Bai Huan smiled as he watched the sibling bickering between Yang Wan and Yang Lun, then turned to Deng Ying and asked, "Are you sure about the reconstruction of Yunya Hall?"
Deng Ying clasped her hands on her knees and nodded, "The students have."
"How long will it take?"
Deng Ying said: "I am recovering from my illness and have not yet visited the site of the collapse. However, according to the description of Xu Qi from the Ministry of Works, I roughly estimated that it will take a full month."
"Is the time correct?"
Yang Lun moved a stool and sat down next to Bai Huan, and said to Bai Huan: "Master, his estimate is basically accurate."
Bai Huan sighed, looked up at Yang Lun and said, "It is still unknown how long Your Majesty can hold on."
Yang Wan listened to what he said and couldn't help but say, "Now the six palaces and His Highness are all in care of the sick. I asked the Imperial Physician Luo privately and he said it was a leukemia and it was difficult to cure."
Yang Lun interrupted her and said, "Don't say that."
Yang Wan sat down next to Deng Ying, looked up at Yang Lun and said, "I am talking about the matter and I am telling the truth. Hangzhou is implementing a new tax policy and is in a critical period. Brother, you know who is holding you back. The government in Jiangnan is even more complicated than that in the capital. The minister in Zhejiang has connections with the Imperial Household Department. If you want to touch him, you have to touch He Yixian. If Your Highness ascends the throne, He Yixian can also be touched."
Yang Lun did not say anything, Deng Ying continued: "Master, the Imperial Household Department also has the Empress of the Central Palace and the Second Prince."
Bai Huan said, "Tang Xianji also mentioned this. Now, we can't hear the voice of the Imperial Household Department. Even if we discuss it with them, we may not be able to hear the truth. Your Majesty has issued an order, and they hold the seal. It is very dangerous to establish a crown prince. Once the second son of the emperor succeeds to the throne, he will be controlled by the Imperial Household Department, and the eunuch disaster... will be unstoppable."
Deng Ying lowered her head and gently pinched the corner of the work drawing, "Master, Zixi, please let me think about it for a while."
Yang Lun said: "What can you think? When the Yunya Palace is completed, you will be exiled to Nanjing as a slave."
Yang Wan continued: "I have a way to make him stay."
As she spoke, she stood up, her eyes passing over Yang Lun and then to Bai Huan, "But I want to ask, if he ends up being criticized by the public because of the factional struggle over the succession, what will you do?"
Bai Huan bent down and held Deng Ying's wrist, "Fu Ling, it's also good to go to Nanjing..."
Yang Lun also said: "Yes, Master and I have the same idea. Going to Nanjing is better than your current situation."
Deng Ying said lightly: "What's the good? I am a slave who has been convicted and cannot be reborn."
He raised his head and said, "It's all the same. Master, you don't have to feel sad for me. Wanwan, tell me what you think."
Yang Wan said: "You keep delaying the construction of Yunya Palace. It won't be built so quickly."
After she finished speaking, she turned to Yang Lun and Bai Huan, "Teacher Bai, brother, where is Master Cao now?"
Yang Lun replied: "In Qingtian Temple."
Yang Wan nodded and said, "You can ask the Ministry of Justice to lock him up and interrogate him."
"What?"
Yang Lun doubted, "Your Majesty has always trusted the people of Qingtian Temple. If you arrest them rashly, you must have a good reputation."
"I heard from Lady Chen that even when His Majesty was ill, he had been taking the elixirs from Qingtian Temple. They were filled with heavy metals... No, those things are harmful to His Majesty's illness. The Imperial Pharmacy is not unaware of this, but His Majesty is protecting Qingtian Temple, so they dare not report it directly."
Yang Lun continued, "And then what? What happens after we arrest him? We will try him based on the crime he committed. It's a capital crime."
Yang Wan said, "Just ask him for the death penalty. We want him to be afraid. Only when he is afraid can we teach him how to speak in front of His Majesty. His Majesty is seriously ill. If anything happens to him, he still has to rely on the cabinet to survive. His life is in your hands, and he will listen."
Yang Lun stood up and said, "Okay, I roughly understand what you mean. When the time comes, we can discuss how to teach him specifically."
Yang Wan replied, "It's not difficult. As long as we can link Yunya Palace with your majesty's life span, your majesty will pardon Deng Ying and keep him in the Imperial Household Department."
After Yang Wan finished speaking, she looked at Deng Ying and said, "Deng Ying, you should repair the house carefully. Go slowly to give the Ministry of Justice some time. At the same time, you must not make any mistakes."
Deng Ying nodded, "Okay, I know."
Yang Wan hummed, turned to Yang Lun and said, "You and Teacher Bai haven't answered my question yet."
"… "
Deng Ying sat up straight and held Yang Wan's hand, "Wan Wan, don't force the teacher and Zi Xi."
Yang Wan didn't look back, she looked at Yang Lun and said directly: "I won't."
After saying this, he held Deng Ying's hand with his backhand, "I am a justice that outweighs the justice of the suffering of the people."
After hearing what she said, Yang Lun remained silent.
After a long while, Bai Huan finally spoke: "As an official in the court, I have always followed the principle that if it is for the right path, one can sacrifice one's own children. It is difficult for me to give you justice, but as a teacher..."
He looked at Deng Ying, "I will not watch my students die. I said, it's fine to go to Nanjing. Fu Ling, you have done enough. No matter what you choose, you will always be the best student of Zhang Zhanchun and me."
Yang Wan interrupted Bai Huan and said:
“But you still haven’t answered me whether you will give him justice.”
Yang Lun couldn't help but said, "Wan'er, don't talk to me like that."
Yang Wan pursed her lips and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Bai, I was rude, but..." She lowered her head and smiled, "It doesn't matter. If you don't want to give it to me, then give it to me."
Yang Lun said: "What nonsense, how can you give it to me? You..."
Bai Huan raised his hand to interrupt Yang Lun, and stood up by the edge of Deng Ying's bed, "Okay, let him eat, and let him have a good rest after eating, let's go."
**
After Bai Huan and Yang Lun left, Yang Wan remained silent.
She scooped a bowl of rice and handed it to Deng Ying, then added a bowl for herself, poking at it lightly with chopsticks, but refused to eat.
Deng Ying held the bowl, and did not dare to eat alone. Yang Wan saw that he was holding the bowl without moving, so she said, "Oh,...you eat."
Deng Ying asked, "What's wrong with you?"
"I… "
Yang Wan put the bowl on her knees and said, "I'm not very happy."
"I'm sorry. I didn't do it well."
Yang Wan shook her head. "It has nothing to do with you. I just couldn't control my emotions. I clearly know that there are some things that I can't get no matter how hard I try, but I still want to fight for them. Actually... Actually, I should have been calmer so that I wouldn't be rude to your master, but I couldn't help it..."
She lowered her head and sniffed, "I'm sorry, Deng Ying, I should apologize. I shouldn't have said that to Teacher Bai and my brother in front of you."
Deng Ying put down his bowl and said, "What is this justice that outweighs the suffering of the people?"
"It's an evaluation, an evaluation of you."
She paused and added: “It is the mouthpiece of the people of this world and the writing of the people of future generations.”
Deng Ying raised her hand and gently pressed the corner of Yang Wan's eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.
"You know, I don't care about how people in this world or in the future will judge me. I'm only worried about whether I've made you angry."
Yang Wan smiled, "You have been listening to me for the past ten days, sitting on the bed obediently, eating and taking medicine consciously. Why should I be angry? Deng Ying, no matter what you choose, I won't say anything. Remember what I said, I have lived for many years, I have seen everything, you can kill yourself, I am here for you."
Deng Ying said softly, "How old are you?"
"Twenty."
Yang Wan lowered her head, "But it also seems like I've lived too much."
She picked up the bowl and chopsticks and handed them to Deng Ying, "Let's eat. After dinner, you can soak your feet. I want to write some notes for a while."
After the meal, the two of them had dinner together. Deng Ying sat on the bed and soaked her feet, while Yang Wan sat at the desk and opened her notes.
In the autumn of the 14th year of Zhenning, a notebook recorded all the historical facts that had occurred in the past two and a half years. It was so thick that the previous binding was broken. The first copy in her hand was rebound for her by the workers of Qingbo Pavilion.
Yang Wan turned to the latest page and wrote the year and month.
At the end of August in the fourteenth year of Zhenning, there were still more than three months before the death of Emperor Zhenning, and less than two years before Deng Ying was tried and convicted by the three courts.
The second year of the Jinghe reign in history is a very important period for researchers who study the eunuch politics of the Zhenning and Jinghe dynasties.
It was the year when Deng Ying was tortured to death. His tragic death symbolized the young Emperor Jinghe's determination to eliminate the evil of eunuchs and never repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty. It was also a watershed in the Ming Dynasty's revival.
Most researchers have given high praise to the punishments of Yi Langshi and Deng Ying. When Yang Wan was studying, she had read hundreds of related papers. Deng Ying in the papers was as light as a dispensable feather, but paradoxically supported all the arguments.
Yang Wan held the pen and looked up at Deng Ying.
He rolled up his sleeves and was bending over to massage the injured ankle. The shape of his shoulder bone was clearly visible through his thin undershirt.
This warm body can carry his soul for two more years.
In the two years of the reign of Emperor Jinghe, many major events were recorded in the history of Ming Dynasty. At the end of the year, the emperor passed away, followed by the death of the second son Zhu Yijue due to a sudden illness. Yi Lang succeeded to the throne, and He Yixian, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, fell from power. Deng Ying was promoted to the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department and concurrently served as the eunuch superintendent of the East Factory. He seemed to be in a very high position and was very famous for a while. However, at the end of the second year of Jinghe, he was jointly impeached by the cabinet, imprisoned, and tried by the three officials. What happened during this period was only recorded in a few hundred words in the History of Ming Dynasty. Afterwards, all the "crimes" he had "committed" were exposed. The most serious one was "murdering a clan member", but who the clan member was was not specified in the Record of Hundred Crimes and the History of Ming Dynasty.
A lot of bloody charges were lightly thrown upon him, hiding some unspeakable secrets.
When looking back at the "Record of a Hundred Crimes" and the palace historical materials of the late Zhenning period, many researchers have linked the "murder of clan relatives" with the sudden death of the emperor's second son Yi Jue. However, it has always been speculation and there is no conclusion.
So, Yang Wan wanted to know what happened and what Deng Ying did. But at this moment, looking at Deng Ying sitting in front of her, she suddenly wished time would stop.
However, this thought only flashed through Yang Wan's mind. Her respect for Deng Ying was also her respect for the course of history.
"Deng Ying."
"Um"
"I'm a little cold, I want to soak my feet with you too."
Deng Ying looked down at the back of her feet and said, "The water... has become dirty because of me."
"You're not dirty at all."
Yang Wan stood up and took off her hairband. "Put your hands out."
Deng Ying was a little confused, but still stretched out her hands as she was told.
Yang Wan held his wrists and tied them gently with a hairband.
Deng Ying looked at Yang Wan's movements and said softly, "Wan Wan, why do you tie me up like this?"
Yang Wan said, "Listen, I was the one who convicted you. From now on, no one else's conviction will count."
Deng Ying looked down at her wrist, "What crime?"
"The crime of being a scumbag."
She pursed her lips and said calmly, "Deng Ying, in your life, the only person you feel sorry for is perhaps me."