Yufang let out a loud, unladylike snort the moment her eyes landed on the few drops of tea that were now on the polished surface of the table. The sound instantly drew attention away from Anning and now to her.
She tilted her head slightly, her lips stretching into a smile as she turned to Wanqing.
"This is the person you finally chose?" She asked, her tone dripping with mockery. "Her? She doesn't even have the ability to pour tea properly!"
Lin Anning stared at the now full cup in front of General Gu, her finger's still wrapped loosely around the teapot. For a moment, she didn't speak. Then she carefully set the tea pot back down.
She stood a deep breath, trying to calm the words clawing up her throat back down.
'Ignore her.' she said to herself inwardly.
Her gaze moved and then landed on Wanqing. This time, she didn't glare at her...there wasn't even an atom of anger in her eyes. Just a quiet, blank stare.
General Gu hummed softly, as though none of it bothered him in the slightest. He picked up the cup filled with tea and took a small sip, his expression didn't even change as the tea touched his lips.
"She's not bad," he said after a moment, sounding almost thoughtful. "She'd get better after learning a few things."
His gaze flickered back to Anning, his gaze lingering now as he took in her appearance.
"And is she from our town? That silver hair..."
He trailed off, but the curiosity in his eyes remained. Anning straightened slightly and answered before anyone else could.
"No, my Lord. I'm not from around here."
This was just her telling a white lie. After all, she knew nothing about the former owner of this body. But she definitely wasn't from around here.
General Gu studied Anning for a second longer than necessary, his eyes tracing over her features as if trying to figure out something. Then, just as quietly, he looked away.
Yufang, however, was far from done with Anning.
"Ya! Come here," she suddenly called out, the mocking tone from earlier was gone at that point. "Help me cut my food properly."
But as usual, Anning didn't move. She just stood there, staring at the table and the food, at everything except the girl who had just spoken to her like she was nothing.
Then slowly, she lifted her hand and clapped them together, pressing her palms in a gesture of apology as she forced the most pitiful expression she could manage onto her face.
"Ah, young miss," she said, her voice soft... almost apologetic, though the defiance in her eyes told a completely different story. "I'm not qualified to even touch your food. As you can see, I couldn't even pour tea properly."
She turned slightly, raising a hand and pointing toward one of the maids standing stiffly in the corner.
"You can ask one of them instead." She added with a smile.
Silence fell between them as Yufang didn't reply, she simply stared at Anning and Anning stared right back.
The tension between them wasn't one someone could ignore and by the look of thing's, one of them was bound to snap.
"Talking to someone above you in such a manner is simply improper!" Wanqing's mother said after a second, her voice was colder now but the displeasure in them was clear.
Anning scoffed. This time, she didn't even bother hiding anything. She cocked her head slightly to the side, her lips pulling into a small smile as she exhaled.
"You all refer to me as a slave, not your maid," She said, her voice sharper now. The restraint she had been forcing finally began to crack. "You don't get to order me around."
She turned her head, her gaze falling on Yufang before she added, "Especially not you, wench."
Gasps from the maids standing in the corner echoed through the room, their eyes widening in horror, some instantly lowered their heads, afraid of being associated with what had just been said.
Wanqing's mother pushed herself up from her seat so abruptly that she stumbled backwards. Her face had gone pale, her chest rose and fell quickly as she turned to Wanqing.
"Is this how you keep her in check?" She demanded, her voice trembling in anger. "How can she speak like this?"
Anning laughed, it wasn't loud but it was enough to make things worse at that moment. But as always, Anning did not care.
"What I can do and can't do is decided by me," She said firmly, ignoring her heart that was now pounding against her ribcage. "I've been trying so hard to keep my god-damned temper in check, but it seems like the likes of you just want me dead."
She let out a sigh, a long and tired one, as though she had already accepted whatever was coming next. At the end of the day, she still couldn't hold herself back. Not when they all kept pushing.
General Gu set his cup down slowly, the faint sound of porcelain meeting wood drew everyone's attention back to him.
He looked at Anning and then, smirked. It was quite subtle but Anning standing beside him noticed he was amused...by what?
"I think I might have to steal this one away from you," he said, turning his gaze toward Wanqing. "We need people like her in our cabinet. Not those lousy men."
Anning blinked in confusion. Was this man complimenting her or was this just a threat?
Wanqing's mother slammed her hand against the table, the sharp crack cutting through the air as she turned to her husband.
"My Lord!" She cried out, her voice rising and octave higher. "You can not do that. This girl must pay for what she just said to my daughter."
Anning frowned slightly, her brows knitting together as she glanced at the woman. It seemed as though she had lost her sense of reasoning.
Before she could say anything, a voice beat her to it...
"I shall take care of it, mother."
The voice sounded calm, and Anning already knew who the person was at the moment. When she turned, she wasn't surprised to see Gu Wanqing already standing.
But those black obsidian eyes of hers that usually carried cold indifference seemed ... different? As Anning currently stared at them, she could literally see her eyes twinkling.
Is that normal?
And for the first time since she stepped into this room, she finally felt it. Fear.
Her body reacted before her mind could catch up, her feet shifting back ever so slightly, putting a small distance between her and the table.
"Are you saying you will punish her?"