The sky was overcast and dark, and the execution ground became quiet.
Only Zhou Congshan's sobbing was left.
"How miserable..."
Some people say so.
The voice was as hollow as a layer of gauze, and was abruptly cut off by another voice saying "The time has come."
Yang Wan pinched her knuckles and raised her head.
The second day after the Frost Descent was a sunny day with no clouds in the sky.
The sky is high and the shadows of wild geese are hidden.
These departing birds took away the yang energy of the third quarter of noon, leaving behind large shadows that fell on everyone, neither heavy nor light.
Yang Wan forced herself to turn around and watched the executioners raise their shiny knives. In just a moment, blood poured out like a torrent of water, splashing over half of the torture platform. More than a dozen people fell to the ground, and Yang Wan did not hear a single scream except for the sound of the knives cutting their skin and bones.
She couldn't help but cover her mouth, her stomach churning. She squatted down suddenly, and the acid in her stomach kept rushing into her mouth and nose.
Qi Huaiyang, who was standing in the crowd, happened to see her and hurriedly tugged at the sleeve of Yang Lun beside him, "Look over there."
"What?"
Yang Lun turned around, pushed through the crowd, squeezed to Yang Wan, and pulled her up from the ground.
"Yang Wan! Is this the place you came from?"
He was so anxious that he didn't bother to scold her anymore. He just dragged her away.
Yang Wan could no longer hold back the urge to vomit after being dragged by him like this. She vomited out a mouthful of sour and fishy smell. She broke free from Yang Lun's grip, ran to a street tree, held onto the trunk, and vomited heartily.
Only then did Yang Lun realize that he had gained weight.
He hurried over and patted her back, "What's wrong?"
Yang Wan supported herself on her knees and stood under the tree, breathing heavily. After a long while, she said intermittently, "No... I'm fine."
Yang Lun waited for her to calm down before asking, "I left the house today, and you followed me right after I left."
Yang Wan nodded.
Yang Lun was puzzled, "Why would a girl like me come to see this scene?"
Yang Wan listened to his words quietly, raised her hand to rub her red eyes, and said softly: "I'm sorry."
"… "
No matter what Yang Lun argued with her about before, she always made him submit in the end. But he didn't expect that she would actually admit her mistake to him so seriously at this moment. He was unable to say anything harsh for a while.
He tried to be gentle and reached out to tidy up Yang Wan's messy hair, "Are you scared?"
Yang Wan nodded.
Yang Lun sighed, "Forget it, come back with me first."
Yang Wan stood still, "No, I'm here to visit a sick relative on behalf of the queen. I must return to the palace at 3 p.m., otherwise I will be violating palace rules."
Yang Lun heard her say this and nodded, then turned to the servant and said, "Bring my horse over here."
After saying that, he led the horse over and steadied the saddle for Yang Wan, "You ride the horse, brother will take care of you."
Yang Wan did not refuse.
Yang Lun carried Yang Wan onto the horse and pulled the reins, saying, "Which gate should we enter the palace from?"
It was no longer possible to go through Wumen, so Yang Wan looked towards the east and said, "Let's go through Donghuamen."
Yang Lun didn't say anything else. He personally led the horse and walked along the moat to Donghua Gate with Yang Wan.
Yang Wan was riding on the horse, looking down at Yang Lun's back, and suddenly called him softly, "Master Yang."
"Um."
She originally tried to find a better opportunity, but Yang Lun remained stiff-backed and said nothing.
Yang Wan didn't find a suitable opportunity until she got close to Donghua Gate, so she simply stopped hesitating and said, "Sir, if Deng Ying did something that you think is shameless, can you please not blame him?"
Yang Lun was startled, then he pulled the reins, the horse's hooves stopped abruptly, and Yang Wan's body also leaned forward suddenly.
"What is he going to do?"
Yang Wanwen grabbed the horse's mane to steady herself.
"Your Majesty was also shocked by Zhang Luo's brutal killing of teachers and students of Tongjia Academy. I heard from the Queen that the day before, Your Majesty and He Yixian had a long conversation in the Yangxin Palace, and they were all talking about the imperial prison and the killing."
Yang Lun asked, "Even if Your Majesty intends to punish Zhang Luo, can these more than 80 people who died tragically come back to life?"
"We can't let them die in vain."
Upon hearing this, Yang Lun tightened the reins silently.
Yang Wan bowed her head and said, "Your Excellency's road is not easy now. The Imperial Household Department has almost become the mouthpiece of the emperor. Your Majesty personally appoints eunuchs and is wary of the cabinet. If this continues, the people of the world will suffer. Your Excellency, the deceased has passed away. Why not take this opportunity to change the structure of the Imperial Household Department?"
Yang Lun was stunned.
"What do you mean? How do I change it?"
Yang Wan said: "Your Majesty may re-activate the East Factory established by the previous emperor. If Your Majesty is willing to consult the cabinet on this matter, Your Excellency should not avoid suspicion and recommend Deng Ying."
"Report Deng Ying?"
Yang Lun raised his voice, "Ridiculous! These people from Tongjia Academy were imprisoned because of him. Now Zhou Congshan has died tragically, but he is using their tragic death to rise to power. What is his intention? How will the six departments' secretaries and censors view him? Yang Wan, he is digging his own grave!"
"But if we don't do this, how can we break the deadlock between the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department, and how can we control the Northern Pacification Office? My lord, we have tried it before, but the final result is the bloody river now. We..."
"Shut up!"
After hearing what she said, Yang Lun suddenly said coldly, "Do you know what you are talking about? I am communicating with foreign officials as a female official in the inner court. If I report this, it will be a capital crime. Do you understand?"
"Then you report it."
Yang Wan pursed her lips and said, "Since you brought me back from Nanhaizi, I have caused a lot of trouble for the family, but you and your sister-in-law have never blamed me. Instead, I was the one who recklessly tried to get out of it. I have long wanted to sincerely apologize to you. If you think that my words violate your principles as a person and an official, you can punish me."
"Yang Wan!"
"I said this not to hurt your heart, sir. I am truly repentant. I am indeed self-righteous and deserve to be punished, but I hope you can listen to my words. I heard the words 'May my flesh and blood fall to the ground and pave a good path for future generations, may my bones become trees and provide shelter for those who come after me' at the execution ground today. I really am..."
When she reached this point, her voice became stagnant.
She coughed a few times and said, "I really can't bear to see them die in vain."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Yang Lun with red eyes, "Maybe Deng Ying and I will both suffer retribution for what I said, but I can't care about it now. I want to help Deng Ying, and I also want to help you."
Yang Lun shook his head when he heard this.
He felt distressed.
"Why do you say such things? You are my sister. No matter how big the problem is, I will protect you. Just accompany the queen and behave yourself in the palace. When you are old enough, I will take you home and choose the best husband for you. Why do you want to follow that non-human...?"
He suddenly realized that he was talking about Deng Ying, and when he saw Yang Wan's red eyes, he lowered his voice.
"You must understand that with your brother here, no one can hurt you, not even Zhang Luo!"
Yang Wan felt cold in her heart.
In this era, the people who could hurt her were never those who treated her badly. She was not sad at all when Zhang Luo despised her, and she was also open-minded when Yi Lang blamed her. What really hurt her was those shining spirits in the dark political environment, and people like Deng Ying who refused to give up.
So she thought, let’s give it a try, let’s try to help Deng Ying.
In her opinion, this idea was a bit naive. It was like betting on the research results of several generations, the subsequent scientific dialectics, the materialist view of history, and her ten years of practice as a Ming history researcher. It was like trying to hit a rock with an egg. When she thought about it, it was really tragic.
"I know you've always wanted to protect your sister and make sure she lives a good life. I'm sorry to have disappointed you."
"Yang Wan!"
Yang Lun couldn't help himself, "Do you still remember your childhood?"
Yang Wan lowered her head and remained silent for a long time before she said, "I have forgotten a lot."
Yang Lun was speechless on the horse, and it took him a long time to exhale a breath of sour and damp air from the back of his nose.
“No wonder.”
He sighed and said, "I still think of you as a little girl."
He shrugged and smiled, tilted his head to one side, and said softly: "Forget it..."
Yang Wan heard a sense of disappointment and helpless insight in the word "forget it".
"elder brother… "
As soon as she uttered the first word, Yang Lun interrupted her and said, "What did you say? I will go back and think about it carefully."
After hearing what he said, Yang Wan finally let out a long sigh on horseback.
She closed her eyes and said nothing. After a moment of silence, she pursed her lips and looked back in the direction of the execution ground.
Someone is already collecting the bodies of Zhou Congshan and others.
The voices of the dead are still there, separated by six hundred years, yet their cries of blood and tears are telling her, a person of the later generations, not to be afraid.
Yang Wan looked at the man on the execution platform, loosened her tightly pursed lips, turned back and said:
"Also, if your majesty wants to use the East Factory, there should be one more excuse. Regarding the Tongjia book case, I have nothing to do with Bai Ge. Instead of apologizing to your majesty, it is better to write a letter to plead for the other students of Tongjia Academy and give your majesty an excuse."
Yang Lun nodded, "I've thought about this, but I can't make a decision on Deng Ying's matter alone. I still need to discuss it with Master and the others."
"good."
Yang Wan said as she was about to dismount.
Yang Lun held her arm with his hand and let her step on his knees to get down. He lowered his voice and said, "Wan'er, no matter what, you can't involve the queen and the little prince."
Yang Wan responded softly: "Don't worry, I will definitely protect them."
Yang Lun couldn't help but laugh, "Silly girl, who do you think you are? Only the queen and the little prince are protecting you."
Yang Wan tucked her hair behind her ears and said, "Yes, I was too self-righteous in front of my brother."
**
Although everyone had true words to say, they could not stand in front of Donghua Gate for long.
After saying goodbye for two or three sentences, Yang Wan walked into the palace gate alone.
It was still some time before Shenshang arrived. She thought about the leave she had taken from the Shangyi Bureau and left a lot of things to do, which she almost left to Song Yunqing. She was going to go back to the Fifth Office to change clothes and look for Song Yunqing. When she was walking to Renshou Palace, she saw the eunuchs of the Silijian hurriedly walking towards Wansui Mountain on the other side of the moat.
Yang Wan didn't care at first, but just as she walked back to the fifth building, Song Yun grabbed her and said, "It's a good thing I waited, otherwise I would have missed it."
Yang Wan pulled her wrist away, but she looked unhappy.
"What's wrong? I said I would change my clothes and go to the Shangyi Bureau to find you."
Song Yunqing asked, "When you came here, didn't you see that the people on duty at the Silijian had all gone to the Silijian?"
Yang Wan nodded, "What happened?"
Song Yun pursed his lips, "The chief official wants to beat Deng Shaojian with forty sticks, and orders all the eunuchs above the eighth rank in the Silijian to watch the execution.
"What?"
Yang Wan turned around subconsciously, and Song Yunqing hurriedly grabbed her, "It's inconvenient for us female officials to go over there. Jiang Shangyi asked me to come and look for you because she was afraid that you might get into trouble."
Yang Wan paused, "Do you know what mistake he made now?"
Song Yun shook his head slightly. "I heard that he missed the class at the inner school, but that sounds like a false title. I asked Li Yu to try to ask his godfather and come back to tell me when he has the news. Or I can ask him in person after the punishment is over."
"How can I open my mouth?"
Yang Wan pinched her sleeve, her voice trembling.
Song Yunqing hurriedly pulled Yang Wan's sleeve again, walked in front of Yang Wan, looked at her seriously and said: "Yang Wan, this is a punishment from the Silijian. He is also a member of the Silijian. No one can interfere. You have to endure it no matter how painful it is."