On a cold autumn night in Qingbo Pavilion, Song Yunqing lit a few lamps in the pavilion, and the shopkeeper brought out all the inkstones and inks.
Song Yunqing taught Chen Hua and others step by step how to bind the manuscript (1). Zhou Muyi and several other scholars from the Hanlin Academy worked under the lamp, writing all night long.
Yang Wan repainted Deng Ying alone based on her previous life.
However, his painting skills are still at the level when he was a child learning to paint.
So three days later, Yang Lun saw a severely disproportionate small portrait of Deng Ying in the cabinet duty room, which was blatantly embedded in the folk copy of "Dongchang Observation Notes".
The painting style was the same as that of Yang Wan. No one knew who taught it. It had its own absurd air, "comically" resisting the seemingly strict laws of the Ming Dynasty. It seemed to be very weak, and because of its absurd air, it was incompatible with the politics of the Ming Dynasty, making it difficult to break through.
Yang Lun felt both pain and pleasure, and in the end he couldn't help laughing out loud with a choked throat.
The cabinet ministers were originally silent, but when they heard Yang Lun's laughter, they all looked up at him.
It was a very cold day after the rain. Yang Lun kept himself warm indoors. The stove under the window was emitting a puff of white smoke, which was the only trace of life in the room.
Bai Yuyang coughed.
The cabinet ministers quickly withdrew their gazes.
Bai Yuyang turned aside and asked Qi Huaiyang, "When will the Chief Justice (2) arrive?"
Qi Huaiyang glanced at the sky and replied, "It should be soon."
Bai Yuyang picked up the cold tea and took a sip. "Since you came here today, no one has spoken. Can't you hear anything outside? Do you have to wait for the Inspectorate to come before you dare to speak out?"
Everyone knew what he was talking about, but considering Yang Lun was present, no one spoke for a while.
Qi Huaiyang said, "Sir Prime Minister, the number of cuts for lingchi has been determined, and the execution will be carried out in the autumn. Even if this book is circulated, the Ministry of Justice will not change the sentence. He has been kept in the imperial prison for so long, and the emperor has not issued any other decree. In my opinion, please order the burning of the book that has been circulated, and that's it."
"There's no end to it."
The Left Censor of the Inspectorate lifted his robe and walked away as he spoke.
He was caught in the rain when he came, and a large area of his shoulder was wet, but he still refused to take off his official robe.
Bai Yuyang asked, "Where did the General Secretary come from?"
The Left Supervisory Envoy replied, "Come from the front of Shuntian Prefecture."
As he spoke, he handed a book to Bai Yuyang. This book was not sold in any bookstore, but it was circulated among the several inns behind Shuntian Mansion.
Bai Yuyang asked, "What are the Northern Pacification Division and the Military Division doing?"
The Left Inspector said: "The Military Affairs Department has been suppressed by the Pacification Department and now dares not move. Yang Wan from Qingbo Pavilion..."
He turned to Yang Lun and paused, "The identity of this woman is a little different. After Concubine Ning fell ill, she took care of His Majesty's daily life. The Zhenfu Division dared to ask about this matter forcefully, which must be in accordance with His Majesty's order. And they did it for nothing. The book that was circulated in the capital before was a blockbuster from Qingbo Pavilion. Zhang Luo has taken away all the blocks in the pavilion and destroyed them, even the ink and cotton paper stored in the pavilion. The book I found now is a copy from the people. Unless it is strictly ordered to be burned and the people are not allowed to copy it again, it cannot be banned."
Qi Huaiyang said: "This needs to be submitted to His Majesty and the cabinet will discuss it..."
"Submit the memorial today and start the discussion tomorrow. If the emperor rejects it again, the book will be known to everyone in the capital! Whoever copied this book will be sent to prison and severely punished!"
The Left Supervisory Envoy said: "Hanlin Academy Scholars Zhou Muyi, Tang Ping, and Song Zizun have all copied this book."
Bai Yuyang asked suspiciously, "Zhou Muyang sounds a little familiar."
Qi Huaiyang replied, "Zhou Mu was a scholar in the fourth year of Zhenning. Tang Ping and Song Zizun were of the same year. They were all from Hangzhou and were students of the Chushan and Hudan academies."
The Left Supervisor asked, "Are these the two academies mentioned in the Xuetian case?"
Qi Huaiyang nodded and said, "These two."
Bai Yuyang stood up and slammed the table, saying, "Are these people crazy? He Yixian's power is entrenched in Hangzhou. He knows very well that Hangzhou's education is so difficult. How dare he exonerate the criminals in the school field case? Minister Qi, impeach this person immediately!"
"Bai Shoufu."
Bai Yuyang turned around and suddenly saw Yang Lun flipping through the pages of a book and walking towards him with the book in hand.
"Don't you think that these people in the Hanlin Academy don't know what's good for them? I ask you to read carefully the whole story of the Hangzhou Xuetian case recorded in this book."
Bai Yuyang shouted, "You are trying to get away with it, why do you want to pollute our eyes?"
"This is not an excuse to get away with it!"
Yang Lun raised his voice and pleaded, "If it weren't for the Xuetian case, I wouldn't have been able to return to the capital in the second year of Zhenning."
The Left Supervisor asked, "Sir Yang, what does this mean?"
Yang Lun calmed down for a while and said, "In the second year of Zhenning, I was in charge of clearing land in the south. When I went to Hangzhou, I was assassinated and fell into the river. I almost died on the boat. This happened a long time ago, so long that you have forgotten it. When the land was cleared, all the big families in the south who were in Beijing came to attach themselves to it. Princess Fuqing came to Beijing in person for the strange land of her husband. The officials of the He Party in Zhejiang hindered her everywhere. The officials sent by the Imperial College to measure the land encountered great resistance. The school land under Deng Ying's name was previously owned by He Yixian. As for why he claimed those lands..."
He paused, raised his hand and pointed to the door, "To save my life, to preserve the results of the land clearing in the south. My Lords, I, Yang Lun, returned to Beijing from Hangzhou with great praise. Now the new taxation policy, relying on the land clearing policy, is being implemented in the south. I can save my life and go to the south to take a look, but the person who saved my life... is going to die with this crime. I, Yang Lun, really don't accept it!"
This made Zuo Du Yu Shi confused. After a while, he asked Bai Yuyang: "Is this proof?"
Before Bai Yuyang opened his mouth, Qi Huaiyang said, "There is some evidence. I was ordered to search the homes of He and Deng. Deng Ying has no land or property in the capital or in the countryside. Only a few old clothes and a few packages of medicine were found in his residence. There was also two taels of silver, and the two taels of silver was sent by Yang Wan from Qingbo Pavilion. The more than a thousand acres of school land in Chushan and Hudan, and the output from them were not found in his home. His father was executed early, and he was cut off from the family, so these money and things cannot be distributed."
As he spoke, he picked up the book that Yang Lun had thrown down. "It was only after reading this book that I learned that he had actually returned all the output from these fields. However, this has not been verified yet and is still Yang Wan's one-sided statement. I don't know if it is necessary to re-examine Deng Ying."
The Left Supervisor was stunned, "So these talents in the Hanlin Academy..."
"What do you mean? Huh?"
Bai Yuyang cut off the left imperial commissioner's words and raised his voice, "Are you going to overturn his verdict? You all know that it was Yang Wan's one-sided statement. Just based on this woman's one-sided statement, you want to overturn the decision of the cabinet and the Ministry of Justice. My lords, let me ask you, where is the dignity of the Ming government?"
"As an official in the court, how can you talk about dignity when your integrity is not as good as that of a woman like my sister?"
"Yang Lun!"
Bai Yuyang rushed forward and approached Yang Lun, "Stop talking nonsense in front of all the ministers!"
Yang Lun raised his hand and bowed to Bai Yuyang, "Yes, I can keep silent, but the world's writings will express my feelings."
**
Just as Yang Lun said, all writing in the world expresses its feelings.
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Yang Wan's "Dongchang Observation Notes" was copied and circulated in Beijing. Although the Wucheng Military Commission had carried out several rounds of collection of the book, there were too many copies. Not only students in the capital, but also some wealthy scholars began to copy it privately. The eunuch who was imprisoned in the imperial prison, who had committed many evil deeds and deserved death, appeared in Yang Wan's gentle words in a completely different image.
In addition to the reconsideration of several major cases such as the Zhang case, the Tongjia case, and the Qingtian case, Yang Wan also reconstructed his diet, the injuries he suffered, and the details of his peaceful life when he was "on death row" in a relaxed but secretly cruel tone. Then, he reconstructed his feelings for his teachers and friends, his obsession with the Ming Dynasty, and his love for the people of the world.
These things that were originally difficult to describe are hidden behind the slightly funny portrait sketch, carrying the reluctance of this era, and concealing the compassion and care of the next era, from another world.
Although many people were unwilling to believe Yang Wan's "one-sided statement", they could not help crying while reading it, and could not help copying down some of the chapters to debate with their friends.
In the autumn of the early years of the Jinghe era, Deng Ying's name was constantly mentioned in and outside the capital because of Yang Wan's "Dongchang Observation Notes". Later, several private workshops even re-engraved the book. When the people in Qingbo Pavilion bought the engraved copy on the street market, they were surprised and excited. Song Yunqing even cried a little.
**
Inside Qingbo Pavilion, Yang Wan used up the last bit of ink in the inkstone while the sun was setting outside.
She raised her head, rubbed her neck, and walked toward the porch.
The pair of slippers that Deng Ying had worn were still in front of the door. A few autumn leaves rolled past the side, and the damp corridor emitted a scent of moss.
Yang Wan got up wearing her slippers, walked to the porch and sat down, putting her feet together with Deng Ying's shoes.
Yang Yu came over with the medicine in her hand, looked at her, and asked softly, "Are you a factory official?"
Yang Wan smiled and said, "No."
"Why?"
Yang Wan held the pair of shoes and said, "He was really a jerk to me."
After she finished speaking, her eyes softened. "I don't know if he still remembers what I said, that he should eat more, sleep more, tie his hair up, and not act like a dishevelled ghost..."
Yang Xu put down the soup bowl and sat down with Yang Wan.
"Now that I hear you say this, I don't feel sad anymore."
"Yeah."
Yang Wan leaned her head gently on Yang Yu's shoulder and said, "I don't feel sad anymore."
She lowered her voice and said, "Sister, have I made up for your regret?"
"Um."
Yang Yu gently pulled the loose hair on Yang Wan's forehead and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"No."
Yang Wan reached out her hand and gently hugged Yang Yu, "Sister, I think I can go see Deng Ying now."
"yes."
Yang Yu patted his back gently, "You can go meet him now. Let him sit down and listen to you."
Yang Wan asked softly, "Sister, do you know that I'm going to tell him?"
Yang Xiu raised her head and closed her eyes, recalling the last meeting in front of the Xihua Palace.
Hot nose, blocked throat.
She suppressed the trembling in her voice and said with tears in her eyes:
“Yes.”