In the spring of the tenth year of Zhenning, Yang Wan began to try something that she would never have been able to do in the eleventh century - starting a fire.
However, it was like a disaster, and in the end even Concubine Ning, who was still ill, was alarmed and came to the inner kitchen to see her in person.
The inner kitchen of Chengqian Palace is outside the rear hall and is only two rooms wide.
Yang Wan sat on the threshold of the outer room, her hands on her knees, looking silently at the scattered garlic peels on the ground.
He Yu followed Concubine Ning and quickly rolled up her sleeves to lead people into the inner room.
Yang Wan raised her head and saw Concubine Ning standing in front of her, listening to the complaints and noises of the palace servants in the inner room and laughing.
Yang Wan pursed her lips and said, "My Lady."
Concubine Ning heard her voice was a little depressed, lowered her head and said: "I heard from He Yu that Jiang Shangyi kicked you out?"
Yang Wan said nothing, but just nodded in response.
Concubine Ning stopped laughing, pulled up her clothes and squatted down, looking into her eyes, "What's wrong, Wan'er?"
Yang Wan pinched the finger she had cut, "No, Madam."
Concubine Ning looked at her expression and asked, "Are you angry with Jiang Shangyi?"
Yang Wan couldn't help but shake her head, "How dare I do that?"
Concubine Ning did not ask any more questions. She took out her handkerchief and wiped the wood ash off Yang Wan's face. "Just come back, sister. No one will say anything to you."
"The queen is in such a mess that everyone is thrown to the ground. Others can't say anything, but they can't help but scold her for being so frivolous."
After saying that, she helped Concubine Ning stand up and said, "Actually, I'm fine. It's just that I've been feeling... uneasy for the past few days."
When Concubine Ning saw the wound on her hand, she hurriedly asked someone to bring a lamp over and asked, "Why is the cut so deep?"
Yang Wan also raised her hand and took a look, then smiled self-deprecatingly, "It's great that I didn't cut it off."
Concubine Ning interrupted her: "What nonsense are you talking about."
Yang Wan smiled bitterly.
"Yes, I was wrong."
Noticing that her expression was different from usual, Concubine Ning gently held her wrist, lowered her head and spoke in a low voice, "Wan'er, you feel uneasy. Are you thinking about the matter of Deng Shaojian?"
Yang Wan did not deny it.
"You can't just keep thinking like that."
Yang Wan lowered her eyes and nodded, "I understand, Madam, you go and take care of it. I will go in and help He Yu."
Concubine Ning held her back and said, "Why are you making such a fuss? Sister, why are you taking a rest? Yi Lang is awake and is complaining that he is hungry."
After that, she took her to the inner kitchen and said, "Come, follow your sister."
The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty was born in a peasant family, and his wife also valued simplicity. Although she was the empress, she often mended clothes and cooked for herself. The Ming court also followed the same tradition, and concubines would do some sewing and cooking when they had free time.
Concubine Ning took Yang Wan into the inner kitchen, took off the bracelet on her wrist and taught it to He Yu, then rolled up her sleeves to wash her hands.
The warm firelight from the stove warmed her face, highlighting her porcelain-like skin.
She looked up at Yang Wan and said, "Let me teach you how to cook a bowl of Yangchun noodles. When you come back from a long journey, what you want most is a bowl of hot soup noodles."
Coming back from outside, exhausted.
These words reminded Yang Wan of the gray uniform that Deng Ying often wore, and she felt a lump in her throat.
"Wan'er."
"The servant is here."
"When you were at home, you were too young, so your sister didn't teach you. Now I've made up for it. When cooking, the most important thing is to be serious. When you're cooking, don't think about anything else. Boil the water when it should be boiled, blanch the leaves when it should be softened, make sure there's enough lard, and add enough sauce."
Maybe it was because of the fumes from the pot, but Yang Wan's eyes became moist as she listened to Concubine Ning's voice.
"I'm sorry, Madam. I know you're doing this for my own good, but you're still ill and you're still taking care of my messy affairs."
The water in the pot gradually boiled.
Concubine Ning shook out the noodles, "Sister actually doesn't know what you are thinking. Although you are only eighteen years old, your judgment of people and things is much better than that of sister. Sometimes, sister even feels that you don't care much about anything. Of course,"
She smiled and glanced at Yang Wan, "Except for the matter of Young Supervisor Deng."
Yang Wan was silent for a while, the mist gradually blurred her vision and gently enveloped Concubine Ning's thin skirt.
Perhaps to Yang Wan, these people all came from a pile of old papers from a hundred years ago, so the better they were, the more they gave people the illusion that their lives were as thin as paper.
"My lady, you are the wise one. Sometimes I don't know what I am thinking, but you know it. Your words 'a man who has returned from a long journey' have helped me to untie a lot of the knots in my heart."
Concubine Ning smiled and said, "Then why don't you call me sister?"
Yang Wan was stunned.
Yang Yu's sensitivity is not sharp, but rather warm.
As soon as she opened her mouth, her eyes suddenly turned red.
"I… "
Yang Wan couldn't continue.
Seeing her silence, Concubine Ning shook her head alone.
"It's okay, Wan'er. I'm your sister and you're you. I asked you this because I really want to restore the sisterhood we've lost for a few years, but I don't want to see you feel uncomfortable because of this."
Yang Wan pursed her lips and nodded repeatedly. After a while, she raised her head and said, "My Lady, I will learn from you."
Concubine Ning nodded: "Okay, come on."
Yang Wan had never thought before that the first bowl of noodles in her life was made by an imperial concubine who taught her how to make it six hundred years ago.
From the bubbling noodle soup, pick up two chopsticks, dip into the hot soup with boiling oil, and then add seasonal vegetable leaves.
Serve it out while it’s still piping hot.
Freshly boiled soft noodles, green coriander and oil.
Zero mistakes.
Even though the barriers of history are as solid as city walls, the eternal desires for food and drink and the sense of cold and warmth will always find a gap and poke their head in.
Yang Wan sat next to Concubine Ning and slurped the bowl of noodle soup with Yi Lang.
Suddenly my mouth started to salivate and my stomach felt warm.
Her romantic spirit of liberal arts and scientific research made her begin to extend the meaning of the four words "dusty and exhausted".
Compared with Deng Ying, Yang Lun, and Concubine Ning, she gradually realized that she was the one who had crossed the barriers of history and returned exhausted. She wanted to squat at the city gate and eat a bowl of noodles more than anyone else.
**
This time, it was a rare strong wind in late spring.
It was still dark, and there was only a noodle stall with a flag outside the Guangji store. The wind was blowing through Xianmen Street.
Yang Lun tied up the horse and sat down to eat noodles.
The stove burning on the stall made his back sweat in waves.
The lights at the Anmen Gate were bright in the morning. Bai Huan, Zhang Cong, and several scholars from the Hanlin Academy (1) had all gone in for the imperial lecture at the Wenhua Hall. Yang Lun had wanted to see his teacher again before going to the Ministry of Justice, but Bai Huan had claimed to be ill yesterday and avoided him at his residence. So he had deliberately gotten up early today, but he still missed him at the Anmen Gate.
Yang Lun felt depressed.
After finishing a bowl of noodles in the cold wind, he stood up to pay, but the noodle chef pointed behind him and said, "The gentleman gave it to me."
Yang Lun turned around and saw Zhang Luogang taking his chopsticks and sitting down.
He was wearing a black robe with a white sash around his waist, and he was still in mourning.
"Another bowl?"
Yang Lun didn't want to talk to him any more, so he turned around and led the horse, "I have some official business to attend to."
"There's no rush."
Zhang Luohe opened the minced meat topping on the noodles and said, "Today, the Ministry of Justice will hold a joint trial, Minister Bai will be in charge of the trial, the Supervisory Office will record the case, and the Northern Pacification Office will be in charge of the trial."
"What?"
Yang Lun turned around and asked: "When was the decree?"
Zhang Luo turned his back to Yang Lun and picked up a bowl of noodles with his chopsticks. "Minister Yang went to the Ministry of Justice and we will know."
After he finished speaking, he sucked up a piece of chopsticks. The sound was like a silent dagger, quietly cutting through the wind and threateningly cutting off a few strands of people's hair.
This decree came suddenly, but it made Yang Lun completely understand Deng Ying's insistence.
The emperor ordered the Northern Pacification Office to hear the trial, which was a warning.
And his own teacher deliberately avoided seeing him today and yesterday, intending to ignore the warning.
In the game between the emperor and his ministers, both had made clear their attitudes towards each other, and the only variable was Deng Ying.
Yang Lun thought of this and immediately got on his horse, but he heard Zhang Luo ask, "What can Minister Yang do for the friendship we had as fellow disciples?"
Yang Lun grabbed the reins of the horse and said, "Since you are here, Sir Zhang, please go to the lobby of the Ministry of Justice to ask if you have anything to say. I will go ahead."
**
Yang Lun crossed Xuanwumen Street and headed straight for the Ministry of Justice.
When the horse arrived at the gate of the yamen, a ray of light finally broke through the clouds.
The wind made the crowns of the sycamore trees beside the road rustle. Yang Lun dismounted from his horse and saw that Bai Yuyang's sedan chair had just been carried to the door.
After everyone stood still and bowed to each other, Yang Lun said, "Did you receive the order from the Northern Pacification Office to attend the trial?"
Bai Yuyang straightened his hat and walked towards the door, "I got it."
Yang Lun followed up and said, "It is not appropriate to torture Deng Ying today!"
Bai Yuyang stopped and turned his head, "Do you have any other way to ask?"
Yang Lun took a step forward and said, "After today's lecture is over, I will go and see you..."
Bai Yuyang raised his voice to suppress Yang Lun's words, "If father wanted to see you, he would have seen you yesterday, and he wouldn't have to avoid you today!"
After saying this, he flicked his sleeves and strode over the threshold of the door.
Want to break out.
The sky suddenly brightened, but the wind was still strong, making people's clothes rustle.
Several censors from the Inspectorate and two or three other officials including Qi Huaiyang were already waiting in the main hall. The officials bowed to each other. Yang Lun was quite perfunctory. He just greeted Qi Huaiyang and stood at the door.
There were four tables stacked in the hall, and a pair of huanghuali wood carved flower-wrapped chairs on the right. Bai Yuyang walked straight up to the main seat and sat down, and the officials naturally followed him to their respective seats.
Soon, a man entered the hall with a knife hanging from his hand.
Bai Yuyang stood up and bowed, "Deputy Envoy Zhang."
Zhang Luo bowed in front of the door in return, but did not answer him. He walked past the crowd in silence, lifted his robe and sat down on the right side of the hall.
He was originally an official in Youdu, a well-known cold-faced official. Officials in the capital usually kept their distance from him. Several inspectors and censors had never seen him so closely, so it was inevitable that they would get close to him at this moment.
Bai Yuyang coughed, and everyone in the hall fell silent.
There were small doors on all four sides of the main hall of the Ministry of Justice, which were opened at that time, allowing air to flow through the entire room.
Bai Yuyang raised his hand, pressed the file on the case with a paperweight, and said to the bailiff, "Bring the man here."
Then he called out, "Minister Yang."
Yang Lun still stood at the door without answering. He watched a figure approaching from the side and clenched his fist secretly.
Deng Ying was brought here from the Prison Office through the Corner Gate (2) next to the Ceremonial Gate.
The robe on his body was taken off, leaving only an undergarment.
Walking against the wind, you can see the shape of your bones.