"Can you just stop teasing me?" Anning said, pressing both her hands to her cheeks. Even in the dimly lit room, they had turned red. "This is terrible. You are terrible."

"Wow. A slave falling in love with her mistress!" A-mei teased, giggling at her own words.

"A-mei. Drop it." Anning said, this time she sounded so serious that a-mei stopped laughing.

"I’m just teasing you. No need to get angry at me." A-mei said, rolling her eyes.

"I hate having this conversation with you." She said, burying her red face in her hand for a second. "You know, she’s engaged and she even calls me a slave. Heck, she doesn’t even understand her own feelings. Why would i—"

She stopped. Now that she said her thoughts out loud, they sounded weak and unreasonable.

A-mei bent down and pulled her shoes off her legs. "We both know you had feelings for Gu Wanqing for a while, you just needed time to figure it out. Maybe that’s what she needs too."

Anning didn’t answer. The sun had started setting, painting the entire room orange and gold.

"I should try falling asleep." Anning murmured, sighing.

"Try not to overthink it." A-mei said, adjusting her position on the bed.

"Too late for that," Anning responded.

That night, sleep refused to come. Anning lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, the blanket pulled up to her chin. Everytime she managed to doze off, she saw Wanqing staring back at her with that confused, lost look in her eyes.

’What am I supposed to do?’

Hearing that sentence again made her groan, she pulled the blanket over her head and turned to her side.

"Why did you have to look so... adorable while saying that?"

She froze. Adorable? No. Wanqing was frustrating, u feeling, arrogant and unbelievably clueless when it came to feelings.

How could she find someone like that adorable?

Anning buried her face deeper into the pillow and whispered, "You’re such an idiot."

Silence filled the room for a moment. Then the corner of her lips curved into a small, sleepy smile.

"I still... don’t know what to do with you."

She fell asleep like that. Confused, annoyed, and just a little less angry than she had been that morning.

The next morning, Anning woke up feeling strangely refreshed. She lay on the bed for a moment, staring at the ceiling and had the memories of last night crashing back into her head.

How she had fussed over everything that had happened, how Wanqing had kissed her and Xiao Qingyue walked in. How was she supposed to face Lanzhin or the imperial princess today?

She groaned and shook her head from side to side. Why was she thinking about ’her’ this early?

"You’re still sleeping?" A-mei asked from across the room, where she was busy folding clothes.

"No, I’m up." Anning said, pushing herself up from the bed.

"Is something wrong with you? Mistress fever?" A-mei asked, glancing over at Anning.

"Oh please." Anning muttered, reaching up to touch her hair.

A-mei merely chuckled at her answer. She shot her a glare and climbed out of bed. She hurriedly washed up, changed into fresh clothes and just as she was about asking what was for breakfast, a knock made her stop.

"It’s open." A-mei said.

A young maid stepped into the room, her hands clasped in front of her body.

"Anning, the madam wishes to see you. In the receiving room." The young maid said, her gaze fixed solely on Anning.

Anning frowned, "The madam?"

"She’s waiting." The maid said, sounding impatient.

A-mei and Anning exchanged glances in nothing but confusion. "Did she say why?" A-mei was the one to ask this time.

The maid’s expression instantly turned sour. "You ask far too many questions. Just come with me."

Anning frowned at the young girl’s rude tone, but said nothing. Why would Gu Ruiqing want to see her? Was this about her leaving Wanqing side?

She had already gotten used to her new routine. The thought of being moved by Ruiqing only made her head hurt.

"I’ll be back," she told a-mei softly and then followed the maid out of the room.

They walked through the residence in silence and Anning was grateful she didn’t bump into any other servants. But it didn’t help ease the uneasiness in her chest.

What if Madam Gu knows about the kiss? What would then happen to her?

By the time they reached the receiving room, Anning had imagined this whole interaction going weird in five different ways.

The guard positioned in front of the door slid it open with a smile, "Anning, the madam is waiting for you."

Anning offered him a small smile, took a deep breath before finally stepping into the room.

Gu Ruiqing sat near the window, holding a cup of tea and across from her sar Yufang.

Anning stopped walking for a moment. She hadn’t seen that woman in a while, and the last time hadn’t exactly been pleasant. Her guard went up immediately.

She bowed politely. "You wished to see me, Madam?"

Gu Ruiqing nodded. "Sit."

Anning took a seat, making sure to appear calm, so Gu Ruiqing wouldn’t see that she was truly unsettled.

After a few seconds of silence, Ruiqing finally spoke, "Yufang wishes to visit the market today."

Anning frowned, "What?"

"I want you to escort her."

This time, Anning was sure she had misheard. She looked from Gu Ruiqing to Yufang, who was smiling sweetly.

"Why me?" Anning asked.

Gu Ruiqing frowned. "Is there a problem?"

Several, actually. The biggest one being that Yufang had never hidden how much she disliked her.

"I don’t think I’ll be very useful," Anning tried.

"You’ll do it." Ruiqing said, taking a sip of her tea.

"I have duties—"

"You can do them later."

Anning’s smile grew strained. "I really don’t think..."

"Enough." Gu Ruiqing said firmly. "Do not forget who feeds you. Who clothes you. And who pays your salary."

Anning lowered her eyes. There was nothing she could say to that.

Across from her, Yufang set down her teacup and smiled. A small, satisfied smile that made Anning’s uneasiness grow even stronger.

"It’s settled then."