The clothing had deteriorated quite a bit. Fortunately, it was made of silk, so there were plenty of parts which did not degrade quite as badly. After having separated some of the bones from the clothing, she was surprised to discover that it was composed of two layers.
Even more surprising was that…
“Why are these two cloths different? The one on the exterior is silk while the other layer inside is… made of a coarser fabric?”
The doubts she held in her heart compelled her to hurry her movements as she completely separated the clothing from the bones.
She called out, “The two of you, put your tongues back in your mouths and come over.”
Wei Wu and Wang San had already drooled all over the floor by now. So, upon hearing the order, they immediately put their tongues back before wiping at their mouths using their sleeves. ‘So much saliva!’
The two bowed as they came back in. Wei Wu swallowed back his saliva as he asked with a smile, “What orders do you have for us, Teacher Ji?”
“The two of you, go fetch me a thin iron plate and a bottle of white wine. Oh, and a furnace.”
“Teacher Ji… are you planning to roast food?”
Wei Wu nearly drooled again. ‘A thin iron plate, white wine, and a furnace. What are you planning to do if not roast something?’
Ji Yunshu took several deep breaths in an effort to maintain her composure. “Hurry up, I need them immediately.” Her tone was heavy and indicated that she was on the brink of flying into a rage.
Wei Wu and Wang San did not dare to hesitate any longer, for fear of having to stick their tongues out again. Hence, they rushed off to get the things Ji Yunshu wanted as quickly as possible.
Following Ji Yunshu’s directions, the two set the iron plate about five inches above the furnace before splashing some of the white wine onto the top of it.
The sizzling sounds resounded in the room! That sound was weirdly satisfying. Ji Yunshu placed the clothing on the iron plate and made sure to soak it completely in white wine.
Wei Wu sidled up to Wang San and carefully asked, “Hey, what do you think Teacher Ji’s trying to do?”
“Why are you so nosy? Anyways, it’s an autopsy method, so let’s note it down for future reference.”
“Oh right, okay.”
‘When did these two make up?’
Ji Yunshu very kindly explained while she was busying herself. “This is called the White Wine Separation Method. Usually, for artifacts that have been excavated-, ahem, in this case, the clothing. The best method to separate it while preserving its structure is this method. Upon contact with the alcohol, the fabric will shrink to a certain extent. This process is relatively gentle. On the other hand, the high heat will result in an expansion. So using the physical principles of expansion and contraction, the clothing will be separated perfectly intact into its different components.”
This explanation, of course, totally went over their heads!
‘What…’
Ji Yunshu did not bother to further elaborate, instead choosing to wait for the clothing to emit puffs of hot air before carefully picking it up and placing it on a nearby table. She then picked up her knife and used it to split the two different cloth layers.
Not one bit of damage! On top of it, the coarse inner layer was fairly intact, though a small portion of it was missing.
“Come over and have a look. What does this look like?” asked Ji Yunshu as she called the duo over.
Wei Wu and Wang San opened their eyes wide as they approached. However, after some scrutinizing, both shook their heads.
“Don’t know?” Ji Yunshu asked once again.
However, Wang San seemed to have suddenly come to a joyful realization. He pointed at the piece of cloth, “This should be a little kid’s underwear.1”
‘Underwear?!’
1.Ancient Chinese underwear is pretty much just the top… The real term in Chinese is 肚兜 (dudou). It should look like this for kids:
I think it’s better if you just look at the link I put because googling it will only give you the kinky adult version of the dudou as the top result. XD