Zhang Zhanchun's body was taken out of the Ministry of Justice prison by Yang Lun.
Before the body was carried out, Yang Lun and the coroner personally examined it.
The man died in prison, his clothes were intact, he had no injuries, and he was not poisoned. The coroner had been warned by his superiors, so he told Yang Lun that he died of suffocation. As for the specific cause, he said that it was because Zhang Zhanchun was old and had lung disease, and he could not stand the dampness and stuffiness in the prison, so he suffocated and died.
When Yang Lun asked more questions, he kept silent.
Yang Lun knew in his heart that he could not get anything out of the body at this moment, so he had to simply bury the body and temporarily place it in Guangji Temple.
The monks in the temple all respected this highly respected builder of the imperial city. Even though Yang Lun did not say anything, the abbot of Guangji Temple, Master Yuan'an, still led the monks and spontaneously performed rituals for Zhang Zhanchun to transcend for several days.
Zhang Zhanchun's wife has passed away, and his son is an official in Hainan, which is a long way away, and he is still on his way to attend the funeral.
However, ever since Zhao Yuan died of vomiting blood and Hu Xiang was beaten by a young official in the wedding hall, although people were grief-stricken and angry, not many people went to the temple to pay their respects.
The Six Departments' Secretaries, the young Censors of the Inspectorate, and the Imperial Household Department were caught in an extremely chaotic war of words that was totally beyond the control of the Cabinet.
The officials all had their own backgrounds, some were masters and some were students from the same school.
They were all well-educated scholars who had studied hard for ten years. They gathered together and discussed their memorials as if they were imperial examination papers. They quoted from classics, made extensive references, and used all kinds of words to criticize the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department. In a short time, memorials from various government offices piled up like snowflakes in the Imperial Household Department and then on the emperor's desk.
Bai Huan took advantage of this massive literary uproar (1) to put pressure on Emperor Zhenning.
Therefore, all the draft bills are just two sentences with ambiguous attitudes.
Without the cabinet's opinion, the emperor had to approve it himself, and the tug-of-war gradually evolved into a game of words between the emperor himself and his civil officials.
There are hundreds of young and energetic civil servants in Beijing.
The emperor was only a human being after all, and after a tug of war that lasted until the third day, Emperor Zhenning finally couldn't stand it anymore.
He swept the memorial on the imperial desk to the ground. Concubine Ning paused as she was lighting the lamp, and all the eunuchs and palace maids in the Hall of Mental Cultivation knelt down.
The person on duty in front of the emperor today is Zheng Yuejia, who is kneeling at the feet of Emperor Zhenning.
The emperor was so angry that he kicked him in the heart, causing him to roll on his back to the bookcase. His head hit the corner of the bookcase and he started bleeding. But he didn't dare to care and crawled to the emperor's feet.
"This slave... Damn it."
The emperor shouted, "You, the Imperial Household Department, keep saying that you are doing this for me, huh? Are you doing your best for me?"
As he spoke, he picked up a memorial beside him and threw it directly at Zheng Yuejia's face. Zheng Yuejia was so offended that she didn't even dare to move. She just knelt and kept saying, "This servant deserves to die. Your Majesty, please calm down."
"He who deserves to die should die. Come, take Zheng Yuejia to the Meridian Gate and beat him to death!"
Many of the eunuchs present had received favors from Zheng Yuejia, and they were stunned when they heard the words "beaten to death". For a moment, no one went to pass on the message.
The emperor was furious, "Didn't you hear what I said?"
The palace was completely quiet. The copper pick (2) in Concubine Ning's hand suddenly fell to the ground with a "thump" and rolled to Zheng Yuejia's knees.
The eunuch standing in front of the door finally came to his senses and hurried out to pass on the message to the Shenxingsi.
The emperor glanced at Concubine Ning, who was standing in a daze under the lamp, her whole body trembling slightly.
"Concubine Ning?"
"Yes, I'm here."
The emperor looked at Zheng Yuejia who was still kneeling at his feet, then looked at Concubine Ning, "What's wrong with you?"
"My hands are shaking."
The emperor lowered his voice and said, "I thought I scared you."
Zheng Yuejia took advantage of the moment when the emperor looked up and shook her head gently at Concubine Ning.
Concubine Ning hurriedly avoided his gaze, tried her best to steady her voice, and said to the emperor: "I will make another pot of hot tea for your majesty."
The emperor was not in the mood at the moment, and his throat was a little dry and sore, so he didn't ask any more questions and waved his hand to let her go.
Concubine Ning turned and walked into the back hall. He Yu saw that her face was pale, and hurriedly came up to support her and said, "What's wrong, Madam?"
Concubine Ning held her hand in return, "Where is Wan'er?"
He Yu said, "Miss Yang... has been following us these past few days. She should be waiting under the moon platform of the Yangxin Palace now."
Concubine Ning held her chest and her body shook uncontrollably.
"Okay... okay... go out and ask her if there is any way to save... save Zheng Bingbi's life."
He Yu was also an old man who had served in the palace for many years. Hearing her say this, he was stunned.
"My lady, there is no need for this."
Concubine Ning squeezed He Yu's wrist and said, "Go and ask for me!"
He Yu had never seen Concubine Ning look like this before, and she was frightened. She quickly comforted her and said, "Okay, don't worry, your Majesty. I'll go ask."
**
Yang Wan was standing under the bronze crane sculpture in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. She had secretly visited Deng Ying in the Hall of Supreme Harmony several times in the past few days, but she did not let him look at her. He was very silent, but he never stopped working. The project of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was carried out meticulously under his leadership. Yang Wan stood in the dark and witnessed the entire process of the glazed tile roof. He stood on the platform, calmly dispatching the craftsmen and supervising all the complex processes. Just as Yang Wan said, he was very serious in everything he did. Only when the craftsmen went to eat did he sit alone under the platform and be lost in thought.
In the end, he didn't listen to Yang Wan and ate and drank water properly.
But Yang Wan understood that this was also his punishment and disposal of herself.
People should not be too clever and rush in rashly thinking they can see through people's hearts.
Having worked in academia for nearly ten years, Yang Wan has experienced many ups and downs, including cold stares and indifference from everyone. She knows that people with strong hearts often want to rely on themselves to make the initial struggle.
So she always secretly asked Li Yu to stuff nuts into Deng Ying's mouth before he returned to the duty room. What made Yang Wan relieved and happy was that no matter how many nuts she brought every day, they would be eaten by Deng Ying the next day.
When she went to deliver nuts today, she found that the drawer where Deng Ying usually kept the nuts was open. She took out a jar from the cupboard and wanted to pour the nuts into it. Unexpectedly, she found a hibiscus flower carved out of wood. It was small, but she could see the texture of each petal. When Yang Wan held the flower in her hand and took a closer look, she found that there was even a hole on the pedicel, which could be made into a bead to be worn on a jade pendant.
She quickly untied the jade pendant on her waist and threaded the hibiscus flower bead on the pendant.
This response was restrained, but Yang Wan liked it very much.
So, throughout the day, she would pinch the flower bead whenever she had nothing to do.
At this moment, she was playing with beads with her eyes closed to pass the time, when she suddenly saw a few people from the Ministry of Punishment coming. She couldn't help but feel worried about Concubine Ning, but after a while, she saw that it was Zheng Yuejia, the chief clerk of the Imperial Household Department, who was brought out, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
Unexpectedly, not long after, He Yu hurriedly came down from the platform, and without waiting for Yang Wan to speak, he pulled her behind the platform.
Yang Wan saw that she didn't look well, so she asked hurriedly, "What happened?"
He Yu turned sideways and glanced to the side, making sure that no one was coming. Then he took her hand and said to her, "Maid, the queen asked me to ask you, do you have any way to save Eunuch Zheng?"
"Eunuch Zheng? What happened to him?"
He Yu lowered his voice and said, "Your Majesty wants to beat him to death."
"Being beaten to death? Why?"
"I don't know. His Majesty spent two hours reviewing memorials today. He got angry for some reason and called the people from the Ministry of Prudence. They said they wanted to drag Eunuch Zheng to the Meridian Gate. When the Majesty heard this, she looked unhappy and her eyes were red."
Yang Wan didn't have time to think about why Concubine Ning wanted her to save Zheng Yuejia, but she still waved her hand at He Yu, "Don't worry, let me think about it."
After she finished speaking, she turned around and lowered her head to recall what had happened in the past few days.
Zhang Zhanchun's death brought a "literary wave" to the capital. Yang Wan tried to gauge the attitudes of Bai Huan and others, and guessed that the cabinet should not stand on the side of the emperor this time. The emperor could not stand being forced by these literati, and suddenly his anger was directed at the third person in the Imperial Household Department, but this was obviously an impulsive act of the emperor without the support of the cabinet. Once Zheng Yuejia was killed, it was a disguised admission of the guilt of the Imperial Household Department.
Thinking of this, she turned around quickly and said, "He Yu."
"I am listening."
"Go tell the queen to ask His Majesty, if we kill Eunuch Zheng today, what will happen to He Daban tomorrow?"
He Yu hesitated, "Just... can this save Eunuch Zheng?"
"Yes, you can let your majesty try, but please remember that you can't be angry when you say this. She is the imperial concubine, and this is for the good of His Majesty."
After she said this, she was suddenly stunned.
Yes, this is a good thing for Your Majesty, so why did Concubine Ning have red eyes before
Yang Wan was stunned for a moment, and she remembered what Concubine Ning once said to her, "Wan'er, don't stay in the palace. You won't be happy if you go down this path with that person."
so…
"Wait a moment for He Yu."
She hurriedly ran a few steps to catch up with He Yu.
He Yu turned around and asked, "Do you have anything else to tell the queen?"
"Tell the queen that no matter what, she must stay calm. Whether or not we can save Eunuch Zheng depends entirely on whether His Majesty is willing to believe that the queen is truly doing this for His Majesty's good. You must not let His Majesty feel that the queen is pleading for Eunuch Zheng, otherwise not only will Eunuch Zheng die, but the queen will also not be well. You must make the queen listen to this!"
He Yu didn't understand, but still nodded at her seriously and ran to the platform.
Yang Wan looked at He Yu's back and suddenly felt her breathing become a little rapid.
It turned out that her understanding, protection, and tolerance of Yang Wan were completely different from those of Yang Lun and the others because she actually had such feelings in her heart.
Yang Wan thought about it and couldn't help but look up at the Yangxin Palace.
The bright lights in the hall could not illuminate anyone.
It is like being able to see the world clearly but having no Buddha's heart, and in the end being drowned by the wine brewed by the seven emotions and six desires.
Yang Wan coughed twice into the wind, and her breathing gradually became smoother.
Not long after, the palace door opened again, and a eunuch ran down the platform and headed towards the Meridian Gate.
Yang Wan's shoulders slumped and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She leaned against the cold wall of the platform and looked up at the mysterious sky above her head.
There seems to be no specific record in historical materials about when Zheng Yuejia died.
If he was supposed to die today, but changed because of Yang Wan, does that mean that the period of history she was in also has the possibility of rebirth