Zhang Luo said coldly, "Do you think I will go easy on you just because you said that?"
Yang Wan shook her head, "You wouldn't... I didn't expect that either."
Zhang Luo stood up and said, "I can't hear what you are saying."
"Just let me take care of it for a few days... and then ask me. It hurts so much..."
She was already exhausted after saying this, and blood continued to seep from the wounds from the whipping, dripping into the cracks in the ground.
Zhang Luo lowered his head and looked at the crack in the ground beneath Yang Wan.
It has been three years since the late emperor built the imperial prison. Every brick and stone, every instrument of torture, every person, even Zhang Luo himself, no longer cares about the wounds on his body. If the wounds bleed, just let them bleed. If there are too many, just use a bucket of water to wash them away. They are not good things in the first place. They are just the dirt that is released to wake up the person before prying open his mouth.
Zhang Luo used to not mind its fishy smell, and he could even drink a cup of it despite the fishy smell.
But when he heard her say that she was in so much pain, Zhang Luo looked at her wound unconsciously.
But it was just a glance, and he immediately gathered his attention and looked sharply at the person on the ground and the words she had said.
Was it the truth she uttered after being in extreme pain, or was it another round of game she secretly initiated
Zhang Luo wasn't sure for a moment, but because of this, he couldn't allow himself to let her go.
"Pull her up."
"yes."
Zhang Luo's voice was cold, and the captain showed no mercy to Yang Wan. He put his hands on her arms and forced her to straighten her upper body.
Yang Wan's consciousness was already half dispersed. At this moment, she felt her eyelids drooping. She tried to open them but couldn't.
"Splash it to wake you up."
The bucket of cold water Zhang Luo gave her helped her regain consciousness. She gently sipped the water on her lips, and the water mixed with saliva wet her mouth. She finally swallowed twice, "Do you... have any more questions?"
"right."
Zhang Luo looked down at her, "You didn't answer a single question."
"Why... did you willingly allow yourself to be used by the Imperial Household Department?"
"You don't have to know."
"Zhang Luo..."
Yang Wan took a step forward and said, "I know..."
She said while trying to break free from the captain's shackles, and asked intermittently: "I want to... know what happened to you... what happened to you?"
"I can tell you."
There was no longer much emotion in Zhang Luo's voice at this time.
"But after I tell you, you'll still be worse off than dead."
After saying this, he squatted down and stared into Yang Wan's eyes. "Your Majesty is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. As the envoy of the Northern Pacification Office, I have to protect only the majesty of heaven. Between the majesty of heaven and human life, the latter is not worth mentioning at all in my eyes, even if this human life is my own."
Yang Wan was speechless.
Zhang Luo continued, "If Concubine Ning and Zheng Yuejia really have an affair, I will report this to the heavens. You remind me that my current situation is nothing more than asking me to give up interrogating you, Zheng Yuejia, and help Concubine Ning escape guilt. Now I ask you, if Concubine Ning escapes guilt, who will pay for the deception Your Majesty has suffered! If no one pays, where is the majesty of heaven?"
These sounds exploded in Yang Wan's ears like thunder.
Yang Wan coughed and said, "I understand."
"What do you know?"
Yang Wan nodded and said miserably: "I understand how you did it. Okay..."
She stretched out her hands and said, "If you still want to interrogate me, then tie me up with iron chains and don't give me any room to struggle. Zhang Luo, I may really talk nonsense if I can't bear the torture, but I tell you, as long as I am still alive, I will not admit it, unless you kill me."
Zhang Luo looked at her hand stretched out in front of him and said coldly: "In my hands, death is the hardest."
Just as he was about to stand up, the captain behind him reported, "Master, the people from the East Factory are here."
Zhang Luo paused with his hands on his knees, "What are you doing here?"
"It is said that I am ordered to bring this female official with me."
"What order?"
Zhang Luo suddenly stood up and walked straight out of the torture room.
At this moment, all the courage that Yang Wan had held up with great effort suddenly burst out.
She was panting heavily, her shoulders and back were shaking, and her limbs were twitching. The lieutenant had no choice but to let her go, leaving her to sob on the ground. Soon, her sobs turned into crying, which sounded particularly miserable in the torture room where you could hear a pin drop.
The two lieutenants looked at each other when they saw her crying pitifully. One of them couldn't help but said, "Why don't we lock her up and put her in the cell first?"
"Is it possible? I might have to go on trial when I get back."
After saying this, they looked at the injuries on her body again.
The first person who opened the door said, "Lock her up first. Maybe when she comes back and sees that I'm locked up, she'll show some mercy. She's crying too much... Oh, I feel so sorry for her. She's a female official from the Shangyi Bureau."
**
Outside the torture chamber, Tan Wende, the chief of the Eastern Depot, saluted Zhang Luo.
He was a clerk in the Northern Pacification Office, but he was a straight talker and he was also straightforward, always saying the wrong thing and offending him, so he was later transferred to the Jinwu Guard. After working for a few years, he was transferred back to the Jinyi Guard. He was old and had no success. But when Deng Ying reorganized the East Factory, the first person he mentioned was him. From then on, the relationship between him and Zhang Luo became antagonistic.
"Zhang "
First be polite, then use force. After the formalities are completed, your intentions should be made clear.
"We are here under the order of the emperor to bring Yang Wan, the head of the Shangyi Bureau, back to the East Factory for trial."
Zhang Luo said coldly: "Your factory supervisor is not here."
Tan Wende stood up and said, "The factory supervisor is on duty today, so naturally I am here to serve Your Majesty. I can still handle things like bringing in a criminal."
Zhang Luozhi asked, "When did your majesty give the East Factory the power to conduct criminal trials?"
"In reply to Zhang Xi's words, I gave it to you today. If Zhang Xi doesn't believe it, you can come to see the emperor in person. We just need to wait a little longer."
The last sentence was deliberately said in a sarcastic tone, and his eyes fell on the captain who was holding Yang Wan behind Zhang Luo. He was angry. The captain could not help but shouted: "What kind of Dongchang are you? You are all from the Jinyiwei. You didn't even change your skin and became the dogs of the eunuchs. Now you dare to bark in front of us. You are so shameless."
Tan Wende said, "What do you mean by a eunuch's dog? Our East Factory and your Northern Pacification Division are both under the direct control of His Majesty. You should have your tongue cut off for saying this."
"Qin Wende, you..."
"What are you talking about? Put it down immediately. You are delaying our mission to His Majesty. How many heads do you have? How many heads do you have in your family?"
"Everyone stay!"
Qin Wende then stopped talking and bowed to Zhang Luo, saying, "I have no intention of offending you. Please hand it over to us as soon as possible so that we can return to the palace to ask for your approval."
Zhang Luo said, "Let me ask you, why would His Majesty suddenly issue an order to hand this thing over to the East Factory?"
Qin Wende lowered his hands, "I don't know the reason, but our governor has something to say to me."
He lowered his voice and said, "The governor said that matters in the inner court should be tried in the inner court, but this is not what I mean, it is what your majesty means. I hope Zhang Xiaoxun can also pay attention to this sentence when interrogating Zheng Bingbi."
After hearing this, Zhang Luo remained silent with his hands behind his back.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Qin Wende simply raised his hand and said to the factory guards behind him: "Bring out Yang Zhangji."
Seeing that Zhang Luo did not say anything, the captains did not dare to stop them. Soon, Yang Wan was carried out by two factory guards. Qin Wende almost cursed when he saw the shocking injuries on her body and the torn prison uniform.
"First... what! Go outside and call Song Zhangzan in first."
Song Yunqing followed the East Factory out after Deng Ying requested her to. She knew that she would suffer in the imperial prison, but she didn't expect it to be so tragic. Seeing Yang Wan's clothes, she quickly took off her jacket and wrapped Yang Wan up, "Don't touch her, I'll help her out."
Yang Wan opened her eyes and glanced at Song Yunqing, then said in a weak voice, "Why are you here too?"
Song Yunqing said: "Lord Deng asked me to come here, you should speak first and don't say anything... you..."
As she spoke, she actually started crying.
Yang Wan said softly, "Don't cry."
Song Yun sobbed softly, "You are crying yourself."
"I am in pain, why are you crying..."
"I... I have never seen a man from the Shangyi Bureau beaten like this. I have seen it like this before. If Governor Deng and Empress Ning saw it... I don't know what they would do."
Yang Wan coughed, "Where is Deng Ying?"
Song Yun wiped away a tear.
"I was on duty in front of the emperor today. After you were taken away, Jiang Shangyi and I were at a loss. Shangyi went to ask the Queen Mother for help. The Queen Mother said that since the matter had been handed over to the Northern Pacification Office for trial, she could not show mercy. I had no choice but to wait outside the Yangxin Palace. Fortunately, Governor Deng came out to get the cabinet's draft. I don't know what you said in front of His Majesty. Anyway, when the guards from the East Factory came to find me, they said they wanted to take you back. It's only been a short time..."
Her voice trembled as she cried, "I was tortured like this."
Yang Wan patted the back of her hand to calm her down temporarily, then raised her head and said to Tan Wende, "Captain Tan, where are you going to take me now?"
Qin Wende said: "We are taking you back to the Inner East Factory, but there is no prison in the Inner East Factory. The supervisor said that you should be placed in the duty room outside the Inner East Factory first, but you cannot move around at will, because His Majesty may want to interrogate you personally."
After she finished speaking, she bent down and personally served as a footstool under the carriage for Yang Wan.
Seeing this, Yang Wan refused to step forward.
Qin Wende said, "We usually receive a lot of favors from the governor. The governor values you, so we value you too. We dare not offend you. It is okay to be your foot pad. Step on it, Song Zhangzan, you hold it steady."
Yang Wan then climbed onto the carriage with great pain, and Song Yunqing put a blanket under her so that she could lie down.
Qin Wende drove the car himself, and in order not to let Yang Wan suffer, he drove slower than usual.
The shadows of the Ming capital passed by the curtains of the carriage.
Yang Wan was very thankful that Qin Wende gave her such a quiet time, so that she could understand the injuries on her body with peace of mind.
When she first came to this era, she was not used to this different body, she fell on the road in the South Sea, and even despised the frailty of the Ming women. But now, this whipping made the five senses of this body and her spirit closely entangled. She was afraid, she was in great pain, and she couldn't help but beg for mercy from a person who was just a piece of paper to her.
If, when she was writing her notes, she still maintained a sense of boundaries between generations, separating herself from the pain of this era, it seems that she can no longer do so.
What she wanted and what she wanted to see were now concrete.
She returned to her quiet and clean room, took off the humiliating prison uniform, cleaned her wounds, applied medicine, and then went to sleep, took medicine, and healed her wounds.
When she first saw Deng Ying, she no longer had to be respectful even if they sat on the same bed.
Because at this moment, she wanted this tenderness and compassion.