Deng Ying looked up.
The snowy wind blowing through the door still lingered with the smell of wine and meat, a mixture of fishy and spicy flavors, which conflicted with the woman in front of him, wrapped in soft silk and satin.
"Your Majesty's words, I will remember them."
Concubine Ning shook her head. "You must call yourself a slave to me. You and Zheng Bingbi are both beautiful jades in our eyes. I am just like Wan'er and have become a whisk. But I hope that as a concubine, my respect for you can make you suffer less."
After hearing this, Deng Ying finally dared to look at Concubine Ning.
"Deng Ying will never forget what the Majesty said to her today."
After he finished speaking, he bowed.
Concubine Ning nodded to accept his greeting and said calmly, "Well, then you must promise me that you will make Wan'er cry."
**
Yang Wan had been in a daze for days ever since she cried in front of Concubine Ning.
As the end of the year approaches, in addition to preparing for the festival, the palace is also preparing for another major event - Concubine Jiang is about to give birth.
The emperor even considered issuing a general amnesty.
At the same time, because of the emperor's attitude towards this child whose gender was not even known yet, the court began the last major debate between the two emperors of Zhenning - the appointment of a crown prince.
Yang Wan remembered that Emperor Zhenning did not appoint a crown prince during his reign, so after his death, the imperial court and the inner court split into two factions. One faction was led by Yang Lun and Zhang Cong, who advocated the appointment of the eldest son. The other faction was led by the royal family and the eunuch group led by the Grand Empress Dowager and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, who advocated the appointment of the youngest son.
The intentions of both factions are very clear.
Yang Lun and Zhang Cong were both imperial tutors, and Yi Lang was their strictly disciplined student. He embodied almost all the fantasies of the Ming Dynasty's civil officials about a wise ruler, so they were unwilling to establish a child whose character could be seen at a very young age as the new emperor no matter what.
The idea of the Imperial Household Department was even more straightforward.
Yi Lang was educated under the laws of his ancestors and always regarded eunuchs as slaves. He was extremely harsh towards the Silijian and never showed favoritism. However, Jiang Jieyu's youngest son Yi Jue was quite close to the eunuchs and was a child who grew up in the eunuchs' arms.
As for the current clansmen, due to the connivance of Emperor Zhenning in the past, they continued to annex land and embezzle the Ministry of Revenue, and the internal problems were already difficult to cure. In order to protect their own vested interests, they were of course unwilling to accept the reformist-educated Yi Lang to ascend the throne. Therefore, they instigated the Grand Empress Dowager to come forward and compete with the cabinet.
Although it looks complicated, in fact, the fight is very short.
The reason was that Yi Jue died suddenly not long after Emperor Zhenning's death.
There has always been a lot of controversy in the historical community about the cause of Yi Jue's death.
The initial mainstream view was that Yi Jue should have died in a political assassination.
However, the basis for refuting this view is very intuitive. Yang Lun, Zhang Cong and others were all civil servants and did not have the power to carry out assassinations. If it is said that they relied on the power of the local underworld sects, then history would be turned into a novel.
This led to another point of view, that Yi Jue died at the hands of Deng Ying.
The reason for this view was originally very simple. After Yi Jue's death, Yi Lang naturally inherited the throne. The first thing he did was to punish He Yixian with a hundred strokes of the cane and exile him to the Nanjing Imperial Mausoleum. As for the eunuch Hu Xiang, who was the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department, because he was trusted by Yi Lang, his position basically became a vacant one, and Deng Ying became the de facto person in charge of the Imperial Household Department.
Evidence for this view appears in the "Record of One Hundred Crimes" written by Yi Lang for the lingchi murder of Deng Ying.
This article is long, but it lists one hundred charges against Deng Ying. It was written by the emperor himself and announced to the world.
One of them is called "harming clan members."
There is no corresponding historical fact in the historical records about Deng Ying for this crime, so all historians believe that this crime should refer to the case of the current prince.
Of course, this matter was still far from Yang Wan's time, so what she was more concerned about now was the situation of Yi Lang and Concubine Ning in this political debate whose outcome was unknown.
besides…
How to face Deng Ying.
However, the two major events coincided with each other, and the Sixth Bureau and the Second and Fourth Inner Court Offices were so busy that they had no time to spare.
Yang Wan had almost no free time to sort out her notes and feelings.
She was a person who was rigorous and efficient in her work. When she was sorting out her emotional problems, she simply plunged into the pile of affairs. Song Yun looked at her with fear, and even felt a little scared.
Just after dawn that day, Song Yun lightly walked into the main hall of the Shangyi Bureau with a candle, only to see the lights on in the file room. Yang Wan climbed up a wooden ladder and was looking for official documents on the shelf.
"You didn't go back?"
She put down the candle and held the ladder under Yang Wan's feet. "Why bother? Wait for the guard on the door to come and ask them to climb up."
Yang Wan lowered her head and said, "I've been feeling very confused these days, so I need to be busy."
Song Yunqing said, "What are you looking for? Come down and I'll find it. Go back and get some sleep. What will happen if you continue like this?"
After hearing what she said, Yang Wan leaned on the ladder and rubbed her eyes.
"Go back and go to sleep."
Song Yunqing said: "Li Yu said that you and Deng Bingbi had a quarrel."
"What? He's talking nonsense."
"I mean, how could a man like Deng Bingbi quarrel with you? But then again, why did you go to see him for so long?"
"oh."
Yang Wan lowered her head to cover up and said, "Your Majesty has been feeling very well these days. We are busy here."
Song Yun sighed lightly, "That Concubine Jiang, huh... she's almost overturning the Sixth Bureau. If she gives birth to a prince, I think she will even look down on the emperor. I really don't understand why His Majesty would favor such a woman. No wonder the masters outside want to report the matter of establishing a prince."
Yang Wan nodded and said nothing.
Song Qingyun then sighed and said, "I heard that... the day before yesterday, the queen was punished to kneel in the Yangxin Palace."
Yang Wan did not deny it.
"Um."
"Why."
Song Qingyun sighed. His Majesty was unwilling to give him face. All the six palaces knew about it yesterday. The palace maids in Yanxi Palace said all the unpleasant things in private. "
Yang Wan didn't say anything, she knew that this was a warning to Yang Lun.
Concubine Ning didn't say anything when she came back. She just hugged Yi Lang and told him stories in a soft voice. She didn't let He Yu and Yang Wan apply medicine to her until Yi Lang fell asleep.
Seeing her silence, Song Qingyun felt worried for her and said hurriedly, "It's too late, hurry down and go back to sleep. If you keep talking like this, I'm afraid you'll faint and fall down.
Yang Wan followed Song Yunqing's instructions, went down the ladder and straightened her clothes.
"Then I'll go back and come back later."
"Go ahead."
**
Yang Wan walked out of the Shangyi Bureau and after a few steps she arrived at the gate of Silijian.
Deng Ying was standing in front of the door talking to Zheng Yuejia.
He was wearing the official uniform of a eunuch in charge of writing, and he seemed to have lost some weight.
When Yang Wan saw him looking at her, she quickly turned around and headed towards the street. However, just as she turned a corner, she saw Deng Ying standing at the end of the road.
"Where did you come from..."
Deng Ying approached Yang Wan, "Behind is a waterway with gates, which was designed and built to prevent the palaces above from being flooded."
Yang Wan pursed her lips, "Did you design this?"
"Yes, it was built a while ago. Later, when the moat was rebuilt, I demolished the wall on the other side and connected it to the road you just mentioned. However, because there were four auspicious jars placed on that road, there were many more."
After hearing what he said, Yang Wan nodded and smiled, "I am so stupid. Where can I hide from you in the imperial city?"
Deng Ying looked down at Yang Wan, her face was a little red from the snowy wind. She sniffed and looked away, "I'm a little afraid to see you now."
"Why."
Yang Wan pursed her lips, "Because I did something wrong, I made you kneel in front of Yi Lang and let you hear those words... I didn't say a word... I..."
She didn't say anything else, but Deng Ying waited until she was completely silent before she said softly, "I don't care."
After he finished speaking, he leaned forward on his knees and squatted down a little. Although he was very close to her, Yang Wan could still feel his warm breath.
"In fact, you know in your heart that what the little prince said is right."
Yang Wan did not admit it, "Yes..."
At that moment, she didn't know whether she was speaking on behalf of her own heart or on behalf of a more advanced civilization in the world when she said these two words.
"To hell with that..."
Deng Ying couldn't help laughing after hearing her words.
He loosened his hands that were supporting his knees, turned them over, clenched them into fists, and stretched them towards Yang Wan. This action caused the sleeves of his official robe to fall naturally, revealing his wrist, which had a circle of faint marks on it. It was the injury he received in the prison of the Ministry of Justice before being executed.
"Look, these are the marks of the shackles, and the wound on my ankle is hard to heal. Although I have been listening to you, taking medicine and conditioning my body, the effect is not great. Although I was clear at first that I had not done anything rebellious, I had to accept this punishment, but now I want to accept these punishments and continue to live."
"If you can accept it, I can accept it."
Yang Wan looked at his wrist, "How can I accept this..."
"Because of you."
"What… "
Yang Wan was stunned.
Deng Ying did not pause and continued, "I coveted you with my lowly body. Even though I was reprimanded by Your Highness, I still apologized and was willing to repent. In this case, no matter how I am punished, it is not excessive."
Yang Wan was silent for a while, then she tucked her hair around her ears, turned back to look at Deng Ying and said, "You are using yourself to comfort me again."
"Are you the same?"
Yang Wan pursed her lips.
"So... you will come to see me?"
"Um."
He nodded gently to Yang Wan, "You were the one hiding from me today. I came here on my own."
After he finished speaking, he slowly lowered his hands, stood up straight, bowed his head and said, "My dear, no matter what the little prince says to me or what he does, you will just ignore him like you did that day. In fact, Yang Daxun and Zhang Ci Fu have put a lot of effort into him. He is the prince I am willing to serve. He can protect you like that, which is a grace given to me. Now that Concubine Jiang is about to give birth, the court situation is stable, and His Majesty's mind is still clear. The little prince is young and will inevitably be anxious. You are his closest relative in the palace. I must keep you all safe for my sake."
Yang Wan nodded.
"I am confused."
"There is one more thing I want to tell you."
"Um."
Deng Ying raised his head and glanced in the direction of Chengqian Palace.
"I know that Empress Ning was humiliated in the Yangxin Palace the day before yesterday, so I mentioned to the female official of the Palace Administration Office that Concubine Jiang's palace and the palace maids had violated the rules in their speech. If the Palace Administration Office is willing to conduct a fair trial and deal with these people, the situation of Chengqian Palace will be better. And Yang Daxie and the others will not be too passive. But as eunuchs, Zheng Bingbi and I cannot be too involved in this matter."
"I'll report it."
Deng Ying did not stop her and said, "Be careful."
Yang Wan nodded: "I know my limits."