This was a conversation between close ministers in front of the imperial bed, and it was also a game of strategy for Yang Lun.
He glanced at Zhang Luo and secretly clenched his palms.
The emperor's face had turned red from coughing, his throat was sore and hoarse, and his voice was trembling.
"He Yixian."
"The servant is here."
The emperor held onto the couch and sat up straight, "Put on my shoes."
He Yixian looked at Yang Lun and the others, then bent down to persuade them, "Your Majesty, please take care of your spirit."
Zhang Luo knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
Emperor Zhenning waved his hands and said, "You don't understand me. When I heard about your situation, I felt so sorry for you."
Bai Yuyang hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, my father has returned. Before I entered the palace, I asked him to wait for him to thank Your Majesty for his grace."
After saying this, he straightened his clothes, knelt down, and kowtowed deeply.
Emperor Zhenning said, "Stand up. I have read the previous memorials from the Ministry of Justice. Although Liang Weiben was a student of the Prime Minister, the matter of the salt field colluding with the Japanese had nothing to do with the Prime Minister. As for Deng Ying's report, I don't need to read it. You should treat him as a criminal slave and try him carefully."
Bai Yuyang said: "Your Majesty is wise and wise."
Emperor Zhenning held his brows and said, "How can I be wise?"
He raised his hand and pointed at the desk, "I am a lonely man, unlike you who have teachers and classmates, who write beautiful articles and criticize me openly or secretly. I have been more and more exhausted in recent years. Thinking about the unrest in the border and the suffering of the people, I can't rest. Although the regular court has stopped, I have never been lazy, right?"
He stood up and walked barefoot to Yang Lun, who quickly lifted his robe and knelt down, "Your Majesty, please take care of yourself."
Emperor Zhenning bowed his head and said, "Minister Yang, I am also a human being. There are things I cannot see. You may advise me, but I will tolerate what I can. If Emperor Taizu were still alive, these people..."
He pointed to the pile of memorials on the desk again and said, "He should have been beheaded long ago!"
Yang Lun bowed his head and said, "I know your Majesty is kind and merciful. I will certainly advise the other ministers to accept your majesty's kindness."
Emperor Zhenning looked at Yang Lun's back and said, "In this case, I should deal with the students of Chushan Academy and Hudan Academy."
"Your Majesty!"
Yang Lun looked up anxiously after hearing this, "These students are really deceived, so they speak without thinking. Please, Your Majesty, please consider their youth and ignorance..."
"Oh."
The emperor paused, "Yang Lun, do you still dare to force me to retreat?"
"I dare not!"
"I dare not. Then you tell me, how can I retreat? In the future, if anyone has any advice to give me, can I speak without restraint, raise my arms and call for help, and annihilate the people. Where do you think I am?"
Yang Lun was forced to be speechless, and could only kowtow and say: "I am extremely ashamed."
Emperor Zhenning took a step back, and He Yixian hurried forward to help Emperor Zhenning sit on the couch.
Emperor Zhenning coughed violently several times as soon as he sat down, and only after taking a sip of tea did he barely calm down.
Except for Zhang Luo, Yang Lun and Bai Yuyang also knelt on the ground, each of them had something to say but couldn't say it.
Emperor Zhenning glanced at Zhang Luo and called out hoarsely, "Zhang Luo."
"I am here."
"I will leave the affairs of the academy students to the Pacification Department."
"I accept your order."
"Um… "
Emperor Zhenning picked up the teacup and said calmly, "We can't make the same mistake as in the Tong Jiashu case again. Do you understand?"
Zhang Luo replied, "I understand. I will leave the palace right away to arrest the students from Chushan and Hudan academies."
"Go ahead."
Yang Lun knelt on the ground and couldn't help closing his eyes.
He was worried about Yang Wan and wished he could follow Zhang Luo out of the palace, but he had to force himself to stay alert.
Just as Yang Wan said, everything Deng Ying did from beginning to end was to protect the cabinet and Yang Lun. He must not easily sacrifice himself at this time.
Just when Yang Lun was in a dilemma, like being immersed in an oil pan, Hu Xiang came in and reported: "Your Majesty, the Grand Master is here."
Emperor Zhenning said, "It's cold outside, let him in."
Hu Xiang hesitated for a moment, glanced outside, and replied carefully: "Your Majesty, the Grand Master is kneeling outside."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Zhenning leaned back on the couch in silence for a while, then raised his head and said to Yang Lun, "Go out and ask him what he meant."
"yes."
Yang Lun propped himself up and walked out of the hall.
Yi Lang, who was kneeling on the steps, looked up at Yang Lun, then lowered his head again.
Yang Lun bowed to him as required, and then asked, "Why are you here, Your Majesty?"
Yi Lang replied, "Please ask Minister Yang to report to the emperor that I am kneeling here to ask the emperor to pardon the students of the academy. I am willing to take the blame on their behalf."
"Your Highness!"
Yang Lun interrupted him anxiously, "Don't say that casually!"
Yi Lang pursed his lips and said, "Minister Yang, I understand that you are doing this for my own good, but as the eldest son of the emperor, I have things I need to do."
Yang Lun looked around and saw that the palace servants had stayed far away, so he simply knelt in front of Yi Lang and asked in a low voice, "Who told you to do this?"
Yi Lang did not answer, but said: "Sir, please report this to my father for me."
Yang Lun said, "If Your Majesty doesn't explain clearly, I will feel uneasy and dare not report on Your Majesty's behalf."
Yi Lang then raised his head and said softly, "My aunt taught me."
"Wan'er..."
"Yes. My aunt told me before that if His Majesty wants to punish the students of the academy, let me plead for them as a scapegoat."
"Why?"
Yi Lang shook his head, "I don't understand either, but I want to save these students."
After he had explained the reason, he repeated what he had said before, "Please ask Minister Yang to report this for me."
**
In Qingbo Pavilion, Yang Wan was still sitting on the stone steps outside the back hall, hugging her knees.
No one in the inn was asleep. Some were reciting texts, some were reading books. The shopkeeper and the waiters were busy bringing in handfuls of candles.
He is indeed a scholar.
Yang Wan propped up her mouth and listened to the students gradually starting to study in the hall. She finally felt a little comforted.
She pulled up her sleeves to cover her hands and hunched over a little.
That was Deng Ying’s first night in the imperial prison. She was alone in Qingbo Hall, guarding these frightened students.
It was hard to say who was braver between her and the man, but she could imagine that with Deng Ying's cultivation, he must be calmer than Yang Wan at this moment, but the wounds in his heart were much greater than Yang Wan's.
From the moment Yang Wan met Deng Ying, she felt that Deng Ying was someone who shared the same characteristics as Han Shuang.
No matter how thick the clothes are, they will look thin on him.
At this point, Yang Wan no longer wanted to see him stripped down to a prisoner's uniform. She understood that he accepted his identity but never really accepted his body, but that was also the reason why he remained humble in the world.
He has always been afraid of falling into the trap of the well-dressed.
In the Ming Dynasty, people like him who were left behind after being punished were no different from women. Apart from the physical pain itself, the greater punishment was actually a kind of humiliation to the public in the midst of social order and morality. Yang Wan sometimes regretted why she was skeptical about psychology. If she could be more humble and seriously get in touch with some serious scientific psychology, then her understanding of Deng Ying's psychology would not remain at the sociological level like it is now.
She might be able to do some concrete practices, even if they were not very effective, but at least they could make the man relax a little.
When is Deng Ying most relaxed
The scene of him lying beside her emerged in Yang Wan's mind.
At this time, thinking about doing (Harmonious) AI, Yang Wan was speechless.
She bit her arm, forcing herself to suck her soul out. However, Deng Ying's face, his obscene clothes that were pulled down to his ankles, and the way he buried his head and kept silent when he felt something, instantly aroused Yang Wan's desire.
She sat in the wind, letting herself be absurdly tormented between reason and desire. She closed her eyes and forced herself to look inward at her own desires. Then she slowly realized that as long as she was with him, Deng Ying would not lose the game of clothes and appearance.
"Give."
Qin Wende's voice interrupted her "torture".
Yang Wan patted her face and looked up, "What is that?"
"We eat steamed buns."
Yang Wan took it, took a bite, and said, "It's hard."
Qin Wende sat down and said, "It's almost midnight, how can I not be hard?"
Yang Wan stood up holding the steamed bun and looked towards the courtyard wall.
“How many people from the Northern Pacification Division are guarding outside
Qin Wende stretched out his legs. "About a hundred people. But we are not afraid of them."
Yang Wan shook her head. "You can't say that. We asked you to seal Qingbo Pavilion to buy time, not to send you to death."
"I am not afraid of Qin, I just don't get along with them, the Pacification Division."
"You can't say that. Who doesn't have a wife and children? If you are not afraid of death, can you force others to die?"
"Yes... Madam is right."
Qin Wende scratched the back of his head as he spoke, "Come to think of it, the Governor also said something similar."
"What are you talking about?"
"Hey, I don't remember it clearly, but he probably told us to be nice to the people in the family after we got the money, but he really... Madam, I really want to ask you, do you feel wronged?"
"I already knew he was a scumbag."
"What is a scumbag...?"
Yang Wan smiled, lowered her head and lifted the hair that was stuck to her lips, "A scumbag is a man who treats his wife badly."
"oh… "
Qin Wende nodded seriously, "The governor is indeed a scumbag."
Yang Wan suddenly said, "When he comes back, you can't talk to him like this."
Qin Wende said: "What's the matter? We brothers don't think he's good enough to you. How can there be such a thing as a scumbag? Tsk... Don't want that."
After hearing this, Yang Wan was so nervous that she held her waist and took a long time to recover. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, she heard a banging sound coming from the main door. There was a series of "bang bang bang" sounds, and then there was a commotion outside. The students in the hall were awakened and crowded to the door with panic-stricken looks on their faces.
Qin Wende grabbed the knife and stood up, "What's wrong?"
The guards at the gate reported: "Captain, the envoy of the Northern Pacification Office has arrived."
"Oh shit."
Qin Wende wiped his face and said, "Come out with me."
"Don't do it."
Yang Wan stood up and said, "You can't stop me."
Qin Wende said: "What should we do with these students? We can protect them, but we can't just hand them over like this."
Yang Wan tidied up her messy hair and said, "I'll go by myself."
After she finished speaking, she turned to the students behind her and said, "If I fail to save you this time, I will go to prison with you. If I save you, I want to ask you for a favor."
After hearing this, everyone nodded at her in a daze.
Yang Wan raised her head and said, "I want to ask you, the pen, ink, mouth and tongue, to spare Deng Ying's life."