The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 23: Exposed

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》Yanxi Gonglue

   The Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 23: Exposed

   “Yingluo, are you ... put on weight?”

   Not only did the Her Highnesses have to be fitted for their clothes but so did the palace maids, especially the new ones, who were at the age of development and some of them had their sleeves shortened after a few months.

   The Embroidery Workshop would never treat its own family poorly, so when it came time to fit the court maids, it was Wei Yingluo who was first in line.

   When the soft ruler was rolled around Wei Yingluo's waist, Zhang Momo frowned and said: “Your waist is an inch thicker, what have you been eating and drinking lately.”

   Wei Yingluo is silent but Jixiang beside her is defending her.

   “Which is not true.” Jixiang said, “Sister Yingluo has been eating and throwing up everything lately and has had a few days to eat a good meal!”  Zhang Momo gave her a stern look for talking nonsense, then turned back to Wei Yingluo and said with a sigh, “You're already wearing this dress small now, so go to the storehouse and pick out an old dress that fits for a while before the new one is made.”

   “Thanks, Momo.” Wei Yingluo said, somewhat shamefacedly and went into the store room alone while the others continued to take their measurements.

   Sometimes the new clothes are made and the people are gone, sometimes in a few months the most popular colors are out of fashion, so the clothes, the new fabrics, are put away for a long time, untouched, the colors dull, moldy, worn out and old... Until, at last, they are never worn again.

   Just like the aging women in this harem.

   Wei Yingluo passed by a rack of clothes and finally picked out a garment of a subdued stone blue color and after looking around for a moment, seeing that no one was around, she removed the garment she was wearing in order to try on the old stone blue garment in her hands.

   Remove the outer garment and inside is the intimate lining.

   It would be difficult to hide her slightly bulging belly any longer.

   And all this did not escape the eyes of Jinxiu, who was trailing behind.

   When the news reached Fang Gugu, she burst out laughing and said, “Good! I'm going to ask Manager Wu now!”

   Jinxiu added fuel to the fire by saying: “By the way, call Zhang Momo too, so that she can see for herself what kind of a product this proud pupil of hers really is!”

   “Right and call that old bastard along with me to see if she dares to get cocky in front of me again!”

   Fang Gugu sneered, then ran impatiently to find Manager Wu.

   The matter was so serious that Wu Shulai left what he was doing and rushed to the palace maid's house.

   “Wei Yingluo!” He stared at the young girl in front of him and said, “Did you confess to the scandal you were accused of doing?”

   Wei Yingluo, wearing the stone blue dress she had only just changed into, looked more and more composed, she first blessed Wu Shulai respectfully and then said calmly, “Dare I ask your Excellency, what kind of scandal and who is the denouncer?”

   “It's me!” Fang Gugu came out from the crowd, her gaze like a knife, cutting her with a slash and said, “Charge you with collusion with Royal Guard and a secret marriage!”

   Wei Yingluo sighed and said: “Gugu, I have never offended you, why do you want to harm me with such unwarranted fabrications?”

   “If it's a fabrication or not, we'll know!” Fang Gugu said to Wu Shulai, “Manager Wu, please find an experienced Momo to check her out, then everything will be clear!”

   Seeing her with an air of conviction and confidence, Wu Shulai could not help but frown.

   From what he knew about Fang Gugu, if she wasn't sure, she wouldn't have dared to make such a public outburst.

   Wu Shulai did not want to make a big deal out of it and Wei Yingluo would lose face and his reputation as the Grand Eunuch in charge of the palace maids would be tarnished along with it, so he said, with a slight degree of admonition: “Wei Yingluo, if you have really done it, confess honestly, lest it be more embarrassing if you are examined.”

   Yingluo would not have the guts to do such a thing. Wei Yingluo glanced at Fang Gugu and said, “Just as Fang Gugu said, ask an experienced Momo to come and let the truth come out!”

   Wu Shulai was confused by the two of them. Fang Gugu looked as if she had something on her hands and wanted to kill someone but Wei Yingluo also looked as if she was not afraid of the shadow.

   “All right.” Wu Shulai just had to say, “Someone, go get Yan Momo!”

   Yan Momo is a stable woman.

   According to her own words, she has been through two generations of emperors and has delivered three princesses and four royal sons in her hands; no one knows if she is telling the truth or if she is bragging.

   To invite her out, Wu Shulai not only used his face but also made some silver.

   Otherwise it would not have been possible to invite this great man.

   But for Wu Shulai, it was worth the expense because it was a big deal and it had to be handled by a Momo whose status and skills were recognized to be convincing.

   Of course, it would be best if she could make this a minor matter for the sake of the silver ...

   Fang Gugu saw what he was thinking and said with a sneer: “Yan Momo, there are so many eyes and mouths here, you need to check carefully, otherwise in a few days, if this little bitch gives birth to a late baby, your golden record will be smashed.”

   “Manager Wu...” Wei Yingluo slanted a glance at her, then looked back at Wu Shulai and said, “Although I am a palace maid, I am still a girl from a good family, my innocent reputation has been tarnished, if it were anyone else, I would be head over heels! This accuser is clearly trying to force me to die.

   “There are rules in the palace, those who disrupt the court will be beaten to death with a messy stick. Those who make empty accusations and falsely accuse others, a flurry of sticks and expulsion from the Forbidden City! Well, all depends on the result of this inspection!” Wu Shulai said with a wave of his hand, “Yan Momo, let's begin!”

   “Girl, come with me.” Yan Momo led Wei Yingluo to the small room prepared beforehand.

   The doors and windows were sealed tight and no sound came out, so the people outside had no idea what was going on inside and it felt like days were passing by.

   Until the door to the room creaked open again.

   Yan Momo wiped her hands with a dampened hanky and stepped out across the threshold.

   “How is it?” Fang Gugu greeted her with an arrow and said, “How did it go, is her belly bigger?”

   Yan Momo froze and said, “It's bigger ...”

   “Do you hear that! Do you all hear me!” Fang Gugu was overjoyed and turned to Wu Shulai, to Zhang Momo and to everyone standing in the inner courtyard and shouted, “Wei Yingluo is pregnant!”

   The words were as if a live chicken had been thrown into a boiling pot.

   At once the pot was splashing and the chicken feathers were roaming the sky.

   “Oh my God, what a scandalous job!”

   “I told you she was sneaking around a lot, so she was having a rendezvous with someone!”

   “Tsk, so what if you're good at embroidery, you've disgraced us all by being a bad person!”

   “No, Sister Yingluo wouldn't be like that!”

   Wu Shulai, who was not far away from her, also looked very uncomfortable and looked at Wei Yingluo with disappointment in his eyes.

   How well he once thought of the girl, alas ...

   He was about to wave his hand to put an end to the matter when he heard Yan Momo shout, “Enough, will you hear me out!”

   The noise suddenly stopped and Fang Gugu flinched, then said, “Didn't you say she had a big belly ...”

   “I mean she's got a big belly ... Some!” Yan Momo finally caught a chance to finish the word she hadn't said and then said with a cold snort, “I guess she ate something badly restrained and made her stomach bigger but most importantly--she's still a virgin and innocent!”

   “What!” Fang Gugu couldn't believe her ears and pulled Yan Momo and said, “What did you say, you ... Are you mistaken?”

   “Yuck!” Yan Momo didn't give her face, so she spat on her face and said: “Shut up! How dare you pretend to be experienced in front of me, a little girl! How many women have you examined before and you dare to conclude that she is pregnant! I've been in the palace for forty years and I've examined many the Draft women, can't I tell the difference between a woman and a girl?”

   Fang Gu was sprayed with her saliva and didn't even feel like wiping it off.

   The stares around her sent chills down her spine as she pulled Yan Momo close to pleading and said: “There's never been a mistake before, maybe, maybe it's just one today? Please, no, please, Yan Momo, you can test her again, just once!”

   “No need!” Wu Shulai came over and said in a deep voice, “Yan Momo has been a Momo in the palace for forty years, when it comes to women's affairs, even the Royal Physician Bureau judge is not as experienced as she is! Dozens of eyes have seen the truth, Wei Yingluo was indeed wronged and you, Gugu, have done something really bad!”

   Fang Gugu couldn't hold herself up any longer and fell to her knees, crying out in pain: “Manager Wu, Manager Wu, I, I also misheard that Jinxiu's nonsense, she wanted to frame Wei Yingluo, not me! Me!”

   Jinxiu was taken aback when she was pulled out of the cold to take the blame and when she saw everyone's eyes on her, she stepped back but didn't know where to go. Fang Gugu, how can you blame me for this? You told me to keep an eye on Yingluo and I reported the truth, I didn't exaggerate a word!”

   “Hmph, it's obvious that you have an axe to grind with Wei Yingluo and in order to get rid of her, you're deliberately shouting at me with false information and using me as a gun, I ... I ...” Fang Gugu suddenly lunged at her opponent, tearing at her hair and face and yelling, “I'll fight you!”

   The two wrestled together as if they were old enemies and three or four men went up and failed to tear them apart and for a time the dust flew and the hairpin rings were all over the ground.

   “That's enough!” Wu Shulai shouted angrily, “What a disgrace, what a disgrace, someone, pull them both away!”

   In the end it was the eunuchs he had brought with him that pulled the two men apart but they wouldn't rest, kicking each other's legs and crying out to Wu Shulai for mercy.

   Wu Shulai, his head aching from the two of them arguing, turned his gaze to Wei Yingluo and said slowly: “Wei Yingluo, you are the sufferer, what do you say?”

   Does Wu Shulai mean to transfer the decision to Wei Yingluo?”

   Fang Gugu and Jinxiu looked at each other and changed the object of their plea, crying out at Wei Yingluo with one word or another.

   Fang Gugu said: “Yingluo! Yingluo! I was wrong, I was really wrong! I was wrong, I was too harsh, I was wrong, it's all my fault, forgive me! From now on, I won't pick on you anymore, it's all Jinxiu's fault, she's the one who sowed discord, you're a good girl, it's all her fault!”

   Jinxiu said: “Yingluo, don't believe her, she's trying to beg your forgiveness! We entered the palace together; do you know I am timid and dare to plan such a big thing alone? She's the one behind it, I just had no choice but to listen to her!”

   Wei Yingluo turned a blind eye to the two of them and then blessed Wu Shulai again, saying in a calm tone: “People's words are fearful, if not for Manager Wu's justice, Yingluo would have had to die to prove her innocence. Manager Wu, please be fair.”

   “Oh?” Wu Shulai laughed and said, “Even if I set them both free, you don't have a grudge in your heart?”

   Fang Gugu and Jinxiu's eyes burst with enthusiasm and they looked at Wei Yingluo with apprehension and pleading but Wei Yingluo shook her head gently and said, “No complaints.”

   Wu Shulai smiled with satisfaction and said: “Although you do not complain ... I however can't really just let them go! Fang Woman!”

   “Yes, yes, I am.” Fang Gugu, who was named by him, quickly knelt down.

   “You have falsely accused others and committed a verbal offence, forty sticks and expulsion from the palace!” Manager Wu said coldly, then shifted his gaze from her violently paralyzed body to the shivering Jinxiu and said, “Maid Jinxiu, jealous of her colleagues and stirring up dissension, cane twenty, punished to the Xinzheku Labor Bureau.”

   The two immediately burst into tears.

   Fang Gugu said: “No! Manager Wu, I know I'm wrong! I really know I'm wrong! Manager Wu! Manager Wu!”

   Jinxiu said: “It's not my fault, it's all Fang Gugu's fault, it's really not my fault!”

   Wu Shulai, who really did not want to hear the duo again, waved his hand and several eunuchs joined forces and dragged them both down.

   Whoever stirs up trouble and causes trouble again, they will be the next to go! Wu Shulai looked around and everywhere he looked, everyone dropped their heads, until he looked at Wei Yingluo and then his gaze became gentler and said, “If you want to learn, learn more from Wei Yingluo, she is a good example for you to follow.”

   He may have just said it off the top of his head but so what?

   Once he had gone, the crowd looked up again and looked at Wei Yingluo in a different way.

   There are no more Fang Gugu in the palace house.

   Now add to that the words of Manager Wu.

   ... From now on, who else in the court will dare to oppose Wei Yingluo?

  

   The Story of Yanxi Palace《延禧攻略》CHAPTERS