Rushui said, “You touched this cloth yesterday.
We all saw it with our own eyes!
You didn’t just touch it; you held it up against yourself.
The cloth must have been stained by your impure blood when you did that.”
Mu Wan Yun said, “I recognize this is Kesi cloth.
How could I be so reckless with such a precious fabric?
I’ve never even seen it before.”
Rushui said, “I wasn’t the only one who saw it.
Every palace maid in the entire Clothing Bureau saw you touch it!”
Ru Yan chimed in, “Lin Siming, I also saw Mumu touch the cloth yesterday.
All the palace maids who were here can testify to it.”
As soon as Ru Yan spoke, the other palace maids from the Tailor Room all spoke up to corroborate, swearing they had seen Mu Wan Yun handle the cloth.
Mu Wan Yun asked, “Even if I did touch it, I don’t have any wounds.
Where could blood on the cloth have possibly come from?”
Rushui said, “Those having their monthly period are forbidden from sewing clothes for His Majesty and the Empress.
That’s why our cycle dates are registered upon entering the Clothing Bureau.
In this whole bureau, you are the only one who is supposed to have her period these two days.
It must be your impure blood that stained the cloth.”
Mu Wan Yun asked with curiosity, “Why would a period have impure blood?”
Lin Siming looked at Mu Wan Yun.
“How could a period not involve impure blood?
You’re seventeen now.
Surely you know what a period is?”
Mu Wan Yun said, “The nanny in the palace who registered my cycle dates told me we could be excused from sewing when we had our period.
I didn’t know what it was and thought it simply meant days off, so I wrote down these past two days.”
Lin Siming frowned.
“You’ve never bled before?”
Mu Wan Yun shook her head.
Rushui sneered, “All the palace maids saw you stain the silk, yet you dare claim you don’t know what a period is?
You’re seventeen!
How could you possibly not know?”
Mu Wan Yun said, “Lin Siming, I truly don’t know what a period is.
I thought it meant a monthly day off for personal matters.”
Lin Siming said, “Whether you’re telling the truth or not, we’ll know as soon as we have a female doctor examine you.”
There were female doctors in the palace specifically assigned to treat the maids.
Lin Siming summoned Wang Siyao, with whom she was acquainted.
After taking Mu Wan Yun’s pulse, Wang Siyao said, “This girl suffers from severe uterine cold.
She likely avoided meat and was often malnourished as a child.
If you were to marry in the future, I’m afraid you would be unable to bear children.”
Mu Wan Yun asked anxiously, “But I was already married before entering the palace.
And it’s true I was childless for two years.
Will I never be able to have children?”
Wang Siyao said, “Judging from your current pulse, I’m afraid you will be childless for life.”
Mu Wan Yun was so shocked she nearly lost her footing, her face etched with sorrow and despair.
“How can this be?
Why?”
‘No wonder.
For two whole years, she had never conceived, while other women who married at the same time as her all had children.’
Wang Siyao said, “Your mother didn’t know how to care for you at all.
When you were twelve or thirteen and your body was developing, you should have been eating nutritious food and staying warm.
Did your mother truly never speak to you about having a period?”
Mu Wan Yun said hoarsely, “I don’t have a mother.”
‘And her nanny had already had a hard enough time just finding ways for the two of them to survive.
When she was twelve or thirteen, her nanny had fallen gravely ill.’
‘Just staying alive was a luxury; how could they have worried about anything else?’
Mu Wan Yun said with utter desolation, “If I can never be a mother, what’s the point of living?”
Lin Siming advised, “Silly girl, does a woman live only to have children?
If you can stay in the Palace Bureau for your whole life, what need is there for children?
Isn’t getting promoted much better than giving birth?
Having children is just asking for trouble!
There are plenty of women in the palace who live their whole lives without children.
This isn’t the village you came from.
In a village, you need to do farm work, so naturally the more children the better.
But in the palace, the more ruthless your methods, the better.”
Mu Wan Yun pondered Lin Siming’s words and found that they actually made some sense.
Lin Siming then turned to the crowd of palace maids from the Clothing Bureau and said:
“The facts prove that Mu Wan Yun has never had a period.
So where did this blood come from?
Mu Wan Yun wouldn’t have deliberately found blood to stain this piece of Kesi Cloth!
This matter is too serious.
When the time comes, it won’t just be the culprit who is punished; even their family will not be spared.
Confess now, and you might be able to spare your family.
But if the Supervision Bureau has to investigate, I guarantee you’ll regret it!”
The palace maids exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
Seeing that Mu Wan Yun looked unwell, Lin Siming said, “Go back to your room and rest for now.”
Mu Wan Yun bowed in acknowledgment and returned to her small room.
As she lay down, her mind was consumed by the fact that she couldn’t have children.
‘Since she was a child, she had envied the other girls in her village for having families.
After marrying, she too had dreamed of having many children and a big family of her own.’
‘During those two years, she had even joined the other villagers in praying for children.’
‘She had never, ever imagined that she was completely unable to bear a child.’
‘Now, it wasn’t even a question of whether her husband would forgive her.’
‘She couldn’t even have children. Find the original chapter at g.com.
If she were to enter the inner palace and become a Lady, wouldn’t being without a child to secure her position be a recipe for suffering?’
‘So what was the point of seeking her husband’s forgiveness anymore?’
‘She might as well just follow Lin Siming and work diligently.
At least now she was a minor official.
In the Palace Bureau, she wouldn’t have to worry about food and clothing.’
…
Lu Jingxing finished reviewing memorials in the Diligent Governance Hall and returned to Ganlu Palace.
Seeing the couch empty, he frowned and asked Ye Yu, “Where is she?”
Ye Yu replied, “Miss Mu returned to the Clothing Bureau after washing up a moment ago.”
Lu Jingxing looked at the clothes left in the hall and said, “Go and burn this outfit.”
‘Just looking at Mu Wanruo’s clothes infuriated him.’
Ye Yu complied, “Yes.”
Ye Yu took the clothes outside, got a brazier, and burned them.
When Zhang Qiuchi saw Ye Yu burning the clothes Mu Wan Yun had worn, he asked in confusion, “Didn’t His Majesty just make up with Miss Mu?
Why is he burning her clothes?”
Ye Yu said, “These clothes probably don’t belong to Miss Mu.”
Zhang Qiuchi sighed.
“Why on earth did Miss Mu have to write that letter of divorce?
If she hadn’t, she’d be the legitimate Empress right now.
She wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.”
…
When Mu Wan Yun woke up early the next day and entered the embroidery workshop, she found everyone silent.
Only Lin Miaoyi was standing there, addressing them imperiously.
“All of you, be on your sharpest alert!
If anything happens to those expensive fabrics, taking your lives would be a light punishment.
The evidence that Rushui damaged the Kesi Cloth to frame Mu Wan Yun for the Chief’s position is irrefutable.
The only thing awaiting her now is death.
You all had better watch yourselves.”
When Lin Miaoyi saw Mu Wan Yun arrive, she walked over.
“Mumu, you’re here.
The person who ruined the silk and framed you last night has been found.
It was Rushui!”
Mu Wan Yun said, “Why would she do that?”
Lin Miaoyi said, “She claimed you stole her sister’s position as Chief.
But that position is earned through skill.
Damaging the cloth meant for His Majesty’s most beloved sister, Princess Huayang…
she’s completely done for.”
“Princess Huayang?” Mu Wan Yun asked.
Lin Miaoyi said, “Princess Huayang is His Majesty’s full-blooded younger sister.
She was always doted on by the late Emperor, who granted her the city of Luoyang as her fief.
She commands a hundred thousand troops and is more powerful than even the Princes.
His Majesty also adores Princess Huayang.
That piece of silk was one she picked out herself—it’s one of a kind.
Now that the cloth is ruined, if the Princess decides to place blame, even Zhong Shanggong will be severely reprimanded!”