Deng Ying suddenly felt a sharp pain between his teeth. He could not help but raise his hand and tried to press his cheek. The person sent by the Ministry of Justice to help him remove the torture device thought he was going to struggle, so he slapped his hand down and said, "Don't move." Deng Ying quickly stretched out his hand and said softly, "I'm sorry."
Standing outside the cell to sign the handover documents, Qi Huaiyang hurriedly walked in and asked, "What's wrong?"
Deng Ying smiled and said, "Nothing."
He tilted his head and said, "My teeth feel a little sour, as if someone is cursing me behind my back."
Qi Huaiyang walked up to him with his hands behind his back and looked down at the officer's movements.
"I've been wearing it for more than a month."
"yes."
Qi Huaiyang said: "Once we unload these things, we won't be able to take care of them anymore."
"I know."
As soon as he finished speaking, the lock of the shackles "cracked", and the officer removed the wrist cuffs, revealing a pair of almost bruised wrists. Deng Ying gently pinched the wound and said to Qi Huaiyang: "Thank you for taking care of me during this period of time, so that I didn't suffer too much."
Qi Huaiyang shook his head. "I swore to be a law-abiding official. In fact, I am very conservative in official circles and never go against the law. I feel ashamed of Deng Changchen's "care" for me."
Deng Ying bowed and said, "In the field of justice, this is very good."
Qi Huaiyang was silent for a while, then bowed back.
The captain outside the cell suddenly held his breath and fell silent. Qi Huaiyang raised his head and saw Zhang Luo standing behind him.
Qi Huaiyang stood up straight, took the official document and handed it to Zhang Luo, "Although I am the one who is trying the case, the prisoner is being held in the Pacification Office, so I shouldn't say too much. But the prisoner is an official of the Eastern Ji Factory after all, so I hope Deputy Envoy Zhang will not treat him too harshly."
Zhang Luo glanced at the signature on the document and said to Qi Huaiyang, "What do you mean by not treating harshly? The rules for the imperial prison to discipline prisoners are all the same."
Qi Huaiyang responded, "Yes, I said too much."
Zhang Luo took a step forward and said, "Before 10:00 p.m. today, I will send someone to the Ministry of Justice to retrieve the files of the previous interrogations of the Xuetian case."
"It's ready."
"In that case, I will send someone to go with the Minister to retrieve it."
"Um."
Qi Huaiyang responded and looked back at Deng Ying, then said, "The Ministry of Revenue will submit a petition tomorrow. Can the school land case be postponed for another day?"
Zhang Luo nodded, "Then we will wait for Yang Lun. The Pacification Division will first investigate whether he persecuted the Prime Minister."
Qi Huaiyang retracted his gaze and responded with a "OK."
Then he said, "Then I will take my leave."
Qi Huaiyang was in the prison cell. The guards held lanterns to light the way for him. A warm light flashed before Deng Ying's eyes, but it quickly disappeared outside.
Zhang Luo turned to the captain and said, "Give him the prisoner's clothes." Then he said, "Change them yourself."
Deng Ying nodded and responded, "Okay."
As he spoke, he took the prisoner's uniform, took off his outer robe, and untied the straps of his inner robe.
Zhang Luo motioned for the others to leave, and he walked over to Deng Ying and said, "Deng Ying, you have been leading the Eastern Jilin Factory and fighting the Pacification Bureau for years. Have you ever thought about living here?"
Deng Ying paused, lowered his head and said, "To be honest, sir, I have thought about it."
Zhang Luo ordered someone to bring down a chair, sat down in front of Deng Ying, raised his hand and said, "Don't change it yet."
Deng Ying lowered his hands, "Are you going to ask me now, sir?"
Zhang Luo raised his head and said, "Before the interrogation, I want to ask you one thing. If you want to answer it, you can. If you don't want to answer it, it's okay. I won't use torture to force you."
"Excuse me, sir."
"Is the person behind Qingbo Pavilion Yang Wan?"
Deng Ying didn't say anything.
Zhang Luo smiled and said, "Okay, forget it."
Deng Ying asked, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Ask."
"Does your Excellency like Yang Wan?"
Zhang Luo raised his eyebrows, "I don't like it."
"Why hasn't your Excellency married yet?"
Zhang Luo gritted his teeth, "Believe it or not, I'm going to make you lose a layer of skin tonight."
Deng Ying nodded and stopped talking.
Zhang Luo sat on the chair and faced him in silence. The figure on the ground was trembling slightly, and Xi Cao lay silently at Deng Ying's feet. He moved his legs involuntarily because he had been standing for a long time.
Zhang Luo looked at him and said, "You are now a criminal in the imperial prison. Apart from the case, I will not discuss anything with you."
"Yes, I understand."
"but."
He paused, raised his head and said, "Yang Wan is negotiable. She brought students from the Hangzhou Academy. The words and deeds of these people were not reported by General Ji, but by the Jinyiwei. Once Your Majesty issues an order to punish these students with serious crimes, Yang Wan will be the same as she is now. I once told her that if she was under my control, there would be nothing I could not bear, but now it is too late. Both she and I will be punished according to the law."
Deng Ying remained silent.
Zhang Luo shouted, "Why don't you answer?"
"I can't punish her."
"What?"
Deng Ying's voice was very calm, "I said I can't punish her."
He raised his head and said, "Master Zhang, you told me back then that it was not you who punished me, it was the Great Ming Law that punished me. I admit this, that's why I am standing in front of you now, but Yang Wan doesn't admit it."
Zhang Luo sneered, "Can she escape if she denies it?"
Deng Ying shook her head. "If I don't admit it, I may still be able to escape."
Zhang Luo asked, "What do you mean? Are you going to go to the imperial prison yourself?"
"Yes. I can do it myself." He said as he picked up the prison uniform beside him.
"I chose to wear this prison uniform myself. As a prisoner, I can only do this much in this dynasty, but..."
As he spoke, he thought of Yang Wan's face and smiled gently.
"But I admire that woman very much. She did things that I could not do, and said things that I could not say. I am willing to accept the punishment according to the Great Ming Law in the imperial prison, but I believe in her. She is not like me. She still has a way to go, and she should live a good life."
Zhang Luo clenched his hands into fists on his knees, and couldn't help but think of the time when Yang Wan was tried for the Heju case.
She was in extreme pain from the whipping, her whole body was twisted, and every limb was trembling.
On the surface, she looked like the other female prisoners, weak and afraid of pain. Three lashes were enough to make her cry and beg for mercy.
However, even so, she refused to relax for a moment, and tried her best to maintain her sanity and deal with him in the intervals between tortures, and even found the right opportunity to take the initiative and ask him questions from time to time.
Thinking back on it now, Zhang Luo even felt that she didn't beg for mercy out of fear at all, she was just asking him for some room to speak.
The trial, which was supposed to be handled by Zhang Luo, somehow turned into a statement by Yang Wan.
That was the only time during the years that Zhang Luo was in charge of the imperial prison.
She did not yield to the criminal law at any moment. Instead, she constantly used the criminal law and Zhang Luo's inner principles to force him to give up the trial of her. Then she forced him to try his own father, forced him to introspect, forced him to ask himself questions, and in the end, even forced him to begin to doubt the ideas he had held for nearly ten years.
Deng Ying said that he admired the woman very much.
Zhang Luo also felt that the word "admire" had some meaning at this moment.
"Deputy envoy."
"explain."
"His Majesty summons you to the palace."
Zhang Luo stood up and asked in front of Deng Ying, "Is Qingbo Pavilion surrounded?"
The lieutenant replied, "We have surrounded the place, but the Dongchang people have guarded the front and back gates and will not let us in. However, we have already found evidence that the students from Hangzhou Academy and the woman named Yang Wan are inside."
"Got it. Keep guard until my palace comes to deal with it personally."
He said, looking at Deng Ying, "Change your clothes."
Then he said while he was eating, "Take his medicine."
The captain asked, "Do you want to lock him up?"
"Lock it. Give him the food, and let him rest after he eats."
"grown ups… "
The captain's voice was a little hesitant.
"Just tell me what you have to say."
"Yes, sir, why do you treat this prisoner like this?"
Zhang Luo paused for a moment and said, "I'll talk to you after I see His Majesty."
**
The moon shines on the imperial city.
In front of the Yangxin Palace, all the stone lamps were lit brightly, and the gate was marked by the Silijian, leaving the door open for the Imperial Pharmacy. The imperial doctors on duty in the Imperial Pharmacy all straightened their official uniforms and followed the eunuchs of the Silijian towards the Yangxin Palace with trembling hands.
"Eunuch Hu."
"Um?"
"Your Majesty, your throat disease has been cured for several years. Why is it so severe these days?"
Hu Xiang said: "What can I do? I am still worried about the country and I am tired."
"What does Lord Peng say?"
Hu Xiang sighed, "Isn't he looking for us to go over and discuss this together?"
"Ouch."
Several imperial doctors shivered and put their hands in their laps, leaning forward to whisper, "Does this mean... that the old man is no longer good?"
Hu Xiang turned around and shouted, "What are you talking about in private?"
The doctors hurriedly said, "We dare not."
He went to the platform and stood waiting in silence.
The emperor leaned on the couch, and the queen sat beside the couch with porridge in her hand to take care of him. The emperor pushed the bowl away and said to the queen, "That's enough. I have no appetite."
The queen advised, "You haven't eaten anything since the Grand Secretary was deposed. I am really worried."
Emperor Zhenning did not respond to the empress's question, but asked the eunuch, "What kind of incense are you burning?"
"My Lord, it's still sandalwood."
"It's gone, it's gone."
Emperor Zhenning said impatiently, "My throat hurts."
The queen said, "The imperial physician is already discussing this matter. You should take a break and rest your mind. Deng Ying is just a servant. You can hand him over to Deputy Envoy Zhang for trial. Why bother to hurt his mind?"
Emperor Zhenning said in annoyance: "What do you know? Back off."
As he was speaking, Hu Xiang came in and said, "Your Majesty, Deputy Envoy Zhang, Minister Bai, and Minister Yang have arrived."
The queen couldn't help but say one more sentence, "Your Majesty, forget it today. They are also terrified when you see your subjects on your sickbed."
Emperor Zhenning coughed a few times and said, "If I tell you to leave, please leave!" Without paying attention, his hand accidentally knocked off a gold hairpin from the empress's temple.
The queen felt ashamed, so she quickly put down her bowl of porridge, bowed and left.
Hu Xiang led the three people into the inner bedroom and knelt down in front of the imperial bed to perform the ritual of worship.
The emperor ordered Hu Xiang to help himself sit up and reluctantly cross his legs.
"Everyone, get up."
Yang Lun stood up and glanced at the emperor's face, then said softly, "Your Majesty, we are terrified."
The emperor took a deep breath and said to Yang Lun, "Let's just keep quiet now."
"yes."