The end of the fourteenth year of Zhenning.
The coffin of Emperor Zhenning was held. The eldest son Zhu Yilang, as the successor, offered wine before the coffin and personally watched the late emperor being buried.
Before the funeral, the cabinet re-drafted the late emperor's will according to the law. In the name of the late emperor, the funeral ceremony was simplified according to the old system, with days replacing months. The mourning period was removed after 27 days. No slaughter was done during the worship, and all offerings were vegetarian. At the same time, there was no prohibition on folk entertainment or marriage. Princes of the royal family did not have to leave their fiefdoms to attend the funeral, and local officials were not allowed to leave their posts without permission. They could only mourn in their local areas after hearing the news of the death. Officials such as prefects, county magistrates, and county magistrates did not need to burn incense. (1)
After this edict was issued, the financial pressure on the local governments was immediately reduced. Many government offices that had already extended their offer to collect taxes pulled back after hearing the edict.
One day, Chen Hua came back from outside and went to the Yangxin Palace to look for Yang Wan.
Yi Lang moved to another palace. The Yangxin Palace was not like the Chengqian Palace and was guarded by the Jinwu Guards and the Mingjia Army. Yang Wan was no longer as easy to find as before. Chen Hua stood under the porch and waited for a long time before he saw Yang Wan coming out of the palace wearing a large fur cloak.
"Aunt Wan."
He waved to Yang Wan.
Yang Wan saw that it was Chen Hua, and walked closer and said, "You're back."
"Yes, I will be back."
Yang Wan nodded, "Have you seen Yun Qing?"
After hearing this, Chen Hua knelt down and kowtowed to Yang Wan. Yang Wan hurried to support him, "Master Chen, this is not allowed. If others see it, they will think something is wrong."
"Yes, yes..."
Chen Hua stood up quickly, "I saw Yun Qing was so good outside, so I thought about coming back to kowtow to you, and forgot that you have your own rules. I am stupid."
Yang Wan smiled and shook her head, "I feel really sorry for you, so I let you go to see her now."
Chen Hua said:
"You can't say that. I, Yun Qing, understand. You are doing this for our own good."
"Um."
Yang Wan nodded: "Is she well fed and lodged at Qingbo Pavilion?"
"All is well."
Chen Hua wiped his face as he spoke, "Yun Qing has read a lot of books, and your place is full of books, which makes her smell even stronger. I see that she is helping to organize the books behind the printing house now. She has not lost weight and looks better than those in the palace. Although she is still sad when she mentions Li Yu, she is not obsessed with him. This makes me feel relieved."
Yang Wan smiled and replied, "That's good. Next time you go to see her, tell her not to stay behind the printing house all the time. Most of the people from the Imperial Household Department have been imprisoned, and no one will look for her anymore. If she wants, she can go out for a walk. Spring is coming soon, and she should buy some fabric and make some clothes for herself."
"Well, I must tell her."
After saying that, he suddenly remembered something important, and hurriedly lowered his head to take out a bag of silver from his sleeve and presented it to Yang Wan, "This is what Yun Qing asked me to bring to my aunt."
Yang Wan said: "It's useless in the palace, you can keep it."
"They are not for the palace. They were sent by the students of Chushan Academy."
Yang Wan was startled, and quickly reached out to take the wallet, asking, "When was it delivered?"
Chen Hua said, "In the middle of last month, a scholar named Zhou Muyi personally delivered it to Qingbo Pavilion. He said it was our governor's salary before he was imprisoned. After the land was cleared, the school land was returned. The late emperor also left a will, not allowing the name of funeral silver. The income and expenditure of the academy are improving, and we really can't keep the governor's money anymore, so we packed up so much and asked Zhou Muyi to bring it to the governor. Zhou Muyi had no way to see the governor, so he took the money to Qingbo Pavilion. Yun Qing said it was not good for her to keep it, so she simply asked Yun Qing to bring it in for you."
Yang Wan held the silver bag tightly, lowered her head and couldn't help but utter a sound.
Chen Hua said: "I took a sneak peek and there weren't many. You shouldn't be so happy."
Yang Wan said: "You don't understand how rare these are."
After she said this, she didn't explain any more to Chen Hua, "Just go and do your thing."
"Okay, Auntie, take a rest. I'll go back to Xixinsi."
Yang Wan watched Chen Hua walk away on the snow, then walked towards the inner hall holding the silver bag.
Just after taking a few steps, Qing Meng caught up with him from the steps and said, "The ministers in front are here, and they want to report something."
Yang Wan stopped and looked at the sky, then lowered her head and said to Qing Meng who was standing on the steps, "I just saw the dinner is served, please wait a while."
Qing Meng nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty did not have a good morning."
“No need.”
This sound came from behind the door. Qing Meng and others quickly crouched down. Yang Wan turned her head and saw Yi Lang coming out. "Let's listen to what the ministers have said, and then we can eat."
Yang Wan also bowed to him and said, "Yes, I will pass on the message."
Yi Lang stretched out his hand and took Yang Wan's hand, leading her to the inner hall, "You don't have to go. You have been coughing all day. I have sent for the imperial physician to see you. You can sit in the side room for a while."
Yang Wan looked at Yi Lang's back. He was still in mourning and was in heavy mourning. His body, which had not yet fully grown, looked a little bloated. But when he walked, his back was very straight. If you didn't look at his stature, he wouldn't look like a young man.
Yang Wan stared at his steps and blurted out:
"Now that you are His Majesty, the way you walk has changed, and you are more domineering than before."
Yi Lang paused, turned around and said, "Aunt, you must not be so presumptuous."
"yes."
Yang Wan squatted down and said, "I will not be presumptuous."
Yi Lang raised his head and said, "It's for your own good."
"I know. I will see the doctor and take medicine in a moment."
"Would you please not be a slave?"
Yi Lang suddenly raised his voice. Yang Wan was startled, and then she heard him say, "You are my relative, just like my mother. Please don't be my slave."
Yang Wan squatted down and asked, "If not a slave, what else can I do? Your Majesty, are you going to give me an imperial decree?"
"Um."
Yang Wan smiled and said, "But I don't want it."
"Why?"
"Because I just want to be your Majesty's aunt. Although I am bound by palace rules and call myself a slave, in my heart, your Majesty is my most beloved junior. I feel very comfortable being able to get along with your Majesty like this. Your Majesty, do you know that? I am not as afraid of you as before."
Yi Lang let go of Yang Wan's hand and asked, "Aunt was afraid of you before, was it because I made you kneel and beat the factory officials?"
"no."
Yang Wan reached out and straightened his collar that was messed up by the wind. "It was because your aunt didn't quite understand you at that time."
After she finished speaking, she placed the folded paper on her knees and looked up at Yi Lang, "We all need to get along with each other in order to understand the hearts of those around us."
“I understand.”
Yi Lang looked down at Yang Wan and suddenly said in a serious tone: "Help the factory officials."
Yang Wan said: "He committed a capital crime."
Yi Lang shook his head. "In addition to the Ming Dynasty Law, there is also the emperor's conscience in the judicial system."
Yang Wan was stunned, "Who taught you this?"
"Factory official."
After saying that, he turned around and said, "I'm going to listen to the cabinet ministers' reports. You just sit in the side room. After the imperial physician comes to see me, ask him to wait for a while and I'll come over to ask in person."
As he spoke, he walked toward the front room. After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, "Aunt, you must not be sad anymore. Do you hear me?"
“Yes.”
**
Not only did she hear Yi Lang's words, she also heard voices that were contrary to history.
But she was not sure whether the sound was reversed because of her or it was the original sound.
The "Hundred Crimes" written by Yi Lang to Deng Ying did not include the charge of forging the will. In fact, there was no historical fact that the fake Silijian forged the will. He Yixian was punished for embezzling state funds, and the real crime that made Deng Ying suffer the torture of "murdering a clan member" was extremely deliberate. This crime was so deliberate that later generations could not even find historical facts to confirm it. They could only look at the death of the second son of the emperor to find the evidence.
guess.
"History of Ming Dynasty" records that the emperor's second son died before the will was promulgated. However, from this time to the promulgation of the will, the emperor's second son did not die of illness.
This erroneous record in "History of Ming Dynasty" corresponds to the period of the three-court trial, which is not the time when Deng Ying died in history.
However, if this is not Deng Ying’s death, then where is the final death
When Yang Wan thought of this, she couldn't help but feel a chill down her spine.
Bai Huan presented a coffin and Yang Lun left a letter.
Neither of these two historical facts is found in the "History of Ming Dynasty".
But we did recognize Deng Ying.
Perhaps at that time, it was not only them who recognized Deng Ying, Yi Lang, Qi Huaiyang, Bai Yuyang, as well as the cabinet ministers, all the officials who participated in the Jintai Debate, and even Chen Hua and Song Yunqing in the inner court, and the students of the Chushan and Hudan academies... No one was stupid, and everyone gradually understood what the person standing between the civil officials and the eunuchs was doing.
But why was he still tortured to death for three whole days in the end
Was there no one among the people standing at the execution ground who spoke up for him
Why couldn't I leave any words to explain myself back then? Why did my life end up being tampered with so beyond recognition
Yang Wan closed her eyes and recalled the text she had read in her senior sister's diary.
"The emperor at that time only regarded this man's body as a symbol of guilt, and used the death penalty to announce to everyone his attitude towards the eunuch party, the lowliness of the eunuch group, and the absolute control of the imperial power over the palace slaves. When they executed Deng Ying in front of the gate of the palace, perhaps no one remembered that this eunuch who died tragically was once the builder of this imperial city."
Symbol of guilt, attitude towards the eunuch party, absolute control.
As Yang Wan was thinking about these words, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart and lungs.
This paragraph, which has not been included in serious academic papers, seems to have hit the crux of Deng Ying's fate.
Yang Wan held her chest and sat down on the chair.
Her hands touched the notebook she had always carried with her, so she simply took it out and spread it out on her knees.
She wrote this notebook for three years.
The previous "Biography of Deng Ying" took up nearly ten years of her youth, during which she constantly revised the correspondence of historical materials and weighed her words, which was very painstaking. This notebook, in contrast, is like a fragmentary account book, which is mixed with her immature views of this era. Even so, every word in it is real first-hand information. It records the three years after Deng Ying's execution, the delicate and elegant life in the inner court, and the complex officialdom and tragic politics in the late Zhenning period. Compared with the content of "Biography of Deng Ying", most of Yang Wan's research is correct, but she did not see the hearts of people during the Zhenning period. She originally thought that everyone was ignorant and did not recognize Deng Ying's virtue, but now it seems that people's hearts may not be ignorant.
Historical materialism never deceived Yang Wan.
This is not a problem of "people", it is a problem of social form and class structure, everything is inevitable.
"It's so difficult, Deng Ying."
Yang Wan looked at the portrait she drew of Deng Ying and said to herself, "I used to think that publishing the biography of Deng Ying was difficult enough, but I didn't expect that writing this notebook would be more difficult than doing academic research."