petty at this point. Yes, she was an arrogant, petty and impossible human being.

Not to forget...sexy.