Luo Ran looked at Lady Cui’s sharp, cold gaze, and a sense of foreboding instantly surged in her heart. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“Madam, please understand. Although I, a widow, struggle to raise my child alone, I truly have no intention of clinging to Second Master, nor have I ever thought of becoming his concubine…”
Xu Yan sneered mockingly, her tone dripping with sarcasm. “What? A widow like you looks down on being a concubine? Do you aspire to become a secondary wife instead?”
“No, I truly have no such thoughts…”
“Enough.”
Lady Cui set down her teacup. The porcelain made a soft clink against the red sandalwood table.
“Don’t put on this pitiful act for me here. I’ve seen plenty of women feigning helplessness.”
Everyone believed Luo Ran was merely putting on a show.
After all, in a prestigious household like the Chu family, there were plenty of well-born young ladies vying to become concubines. How could someone like Luo Ran—a young widow who had lost her husband early and was raising a child alone—possibly be an exception?
Lady Cui had no patience for her excuses and continued speaking on her own.
“If you were an untouched maiden from a respectable family, we wouldn’t need to worry so much.”
Her tone suddenly shifted, and her gaze swept over Luo Ran’s pale face like a sharp blade.
“But you’re a widow, and your background is unclear. What if you carry some unclean illness or bring in bad luck from the outside? If that were to spread into our Chu family, it would be impossible to explain.”
The words were deeply insulting. Luo Ran stared at Lady Cui in disbelief.
It was true she had been married and had given birth, but she had married into an honorable family and had lived as a proper, virtuous woman. When had she ever been associated with the word “unclean”?
Shock and humiliation mingled, causing her eyes to redden. Holding back tears, she whispered in protest,
“Madam, I have not…”
“Whether you have or not, we’ll know after an examination.”
Examination? What examination?
Luo Ran stared at Lady Cui’s cold, stern face, feeling bewildered.
Lady Cui raised her hand and summoned two unfamiliar matrons.
“The Chu family’s gate isn’t so easy to enter. If I were to let you enter our household today without clarity, how would I ever hold my head up if word got out later?”
Beside her, Xu Yan let out a mocking laugh, covering the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, her eyes brimming with gleeful malice.
Luo Ran’s lips trembled as she tried to speak, but Lady Cui had already signaled the two matrons with her eyes.
Only then did Luo Ran belatedly realize what was happening. A shudder ran through her body.
“No! I won’t undergo an examination! I have no intention of becoming Second Master’s concubine, nor do I plan to enter the Second Household…”
No one listened to her.
Before she could finish speaking, her arms were seized by the two matrons, one on each side. She was dragged up like a helpless chick.
She struggled desperately but couldn’t break free from their iron-like grip.
“Madam… Madam, please listen to my explanation…”
Lady Cui picked up her teacup again, not even lifting her eyelids.
Xu Yan covered her mouth with her handkerchief, laughing uncontrollably.
Luo Ran was dragged into a small side room, and the door slammed shut behind her.
The sound felt like a blow to her heart.
The room was dimly lit, with only a small high window letting in a few thin rays of sunlight.
The two matrons blocked the doorway, cutting off all her escape routes.
Panicking, Luo Ran turned to the taller matron, who seemed slightly kinder, and pleaded with a trembling voice,
“Nanny, please convey a message to Madam for me. I truly have no such intentions…”
“I only wish to work as a cook in the kitchen, keeping to my duties and staying out of trouble. If Madam is concerned, I can personally explain to Second Master, avoid him from now on, and never speak an extra word…”
The matron impatiently waved her hand.
“Enough, enough. Saying this to me is useless.”
She rolled up her sleeves, revealing two thick forearms.
“Behave, don’t make us go through trouble.”
Luo Ran instinctively stepped back, her back hitting the cold wall—nowhere left to retreat.
The tall matron exchanged a glance with the other, and both stepped forward together.
One pressed down on Luo Ran’s shoulders, while the other began measuring her body with a soft tape.
Measuring her height, her leg length—as if handling an object to be appraised.
“Don’t—”
As soon as Luo Ran spoke, she was pressed down even harder.
“Take off your outer robe.”
She refused.
The matron grew impatient, tearing open her collar in a few swift motions. The outer robe fell to the floor, the inner garment loosened, until only a pale yellow undergarment remained on her upper body, barely hanging on.
Luo Ran held back her tears, biting her lip, her body trembling violently.
The soft tape wrapped around her waist, then around her chest.
The matron measured meticulously, her voice flat as she called out the numbers.
“Waist, one chi seven inches. Bust…”
Before finishing, she lifted the undergarment and glanced inside.
Luo Ran stiffened all over, tears finally rolling down.
Usually dressed in the coarse cloth of a cook, covered up tightly, no one could see what lay beneath.
Now half-undressed, her skin was dazzlingly white, as if dusted with flour, smooth and flawless.
Where she had been grabbed during the struggle, faint red marks had already appeared, stark against her fair skin.
The tape left a shallow indentation around her waist, so slender it seemed impossible she had ever borne a child.
Now curled in the corner, half-covered and half-exposed, Luo Ran didn’t know where to place her hands, so she hugged herself tightly.
She hunched her shoulders in humiliation, biting her lip as she sobbed, tears streaking her face, her lashes clumped and damp.
Her pitiful, shame-filled appearance even gave the two matrons, accustomed to such scenes, a momentary pause.
The tall matron clicked her tongue.
“This little lady looks utterly pitiful when she cries. Plump where she should be, slender where she should be—truly blessed with fine skin and flesh.”
The other matron nodded, her gaze sweeping over Luo Ran.
“No wonder Second Master took a liking to her. With such looks and figure, if she were unmarried, she’d even qualify to be sent to the palace as an exception…”
Listening to their appraising remarks, Luo Ran felt so ashamed and furious she nearly fainted.
She thought it was over.
Until the short, stout matron walked to the table, picked up a soft leather roll, and spread it open.
Inside, neatly arranged, was a row of wooden rods.
From thin to thick, each one larger than the last, polished smooth and round.
Luo Ran stared blankly at the objects, not understanding what they meant.
The matron turned back, saw her bewildered expression, and scoffed.
“No need to be shy. Every palace candidate has to go through the procedures above.”
She walked back to Luo Ran, looking down at her.
“But what sets you apart from those candidates is that after the checks above, they’re mostly done. You have one final step.”
She gestured with her chin toward the wooden rods on the table.
“It’s to measure the tightness there… After all, to serve men, that place must also pass inspection… If it’s loose and slack, it definitely won’t do.”
Luo Ran was stunned for a moment.
When she realized what the old woman meant, she felt as if struck by lightning—shock, shame, and disbelief all surged within her.
Her eyes widened as she stared at the wooden sticks on the table, her face instantly turning pale.