Story of Yanxi Palace, Chapter 74: Xinzheku – the Forced Labor Department for Convicted Palace Women

The rain had stopped for three days. Dowager Consort Yu had been gone for three days.

But that did not mean the matter had blown over.

“Yingluo!” The Empress’s face was extremely stern. “Kneel!”

Thump. Wei Yingluo dropped to her knees before her.

The room contained only the two of them; everyone else had been dismissed by the Empress on various pretexts. The Empress sat in her chair, looking down at her for a long time before speaking slowly: “On the day of the incident at Shoukang Palace—what exactly did you do?”

Wei Yingluo had her answer ready: “This servant heard that Dowager Consort Yu was the one who murdered my sister, so I deliberately confronted her with two questions. The Dowager Consort swore an oath that she was not the killer—otherwise may heaven strike her with lightning. The moment she finished speaking, a bolt of thunder struck her dead…”

“Enough!” The Empress slammed her hand on the table and stood up, her voice sharp. “Even in front of this palace, you still refuse to tell the truth?”

A strange glint flashed through Wei Yingluo’s eyes.

“From now on, keep your tail between your legs and behave. If you ever cross me again, I won’t just take your head—I’ll make the entire Wei clan accompany you in death.” —Dowager Consort Yu’s threat echoed once again in her ears.

What happened after that?

She returned to Changchun Palace and took the silver needle that Erqing handed her.

The silver needle sank to the bottom of the water again and again. In her ears rang Ming Yu’s mocking laughter: “And here I thought she was the most outstanding embroiderer from the embroidery workshop—turns out she’s no better than me.”

Those words struck her like a bucket of cold water, suddenly clearing her mind and making her eyes light up.

That very night, she returned to the embroidery workshop and sought out Momo-Zhang, who had always treated her with special care.

“Momo.” Her clear black-and-white eyes gazed at the older woman with utmost calm. “I’ve heard that Shoukang Palace has been preparing for the longevity banquet for a long time. The canopy and window gauze for that… should have been supplied by our embroidery workshop, right?”

Momo-Zhang regarded her like her own niece or daughter. Without even asking the reason, she handed over the window gauze that had already been prepared for delivery to Shoukang Palace. Wei Yingluo did not hide anything from her. Right in front of Momo-Zhang, she took from the small pouch she always carried on her person a handful of extremely fine, soft iron wire and carefully sewed it into the gauze.

If Momo-Zhang had spoken to stop her, she would have halted immediately. But from beginning to end, Momo-Zhang did not say a single word—she silently acquiesced to Wei Yingluo’s revenge, and could even be said to have become her accomplice.

Wei Yingluo said nothing either. She placed the now-finished gauze back into Momo-Zhang’s hands, then knelt down without a word and kowtowed three resounding times.

“Momo, thank you. And… I will never implicate you. This matter will stay buried in my heart forever. No matter who asks, I will not speak a word. If in the end it is unfortunately exposed, I will bear all responsibility alone!”

Wei Yingluo slowly raised her head and looked at the Empress before her.

Though filled with guilt, in order not to drag Momo-Zhang down with her, she still forced herself to harden her heart and say: “Your Majesty, this servant truly knows nothing about this matter. It was simply that Dowager Consort Yu committed so many evil deeds that in the end retribution caught up with her…”

“Enough!” The Empress raised her hand, cutting off the lies she was about to continue telling.

Seeing the Empress’s body sway and collapse back into the chair as if her soul had left her, Wei Yingluo was filled with extreme worry. She crawled over and said, “Your Majesty, you are with child now. Please take care of your health—do not get angry because of me…”

The Empress rubbed her temples, closed her eyes to rest for a moment in the chair, then slowly opened them again. Exhaustion permeated both her gaze and her voice as she said faintly, “Wei Yingluo, I know you harbor deep resentment and have been waiting for an opportunity for revenge. That is why I have tried every possible way to persuade and guide you. I never expected you to be so stubborn and unrepentant! Do you think you have several heads to spare, or do you rely on my usual indulgence to act so fearlessly and commit murder?”

Wei Yingluo was stunned. “Your Majesty…”

“Enough. I do not want to hear any more of your sophistry.” The Empress waved her hand. “Though Changchun Palace is large, it can no longer accommodate a servant as audacious as you. From today onward, you will go to the Cleansing Department to reflect on your faults in solitude!”

“Your Majesty… you are driving me away?” Wei Yingluo was shocked and terrified. She was not afraid of the hard labor in the Cleansing Department—or rather, even before she had plotted against Dowager Consort Yu, she had already prepared herself to be punished. But the time to leave was not now. She hurriedly crawled to the Empress’s feet, hugged her knees, and pleaded, “Your Majesty, you are currently with child. The entire palace is watching with tiger-like eyes. Please allow this servant to remain until you have safely given birth! As soon as you deliver a little prince, this servant will leave immediately and never again be an eyesore to you!”

“No.” The Empress shook her head decisively. “Pack your things and leave right now!”

Wei Yingluo begged again and again, but the Empress closed her eyes and her ears—she neither heard nor saw. Seeing that her mind was made up, Wei Yingluo could only sniffle, her voice choking as she said, “Your Majesty is right. I truly love causing trouble and does not dare hope to remain. But this servant has received Your Majesty’s great kindness in this lifetime and will never forget it. If one day Your Majesty has need of Yingluo, I am willing to offer my liver and brains, to repay you with my life and death!”

She kowtowed three resounding times to the Empress, then left Changchun Palace, looking back three times with every step.

She did not have many possessions to begin with. Moreover, in a place like the Cleansing Department, valuable items could not be brought in—and even if they were, they would quickly cease to belong to her. So she simply left behind all the silks, satins, and hairpins the Empress had bestowed upon her, distributing them among the few young palace maids with whom she had gotten along well.

A simple blue cloth bundle. Wei Yingluo sighed, hugged the bundle to her chest, and walked out the door. She hadn’t gone far when she heard hurried footsteps approaching rapidly from the distance.

“Hurry and go!” Erqing rushed in and said, “His Majesty is coming—he’s preparing to arrest you. The Empress wants you to leave through the back gate right now and report immediately to the Cleansing Department!”

Wei Yingluo froze for a moment, then her eyes grew hot with emotion.

She never underestimated anyone, yet she still hadn’t expected things to be exposed so quickly.

But in the end, she had underestimated one person… She had underestimated the depth of the Empress’s affection and protection toward her.

The Empress wasn’t expelling her from the palace merely to avoid trouble for Changchun Palace. Clearly, she had already anticipated that the Emperor would come to arrest her and had preemptively punished her by sending her to the Cleansing Department. Hard labor was grueling, yes—but it would shield her from the Emperor’s wrath and interrogation.

“Your Ladyship…” Wei Yingluo murmured, gazing in the direction of Changchun Palace.

“Aiya, what are you waiting for? Go quickly!” Erqing urged in her ear.

Wei Yingluo gritted her teeth. Not daring to let the Empress’s kindness go to waste, she etched that kindness deeply into her heart. Then she hugged the bundle tightly to her chest and hurried out through the back gate.

Leaving Changchun Palace and stepping into the Yong Alley felt like walking from spring straight into winter.

Even though it was summer, a bone-chilling wind swept through the alley. The towering gray walls on both sides resembled the iron bars of a prison, locking sinners firmly in this bleak and desolate place.

The one who greeted Wei Yingluo was a gray-robed Momo surnamed Liu. She looked Wei Yingluo up and down, her voice as cold and desolate as the Yong Alley itself: “You used to be a senior palace maid by the Empress’s side—wherever you went, people showed you respect. But once you enter the Cleansing Department, forget your former status. Here, you are nothing but a criminal assigned to the lowest, most menial labor.”

“Yes.” A powerful dragon does not suppress a snake in its own territory. Wei Yingluo responded obediently.

“The Cleansing Department has its divisions of labor. We are mainly responsible for the most despised heavy chores in the Inner Palace—whatever others refuse to do, you people must do! Rise at cockcrow to sweep the palace paths. At the hour of Chou, weed the three main halls. From dawn till deep into the night, undertake all the heavy miscellaneous tasks for every palace. As for you—” Momo Liu led her into a room and pointed to the mountain-high pile of night-soil buckets stacked in the corner. “You will start by cleaning these night-soil buckets.”

Wei Yingluo stared at the buckets in stunned silence.

Back in Changchun Palace, she had spent her days surrounded by orchids. Even when there was dirty or tiring work, the Empress had never been willing to let her do it. Now, banished to the Cleansing Department, though she had mentally prepared herself, the sight of those buckets—stained with filth, faintly yellowed—and the acrid, choking stench still made her stomach churn uncontrollably.

Seeing the awful look on her face, Momo Liu’s lips curled into a cold smirk. “Hurry up and wash them. If they’re not finished by evening, you’ll have to eat your dinner right here.”

Suppressing the urge to vomit, Wei Yingluo said in a low voice, “…Yes.”

And so, the hands that had once sewn phoenix robes for the Empress now lifted night-soil buckets. The fingers that had once arranged flowers were now stained with the foul reek of excrement. Though she tried her utmost, evening arrived too quickly. Wei Yingluo still hadn’t finished the task at hand. When Momo Liu handed her a single yellowish steamed bun, Wei Yingluo—exhausted after a full day’s labor—found she had no appetite at all.

After washing her hands more than ten times, she wrapped the bun in a handkerchief, then staggered back to the palace maids’ quarters. The Cleansing Department had no proper beds; the living conditions were even worse than the maids’ dormitory when she had first entered the palace. It was just one large communal sleeping platform—everyone slept on the floor.

When she had come to drop off her belongings that morning, the room had been empty; everyone was out working. Now they were returning one after another. Among them was someone Wei Yingluo actually knew.

“Well, well—if it isn’t Wei Yingluo?” A mocking, feminine voice rang out, sharp with malice. “The great favorite by the Empress’s side, the most dignified figure in the Forbidden City—how is it that in the blink of an eye you’ve fallen to a place like this?”

Wei Yingluo paused mid-step and turned her head.

A sharp chin, peach-blossom eyes, an air of coquettish charm rising from her feet to her face—it was none other than Jinxiu, the former embroiderer from the Embroidery Workshop who had been banished to the Cleansing Department after falsely accusing Wei Yingluo of having an improper relationship with a guard.

Wei Yingluo had no energy to argue with her—or perhaps she was simply too exhausted. She gave the other woman a cold glance, then walked to her own sleeping spot and lay down. Her fingers, trembling and cramping from overwork, reached into her bosom and pulled out the handkerchief-wrapped steamed bun.

“I have to eat something,” she told herself silently. “Otherwise tomorrow will be unbearable.”

The sound of splashing water rang in her ears. She glanced over and saw a night-soil bucket placed not far from her head. A palace maid, holding up her skirt, stood up; a few drops dripped from beneath her skirt and fell into the bucket.

A hot, pungent, foul odor drifted over. Wei Yingluo turned over. Several times she brought the steamed bun to her mouth, but she simply couldn’t force herself to bite into it. In the end she had no choice but to wrap the bun back in her handkerchief, then pull the bedding tightly over her nose and mouth.

Even so, she still couldn’t block out the stench from the night-soil bucket, nor the foot odor and armpit smell coming from who-knows-where.

“This won’t do.” After tossing and turning for a long time, Wei Yingluo finally couldn’t sleep anymore. She opened her eyes, stared at the ceiling, and murmured, “I have to think of a way…”

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