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Story of Yanxi Palace - Chapter 23

Published at 23rd of October 2019 06:33:06 PM


Chapter 23

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“Yingluo, have you… gained weight?”

It weren’t only the imperial concubines that needed to be measured for new clothes. Palace maids were no exception. Especially the ones that had entered the imperial palace recently, since they were going through puberty. After a couple months, some would outgrow their uniforms to the point where their sleeves were too short by a few inches.  

Living on a mountain, one would eat things from a mountain. Living near the water, one would eat things from the water. The embroidery department would not treat their own shabbily. When it came time to measure and make new clothes for the palace maids, Wei Yingluo’s group had priority.  

After wrapping the measuring tape around Wei Yingluo’s waist, Granny Zhang frowned. “Your waist has grown thicker by an inch. What have you been eating recently?”  

Wei Yingluo did not answer. Jixiang, who was standing by her side, felt outraged for her. “No way. Recently, Big Sister Yingluo has been throwing up whatever she ate. She hasn’t had a proper meal for a few days!”  

Granny Zhang glared at her, not liking what she had said. Then she turned and sighed at Wei Yingluo.  “These clothes are already too small for you. Before your new clothes are made, go pick a suitable uniform from the storeroom.”   

“Thank you, Granny,” said Wei Yingluo, seemingly embarrassed. As everyone else was getting their measurements taken, she entered the storeroom alone.  

In the storeroom were piles of new bolts of cloth and uniforms. There were also old bolts of cloth and uniforms, as life was often unpredictable, and in the span of one day there could be many good and bad things happening. Sometimes, when a new set of clothes had been finished, the person they were made for had already left the world. Sometimes, in only a short couple of months, a popular fashion would become obsolete. Then those unfashionable uniforms and bolts of cloth would be placed in the storeroom, untouched by others for a long while, the color of the flower patterns pale from age. Some clothes even started to sprout mold, growing all the more tattered… Until finally, they could no longer be worn by others.  

Just like the women in the imperial harem. 

Wei Yingluo passed through each clothes rack, choosing a uniform that was a shade of green. She scanned the area for people, before removing her outer clothes, leaving on a tight-fitting inner garment. Then she prepared to try on the set from the storeroom she had chosen.     

It was difficult to hide her protruding belly with just her inner garment.   

In fact, this very fact had not escaped the eyes of Jinxiu.   

The news spread to Aunt Fang’s ears. She slammed her palm onto the table and stood with a smile. “Good! Now this is truly called catching the thief at the scene of the crime! I’ll go inform General Manager Wu immediately!”  

Standing by the side, Jinxiu added fuel to the fire. “We should also call Granny Zhang over. Let her see with her own eyes what kind of goods her brilliant student actually is!”

“You’ve said it correctly. We should call that old woman over. Let’s see if she’d dare to act so proud in front of me again!” A cold laugh escaped Aunt Fang’s lips. Then she rushed to find General Manager Wu.  

This was truly a big deal. As soon as Wu Shulai heard the news, he dropped what he was doing and quickly made his way to the palace maid dormitory.   

“Wei Yingluo!” He stared at the girl before him. “Someone reported that you committed a scandal. Do you admit to it?”  

Wei Yingluo was wearing the green uniform she had just put on and seemed even calmer than usual. She performed the full ceremony of greeting to Wu Shulai in a proper manner, before saying, “Daring to ask Eunuch Wu what this scandal entails. Who is the accuser?”   

“It’s me!” Aunt Fang stepped forward from the crowd. Her gaze was as sharp as a knife, piercing Wei Yingluo’s body one stab at a time. “I’m accusing you of having relations with an imperial guard and falling pregnant!”  

Wei Yingluo sighed. “Aunt Fang, I have never offended you. So why must you fabricate such a thing to harm me?  

“It isn’t unprovoked or a fabrication. Once we investigate, we’ll know!” Aunt Fang turned to Wu Shulai. “General Manager Wu, please summon an experienced older female servant to examine her. Then the truth will be revealed!”  

Seeing how she swore the truth while carrying a fearless look, Wu Shulai could not help but furrow his brows.  

In his understanding of Aunt Fang, if there hadn’t been a grain of truth in the matter, she would not have exposed it to everyone. And if what she said was true, then Wei Yingluo…  

Wu Shulai did not want this matter to grow. Wei Yingluo had lost all her face. In fact, even he, the eunuch in charge of supervising all the palace maids, would lose face. Thus, he said in a slight admonishing manner, “Wei Yingluo, if you truly did this, then be honest and let us know. If you go through the examination, it would be even more shameful.”   

“To act licentiously in the palace will result in death by rod. Yingluo treasures her life, so how could there be enough guts to do such a thing?” Wei Yingluo slowly shifted her gaze to Aunt Fang. “Then let’s do as Aunt Fang says and summon an experienced older female servant. That way, the truth will be unearthed!”  

Wei Yingluo and Aunt Fang’s squabbling had caused Wu Shulai confusion. Aunt Fang thought the matter was in the bag, and her appearance spoke of her desire for Wei Yingluo’s death. But Wei Yingluo seemed as if she had nothing to be afraid of. Could it be…?  

“Alright.” Wu Shulai could only say, “Have someone summon Granny Yan!”  

Granny Yan was a midwife.  

According to her, she had helped with the birth of two generations of emperors, three princesses, and four princes. Whether that was the truth or lie no one knew.   

To summon her, Wu Shulai had to use a lot of face and spend some money.  

Otherwise, he would not have been able to call such a important person here.  

But in Wu Shulai’s opinion, this spending was worth it. Because this matter had grown so large. It was extremely necessary to find a person with high expertise and position so that people would believe the result of the examination.  

Of course, once she saw how much money he gave her, there was a chance she would turn large things into small ones, and small ones into nothing. That would be the best case scenario…  

Aunt Fang saw through what he was thinking, coldly smiling as she said, “Granny Yan, there are many eyes and mouths present here. Your honored self should carefully examine. Otherwise in the future, if this lowly, cheap thing gave birth to a child after ten months, your honored self’s reputation would be shattered.”  

“General Manager Wu,” said Wei Yingluo, before glancing at Aunt Fang. Then she turned to him again. “Although I am a palace maid, I am from a good and clean family. My clean reputation is being dirtied by others. If it were another person, they would have already slammed their head on the wall until death! The accusers obviously want to force me to a death. I dare to ask, if it turns out I was innocent, how would the accusers be punished?”  

“The palace has its rules. Those who act licentiously will be beaten to death by rod. Those who lie through their teeth to accuse others will be beaten by rod and thrown out of the palace! Good. Let us see the results of the examination!” Wu Shulai waved his hand. “Granny Yan, begin!”   

“Young lady, follow me.” Granny Yan brought Wei Yingluo to a small changing room.  

The windows and door were sealed shut. Not a sound could be heard from inside. Those standing outside the changing room did not know one bit what occurred through the door. They only felt the examination took a long time. Jixiang paced back and forth. Granny Zhang once again looked at the door. Aunt Fang tapped her foot on the floor incessantly.   

Until the door finally groaned and opened.  

Wiping her hand with a damp handkerchief, Granny Yan stepped over the sill.   

“So how is it?” said Aunt Fang, reaching Granny Yan in a hurry. “What’s the result? Is her belly big or not?”  

Her action caught Granny Yang off guard. “It’s big― ”  

“Did you hear this?! Did you all hear this?!” Pure joy coursed through Aunt Fang’s veins. She turned to face Wu Shulai, Granny Zhang, everyone in the room. “Wei Yingluo is pregnant!”    

These words were akin to throwing a live chicken into a pot of boiling water.  

The water would splash everywhere, feathers flying all over the place.  

“Heavens! She truly did a scandalous thing!”  

“I’ve said it before that she was acting suspiciously. So she was actually having relations with an imperial guard!”  

“Heh, so what if her embroidery is amazing? She’s not an upright person, losing face for all of us!”   

“No! Big Sister Yingluo isn’t that type of person!”  

Granny Zhang was shaking. If it weren’t for Jixiang supporting her, perhaps she would have collapsed onto the floor. Wu Shulai, who was not too far away from her, also had a bad expression. He looked at Wei Yingluo’s direction, disappointment flashing in his eyes.  

She was a child he had had a good impression of…  

He waved his hand once more to have someone settle this, when he heard Granny Yan shout, “Enough! Can’t you all let me finish speaking?”   

The clamor instantly stopped. Aunt Fang stood there, shocked. “Didn’t you say her belly was big?”  

“I said her belly was big… relatively!” Granny Yan finally found a chance to speak, finally able to say the last word to her sentence. Then she snorted coldly. “I’m guessing she ate a lot of things that were hard to digest. And these things made her belly protrude a little. But most importantly, she is still a virgin!”  

“What?!” Aunt Fang could not believe her ears. She grabbed Granny Yan and said, “What did you say? You… Did you make a mistake?”

Granny Yan spat in her direction. Other people would give Aunt Fang face, but not her. She flaunted her seniority and said, “You shut up! Just a lowly servant girl, yet dares to act as if she is more experienced than I?! How many women have you seen to say so certainly she is pregnant? I have been in the imperial palace for forty years! I’ve seen many elegant ladies and palace maids. Would I really not be able to tell the difference between a virgin and a woman?!”  

Aunt Fang’s face was coated in spit. However, she did not have the mood to even wipe her cheeks.  

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The surrounding stares bore through her, making her body grow cold. Aunt Fang pleaded as she clung to Granny Yan. “Maybe in the past no mistakes had been made, but, but perhaps this time there was one. May you, no, begging your honored self to check one more time. Granny Yan, may your honored self examine her one more time. Just once more!”  

“No need!” Wu Shulai approached them. He said in a low voice, “Granny Yan has worked in the imperial palace for forty years. Regarding those things to do with women, even the head of the Medical Department would not be as experienced as her! Many people are here to see this. Wei Yingluo indeed had been falsely accused. You as part of the supervising staff have done despicable things!”

Aunt Fang lost all the strength in her legs. Her knees softened and buckled, slamming onto the ground in a kneel. Tears streaming down her face and snot dripping from her nose, she said, “General Manager Wu, General Manager Wu. I—I believed the ravings of that girl Jinxiu. It’s her that wants to falsely accuse Wei Yingluo, not I!”  

To suddenly be dragged out to take the fall, Jinxiu was terrified. The gazes of everyone converged on her. She slowly retreated, but did not know where to retreat to. She could only wave her hands in denial. “No! It wasn’t me! Aunt Fang, why are you throwing the blame on me? It was you who had me monitor Yingluo. I only reported what I saw, with not a word of exaggeration!”  

“Hmph! You clearly held a grudge against Wei Yingluo. For the sake of removing her, you deliberately told me fake rumors. Manipulating me to do your dirty work. I… I…” The more Aunt Fang spoke, the angrier she became. All of a sudden, she threw herself at Jinxiu, pulling at her hair and scratching at her face. She yelled, “I’m going to ruin you!”  

As they brawled, it seemed as though they were enemies from their past lives. Even with three to four people trying to separate them, the group still failed. Dust and dirt was kicked up into the air. Hair ornaments littered the ground.  

“Enough!” yelled Wu Shulai. “What do you look like? Just what do you look like right now? Have someone take them away!”  

In the end, the eunuchs that had followed Wu Shulai forcibly pulled them apart and dragged the two out. Yet they still did not keep quiet, kicking toward each other and sobbing and pleading to Wu Shulai.  

Wu Shulai had a throbbing headache because of them. His gaze fell upon Wei Yingluo. Slowly, he said, “Wei Yingluo, you’re the victim. What do you suppose?”  

With these words, did he mean he was letting her decide on their punishment?

Aunt Fang and Jinxiu shared a look. Instantly switched their target to Wei Yingluo, sobbing and pleading to her.

“Yingluo! Yingluo! I was wrong,” said Aunt Fang. “I was really wrong! It was I who was in the wrong. It was I who was too harsh! It’s all my fault! Forgive me! From now on, I won’t pick on you anymore! It was Jinxiu who made me do it! It was she who soured our relationship! You are a good person. It’s she who is vile!”  

“Yingluo, don’t believe her words!” said Jinxiu. “She’s only saying this so you’ll forgive her! We entered the imperial palace together. You know I’m not that daring. Would I be bold enough to orchestrate such a huge matter alone? It’s her! She’s the mastermind who threw the blame on me! I was forced to do carry out her plans. I had no choice  but to listen to her!”  

Wei Yingluo acted as if she did not see the two of them. She curtsied once more to Wu Shulai. Her tone was low and calm. “The words of man are terrifying. If it weren’t for General Manager Wu who upheld justice, perhaps Yingluo could only die to prove her innocence. Now the truth is finally out. May General Manager Wu deal with this matter according to the rules.”  

“Oh?” Wu Shulai smiled. “What if I release those two? Would you blame me?”  

At that moment, Aunt Fang and Jinxiu’s eyes lit up. They looked at Wei Yingluo pleadingly, hearts pounding. Then they saw Wei Yingluo lightly shake her head and say, “No.”  

A satisfied smile spread on Wu Shulai’s lips. “Although you won’t blame me… I cannot actually let them go! Fang Nizi!”  

“Present, present. This slave is present.” Aunt Fang, whose name had just been called by Wu Shulai, immediately dropped to her knees once more.   

“You denounced someone on false charges, using words to commit the crime. You will be punished to forty strikes of the rod and banished from the palace!” said General Manager Wu, his words cold enough to freeze. Then he moved his gaze from her collapsed body to the trembling Jinxiu. “Palace maid Jinxiu was jealous of her colleague, spreading false rumors to ruin her reputation. She will be punished to twenty strikes of the rod and banished to the Hard Labor Department¹.” 

All of a sudden, the two wailed and sobbed even louder.  

“No! General Manager Wu, I know my wrongs!” said Aunt Fang. “I truly know my wrongs! General Manager Wu! General Manager Wu!”  

“It wasn’t my fault!” said Jinxiu. “It was Aunt Fang who harmed me! It really wasn’t my fault!”  

Wu Shulai could not endure hearing their voices anymore. He waved a hand. A few eunuchs dragged them away.  

“What kind of place is the imperial palace? They actually dared to speak nonsense! Whoever else dares to cause trouble will share their fate!” Wu Shulai swept his gaze through the crowd. Wherever his stare went, those under it would lower their heads, until it finally fell upon Wei Yingluo. Then his gaze grew a bit softer. “If you want to learn from someone, then learn from Wei Yingluo. She’s someone worthy of copying.”   

Those words were only said in a casual manner, but so what?  

Once he had left, everyone lifted their heads, and the way in which they looked at Wei Yingluo had changed.  

Aunt Fang was no longer in charge of the palace maid dormitory.  

Coupled with General Manager Wu’s words… from now on, which palace maid would dare to cause trouble with Wei Yingluo?   





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