Bone Painting Coroner

Ji Yunshu’s countenance remained polite, but her expression was faintly suffused with a cold air. “Luan’er is not sensible. There’s no need for Big Sister to listen to her and get angry.” She turned to reprimand her maidservant. “You’re still not hurrying to admit your error?”

Luan’er lowered her head. Her voice was awkward and unwilling, “This servant knows her wrongs.”

Ji Muqing’s eyes narrowed to slits, then snorted at Ji Yunshu. “You went to such lengths to protect a mere maidservant?”

“Maidservants are also people, not to mention that Luan’er has accompanied me for many years. In respect of my face, please forgive her.”

“Like I care.” Ji Muqing’s long eyebrows rose. Why would she want to give face to Ji Yunshu?

She turned, her fox-like eyes glaring at her maidservants as she snarled, “What are you all waiting for? You still haven’t grabbed her and thrown her in the firewood shed? You want this Miss to do the job herself or what?”

Shui’er and Luo’er didn’t dare dally. They practically pounced on Luan’er and restrained her.

“Big sister, Luan’er is still my servant. I should be the one to punish her.” Ji Yunshu exclaimed.

“She is also one of the Ji mansion’s servants, and any unthoughtful behavior will be met with punishment. These are the rules, and they cannot be broken.” She waved her hand, “Take her away.”

In an instant, Ji Yunshu’s fair fingers grabbed Shui’er’s arm and applied some force with her thumb. Shui’er felt her feet turn soft. Her knees wobbled, and collapsed beneath her. Unknowingly, her body directly fell on Ji Muqing.

Crash!

Ji Muqing was on the ground beneath Shui’er, and started to scream in pain, “Ouch! This is hurting me to death! You damned servant, are you tired of living?!”

Shui’er and Luo’er were frightened by Muqing’s outburst and hurriedly helped her up. Muqing’s luxurious clothes were now stained by dirt and mud. Her hair ornaments had all gone askew. Her appearance was a mess, and she truly cut a sorry figure.

Paf!

Ji Muqing raised her hand and gave Shui’er a resounding slap, once again glaring at her. “Damned servant! How dare you bump into me!”

“This servant knows her wrongs. I wasn’t steady on my feet. Eldest Miss, I beg you to spare me!” Shui’er kneeled on the ground in fear and continuously kowtowed to Muqing.

Ji Muqing, who regarded beauty as her life, couldn’t display a more miserable appearance than right now. How appalling could this situation be for her?

Her hands twisted into an orchid finger gesture1, but her powdered face was too distorted from anger, reducing any semblance of grace. At this moment, she had no mind to pay any heed to Luan’er. She stamped both feet, and swept off to her room to wash and change, growling the entire way.

Thus, this absolutely meaningless farce came to an end. Ji Yunshu pulled Luan’er on and hurried back to their courtyard before Ji Muqing changed her mind and came for them again.

Once they entered the courtyard, Luan’er asked, “What went wrong with Shui’er earlier? It seemed that she threw herself on the eldest miss for no reason.”

Ji Yunshu chuckled while pouring a cup of tea for herself. Her demeanor meant that it would be a long talk. “You may know that human bones are divided into nine parts, and a typical bone is usually composed of seven structural parts2. The hands and the legs are two different parts connected to the body. The muscles and tendons of the hand are separated into two sections. In between, a particular bone can be found. There’s no pain if you slightly press on it, except your feet would lose strength. Earlier, I located it on Shui’er’s body and pressed it. Thankfully, it allowed us to escape from the situation.”

Luan’er became shocked when she heard this, “Miss, you’re awesome!”

“Everything is encompassed within the frame of a skeleton, from one’s appearance to the size of one’s organs. All is dictated by the dimension of the skeleton, even the degree of putrefaction of those thousand-year-old corpses and their time of deaths are closely related to their skeletons. Furthermore, a person’s cranial bones are the most important part of the human body, as it protects the brain…”

“Miss, stop explaining!” Luan’er immediately interrupted her words. Her complexion was unsightly as she swallowed back the rising nausea. Her back had gone chill with fear.

Seeing her maidservant’s cowardly appearance, Ji Yunshu became happy. Before she’d died on the operation table, she practically lived in the archeology shack. The bones of the deceased ancients were her sole companions. If she was as cowardly as Luan’er, she would have long lost her job!

‘Let’s stop talking about it then!’

She had knelt all night and was indeed tired. She might as well lie down, snuggle into her quilt, and snore away.

1. It’s a type of hand gesture done by people to show off their grace and elegant poise. It’s like lifting your pinky when drinking tea. Click here for the visual of the hand

2. In the raws, the author mentioned about 14 parts and 7 structures which I couldn’t confirm the 14 parts since Western biology books roughly divided the bones into 9 sections instead of 14. I can’t read Chinese medicine books to confirm, thus the translations for that part is localized.

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