Chapter 36

The Perfectly Untouched Body

The maids forced open Nan Yi’s mouth, and she struggled desperately. Despite being held by four maids, she didn’t know where the strength came from, but she managed to push them away with force.

She slapped a cup off the table, picked up a shard of it, and held it in her hand as a weapon to keep the maids at bay.

In the face of life and death, Nan Yi became a bit hysterical. “There’s nothing between us! Aunt, how can you just want to kill me without distinguishing right from wrong?”

Seeing Nan Yi like this, the others were a little unsure.

One of the maids whispered in Lu Jin Xiu’s ear, “Aunt, if this escalates, it will be hard to handle...”

Lu Jin Xiu realized they were at an impasse, but she still wanted to maintain her authority. “She’s just a street thug. To save her life, what lies won’t she tell?”

“Why are you saying this about me? I’m poor, of low status, and I lie, but I have never done anything shameful! I would never risk my life for something that doesn’t exist! If you dare force that poison wine on me, I will kill anyone who tries!”

Nan Yi’s face showed a resolute fierceness.

The tension in the room was palpable, until one of the maids offered an idea. “Aunt, since she insists nothing happened, why don’t we verify her body? If she is still a virgin, we can pretend nothing happened. If not, even if it causes a scene, we will be justified.”

Lu Jin Xiu looked at Nan Yi. “What do you say? Are you brave enough to prove your innocence by verifying your body?”

Nan Yi threw the shard of porcelain onto the ground. “What do I have to fear?”

Lu Jin Xiu instructed the maid, “Go get the midwife, but don’t make any noise.”

Before this, Nan Yi had only heard of women being inspected after marriage, crying and threatening to kill themselves the next day. At that time, she hadn’t understood what was so important about it.

But now that it was happening to her, she understood the humiliation. She was forced into a chair, her lower clothes were taken off, and a cold tool was used to inspect her body. The eyes around her were cold and indifferent. She felt as though she wasn’t a person, just a bare piece of grass.

She was of low status, unaffected by the physical pain, indifferent to her knees and humility. She could kneel and beg because nothing had ever harmed her core.

Nan Yi bit her lip hard, refusing to let the tears fall. She had lived for twenty years, enduring all kinds of coldness, but none of it compared to the helplessness and torment she felt now.

Time seemed to drag on endlessly, so much so that Nan Yi thought she might not make it to the end. Inside her, a part of her consciousness carried her, floating far beyond the city walls.

She looked down at Lidufu, and time felt disordered. She saw, in her mind’s eye, that day’s sunset, when she bravely saved Xie Zhu, breaking through the encirclement of the Qibing, fooling the barbarian group into spinning in circles.

She smiled. It wasn’t that she was blindly rushing to help others, but that she had been fulfilled. She had leaned on the world’s path, her spine, though without bones, had been supported. This made her realize that she wasn’t just someone who could be given grace and have her soul taken; she could also create value. There had been moments of heroism in her life.

Because of those moments, this current humiliation felt all the worse.

“Aunt, the young mistress is still a virgin.”

The midwife’s words brought Nan Yi back to reality. She stood there numbly, feeling cold, wanting to cover parts of her body, but unable to move. She had no strength left.

She didn’t remember how Lu Jin Xiu and the maids left, nor if Lu Jin Xiu apologized. By the time she came to her senses, she was crouched in a corner, hugging her knees. The room was in disarray and empty.

She finally understood the crying young girl. She too wanted to die.

As soon as this thought appeared, Nan Yi shook her head—no, she had endured such humiliation only to live, hadn’t she?

She refused to let herself abandon her principles. If the sadness was too much to bear and could not be resolved, then she would forget it.

Nan Yi finally stood up, quickly picked up her outer robe, and began cleaning up the mess in the room.

She even picked up the pieces of the parchment and placed them back on the table, as if nothing had happened.

“Sister-in-law!”

Xie Sui An’s voice came from the yard before she even arrived.

She pushed open the door, and when she saw Nan Yi’s condition, she was startled. “Sister-in-law, did you just wake up? Why hasn’t the room been tidied up yet?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Sister-in-law, didn’t you remember? Today is the Little New Year’s Eve. Grandmother is feeling a bit better, and today we are all supposed to pay our respects and wish her well. We had discussed finding a traitor, and you said we should wait until we had enough people to act. Isn’t today the day?”

Nan Yi was stunned for a moment, having completely forgotten about this.

Xie Sui An noticed something was off and felt puzzled. “Sister-in-law… is something wrong?”

Nan Yi shook her head, pretending nothing was wrong. She casually tied up her hair, put on her clothes, and went with Xie Sui An to Song He Hall.

In the hall of Song He Hall, a long Eight Immortals table was set up, with a long scroll and brushes laid out on it.

Xie Sui An had convinced Old Madam Xie to gather everyone from Wang Xue Wu and write a “Hundred People Sutra,” symbolizing unity, devotion, and praying together for good weather in the coming year.

Old Madam Xie had been hesitant, feeling it was a bit extravagant, but Xie Sui An promised that the scroll would be secretly sent to Third Uncle so that he could also write a line. That way, the family would be reunited for the New Year.

This also served to reassure Old Madam Xie that Third Uncle was safe. She had no reason to refuse and immediately agreed, instructing preparations to be made.

Nan Yi came up with this idea to discreetly collect the handwriting of everyone in Wang Xue Wu and compare it with the handwriting on the silk letter she had previously seen. This way, she might be able to identify the traitor who was passing on the information.

Madam Xie entrusted this task to Xie Sui An and Nan Yi, since, on the surface, Nan Yi was still considered the head of Wang Xue Wu. The two of them spent their days sitting in the courtyard, watching people come and go, and the blank sheet of paper gradually filled up.

For Nan Yi, this aimless activity became an effective way to escape, and being with Xie Sui An gave her a sense of security.

Xie Que Shan had come by, but he wisely refrained from writing anything. His gaze swept across Nan Yi’s face, but she showed no sign of reaction, simply bowing obediently and calling out, “My lord.”

Xie Que Shan had no idea what had happened in his absence, nor would Nan Yi ever tell him. 

Of course, Nan Yi didn’t care whether Xie Que Shan had figured out her little trick. As long as he didn’t stop her, she would continue with it.

In the evening, Qiu Jie’er came.

She didn’t like bringing maids with her, and came alone when the courtyard was least crowded, timidly, looking like a little tabby cat wrapped in a fluffy cloak.

After writing on the Xuan paper, she hesitated for a moment before walking up to Nan Yi, handing her a carefully packaged box. “Sister-in-law, this is for you.”

Nan Yi noticed that Qiu Jie’er’s fingers seemed to be injured, several of them wrapped in gauze, but she didn’t think much of it. She looked at the box in her hands in confusion. “For me?”

“I wanted to thank you, elder sister. Inside is a Mei Hua pit-carved inkstone. It holds ink quickly,” Qiu Jie’er said softly.

Nan Yi opened the box to reveal a completely black inkstone, delicately carved with lotus patterns on the edge. The inkstone was set in a beautiful, smooth Huangli wood base. Even though Nan Yi didn’t understand much about such things, she could tell that it was a valuable item.

Xie Sui An was also curious. “Qiu Jie’er, why are you giving my sister-in-law an inkstone?”

“Sister-in-law has been practicing writing recently,” Qiu Jie’er replied, her voice shy as she lowered her head, avoiding eye contact.

“How did you know?” Nan Yi was surprised.

“The past few days, Zhe Yue Pavilion has been washing a lot of calligraphy brushes,” Qiu Jie’er explained.

The members of the Xie family each had their own distinct personalities, but all were keenly observant and intelligent.

“Thank you, Qiu Jie’er.”

Nan Yi accepted the gift gracefully.

Normally, she would have felt flattered, even hesitant to accept such an expensive gift. But now, her mindset had changed. Whether people here loved her or despised her, she was just a passerby, bound to leave sooner or later.

She would swallow the humiliation, but she would also accept the kindness. She wasn’t going to pretend to be too proud, only to leave empty-handed when the time came.