Deng Ying returned to the duty room by the moat alone. When he opened the door, he saw Li Yu holding a brush and half-kneeling on his couch sweeping the dust. He turned around and saw Deng Ying coming back, so he hurriedly came down and said, "You're back."
Deng Ying looked at the brush in his hand and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Li Yu said, "You haven't been back for a few days. I saw that it was dusty here, so I helped you clean it up."
Deng Ying raised his hand and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Li Yu's eyes suddenly turned red. "I was beaten, but I feel better now that I'm back. They don't dare to bully me anymore."
Deng Ying lowered her head and said, "Be more restrained in the future. If you have any problems, go to your godfather or Chen Hua."
Li Yu hurriedly asked, "Can't we find him?"
"I… "
Before he finished speaking, Hu Xiang's voice came from outside, "Is Director Deng in there?"
Deng Ying let go of Li Yu and said, "I'm here."
"Please ask Director Deng to come out."
"yes."
Deng Ying turned and walked out of the room. Hu Xiang and the people from the Imperial Household Department stood at the door and said to Deng Ying, "Your Majesty asked me to take you to the Yangxin Palace."
Deng Ying nodded, "Can I ask a question?"
"Ask."
"Has your majesty issued an order to release the Prime Minister?"
Hu Xiang sneered, "Why, did Director Deng guess that he was going to die?"
Deng Ying raised her head and said, "Please let Hu Bingbi know."
Hu Xiang walked up to Deng Ying and said, "You are released. Take me to the emperor to confess my crime. I already have these things on me, so we won't tie you up. Just behave yourself and follow me."
After Deng Ying finished speaking, she smiled faintly and said, "Okay."
Hu Xiang looked at his face, really puzzled, "You are about to die and you can still laugh. The ancestors said that no one will save you this time."
Deng Ying said calmly: "That's what I got."
He raised his head and looked at Hu Xiang calmly, "Hu Bingbi, take me there."
Hu Xiang had nothing to say, so he could only snort coldly, "Okay, take him away."
**
Deng Ying saw many people outside the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, some of whom he had dealt with before and some of whom he met for the first time.
The left imperial envoy Ji Ren stood on the platform and watched Deng Ying walk up step by step.
There was not even a sound of birds singing in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but the sound of shackles hitting the steps became clearer and clearer.
Some people turned their eyes to Deng Ying, and some couldn't help but smile.
In the spring of the fourteenth year of Zhenning, the scholars, who had delicate skin and fragile bones, finally thought they had won a round in their struggle with the eunuchs that had lasted for more than ten years.
Ji Ren said to Deng Ying: "It is said that you were once a Jinshi and a student of the Prime Minister."
"yes."
Ji Ren said: "Repaying kindness with hatred will not last long."
Deng Ying looked at Ji Ren, "Deng Ying accepts the General Secretary's teachings."
Ji Ren had not expected that he would be so humble and submissive. He was speechless for a moment, but the other imperial eunuchs looked at him, so he had to speak, "At this point, you still dare to be so arrogant!"
Deng Ying raised her head and asked, "How am I arrogant?"
Ji Ren was stunned.
Deng Ying turned around and said, "I know what the governor is worried about. Please rest assured, I know my crime is unforgivable and I will not quibble in front of the emperor."
A young censor behind Ji Ren said, "You dare not quibble in front of the imperial court. But now that the case has been sent to the Three Departments, who dares to judge you impartially?"
Deng Ying paused.
The man stepped forward and continued, "The Prime Minister impeached me, and now I am persecuted by you to the point that I can't walk. The guards of the East Factory are sneaking around the capital, penetrating every hole. Officials and civilians are all in danger. I'm afraid that any loyal and upright people in the three departments will meet with disaster before they can even enter the court."
Deng Ying shook hands and turned to look at Ji Ren and others.
"So what do you want from me?"
No one was speechless.
Deng Ying coughed and asked, "Suicide?"
Ji Ren raised his hand to stop the person behind him, then looked up at Deng Ying and said, "No one has ever said such a thing to you."
Deng Ying asked, "Do the adults believe in the Great Ming Law?"
Ji Ren nodded.
"Of course I believe it."
"If you believe me, don't say more. If you say more, you will make more mistakes. I will humbly accept the trial and respect the Ming Criminal Law. Please take care of yourselves, adults."
After he said that, he didn't look back and walked straight into the palace gate.
The censor behind Ji Ren asked lightly, "General Secretary, can we really bring down the East Factory this time?"
Ji Ren shook his head. "Have you heard his last sentence?"
"What?"
"Be humble in your trial and respect the Ming Criminal Law."
He sighed and lowered his head, saying, "This doesn't sound like something an official from the East Factory would say."
**
In the alleys of Fuchengmennei Street, vendors selling noodles and tofu pudding on wooden stands were squeezed to the entrance of the alley.
Since the business was not going well, he simply took down his pole and carried the bowl himself, squatting at the alley entrance, eating and looking into the alley. Yang Lun got off his horse at the alley entrance, and Qi Huaiyang stood up from the tofu pudding stall and greeted him, saying, "The people from the Inspectorate have entered the palace."
Yang Lun pulled the reins, "Which one from the Inspectorate?"
Qi Huaiyang said: "General Constitution (1)."
“This means he won’t be able to survive.”
After he finished speaking, he walked straight into the alley. Qi Huaiyang followed him and said, "It's best to go to the palace at this time. His Majesty will consult the cabinet at any time."
Yang Lun walked very quickly, "To inquire the cabinet, you have to speak to the minister. I can't speak at all."
Qi Huaiyang had no choice but to run a few steps, "Then we have to stay in control. If things are going like this now, there's no telling when things will turn sour."
"I can't take care of it anymore. These students from the academy are going to make a big splash today!"
As he was talking, he had already reached the gate of Xinhuan's house.
The students, led by Zhou Muyi, knelt on the ground at the door.
Zhou Muyi had just been beaten by the East Factory for more than ten times, and his face was pale at this time. He was supported by several other students from Chushan Academy and barely knelt down. In the crowd, the old Hanlin who had stopped students on Donggong Street also knelt in front of Zhou Muyi and advised with great sorrow: "In less than seven days, you will enter Shuntian Prefecture. You should review your books and prepare for the exams now. How can you gather here and make noise? The old cabinet minister has sympathy for students and has always loved you. Seeing you like this today, he must be heartbroken..."
Yang Lun stood outside the crowd and looked at the old Hanlin in simple clothes, feeling sad.
Qi Huaiyang said: "Chen Yingqiu, the old Hanlin, has been retired for so many years. His family is getting more and more miserable. He teaches in a private school but does not take any money. This year, his daughter fell ill. For the sake of face, he refused to buy on credit at the pharmacy, and refused to accept help from his colleagues. His daughter almost died of illness. People say he is crazy..."
“He’s just nice to students.”
After Yang Lun finished speaking, he smiled and said, "How can we see clearly whether a person is good or evil?"
Qi Huaiyang said: "This kind of emotion is a bit strange."
Yang Lun did not respond.
An official from the Ministry of Justice came rushing over from the alley, ran to Qi Huaiyang and said, "My Lords, there is news from the palace."
"explain."
"Your Majesty summoned the Northern Pacification Office to take away Deng Changchen, and issued an order to release the Prime Minister from prison."
Yang Lun asked, "Why did the Northern Pacification Office take the man away? Where is the Ministry of Justice?"
"Don't worry, sir. Word from inside is that it involves the Xuetian case, and the Ministry of Justice will also be investigating it."
Yang Lun turned around and grabbed Qi Huaiyang's arm, "Qi Huaiyang, let me tell you, this is the Hangzhou Xuetian case, and my Ministry of Revenue will also try it together. The Ministry of Justice cannot avoid me. I will write a note to Your Majesty tomorrow."
Qi Huaiyang said: "Okay, okay, I know, I also want to save him, I will mediate with the Minister, now that it has come to this, the most urgent task is to persuade these students to leave."
As he was speaking, another official came running over breathlessly, "Sir, the Jinyiwei people are coming over here! They are holding ropes."
Yang Lun immediately stretched out his hand to push aside the crowd, walked to the door, stepped onto the doorstep, raised his arm and said: "What do you want in exchange for me to leave?"
Zhou Muyi raised his head and said to Yang Lun: "The sky is closed, and you have no benevolence!"
Yang Lun looked down at him and said negatively: "I'm going to ask you here today, why is the sky blocked?"
As he said this, he pulled Zhou Muyi up from the ground.
"You are kneeling here just to ask Your Majesty to punish the East Factory. I tell you that the East Factory Supervisor Deng Ying has been imprisoned by Your Majesty, and the Prime Minister has also been pardoned and will be able to return home soon. Your wishes have been fulfilled, and you can get up and leave!"
Zhou Muyi said: "Lord Yang, don't you know that Deng Ying is just a lackey of the Imperial Household Department? Even if Your Majesty punishes him, can the eunuch troubles stop?"
Yang Lun was about to open his mouth when he heard Yang Wan's voice from behind him, "I can't stop!"
Yang Lun was startled, he turned around and saw Yang Wan had squeezed out of the crowd. Her hair was disheveled, her makeup was messy, and she looked dishevelled. She held her bruised shoulder with one hand and staggered to the gate of the house.
"I tell you, even if it can be quelled today, it will resurface decades later."
Zhou Muyi said: "How can a woman speak so wildly in the street?"
Yang Wan turned her head and said, "How old are you? Only about 10 years old, right? Even if you are the Prime Minister, you are not so arrogant as to comment on the world and the Ming Dynasty's politics. You haven't even entered the government yet, but you think that after a few years of reading and a few gatherings, you can see the fate of your country clearly?"
"… "
"What about me? How can I, a woman, scold a scholar?"
Yang Wan snorted and laughed, "I am scolding you! Some people can spend a lot of money for a desk, for an article, but you don't cherish it, you just want to die! In such a big country, the death of people like you is not a big deal, but you are young, with a clean family background, and you are loved by the whole court. Even the person you want to cut into pieces wants to save you. What else do you want?"
Zhou Muyi said to the people behind him: "Don't listen to this woman's nonsense. We want Your Majesty to punish the eunuchs and restore political integrity. There is no fault of hers."
"It is not wrong! But can the politics of a country be overturned overnight? Don't you need to sharpen the knife to remove rotten meat? Don't you need to tie the body when removing the meat? After removing the meat, does the dynasty not need to heal its wounds? Can we reduce these processes by kneeling here and cursing the heavens and the earth? Zhou Muyi, tell me, are the more than 80 people in Tongjia Academy going to die?"
Her voice trembled as she spoke, "Who do you think you are? Stand up and leave!"
Zhou Muyi was speechless after being asked.
Yang Lun said, "Get up and walk. It will be too late if you don't leave now."
Several people in the crowd staggered to their feet. Yang Lun glanced at the alley entrance and said to Yang Wan, "We can't go back to the Drum Tower. If we go back, we will be trapped. I'm afraid no one in the capital will dare to protect these students."
Yang Wan took a breath, released the hand that was pressing on her shoulder, stood up and said, "I dare."
"What?"
"right."
She turned and walked towards the house, saying as she walked, "I'll take them to Qingbo Pavilion."
"no!"
Yang Lun grabbed Yang Wan and said, "I won't let you bring disaster upon yourself."
"Don't worry, I won't die, and I won't implicate you."
"I'm not afraid of being implicated!"
"Then let it go."
As she spoke, she looked up at Yang Lun, her words having a double meaning.
"Brother, I am no longer the Wan'er of the past."