In the cell of the East Factory Prison, Bai Huan was alone, hunched over on a straw mat. His legs were badly swollen and it was difficult for him to move.
The jailer came over with some water, squatted in front of the cell door and asked, "Old man, are you feeling better today?"
Bai Huan raised his head after hearing the voice, smiled and said, "Better."
The jailer smiled happily, clapped his hands and stood up, "Then I will bring a bowl of porridge to the old man, and wait for the governor to come and wipe the old man's body."
“No need.”
Bai Huan propped himself up and waved his hands, "I've been able to move around a little bit in a few days. Bring some water over and I can clean it myself."
The jailer stood up and took the bucket inside, saying, "In two days, when the medicine is brought in from outside, the prison will be able to hire another doctor. He will then quietly prescribe some tonic medicine for you, and you will feel better."
Bai Huan smiled and said, "How do you deliver medicine in prison?"
"oh."
He asked this question, and the jailer started talking.
"Initially, the prisoners' families personally brought them here, but later, when the supervisor saw that some prisoners had no one at home, he ordered that the prisoners' injuries and illnesses be checked at the end of each month, and those who needed medicine would be given medicine and those who needed treatment would be treated. It was rare to see a death in the prison before a person was sentenced."
Bai Huan said: "How many people have you sentenced to death?"
The jailer smiled and changed the subject: "You can't tell the old man about this. Are you cold? Bring me some more charcoal."
As he was speaking, lights came on in the prison corridor outside.
Deng Ying personally held a candle and walked to the door of Bai Huan's cell. She raised her arm and inserted the candle flame into the candle holder on the cell door.
"Master, you are here."
"Um."
Deng Ying was very fond of the candlelight and said to the jailer, "There is food outside, go and have some."
"yes."
The jailer responded and went out.
The cell door was open. When Bai Huan looked up, he saw a man standing in the prison corridor behind Deng Ying.
"Deng Ying."
"exist."
"Did you bring someone with you?"
Deng Ying replied softly, "It's Yang Wan."
"Zi Xi's sister?"
"yes."
Deng Ying's voice was hesitant, "Lord... are you willing to see her?"
Bai Huan didn't say anything else, just looked at Yu Dao and nodded.
Deng Ying turned slightly to the side, "Wanwan, come here."
Yang Wan responded by walking to Deng Ying's side, raised her head and said to him, "I will bow with you."
"No need to bother Miss Yang."
Bai Huan's voice was a little hoarse, "Deng Ying, you don't have to do it either."
After hearing this, Deng Ying shook his head, lifted his robe, and bent his knees. Yang Wan also bent down with him.
Deng Ying's gesture was a greeting between a master and a disciple. Yang Wan had never done it before. She imitated Deng Ying's gesture, but it was a little unnatural. Deng Ying stood up and looked at her. Seeing that she was still struggling with the position of the back of her left and right hands, she could not help but call her, "Wan Wan."
"ah?"
"Just do the female ritual."
Yang Wan raised her head and said in confusion, "Is it wrong to wait until the next step?"
Bai Huan laughed, "You guys get up."
Deng Ying stood up, turned around and helped Yang Wan up.
Bai Huan looked up at Yang Wan and said, "Miss Yang, is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince well?"
Yang Wan nodded and said, "Your Highness is doing well, and I miss you very much."
Bai Huan nodded, "It is not easy for you to raise the heir alone in the inner court."
Yang Wan replied, "But I dare not compare myself with you, my Lord. You have been a loyal minister for two dynasties. Although you are ill, you still have a heart of compassion for the people."
Bai Huan was stunned after hearing what he said, "Did Zixi teach you to read?"
"Yes, I have also read the elder's article."
Bai Huan smiled and nodded, "Okay..."
He coughed a few times, and Deng Ying squatted down to help him breathe. "Are you still coughing up blood and phlegm today?"
Bai Huan shook his head, "It's already much better. You don't have to come here every day. If you treat me like this and don't hold a fair trial, it's actually not good for you."
Deng Ying did not respond to Bai Huan's words, but turned back to Yang Wan and said, "Wan Wan, help me tie my sleeves."
Yang Wan squatted beside him and asked, "How do you tie it?"
"Tie it to your shoulders, as high as possible."
Seeing that Deng Ying avoided his conversation, Bai Huan raised his voice slightly.
"Why don't you listen?"
Deng Ying stared at the ground without saying anything. After Yang Wan helped him tie up his sleeves, he stood up and tested the water temperature in the bucket: "The water is a little cold, go add some."
After saying that, he picked up the bucket and walked out of the cell.
Bai Huan tried to stand up, but nearly fell because his legs were so swollen.
Yang Wan looked at his ankle.
Deng Ying did not put any torture instruments on him, but even so, his ankle was still swollen.
Yang Wan reached out and helped Bai Huan sit down, then bent down and rolled up Bai Huan's trouser legs.
Bai Huan said: "It doesn't matter, you are serving His Highness's wife."
Yang Wan tucked her hair around her ears and knelt down. "Lord, I never felt that I was just serving His Highness. I was just like everyone else who protected His Highness. I felt that he was a good child, so I wanted to take good care of him and protect him."
After she finished speaking, she gently pinched Bai Huan's calf and tried to knead it, saying, "You have never been respectful of inferiority."
Bai Huan looked down at her and said, "If we don't talk about respect and inferiority, what else can we talk about?"
Yang Wan paused, "Speak with conscience."
She raised her head and said, "Like Deng Ying."
Bai Huan looked at Yang Wan in silence for a while, and finally smiled, "Miss Yang, do you write poetry?"
Yang Wan shook her head. "No, I only write down the words that I think are inspiring. But now, I rarely write even that down. I want to do something down to earth and take good care of His Highness and you, my Lord."
Bai Huan asked: "Are you doing this for Deng Ying?"
Yang Wan shook her head. "No, I am not living to follow Deng Ying. However, he made me understand how to repair myself and convince myself to live and do the things I can do when I live in a world that I cannot agree with. I respect him first, and then love him. The people he respects, I also want to respect, and the principles he wants to uphold, I also want to uphold."
She stopped talking and smiled at Bai Huan, "I brought some things for you, including bedding, winter clothes, some medicine and food. These are not things from the palace, but I bought them with my private money. Deng Ying gave all his money to the two academies, Chushan and Hudan. Although he is good to you, there are still things he can't take care of, so please don't refuse these things."
As he was speaking, Deng Ying came back with hot water.
Yang Wan turned around and asked, "Deng Ying, is the water hot?"
"Um."
"That will be good. You can apply it on your master."
She stood up and twisted a handkerchief to apply heat to Bai Huan's swollen legs. "My lord, will this make you feel better?"
Bai Huan nodded.
Yang Wan gently covered her handkerchief with her hands and said to Bai Huan, "My lord, I want to tell you that Deng Ying can't even take care of herself. He said that he was the one who took care of you in the past few days. I am really worried after hearing that."
Deng Ying walked over to Yang Wan and squatted down, "Wan Wan, when have you ever failed to take good care of yourself?"
Yang Wan smiled and said, "I won't answer your questions in front of Lord Bai. Go and make the bed for Lord Bai."
After she finished speaking, she stood up on her knees and squatted on the pile of straw by the wall with a smile on her face.
Deng Ying wrung out the handkerchief, silently lifted Bai Huan's hand, and wiped his fingers.
Bai Huan withdrew his gaze from Yang Wan and asked in a deep voice, "I haven't even finished talking just now, but you avoided me."
"I know you want me to hold a trial for you, so that all the students taking the spring exam can come and see it, so that they can know that I didn't torture you."
"Since you know, why not do it."
"I don't want to do that."
Deng Ying twisted her handkerchief again, lowered her head and continued, "Although you have always refused to acknowledge me as a student, I dare not disown you as a teacher. I cannot let you kneel in the hall."
Bai Huan sighed, "Don't you care about the bad reputation at all?"
Deng Ying raised his head. "Lord, at the beginning of next month, I will present your and Liang Weiben's case to His Majesty together with the Ministry of Justice to clear your name. However, I am not sure how the Imperial Household Department will speak to His Majesty and how His Majesty will decide. However, you are the Prime Minister of the dynasty after all. His Majesty once told me that if I was rude to you, I would be executed. So if His Majesty still hesitates after the report, the more infamy I have, the greater your chance of being pardoned. When you are free, you can ask the Ministry of Justice to try my Xuetian case and sentence me to death, but don't torture me. As long as the Ministry of Justice doesn't force me, the Imperial Household Department will not take action against you and Yang Lun again. As for the Imperial Household Department... you and Zixi will wait for the right time."
Bai Huan's throat tightened after hearing what he said. "When I wrote to impeach you, I never thought you would do this. Deng Ying, you made me wait... How embarrassing."
Deng Ying comforted him, saying, "You don't have to be like that. I am only worried about the students from Chushan Academy and Hudan Academy who are coming to Beijing to take the imperial examination. They hate me and have been instigated by others to make radical remarks. If they just scold me, it won't be a big deal, but if their remarks involve Your Majesty, they will easily be charged with a capital crime by the Northern Pacification Office."
Bai Huan asked, "How many people are there?"
Yang Wan responded, "In fact, there are not many people in the two academies, only a few, but they are now living in the sheds in the courtyard below the drum tower. There are about a hundred candidates in the sheds. They all came from far away and don't know the situation in the capital. They are easily provoked by that Zhou Muyi. Indignant."
Bai Huan sighed: "The purpose of the imperial examinations in the Ming Dynasty is to select talents for the country, and we cannot let the students all over the world be discouraged."
Deng Ying lowered his head. "Lord, I know you want to save these candidates, but it is not convenient for you to come forward in your position. With Yang Lun's qualifications, he is still unable to suppress them. Now that they have not been convicted, they still have the power to mediate with the Northern Pacification Office. I am afraid that after they are convicted, these people will become abandoned pawns in the party struggle."
"They already are."
Yang Wan said calmly, "These people are just like the Tongjia Academy back then. As long as your majesty does not make his position clear, the Northern Pacification Office will immediately sentence them to death. But Deng Ying, your majesty may not want to discourage students all over the world. There are still ways to think about it. You and Lord Bai should not be sad. You do what you can, and let me try the rest."
Bai Huan asked, "Miss Yang, what can you do?"
Yang Wan folded her arms and sat on the straw mat under the quilt. "I don't know yet. I have to see what these students do next."
She looked at Deng Ying and said, "But as long as Deng Ying doesn't give up, I won't give up."
"Wan Wan..."
Yang Wan interrupted Deng Ying and said to Bai Huan: "Master Bai, I promise you that I will do my best to protect these students, but I also ask you for one thing..."
"you say."
Yang Wan pursed her lips, leaned forward and said, "You should recognize him as a student."
Deng Ying was stunned.
"Master Bai, although he is a little stubborn and doesn't really listen to you, he is really a good student. You are so good to my brother, can you please not leave him out?"