At the Sishan Gate, officials and their wives were crying.
In order to provide a place for people to eat and rest, the Palace Department temporarily built ten felt tents along the palace wall about 100 meters west of Sishan Gate. After finishing the documents of the Zan Department, Song Yunqing walked out of the office hall and saw that the meal of the Shangyi Bureau had been given away. The maid said to her: "Zan, the kitchen is busy. The meals for the day are delivered at a fixed time. However, there is always food at Sishan Gate. Many eunuchs go there to eat. If you are willing to walk a few steps, you can go there too."
Song Yun took a quick look at the weather outside.
The snow had lightened and the wind had died down, making the road much easier to travel on even without anyone in the snow.
Song Yunqing went back to the hall to get an umbrella, put on his clothes and walked out from the side door of the Shangyi Bureau, and walked along the deserted palace road towards the Sishan Gate.
At the corner of the palace road, a handful of snow from a branch fell on Song Yunqing, and she lowered her head and patted the snow. Suddenly, she heard the sound of chasing and shouting coming from the front of the corner.
"Grab him—"
Song Yunqing instinctively hid by the wall and looked towards the corner.
Li Yu's lungs were aching from running so much on the snowy palace road. The snowy wind kept blowing into his mouth and nose, almost blocking his airway and making it difficult for him to breathe. Shocked and frightened, he ran out of the Silijian duty room in a panic. He instinctively wanted to go to the Shangyi Bureau to find his sister Song Yunqing, but as soon as he ran out of the Yangxin Gate, the eunuchs of the Silijian chased after him.
He is still young and hasn't fully grown yet, so how can he really escape
Two eunuchs came up and pushed his arms down from the left and right, causing his joints to dislocate. Li Yu's legs softened in pain and he immediately fell to his knees in the snow. His mouth was filled with snow powder. He screamed loudly, unable to move his hands, and kicked with his legs desperately. One of the eunuchs was kicked in the corner by him, and he slapped him in the face in anger.
The eunuch beside him hurriedly said, "Don't mess things up, just hang him quickly."
Then he turned back and said, "Bring the noose! Quick, bring the noose over here!"
Li Yu took advantage of the moment when the two men turned their heads, exerted all his strength, struggled forward, and fell to the ground.
He raised his head and shouted desperately in the direction of the Shangyi Bureau: "The late emperor's will is a fake! I, Li Yu, died unjustly... Oh my God, the late emperor's will is a fake, I, Li Yu! I died unjustly..."
Before he could finish his words, two ropes were already around his neck. The person holding the ropes left him no room for maneuver. He put one foot against his knees and tightened the ropes backwards, forcing Li Yu to kneel down.
Li Yu's eyes widened instantly, his lips trembled and he could no longer utter a sound.
"Ah Yu... Ah..."
Song Yunqing just shouted, but a hand stretched out from behind and covered his mouth.
Yang Wan's deliberately low voice came from behind, "Yun Qing is me, Yang Wan, don't make a sound!"
Song Yunqing's tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at Li Yu's kicking legs, her mind was blank, and she didn't even bother to think about what he just shouted meant. She just wanted to run to him immediately and tear off the rope that was about to end Li Yu's life.
Seeing that Song Yunqing was still struggling, Yang Wan quickly grabbed her wrists and dragged her back, whispering:
"Song Yunqing, if you go there, you will just be one more person to die!"
The two were of similar stature, and both wrestled with all their might. Yang Wan lost her balance and fell backwards, taking Song Yunqing with her into the snow. Although the pain from the bruise on her back made it almost impossible for her to breathe, she still covered Song Yunqing's mouth tightly and said in a hoarse voice, "You've been teaching me to protect myself... Now it's my turn to beg you, don't die!"
Song Yunqing lay on her back on Yang Wan's body, snowflakes floated lightly towards her face, and when they landed on her skin, it actually felt a little hot.
The noise around the corner gradually died down.
"Is he dead?"
"He's incontinent. He should be dead."
"Hu Bingbi said that the head must be chopped off when buried, and the person must not be resurrected."
"Beheaded? Not really. I think he's dead."
"Why so much talk? Let's just do it."
"… "
The person who spoke first seemed a little hesitant. "Hey, why did the ancestor want to kill Li Yu? What did he say just now... what will... did you hear it?"
"You still take his crazy talk seriously. Shut up now. If you say it again, we will all die. Let's go and drag the body away while no one is around."
"Okay, wrap him up with a white cloth, you carry him in front, and I'll grab his legs."
Yang Wan was lying in the snow, listening to a conversation, and a bloody smell came out of her mouth.
She suddenly remembered that she had also heard palace maids being beaten to death outside in the inner school.
At that time, she vomited in front of Deng Ying, not because she had a deep understanding of the concept of "death". On the contrary, the secretive modern executions covered up "death" completely. The reason why she vomited was because she could not accept the fishy smell of a pile of dead meat that she had never seen before.
But now, Li Yu's body was outside, only ten steps away from her, but she no longer had the urge to vomit like she did back then.
A dead person is not a pile of smelly meat, nor is he a thin character.
Instead, it was the end of their love and friendship. They died in the center or on the edge of the dynasty, and could no longer cry out "injustice" to their relatives and friends.
Yang Wan closed her eyes and held back her tears.
In the snow under the palace wall, Li Yu's eyes were still open.
His face was dark blue and his lips were pale.
Fortunately, the heavy snow in recent days easily covered the filth on his lower body. A piece of white cloth was spread out to the sky, and the cloth wrapped around his half-grown body. The two eunuchs grabbed one end each and wiped him out from under the canopy of the Ming Dynasty.
"Yun Qing."
Yang Wan lowered her head and called Song Yunqing.
Song Yunqing didn't say anything.
Yang Wan gritted her teeth and stood up, then gently lifted the limp Song Yun onto her shoulders.
"You can't go back to the Shangyi Bureau. I'll take you away."
**
In the side hall of Chengqian Palace, He Yu lit four charcoal fires and wrapped Song Yunqing with his own quilt. However, Song Yunqing was still shivering and his lips were black. He Yu worriedly said, "Why can't I warm up?"
Yang Wan stood in front of Song Yunqing with her arms folded and sighed, "She's not cold."
"If it's not cold, then what is it? I'm shivering like a bastard."
Yang Wan shook her head and said, "Go and boil some hot soup."
"good… "
He Yu tidied the mattress on Song Yunqing, stood up and walked out, and pushed the door open to let Deng Ying in.
Yang Wan turned around and asked, "How is it?"
Deng Ying looked at Song Yunqing who was sitting on Yang Wan's bed and said softly, "I was a step too late. Li Yu's head..."
"ah… "
Song Yunqing on the bed suddenly cried out in pain, tilted his neck back and opened his mouth, his saliva formed a sticky thread that hung between his upper and lower teeth, but no sound came out of his throat.
"sorry."
Deng Ying glanced sideways, unable to bear to look any longer.
"I ordered the East Factory to collect Li Yu's body. I will bury him myself. Please rest assured, Si Zan, I will not treat him with contempt."
"Why... why did you die..."
Song Yunqing squeezed the quilt tightly, "Why can't I live even though I have a godfather... Ah Yu, my sister and I have lived in the palace for so long, never said a single happy word, never did a happy thing, why did we become ghosts, become ghosts... Ah Yu, I watched you die but couldn't save you, I... deserve to die too."
Yang Wan knelt down beside the couch and hugged Song Yunqing's shoulders. "Song Yunqing, I tell you, I risked my life to bring you back to Chengqian Palace, not to listen to your discouraging words. If you cause trouble for His Highness, you will be a sinner. I know you are heartbroken by Li Yu's death, but even if you die with him, what's the point? Do you know why he died? Do you know who killed him? Do you know who you hate? Ah?"
Song Yunqing was stunned in Yang Wan's arms, and suddenly coughed, "By the way... He said that the will... the will is fake!"
"How did Li Yu know that the will was fake?"
Song Yunqing said, "On the fifth day of every month, he would go to give Li Bingbi the pickled meat... Maybe he heard something he shouldn't have heard."
Yang Wan looked up at Deng Ying: "Li Bingbi?"
Deng Ying lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment before saying, "It's too late."
After he finished speaking, he walked to the couch, lifted his robe, squatted down, looked up and said to Song Yunqing: "Song Sizan, before Li Yu got into trouble, he went to the Shangyi Bureau to look for you, right?"
Song Yun choked up and nodded.
"If what Li Yu said is true, the Imperial Household Department will look for you overnight. I can't let Yang Wan keep you in Chengqian Palace. You must leave the palace with me immediately."
Song Yun shook his head tremblingly, "I... where can I go if I leave the palace now? How can I survive..."
Yang Wan held her hand and said, "Let's go to Qingbo Pavilion."
"That is..."
“My place.”
Yang Wan tidied up her hair that was damp from the charcoal fire, "You still remember that you helped count the money for buying Qingbo Pavilion. It wasn't very big, but the East Factory and the Jinyiwei had been there, so no one dared to check it. The bookstore is doing well now. You can go there to rest for a while, and ask the shopkeeper for food, clothing and other expenses. If you feel better later, you can help me manage it. You and I were both clerks in the Shangyi Bureau. I believe you will understand the things in the books once you get started."
As she spoke, she took off the ivory plate from her waist and handed it to Song Yunqing.
"Take my ivory card and follow Lord Deng. Don't be afraid."
"I… "
"Song Yunqing."
Yang Wan interrupted her, pursed her lips, lowered her head and held her hand, saying: "I have never really recognized you and Jiang Shangyi. For me, protecting myself is important, but when the nest is overturned, how can the eggs remain intact? Do you think this world has nothing to do with us? In fact, as long as we are alive, no one can escape. You and I are both educated women, and we must be more compassionate than other women. In addition to protecting our own lives, we may not be unable to do something else. Listen to me, don't cry, be calm when you leave the palace, and don't hurt Deng Ying. Don't think about anything else when you go out. If you are alive, you will see justice one day."