A strong wind blew under the gloomy sky. When Yang Wan returned to Chengqian Palace, He Yu was leading the palace maids to close the windows one by one. The creaking of door hinges and the knocking of locks were intertwined, making a loud and noisy sound that made people feel confused.
Yang Wan stood at the door of the main room, and ripples appeared in the water in the porcelain vat under the porch.
Yang Wan raised her head and began to see raindrops as big as beans falling from the sky, hitting the mud that had been cracked by the summer sun. The sky suddenly became even darker.
Concubine Ning sat behind the embroidery frame in the main room and said to Yang Wan, "Wan'er, come in and sit down. Yi Lang will be back soon."
Yang Wan closed the door, walked to the window and lit the candle, then moved a stool and sat opposite Concubine Ning. "It's raining outside, and the lights are blinding. Your Majesty, why don't you stop embroidering?"
Concubine Ning shook her head, "Just a few more stitches."
As soon as he finished speaking, He Yu said from outside: "Your Majesty, His Highness is back."
Yang Wan got up and opened the door. Yi Lang, soaking wet, came in. "Mother, it's raining heavily outside."
Concubine Ning quickly wiped his face with her sleeves, "You've been cooped up for so many days, it's time to get up. Go inside and change your clothes. Mother made some candied pastries for you."
She said this deliberately, and her voice even trembled a little.
Yang Wanming wanted to appease Yi Lang and the people in the palace, but people are always more sensitive to danger than to happiness.
This was the first palace search during the Zhenning reign. In addition to the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the Yulin and Jinwu Guards also each dispatched guards to participate in the search. Most of the palace servants were experiencing this horrifying palace search for the first time. As it concerned the lives of the princes, everyone felt in danger, but they could not help but stretching their necks and looking eagerly outside.
Yi Lang changed his clothes and came out. He Yu and several older palace servants had already gathered at the porch outside the main room. The sound of rain was very loud under the porch, but the sound of chaotic footsteps on the palace road could still be heard.
He Yu asked, "Has the nipple (1) not been found yet?"
The eunuch who had just returned from outside replied, "It was said earlier that they went to the Fifth Palace, but now the Fifth Palace has been turned upside down and they still can't find it. I heard that they are searching every palace tonight."
"Wouldn't that mean they'd search us here as well?"
"It seems that my son will come."
As soon as the words fell, the lights in the main room flickered, and the needle in Concubine Ning's hand had inserted the wrong needle and pierced the operation area. Yang Wan hurriedly moved the light over to check, "Your Majesty is uneasy, so don't embroider anymore."
After that, he said to the outside of the door: "Heyu, come in and answer the question."
As soon as the door opened, large sheets of damp rain rushed in, the eaves seemed to be spitting water, the corridors were splashing with water, and the coldness rose from the ground like a backwater. He Yu held her jacket tightly and came in shivering: "I see that the situation outside is not good, Madam, you and the head of the household should take shelter."
Concubine Ning hugged Yi Lang and asked, "What happened to the Second Prince now?"
He Yu replied, "I don't know yet. The imperial doctors on duty at the Imperial Pharmacy have all gone there. Huiji Gate is in chaos now, so it's hard to get any news."
Yi Lang looked up and asked Yang Wan, "Aunt, what happened to my second brother? Why are you searching the palace?"
Yang Wan had just opened her mouth when she saw Concubine Ning waving at her.
Yang Wan looked down at Yi Lang. Although his hands were hidden in his sleeves, they were already clenched into fists.
"Your Highness always knows."
She said this to Concubine Ning, whose eyes revealed reluctance, and a flash of panic. She said nothing, but lowered her eyelids and nodded.
Yang Wan squatted down and looked at Yi Lang and said, "The Second Prince was attacked in Heju, and the assassin escaped and has not been arrested yet. What is your intention for tomorrow?"
Yi Lang nodded. "Tomorrow, I will ask the ministers to discuss the selection of the crown prince with my father. Now that my second brother has been attacked, my father will definitely be suspicious of me and my mother."
Yang Wan and Concubine Ning looked at each other in shock.
Yang Wan originally just wanted to tell him the truth, but she didn't expect that he had already touched upon the undercurrents behind it all on his own, so she simply chased after him and asked him.
"If this is the case, what will Your Highness do?"
Yi Lang turned around and looked at Concubine Ning, "I will plead my case to my father, and my mother will not do such a thing."
A muffled thunder followed Yi Lang's words and exploded above everyone's head, cutting a hole of dark and cold light in the gloomy sky.
In the main room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the smell of sandalwood incense was wafting. Zhang Luo and Deng Ying stood side by side beside a crane-head incense burner. Zheng Yuejia knelt on the ground with his hands tied behind his knees.
The sound of a woman crying could be heard from the second room.
Emperor Zhenning knocked on the imperial desk impatiently, "He Yixian, go in and tell her to go back to the Yanxi Palace and cry instead of crying here with me. You keep repeating the same meaningless words over and over again."
He Yixian bent down and went to the second room, and soon the crying inside really stopped.
He Yixian walked out of the ground cover and whispered to the emperor: "The queen has nothing else to say, she only asks Your Majesty to make the decision for her and the Second Prince."
The emperor turned around and looked at Zheng Yuejia, "Do you want me to tell you in front of you, or do you want to tell you in the imperial prison?"
Zheng Yuejia raised her head and said, "I was ordered to select a wet nurse for the Second Prince, but the Second Prince was murdered by the wet nurse and nearly lost his life. I know I deserve death and dare not ask for mercy from Your Majesty. However, I would never dare to have the intention to kill the prince, and I have never conspired with anyone. I ask Your Majesty to investigate."
The emperor turned around and sat behind the imperial desk, saying in a cold voice, "You have served me for so many years. I don't want to try you in a bloody way, but I can hand you over to the Northern Pacification Office and the Eastern Depot for trial. I don't believe that such a crazy woman could rise from the countryside to the inner court in such a short time. I must know exactly who has reached out to me. Come on, strip him of his official uniform and send him to the Northern Pacification Office for trial, Deng Ying."
"The servant is here."
"You will be the eunuch commander of the Inner East Factory and will jointly investigate the case with the Northern Pacification Office. Remember, I want the person who is truly connected to this attack, not the one he made up after being tortured. You should handle this for the Jinyiwei. I will not allow him to be executed, nor will I allow him to commit suicide. I will lock him up in the palace. I will not investigate unsolved cases."
Deng Ying knelt down beside Zheng Yuejia and bowed, "I obey your order."
Several factory guards entered the palace, untied the ropes on Zheng Yuejia's hands, and took off his official uniform. Zheng Yuejia took advantage of the opportunity when several people were free and knelt in front of Emperor Zhenning, "Your Majesty, I have nothing to say, but I beg for death. Please have mercy on me..."
The emperor kicked him in the heart and said in a deep voice, "You have been with me for quite some time. What do I hate most in my life? The inner court is where I sleep. Today someone hurt my prince in Heju. Will someone kill me in Yangxin Palace tomorrow? I have raised you and forgiven you, but you are getting bolder and dare to plot against me behind my back with the villains. You still dare to ask me for mercy! You are so shameless! Come, drag you out and beat you with ten sticks first."
The factory guards responded and dragged Zheng Yuejia out of the Yangxin Palace.
He Yixian served a cup of tea, and the emperor took it and drank a sip, then he calmed down a little. Seeing that Deng Ying was still kneeling, he pointed outward with the hand holding the cup, "You stand up and go out to supervise the execution."
Zheng Yuejia was dragged to the Yangxin Gate by the factory guards. Because they knew that he would be handed over to the Northern Pacification Office for trial after the punishment, they did not set up a punishment bench. Instead, they spread a piece of cloth on the ground under him to prevent the Yangxin Gate from being contaminated. The factory guard in charge of the punishment asked Deng Ying, "Master, how should we beat him?"
Zheng Yuejia lay on the ground and looked up at Deng Ying. Although neither of them spoke, they both had their own hidden words. They hoped that the other party would have enough tacit understanding with them and they would be able to understand each other silently.
"As long as no one is killed."
Deng Ying looked at Zheng Yuejia's back and said this in a calm voice.
Zheng Yuejia's shoulders relaxed in response, and he shook his head and smiled to himself.
Deng Ying retracted his gaze, turned his back and walked a few steps back, then raised his hand to signal the factory guards in charge of the punishment to come closer, "After the punishment, have the Northern Pacification Office come over to escort him."
"yes."
Deng Ying then turned to Zheng Yuejia and said, "Go ahead."
**
Ten strokes of the cane, although they broke his bones, were only the emperor's way of stripping Zheng Yuejia of his position as a writer. It was also a ritual for a master to abandon his servant. After this beating, the imperial prison would no longer treat him as a member of the Imperial Household Department, or even as a human being. He was completely reduced to a prey without dignity under the imperial power, and even his qualifications as a human being were stripped away.
Looking at the entire Ming Imperial City, there are tens of thousands of eunuchs. Those who are not smart are terrified, while those who are interested try their best to figure out their master's preferences. But no matter what, the essence of their behavior is that they are afraid of ending up like Zheng Yuejia.
Therefore, at this time, the eunuchs of Yangxin Gate all shrank their necks and listened to Zheng Yuejia's screams of pain with fear and trembling. This was undoubtedly shocking and horrifying, and most people couldn't even bear to look at the tragic scene in front of them.
Only Deng Ying stood behind the Yangxin Gate, silently watching Zheng Yuejia. He could not say that he felt the same way, as he had also been treated in the same way, but it was precisely because he had never regarded this punishment as a discipline from his master that he could not, like other eunuchs, have useless sympathy for Zheng Yuejia at this moment.
After ten beatings with the stick, the cloth under Zheng Yuejia was already full of blood. As soon as the stick was removed, Zheng Yuejia's whole body was convulsing.
Deng Ying stopped the factory guards who were trying to drag him up and said, "Let him take it easy for a while."
The factory guards then took a step back.
Zheng Yuejia opened his eyes with difficulty and stretched out a hand to Deng Ying. Deng Ying squatted down and approached him and said, "Do you have anything to say? Do you want me to report it to His Majesty?"
Zheng Yuejia's hands lost their strength and fell on the cloth. He couldn't hold himself up and could only look up at Deng Ying, "You didn't even try to save me..."
Deng Ying pinched the fabric on her knees and said three words after a long while.
"knew."
After saying that, he stood up and turned around to see Zhang Luo standing behind him. "Are you going to be escorted by the Dongji Factory, or are you going to take him away by us?"
Deng Ying stepped aside and said, "You can take them away, but I have one thing to say. The Northern Pacification Office is not allowed to resort to lynching. Every interrogation must be reported to the arrest station."
Zhang Luo glanced at Zheng Yuejia, then raised his head and said coldly to Deng Ying: "Are you trying to put yourself above my Zhenfu Division?"
"I don't dare."
Deng Ying bowed to Zhang Luo, looked up at him and said, "I will not stop you from interrogating me. I think human life is like dust, not worth mentioning. But once this matter is investigated, there will be countless implications. Human life is not worth a damn, please be careful."
After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the Yangxin Palace, but the Jinyiwei raised their swords and blocked his way.
Zhang Luo's voice behind him was unusually cold, "Let me ask you, which is more important, the emperor's power or human life?"
Deng Ying did not answer. The factory guard standing behind him blocked the hilt of the Jinyiwei's knife.
"Master, please report to His Majesty first."
Deng Ying looked towards the ceiling of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, replied with a dim eye, "Okay." She let the factory guards hold back the Embroidered Uniform Guards and walked towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation alone.
In fact, many people, including Yang Lun and Deng Ying, have asked themselves this question, but Zhang Luo already has the answer in his heart, while Yang Lun and others have taken it as a proposition and are still debating it over and over again.
Deng Ying had no position to participate in those people's debate.
He must choose.
But no matter which side he chooses, he is guilty.