She took a step closer to Zhang Luo and asked, "Is the purpose of the Ming Dynasty Law to control?"
After saying this, he suddenly showed a sad look to Zhang Luo.
"Zhang Luo."
She called his name, "Have you ever felt sympathy for a prisoner?"
Zhang Luo was stunned, "What did you say..."
"Or, when you were in the south and heard that Yang Wan was missing and the Zhang family gave up the search for her because they were afraid that Yang Wan had lost her virginity, did you ever sympathize with Yang Wan?"
When she said this, her eyes seemed to be filled with tears, and the sadness in her eyes became deeper and deeper. "Prisoners never see the light of day, and how can I ever see the light of day? I have always been under your control, because whether you beat me or humiliated me, I could not resist, so isn't that enough?"
After she finished speaking, she raised her head and endured the sourness in her throat.
Unable to see the sadness in her eyes, Zhang Luo's astonishment disappeared in an instant. He was angry at himself for being deceived by a woman's tears, and his voice became colder.
"Do you think I will sympathize with you if you cry to me?"
Yang Wan smiled, "I never thought of using you hypocritically, because it's unfair to you. I'm sincere to you because you are also a living person. You went against your own heart and showed me some kindness. Whether you did it out of sympathy or not, I thank you, but I can't accept you as a person, and I will never betray myself because of fear of your blame."
Zhang Luo looked down at Yang Wan's slightly red face.
She was a little different from what she was years ago. The sharp and distant feeling was still there, but the sense of propriety that he felt was deliberate seemed to be much less.
"The purpose of the Ming Code is not to discipline, but to punish."
He took a step closer to Yang Wan and said, "I discipline you because the things you did wrong are not serious enough to require punishment. You were once engaged to me, my mother values you, and I have always left my main wife to you. If you are willing to turn back and admit your mistakes to me, there is nothing a husband cannot bear for his wife."
"Do you still think so now?"
"Yes. When I knew you were still a virgin, I was willing to give you a chance."
After hearing this, Yang Wan suddenly felt dizzy.
In modern times, people call this obsession with virginity a "complex", which seems to carry a bit of literary ridicule or even implicit recognition. However, in Zhang Luo's words, this is like a trial, with officials sitting high in the hall and prisoners kneeling below. When they are told "not guilty", they should thank the grace of being reborn.
Yang Wan felt a mental urge to vomit after hearing these words.
But she also understood that two completely different but equally unbreakable spiritual barriers should never collide with each other. Moreover, he was the wall of this era, while she was just an accidental speck of dust.
So she lowered her voice, smiled bitterly and asked him: "Are you lenient with me because I am still a virgin?"
Zhang Luo did not deny it, "I'm glad you understand."
After saying that, he raised his hand to summon the Jinyiwei and said coldly: "Take her to Wuying Palace."
**
Yang Wan's desire to vomit Zhang Luo was almost diluted by the fear that Yi Lang tried hard to hide.
Wuying Hall was a palace that had not yet been fully completed. Most of the construction funds at the beginning of the year were used for the Hall of Supreme Harmony, so the construction of the two side halls of Wuying Hall had not yet begun. Only a two-room-wide room in the middle of Hengshou Zhai was built in the east of the courtyard. Yi Lang was temporarily locked up in Hengshou Zhai.
The guard said to Yang Wan, "Madam, from Chenshi to Shenshi every day, you must go through the corridor in front of the platform to Wuying Gate to get the things. Apart from you, His Highness cannot have anyone else to serve him. If His Highness makes any mistakes, we will hold you accountable."
Yang Wan nodded "yes", turned around and gently pushed open the door of Hengshouzhai.
Yi Lang sat alone on the couch, hugging his knees and burying his head.
It was already dark. Yang Wan lit the lamp beside the couch, leaned over to Yi Lang and gently called him, "Your Highness."
Yi Lang raised his head quickly, "Aunt..."
Yang Wan used her sleeve to wipe the tears from his face, "It's okay, Your Highness. Just stay here for a few days. I will take care of you."
Yi Lang shrunk himself into Yang Wan's arms, "Where is my mother...will she be implicated by me?"
Yang Wan didn't know how to answer, so she could only take off her cloak and wrap Yi Lang up, "No, Your Highness did nothing wrong, and Your Majesty will not do anything wrong..."
Yi Lang clung to Yang Wan's shoulders and said in a low voice: "I have never thought of disrespecting my father."
Yang Wan nodded gently, "I know, it was their wishful thinking that harmed His Highness."
"Aunt, why would Master Huang do that..."
Yang Wan choked up, "Because he wants to see his good students grow up quickly and take responsibility for the country and the people."
Yi Lang's small hands gently pinched Yang Wan's shoulders and sleeves, "I will grow up, and I will definitely listen to the teachers and work for the benefit of the people. Why doesn't he wait for Yi Lang to grow up?"
"Um… "
Yang Wan choked up a little, "Maybe he feels that he is old."
After saying that, he lowered his head to look at the child in his arms, "Your Highness, if you were your father, would you kill Huang Ran?"
Yi Lang nodded silently.
Yang Wan trembled all over, and Yi Lang in her arms noticed it, so he quickly raised his head.
"Aunt, what's wrong with you?"
"No... I feel a little cold."
Yi Lang took off Yang Wan's cloak.
“For you, auntie.
Yang Wan took the cloak handed to her by Yi Lang and said nothing for a long time.
On the first night in Wuying Palace, Yang Wan could not fall asleep.
She sat beside the couch and told Yi Lang the bedtime story that her grandmother had told her when she was a child.
It was not until the second half of the night that Yi Lang gradually fell into a peaceful sleep.
Yang Wan sat under the lamp, trying to sort out this current history.
At the beginning of the 13th year of Zhenning, Concubine Jiang gave birth to the second son of the emperor, Yi Jue. The emperor named Concubine Jiang as the virtuous concubine and rewarded her mother's family generously. From that time on, there were only a few words left in history about Concubine Ning. As for Huang Ran, there is no specific record in history. But this can also prove from the side that Yi Lang did not suffer substantial punishment for Huang Ran's drunken behavior.
So what was the turning point
Yang Wan held the pen, but couldn't write anything.
However, life still has to go on.
It was New Year's Day after all, and the atmosphere in the entire imperial city did not change at all because the eldest prince was locked up.
On the third day of the first lunar month, Concubine Jiang gave birth to the emperor's second son. Emperor Zhenning named him Yi Jue and canonized Jiang as the virtuous concubine. All the ladies from both the inner and outer courts came to the palace to congratulate her, and the Qianqing Palace held banquets for several days, as if they had forgotten about Yi Lang.
A thousand soldiers from the Imperial Guard would come to interrogate people every day.
Yang Wan could not be present during the interrogation and could only wait in the yard.
During the interrogation, Yi Lang sat on the east side, and the two thousand households stood on the west side. The questions were almost the same every day, nothing more than Huang Ran's words and deeds, and the content of his daily lectures. This was not the most uncomfortable thing. From the third day of the first lunar month, Emperor Zhenning ordered that during the interrogation, Yi Lang could not sit on the east side, but had to stand and answer. The questions asked by the Jinyiwei also shifted from Huang Ran to Zhang Cong, Yang Jing and other lecturers and attendants. When Yi Lang was interrogated, he stood for a whole day.
He is still too young to talk too much without restraint.
Therefore, because of some of his statements, in the next few days, except for Zhang Cong, all the other lecturers in the Wenhua Hall were imprisoned and awaiting punishment.
After Yi Lang knew about it, he gradually became silent. However, his silence aroused the anger of Emperor Zhenning. On the seventh day, Emperor Zhenning issued an imperial decree to reprimand Yi Lang. After the official who reprimanded him left, Yi Lang knelt on the spot and refused to get up.
Yang Wan walked in and picked him up from the ground without making a sound.
Yang Wan coaxed and asked him for a long time before he finally said that he was a little hungry.
"How about some noodles?"
After Yang Wan said this, she felt helpless.
Yi Lang coughed and did not answer.
Yang Wan had no choice but to squat down and hold his hand, "Auntie only knows how to make noodles, you eat some first, the kitchen will deliver the meal soon."
Only then did Yi Lang nod.
"Okay, I'll eat noodles."
Yang Wan looked at him with a choked heart, but she still tried her best to smile at him: "Then sit down and read for a while, and your aunt will make it for you."
"good."
Yang Wan watched him sit down at the desk, then she closed the door, rolled up her sleeves and walked into the yard.
The stove has not been lit yet.
She suddenly remembered that she didn't know how to light the stove, and she was so angry that she wanted to slap herself twice.
Who will win in a fight between a pen and a spatula
Yang Wan currently hopes that Guoshaozi can win.
She wiped her face resignedly and forced herself to light the tinder. The flame shot up high in an instant, scaring her so much that she subconsciously dropped the tinder and stood up.
Just as she took two steps back, she saw a hand picking up the fire for her.
"Is it burned?"
Yang Wan's voice was so familiar to her, like a gentle breeze blowing through the forest, gently brushing against the branches and leaves.
A sour smell suddenly rushed out of Yang Wan's nose.
"Stand further away..."
"ah?"
Deng Ying's fire went out and she looked at Yang Wan helplessly.
"I told you to stand away. I feel like crying."
Deng Ying really took a few steps back. Yang Wan quickly raised her head and looked up at the sky and said, "Deng Xiaoying, if I don't peel the nuts for you every day, will you forget about me?"
"I... don't have any."
The man in front of her was obviously confused by the question, but Yang Wan didn't care about his confusion. She stamped her feet and continued: "Don't you recognize me just because you are wearing the official uniform of the East Factory Supervisor?"
This was the first time Deng Ying heard Yang Wan say such words. There was a slight cry in her voice, and she seemed aggrieved, but the meaning of her words seemed only to be blame.
Deng Ying didn't know what to do, so he could only grasp the literal meaning. He raised his hand to untie his cloak, took off his official robe and put it over his arm.
"I won't wear it in front of you."
Yang Wan lowered her head and saw him standing alone in the snow. She said hurriedly, "That's not what I meant."
Deng Ying stood still, "What did I do wrong? You need to tell me."
Yang Wan rubbed her eyes and said, "You didn't do anything wrong."
"That… "
He wanted to take two steps forward, but then he remembered Yang Wan asked him to stand further away, so he quickly stepped back, "Then... how did I make you cry?"
Yang Wan exhaled deeply, "I cried because of my own stupidity, Deng Ying, it's great to see you now."
Deng Ying heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this.
He pressed his forehead and casually hung his official robe on a tree beside him.
"No matter what, next time I come to see you, I will definitely not wear this leather."
Yang Wan looked at Deng Ying. Under the official robe was a grey velvet undergarment, and underneath that was the undergarment. He squatted down, lit the fire, and subconsciously moved closer.
"Will it be cold like this?"
Deng Ying used a long stick to stir up the dark fire below and said, "Leaning against the fire will keep you from getting cold."
As he said this, he turned his head to look at Yang Wan who was standing beside him with her hands folded, and he wanted to laugh.
"Yang Wan."
"ah?"
"Please don't touch fire in the future."
"What happened to the fire?"
She finally calmed down, sniffed her nose, and squatted down, "I just want to cook something for Yi Lang."
"Noodles?"
"Um."
Deng Ying turned and glanced at Heng Shou Zhai. "Is today's interrogation over?"
Yang Wan shook her head. "I didn't ask any questions today. I was reprimanded."
After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and said hurriedly, "Oh, by the way, I was so nervous just now that I didn't even ask you how you got in."
Deng Ying said: "The cabinet requested an order to transfer Huang Lun's case to the Ministry of Justice, but His Majesty did not approve it. However, His Majesty allowed the Eastern Depot and the Northern Pacification Office to jointly investigate the case. I came here today to interrogate him in accordance with your order."
"Don't interrogate him anymore, I beg you."
Deng Ying looked at her and smiled, "Who can I interrogate if I take off that skin?"
As he spoke, he gently pulled up Yang Wan's hair and said, "You and His Highness, treat me as a eunuch who is in charge of the fire. Give me some noodles to eat."