Yang Wan's fingers had already climbed onto the window bolt, but when she heard Deng Ying's voice, she pulled them back in dissatisfaction.
She turned around and asked Deng Ying: "What's going on?"
Deng Ying looked up at the window screen and said, "Come here first."
Yang Wan stood up and walked back to Deng Ying, but she couldn't help looking outside, "Is he beating someone?"
"Um."
Deng Ying casually flipped open a book and retracted her gaze, "Don't go out, wait until they are done."
Yang Wan nodded and didn't say anything else. She sat down next to Deng Ying and listened attentively.
On a spring afternoon, the emerald green feathers of the birds tremble gently in the sunlight, and all the shadows in the garden have a gentle self-awareness of the sunny day.
All was in complete silence; not even the sound of the stick could be heard as the tortured person's screams of pain were heard.
But Yang Wan and Deng Ying both understood that this was because the person being punished had his mouth gagged. Therefore, this was not a punishment for a slave, but a caning for death.
Neither of them spoke any more, waiting in silence for the tragedy outside to end.
The sound of the cane carried obvious murderous intent, not giving the prisoner any chance to survive. It was precise, clean and neat, and after a dozen strokes, the sound of broken spines could be heard.
Yang Wan couldn't help but gasp.
He grabbed Deng Ying's wrist.
The sleeves of spring robes are wide.
In order to recite books and write, the general had deliberately tucked his sleeves three inches, leaving half of his arms exposed on the desk. Yang Wan's grip immediately broke the barrier between men and women.
Deng Ying lowered her head and looked at the white hand.
Her skin is as white as porcelain, and is set off by a jade bracelet.
Like all the ladies in the capital, she originally had half an inch long nails, but due to the scratching when she fell into the lake, almost all of them were lost. Now the nails that grew out were all new, and they were not dyed with nail polish for the time being. They looked very soft and the color was also light.
Sometimes, Deng Ying would unconsciously avoid this young and beautiful female body hidden under silk and satin.
Just as he avoids his own body.
But he didn't dare hide, for fear that she would misunderstand that he hated having contact with her.
So he could only try his best to quietly pull his arm forward and try to pull his wrist out of her hand.
Yang Wan did not let go of her hand. Her arm stroked the pages of the book on the table and slid towards him as he pulled back. Deng Ying did not dare to move and could only lie his arms stiffly across the table, letting her hold tighter and tighter.
After a while, the sound of the stick stopped.
Then there was a dragging sound, the thin fabric rubbing against the grass, and two or three black shadows passed by the window screen with quick steps, and disappeared in a moment.
There was no human voice during the entire process, only the sound of flesh exploding and hurried yet leisurely footsteps.
But the smell is pervasive.
When Yang Wan smelled the blood, her stomach suddenly churned.
She felt like vomiting.
It was strange. She was not afraid of the dead body being dragged over outside. She just felt disgusted.
"What's wrong."
"Nothing, I just... really... really want to vomit."
She covered her mouth and turned her back, hunching her shoulders in order to hold back the urge to vomit.
"This... isn't the first time."
Before she could finish her words, her stomach churned and acid almost rushed into her throat, suddenly irritating her eyes.
She quickly squatted down and held her breath. In the end, she almost curled up into a ball, feeling cold all over and shaking like she was sifting chaff.
Deng Ying looked at Yang Wan squatting on the ground, feeling more panic than ever before.
He looked down at his hands and suddenly felt that the idea of touching her at this time was so despicable and shameless.
He quickly put his hands into his sleeves, turned around and poured a glass of water, squatted down with his clothes rolled up, and held the cup in front of her, "Don't talk yet, drink a little."
Yang Wan took the water, tilted her head back and took a sip, then pressed her chest and tried to swallow slowly, and finally she began to calm down.
She rinsed her mouth with water again, raised her head and tucked her hair, which was wet from her breath, behind her ears. She raised her sleeve to wipe away the tears on her face and panted, "It's really... I almost died."
Deng Ying took the cup she had drunk from, stood up and put it on the desk, suppressing the waves in her heart, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be so upset, I..."
"fine."
Yang Wan didn't know what he was apologizing for with his "I'm sorry", nor did she know how to explain her reaction to him. After all, in modern civilized society, the scene of "execution" is hidden from the public. She had a legal concept of the death penalty, but she had no concept of fresh corpses and the blood of the dead.
She thought, pressing her swollen and painful temple, "I'm fine now, I just couldn't help smelling that smell."
After saying that, she sniffed again, grabbed the back of the chair and stood up, lowered her head to adjust her skirt, and continued to ask in a muffled voice, "Why has the Imperial Household Department executed so many people recently?"
Deng Ying took advantage of her inattention, rolled up her sleeves, covered the skin on her wrists, and asked her, "What did Jiang Shangyi tell you?"
Yang Wan shook her head as she straightened her clothes. "Shang Yi is the most polite among the female officials. She wouldn't bring up such a thing." After that, she sat back down at the desk, took out her notes, turned a new page, flattened it, dipped the pen in ink, raised her head and continued, "I wonder if it's because of the corruption case at Liulichang."
Deng Ying originally didn't want to mention this matter, but when he saw Yang Wan holding the pen, he couldn't bear to respond to her coldly.
Since he met Yang Wan, she has been writing in this notebook. Deng Ying couldn't understand the words on it, but he liked watching her write.
She was calm and focused, without any trace of the self-pity or resentment that one would expect from a woman in the inner court.
"That's why I beat someone to death. You were in so much pain just now, why are you still asking?"
"I want to live a more clear life in the palace."
She pointed the tip of her pen at the window and said, "Look at them. Didn't they die for no apparent reason?"
As he spoke, he raised the pen to cover the loose hair hanging from his temples, and then continued, "Besides, I only asked you, it will be fine."
Deng Ying couldn't help but smile when she heard her say this, "You just trust me like this."
"Of course I believe you. No one in this world believes you more than me."
Deng Ying was slightly stunned.
When a person is in obscurity or is caught in an inexplicable stigma, he or she will be afraid that someone will trust him or her regardless of the consequences. This means his or her own downfall, and will also be her downfall.
Just like the scholars of Tongjia Academy who were suffering torture in the imperial prison at this time.
Deng Ying didn't think that her life was worthy of such a sacrifice.
Since he was imprisoned, he spent a long time convincing himself that since he could not walk during the day, he should walk in the cold night. However, he would rather walk alone and refused to pick up any lantern that was lit just for him.
"If you don't want to say it, then I'll say it first. Please help me listen to see if I'm right."
After she finished speaking, she picked up her own book and flipped a few pages forward. She supported her chin with one hand and turned the pen with the other hand, poking at the key point in the notes and said, "Wang Shunchang from Liulichang is the godson of He Yixian, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department. Although the deficit found by the Ministry of Works this time is as high as over one million, it is a drop in the bucket compared to the deficit of the entire inner court."
She said something in a circle, but did not directly say the specific number that was verified by later generations. She looked up and asked Deng Ying: "You and Mr. Zhang have been in charge of building the imperial city for so many years. Do you have a specific number in mind for the income and expenditure of building the city?"
Deng Ying was silent at first, then nodded slightly.
"How many."
Deng Ying did not answer.
Yang Wan didn't ask any more questions. She lowered her head and moved the pen away from the number. "Okay, you don't have to tell me yet. Anyway, it's a number that will kill a lot of people if you tell it."
Then he turned the page and said, "Now the cabinet wants to hand Wang Shunchang over to the three ministries, but the Silijian wants to treat him as a slave and deal with him in the palace. The reason is that once Wang Shunchang is put into the prison of the Ministry of Justice, the family assets of the people in the Silijian will be emptied. The construction of the imperial city took forty years, and the amount of money in and out was more than tens of millions. During the Zhenning period, the twenty-four bureaus inside and outside, weaving, charcoal, rice, meat, and water consumed a huge amount. It is understandable that the people's taxes are used to support the royal family. Supporting..."
"Yang Wan."
Deng Ying suddenly interrupted her.
Yang Wan raised her head, "What's wrong?"
"Don't touch this matter. It has nothing to do with you."
Yang Wan put down the pen in her hand and said, "I know, but this matter has something to do with you."
She stopped talking here and just looked at her notes quietly.
"Yang Wan."
He called her name again.
"Um?"
"How did you see this level?"
"You said that, so you've thought about it yourself, right?"
Deng Ying was stunned.
Yang Wan’s words were almost hitting the nail on the head.
When his father Deng Yi was in the cabinet, in order to please and deceive Emperor Zhenning, he allowed the Imperial Household Department to take the lead and force the Ministry of Revenue to tilt its finances heavily towards the expenses of the royal family. The construction of the imperial city was already overwhelmed, and the emperor continued to reward various royal palaces.
The year before last, the wife of Emperor Zhenning's younger brother, Prince Cheng, Jiang, gave birth to a son. After Prince Cheng reported the matter to the inner court, Emperor Zhenning gave Jiang's mother's family in Nanjing 1,000 taels of gold. You know, at that time, the northwest border was still at war, and the salt inspector who went south to raise military funds could not bear the huge pressure and almost hanged himself on the ship returning to Beijing. The inner court ignored the severe financial situation and continued to expand the number of eunuchs and maids in the palace. The royal palaces in various places also greedily demanded silk, cotton cloth, grain and meat.
As long as these things were accounted for in the inner court, they would be in the name of the emperor. No one dared to investigate, and all the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department would embezzle them. As for how much these eunuchs lost, even if later generations verified it, they could only get an approximate number, and it was even a "number" during the Zhenning period.
This was the Ming Dynasty under the control of Deng Yi.
The situation was precarious and could collapse in an instant. Although Deng Ying was not in the court, he was involved in the construction of the imperial city. Over the past ten years, he had seen and remembered a lot. When he was young, he even wrote down some of the things. When Zhang Zhanchun accidentally discovered this, he called him to his study and scolded him severely.
From then on, he constantly warned Deng Ying, "Don't try to do the impossible before the time is right."
Deng Ying never saw the account book that he had kept privately when he was young again.
Even when Zhang Zhanchun passed away, Deng Ying was unable to find it when she personally cleaned his dormitory.
So, in the eyes of his teacher, the time has not yet come.
"Deng Ying."
Yang Wan waved her hand in front of him.
Deng Ying came back to his senses, only to find that she had already closed the booklet and was hunched over in front of him.
"Don't overthink it. You hear me?"
"Do you know what I'm thinking?"
"I know. If you don't think it's offensive, I'll tell you."
Deng Ying smiled and said, "No matter what you say to me, it's not an offense."
"Really?"
"Um."
He nodded sincerely.
Yang Wan also smiled, "You are so kind to me.
After she finished speaking, she straightened her back and looked into Deng Ying's eyes. "Well... you are thinking, if the three officials of the cabinet find you through Liulichang, will you stand with your former teacher and fellow students?"