The woman with brown hair, carefully leaned against Wanqing, her presence made the room feel slightly stuffy. Then, she lifted her gaze and stared right at Lin Anning.
"Who is she?" She asked, her voice giving off a slight squeak sound as she spoke. "And how did she step into the house looking as if she rolled in mud?"
Anning frowned slightly at her tone. She squinted her eyes as she looked at the woman properly now. Her gaze flickered between Wanqing and the brown haired girl for a moment, comparing them without meaning to.
She just couldn't help it!
One was loud, looked reckless and every single emotion she felt could be seen on her face, while the other one sat still like the emperor himself. It didn't take long for Anning to decide which one annoyed her more.
Still, she still looked down at herself and knew the brown haired girl wasn't lying. Her dress was stained with dust and dried mud, a small tear was noticeable at the end of the fabric. Her feet were bare and dirty making her appearance far from presentable.
Wanqing, however, stared at her. Like really, really stared at her.
Her eyes moved slowly, taking in Anning's appearance from head to toe without a single change in her expression and then she looked back at her younger sister.
"She is the new pet I brought home," she said calmly. "And you know I don't like you interfering in my business."
That one sentence had Wanqing's younger sister, Yufang, scoffing. She pushed herself up immediately, her lips pursing into a slight pout.
"Pet?" She repeated, the word sounding weird in her mouth. Then she turned to stare at Anning, her gaze mixed with curiosity and mild disgust. "You know father is coming home today. If he sees something like this wandering around the house, you would be in trouble. You should keep it...hidden."
Anning's eyebrows drew together instantly, something about the way she was being spoken about made her chest hurt.
"Excuse me?" She blurted out before she could stop herself, raising her gaze to meet that of yufang's. "You can't just refer to me as an 'it'."
The room fell silent.
Yufang blinked once, then looked between Wanqing and Anning as if she had just heard something amusing. Then, she let out a small chuckle.
"I had no idea the pet could speak," she said softly, tilting her head to the side as her expression turned sharp. "You should get your facts straight, miss pet. A pet is technically an animal. So yes, 'it' is perfectly appropriate."
Anning bit on her lower lip, her chest rising and falling in an uneven pattern. With the look she had in her eyes, one could easily guess that she was restraining herself.
Before she could even respond, Wanqing raised a hand and placed it over her forehead.
"Yufang," She said, her voice sounding softer now. Since Anning met this said woman, she had not heard her raise her voice before...why?
Anning felt it hard to breathe as she stared at Wanqing. Wanqing's gaze darkened, not in a dramatic way though. Even with the way she sat, she looked displeased with what Yufang had just said.
"Leave."
Yufang clicked her tongue loudly, clearly unimpressed, but she didn't argue. She just brushed invisible dirt off her dress and walked towards the door, as she walked past Anning, she glared at her.
As she slid open the door, she deliberately shoved the woman dressed in pale blue to the side before stepping out of the room.
Lanzhin, the head maid, stumbled slightly but quickly regained her balance. She stepped forward properly, lowering her head.
"Young miss, you sent for me." She said.
Wanqing did not acknowledge Yufang's departure and instantly shifted her attention elsewhere.
Anning, however, was still watching her, some unreadable expression flickered through her eyes as she tried to understand the woman sitting in front of her.
Wanqing leaned back slightly, running a hand through her styled hair.
"I need water prepared," she stated.
The head maid nodded instantly and then said, "Who's the water for, miss?"
The question she had just asked sounded weird but she still asked cautiously, as if she was already expecting Wanqing to say something out of line.
Wanqing's hand dropped back to her side and for a moment, she pressed her eyes close.
When she spoke again, her voice was colder.
"And who are you to question me?"
Wanqing was angry, she had no idea why everyone was questioning her words. It made her feel irritated in some way.
The head maid froze, her eyes widened slightly before she lowered herself into a deep bow.
"I apologize, young miss. I misspoke." She said.
Wanqing didn't look at her for long and simply said, "Go. Do what you're told to do and avoid asking unnecessary questions."
The maid nodded quickly, glancing briefly at Anning before retreating. The door slid open softly behind her and closed again when she stepped out of the room, leaving the room shrouded in silence.
For a moment, no one spoke. Anning merely knelt there, still trying to process everything that had just happened. She had expected Wanqing to react when she spoke earlier, maybe yell at her in anger or slap her as punishment, something she couldn't understand.
But nothing came, not even a god-damned reaction.
She exhaled slowly,. convincing herself that perhaps it meant she had gotten away with it this time. But then, Wanqing rose to her feet.
Her movements were unhurried, graceful in a way that made it hard for Anning to look away. Wanqing lifted her hands and began taking out pins from her hair, one by one.
Her dark strands of hair loosened instantly, falling freely down her back like ink spilling over a silk fabric.
Anning's gaze lingered without her realizing. The way Wanqing didn't seem to care who was watching, as if she was in her own world entirely or... She just felt everyone was beneath her.
Her hair shimmered slightly in the room, shifting slightly as she moved and for just a few seconds, Anning found herself wondering what kind of products or oils people here made use of to get hair like that.
It was a ridiculous thought and she scolded herself for thinking that way. Yet, she didn't look away.
Wanqing fingers then moved to the small rope at her waist, without hesitation, she loosened it. The outer layer of her clothes fell down her shoulders slightly, making the fabric loose around her frame.
It was at that point she finally turned, her eyes meeting Anning's directly.
And for the first time since Anning met her, there was something different in her gaze. They hadn't gone soft, she couldn't see warmth in them.
But something darker, something that made Anning bite her lower lip without understanding why.
After a few seconds of silence, Wanqing finally spoke, her voice cutting through the silence.
"Take off your clothes," she paused. "Now."