The beginning of May.
Mr. Zhao, a wealthy family in the capital, married his young daughter to him.
This Mr. Zhao was a cabinet minister of the previous term. Although he had always been at odds with Deng Yi, after Deng Yi's downfall, he became tired of him and simply retired to become an idle old man.
He and Zhang Zhanchun have been good friends for many years. After his family heard that Zhang Zhanchun was imprisoned, they were so angry that they even refused to marry their daughter. As a result, his in-laws had to visit him several times and persuade him earnestly before he agreed to hold the wedding.
The husband's family was afraid that this stubborn old man would change his mind at the last minute, so they sent out invitations widely, inviting all the officials in the capital who had social connections. Yang Lun didn't want to go because of Zhang Zhanchun's matter, but his wife was on good terms with the wife of the husband's family, so he had to go with him to socialize, and when he went, he sat in the crowd and drank alone. The Shujishi of the Hanlin Academy always liked to hang out with people from the six departments, and when they saw Yang Lun sitting in the corner, they all sat over. There were many Donglin people among them, and their words were sharp and arrogant, and they were even more unrestrained after a little bit of alcohol.
"Although the case has been sent to the court, the trial is still slow."
A man nearby laughed frivolously and said, "Why are you slow? The construction of the Imperial City took more than ten years, so shouldn't the trial of this Imperial City also take more than ten years?"
Yang Lun used to like hanging out with this kind of people, but after seeing what happened to Deng Ying and Zhang Zhanchun in the Ministry of Justice, he no longer wanted to listen to this kind of ridicule that was in a positive but inhumane way.
After two generations of the Qing Dynasty, the verbal battles between civil officials became more and more intense, and the meaning of debate was lost. Sometimes it even became a quarrel between parties. Yang Lun had heard this view from Deng Ying more than once before, and he also asked Deng Ying whether this was the reason why he did not want to stay in the Hanlin Academy.
Deng Ying did not deny it at the time, and Yang Lun even felt that his idea was too otherworldly and not the ambition of a scholar to govern the country. However, when he heard the "crazy words" of this young man, he could not help but throw the wine glass with a "bang".
The human voice fell in response to the sound of spilled wine.
Xiao Wen turned around and saw the wine glass shattered into pieces on the ground. She hurried over and said in a low voice, "What's wrong with you? This is someone else's wedding banquet."
Yang Lun rubbed his brows and said, "I'm a little drunk, and my hands can't keep steady. I'll go out and stand for a while."
Xiao Wen grabbed him and said, "Wait a minute. Eunuch Hu from the Imperial Household Department is here today. Mother has a package to bring to our daughter. You know, it cannot be delivered to the palace privately from outside. It may take a long time to deliver it. Now that Eunuch Hu is here, you can tell him. Isn't it better?"
Yang Lun glanced at the bag she placed on the chair.
"Why should I ask him for that?"
Xiao Wen said, "Since my two sisters entered the palace, I saw that my mother's spirit was getting worse and worse. I made this moxa pillow for a whole spring. Later, I couldn't make it anymore and stopped for half a month. Thinking of Wan's neck pain, I struggled to make it again. If you don't want to go, then you can take it away and be dealt with. I dare not bring it back to my mother."
After hearing what she said, Yang Lun really stood up.
Who knew that before he could pick up the bundle, he saw two servants in wedding attire running out from the back hall in a panic, and the family members outside who were taking care of them hurriedly went to greet them, "What's wrong?"
The servant was panicked and couldn't hold back his voice, so many people in the room heard it.
"Master Zhao, someone in the back is vomiting blood. Someone has fainted now. I don't know if there are any more. What should we do in the front?"
The steward's family was also panicked at once. They hurriedly asked the music and drums at the banquet to stop, and turned around to report to the host.
Xiao Wen walked up to Yang Lun and tugged at his sleeve, "What happened? Why did you stop playing?"
Yang Lun shook his head. "I don't know. It seems that something happened to Mr. Zhao in the back hall. You sit back first. I'll go over and take a look."
He was about to leave when a clerk behind him shouted, "Mr. Zhang is dead in prison!"
The people present were stunned at first, and then there was an uproar.
Yang Lun lost his balance and nearly fell.
Xiao Wen hurriedly supported him, "Husband, please don't scare me."
Yang Lun's mind was in a mess. The only thing that was clear was the words that Deng Ying shouted while kneeling in front of Bai Huan: "The Imperial Household Department will set up a killing plan for you, Teacher!"
He finally understood what it meant to "take my life and give it a try."
“Husband…husband!”
Xiao Wen called him in panic. Yang Lun came to his senses and pushed him away and walked in front of Hu Xiang, "What did you do?"
Hu Xiang stood up and asked, "What does Lord Yang want to ask?"
Yang Lun tried his best to control his voice, "How did Mr. Zhang die?"
Hu Xiang said coldly: "I'm in the Ministry of Justice prison, why are you asking about me, sir?"
Yang Lun gnashed his teeth and said, "The Ministry of Justice did not use torture!"
"That means he's old!"
Hu Xiang's voice suddenly rose, "I'm old! If I'm useless, I'll die!"
This sentence instantly angered all the young officials present. They came forward and started cursing. Some of them were so angry that they even started fighting with Hu Xiang. Hu Xiang was a eunuch and could not withstand such torture. Soon he was beaten black and blue.
Yang Lun was so angry that when he came to his senses, Hu Xiang had already crawled under the table in a panic.
He hurriedly stepped forward to pull away the people who were fighting the most fiercely, "Stop it!"
Hu Xiang squeezed his nose and crawled out from under the table, staggering and pointing at Yang Lun, saying: "You guys are making a fuss like this, you don't respect the emperor... the emperor's master, sooner or later... sooner or later... something terrible will happen."
Yang Lun shouted, "Shut up! If you keep quiet, we will call you eunuch, but you are still a slave. Even if we beat you, it cannot be blamed on His Majesty. Get out of here now!"
Hu Xiang knew that although his words were an insult, they were also an opportunity for him, so he quickly responded to the shout of "Get lost" and ran out of the wedding hall in shame.
The news that Old Master Zhao had vomited blood and died came from the back hall. The family was in a mess, with crying and cursing everywhere. Mr. Zhao's daughter, wearing a wedding dress and with her hair disheveled, rushed to the back hall crying and making a scene. The whole wedding hall was in a mess.
Several officials of the Donglin Party were already preparing to write a joint memorial, denouncing the Imperial Household Department for abusing its power and killing people.
Yang Lun stood among them and shouted impatiently: "Can you please not sign the petition rashly? Wait until the cabinet and the government approve it!"
“Do you trust your cabinet?”
Someone questioned, "How long has the court been trying this case? When interrogating Deng Ying, I heard that they tied her up and beat her with a stick. Sir Yang, you were once fellow disciples, so I won't mention your mutual sympathy, but how could the people in the Inspectorate stand watching? Now, the eunuch got away with it, but Mr. Zhang died tragically? How can you convince us?"
"I… "
Yang Lun suddenly remembered what Yang Wan had said to him when they were standing in front of the Taihe Gate: "Don't bother investigating this matter anymore."
When thinking about this situation, he actually felt regretful.
**
At this time in the palace, Yang Wan was copying documents in the Shangyi Bureau.
It was getting dark, and she just wanted to find a candle when she saw Song Qingyun running in. He looked at her and asked, "Do you remember where you put the medicine for Jiang Shangyi's injury?"
Yang Wan pointed to a mahogany box next to her and said, "It looks like it's stored in there."
"Okay."
Song Qingyun quickly rolled up her sleeves and went to look in the box. Yang Wan also went over to help her look, while asking, "Is it Chen Hua who was injured, or Li Yu?"
Song Qingyun said, "Neither. It was Eunuch Hu, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department. He was beaten outside the palace. He is Li Yu's godfather. He heard that our Shangyi has a bottle of good ointment for healing wounds, so he came to ask for it. I saw that he was usually good to Li Yu, so I thought of helping him find it."
"Being beaten?"
"Yeah. Didn't you hear?"
Yang Wan shook her head. "I've been copying for a whole day and I haven't finished yet. Hey, look, is this the bottle?"
"Oh, yes."
Song Qingyun took the medicine and walked out. Yang Wan hurriedly chased after him, "You haven't finished talking yet, why were you beaten?"
Song Qingyun walked and said: "I don't quite understand what's going on outside. It seems that Mr. Zhang in the prison of the Ministry of Justice has died. They all said that it was a murder to silence him..."
Before she finished speaking, a stern female voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Are you two going to die?"
Yang Wan turned around and saw Jiang Shangyi standing in front of the medicine box.
"Qingyun, go deliver the medicine first."
After saying that, he walked towards Yang Wan again, "Have you finished copying the documents?"
Yang Wan remained silent and said, "Not yet."
"Yang Wan, you must not go to see Deng Ying today."
"I… "
Jiang Shangyi interrupted her.
"You have always been very smart, do you still need me to tell you why?"
Yang Wan lowered her head in silence.
Jiang Shangyi slowed down her voice a little, "After copying the documents, go back to Chengqian Palace and accompany Concubine Ning. You have to remember that you are a female official in the palace. You can be nice to a eunuch, but if this person has too deep a connection with the court, when the situation is unclear, protect yourself first."
"I understand, Shang Yi."
Jiang Shangyi sighed when she saw her obedience.
"Go ahead. Get the paperwork done. There's a candle on the windowsill. Get some light for yourself."
Yang Wan walked back to the desk, rolled up her sleeves and sat down.
The words on the desk gradually became blurry in front of her eyes. She took out her notebook from her bosom and opened it.
She had already written a long and detailed record under Zhang Zhanchun's name, except for the last sentence, "died in", which left a blank space after the words "died in".
This day is May 2nd.
Yang Wan held the pen in silence for a long time before finally putting pen to paper, completing the blank.
As she raised her head and picked up the pen, she suddenly felt dazed.
The only elder who was truly kind to Deng Ying died.
There are still two months until the autumn of the twelfth year of Zhenning.
After hearing about Hu Xiang being beaten, her historical sensitivity suddenly made her almost figure out the connection between this blank period and the Tongjia Massacre.
It turned out that before he really walked between the Imperial Household Department and the Cabinet, he had lost so many things.
Yang Wan closed her notes and looked out the window.
The clouds were very low and the birds were flying around in panic.
"Don't be too sad, and don't blame yourself too much..."
She repeated this sentence in her mouth, but she herself was unwilling to believe it.