Yang Wan did not sleep all night.
She endured the excruciating pain, lay in bed and tried to imagine in her mind what it would be like to be tried before the emperor tomorrow.
Although the Ming Dynasty had existed for less than a hundred years, because their ancestors came from humble origins, each generation of emperors was committed to establishing the authority of heaven. Harsh punishments restricted the words and deeds of the people in the inner court and officials, but they often backfired because they were too harsh.
During the Renyin Palace Rebellion (1) of the previous dynasty, the palace servants could not bear the oppression and almost conspired to kill the late emperor, so that the late emperor had to move out of the palace and move to the Western Garden. From then on, he almost cut off all thoughts of yin and yang, practiced Taoism all day long, and only returned to the Qianqing Palace after his temporary death.
Emperor Zhenning learned the lesson from his father and emperor. After ascending the throne, he ordered the palace administrator to strictly discipline the harem. Except for the empress, all the concubines were trembling with fear in front of the emperor.
Because of the concubines' fear, Emperor Zhenning became more and more stubborn and self-willed. Naturally, he liked women like Concubine Jiang, who was born a palace maid, had little knowledge, but obeyed him and always sought his mercy.
Although Concubine Ning was very beautiful, she had a calm personality and was not as good at flattering Emperor Zhenning as Concubine Jiang.
She was often reprimanded for mistakes like "not being able to respond in time", and because she had her own temperament and pride, she rarely asked the emperor for pardon even when she was punished. Emperor Zhenning always had a love-hate relationship with Concubine Ning.
When I am in a good mood, I feel that Concubine Ning is like a work of art crafted by a famous craftsman; when I am in a bad mood, I feel that she is disgusting.
In history, there is no exact cause and date of death for Concubine Ning.
Most historical materials simply pass it over with the word "disdained".
However, why would such a beautiful woman be disliked by the emperor for no reason
Yang Wan closed her eyes and collected all the relevant documents in her mind. Combining the current situation, she could basically infer that the spring and summer of the second year of Zhenning was when Concubine Ning fell out of favor. The reason was nothing more than the Heju case, which exposed her affair with Zheng Yuejia. As for the fact that Emperor Zhenning later killed 300 palace maids and settled the Heju case, it should be to erase this extremely shameful affair for Emperor Zhenning himself.
Yang Wan understood what had happened and foresaw the outcome, but her heart was still wavering.
The emperor will interrogate her in person tomorrow. So, in the history without her, who will the emperor interrogate tomorrow? What did that person say? Yang Wan didn't know. If this was an accurate historical material, she could now foreseeably avoid mistakes and make better responses. However, the Ming Dynasty lasted for hundreds of years, with countless days and nights. The prosperity and decline of human affairs often changed thousands of times in a moment. How many words can a "History of Ming Dynasty" have? Long paragraphs of narration, small paragraphs of commentary, and no human feelings between the lines. For Yang Wan at this time, it was like a pile of seemingly logically rigorous thesis skeletons. When she started writing, she would find that there were mistakes everywhere and she had no place to start.
She was so troubled that she couldn't sleep. In the second half of the night, she heard the sound of rain.
I couldn't help but prop myself up and turned over, and accidentally pressed on Deng Ying's arm.
Yang Wan originally thought that he would speak, but he just coughed lightly in the night, slowly pulled his arm away, and pulled the quilt around her shoulders.
**
The sound of rain under the eaves was like tapping on a piano, and large patches of moisture were forming on the brick surface.
At the hour of Mao on the second day, the rain had just stopped when Hu Xiang, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, and the Jinwu Guards waited at the door.
Deng Ying walked out of the direct room and saluted Hu Xiang.
Hu Xiang lowered his head and asked, "Can she walk by herself?"
Deng Ying stood up and replied, "I still need someone to help me."
Hu Xiang said: "Your Majesty means that you should ask her in the hall of the East Ji Factory. You can be present."
"yes."
The rain dripped lonely into the puddle under the eaves.
After a few simple words of conversation and the arrangements for the interrogation were explained, Deng Ying and Hu Xiang fell silent.
Although Yang Wan's interrogation took place within the inner court this time, no one could mediate.
Yang Wan was brought out of the office by the factory guards. She was still wearing only her middle shirt and her hair was not tied up. She was still running a fever. Although her face was very red, her lips were pale.
Hu Xiang said, "The master will interrogate you personally today, and I have a few words to say first."
Yang Wan nodded and said, "Eunuch Hu, please speak."
"The Inner East Factory is an inner court office. His Majesty recalled you from the Northern Pacification Prison with the intention of pardoning you, but if you deceived the emperor, your crime is unforgivable. No one in this palace can save your life. You are only nineteen years old, still young, and you should think about yourself. His Majesty is merciful and will forgive you."
These words were meant to break down Yang Wan's defenses.
Yang Wan raised her head and looked at Hu Xiang, "I dare not deceive your majesty."
"Okay, now that you understand, take it away."
The guards of the East Factory knew that she was in pain from the torture, so they walked very slowly. Fortunately, the distance between Xizhifang and Neidongchang was only a few hundred meters. When Yang Wan was brought to the main hall of Neidongchang, the emperor had not yet arrived. The guards helped Yang Wan kneel down, and Yang Wan leaned on the ground and panted for a while, which was better than standing.
Deng Ying squatted down and asked, "You haven't eaten anything, can you hold on?"
Yang Wan nodded. "I'm not sober after taking it. I'm fine."
As he was speaking, all the factory guards standing in the corridor knelt down. Deng Ying stopped talking, lifted his robe, knelt beside Yang Wan and saluted.
"Everyone get up."
A tall and thin figure walked past Yang Wan, and the voice he spoke did not sound very old.
Except for Yang Wan, everyone else stood up in response.
"Deng Ying."
The emperor called out from the front.
"The servant is here."
"Bring her in."
"yes."
Deng Ying held Yang Wan's arm, stood up, and walked into the main hall.
"Close the door."
"yes."
The main hall of Neidongchang had only one window facing west. Once the door was closed, there was no light anywhere.
Deng Ying helped Yang Wan kneel down and lit the copper lamp beside him for Emperor Zhenning. The light of the copper lamp fell in front of Yang Wan, casting the shadow of Emperor Zhenning on her knees.
She subconsciously wanted to take a look at Emperor Zhenning, but she heard Deng Ying say, "Master Yang, you are not allowed to raise your head."
"yes… "
Emperor Zhenning said, "It's okay. Look up and let me see."
Yang Wan raised her head in response. Emperor Zhenning glanced at the blood seeping from her undershirt and said to Deng Ying, "The Northern Pacification Office has interrogated her several times."
Deng Ying said, "Your Majesty, only once."
Emperor Zhenning nodded, "You reported it in time." After saying that, he lowered his head to look at Yang Wan, "Your name is Yang Wan, right?"
"yes."
Emperor Zhenning held his forehead and thought for a while, "In the seventh year of Zhenning, Concubine Ning asked the Queen Mother to make the decision and betrothed you to the Zhang family. I didn't ask about it, but I still remember it now. Why didn't you get married later?"
Yang Wan bowed her head and said, "I fell off a cliff and have not returned home for a long time. The Zhang family suspected that I had lost my chastity, so they did not marry me."
Emperor Zhenning nodded and said, "Oh, I remember that I blamed Zhang Luo for this last year."
"I thank Your Majesty for taking the initiative for me at that time."
Emperor Zhenning sneered. "You are not stupid if you know how to express your gratitude."
After he finished speaking, he tapped the tea table lightly with his fingers and then got to the point.
"I'm asking you, when did Concubine Ning and Zheng Yuejia meet?"
"The Zheng family and the Yang family are old acquaintances. My sister and I have indeed met Zheng Bingbi."
Emperor Zhenning was somewhat surprised that she would answer like this.
"Did you say the same thing in the Northern Pacification Division?"
Yang Wan shook her head, "No..."
"So how did you say that?"
"I was tortured in the imperial prison... I was afraid that I couldn't bear the torture, so I kept begging for mercy and didn't say anything."
Emperor Zhenning stood up and said, "Okay, you can speak in front of me. I will not torture you. It's just that if you say something that doesn't satisfy me, I will kill you directly."
Yang Wan coughed a few times, supported herself on the ground and raised her head, "Your Majesty, please kill me. If I can stop this rumor, protect my sister's reputation, and maintain the reputation of Your Majesty and the royal family, then I am willing to die."
Emperor Zhenning walked to Yang Wan with his hands behind his back, looked at her silently for a while, and said in a deep voice: "I don't understand why you are willing to die."
Yang Wan held her trembling hands and asked, "If Your Majesty does not kill me, will you send me back to the Imperial Prison?"
Emperor Zhenning did not comment.
Yang Wan pursed her lips which had turned pale due to pain.
"Your Majesty, do you know why Lord Zhang knew it before Your Majesty? Do you know that my sister and Zheng Bingbi are old acquaintances?"
Emperor Zhenning was stunned when he heard this, and his hands behind his back unconsciously clenched into fists.
Yang Wan could no longer kneel. The high fever in her body made her feel dizzy and her stomach was churning. She pinched the wound on her leg cruelly, using the pain to wake herself up, and continued, "They don't care about your majesty's voice at all. They just want to... make my sister bear the crime of murdering the prince... The Northern Pacification Division tortured me and Zheng Bingbi. No matter who of us could not bear the torture, we would confess... On the second day, your majesty's imperial platform would display a memorial to depose my sister... My sister was wronged, and your majesty was also wronged... Fortunately, your majesty asked Supervisor Deng to assist in the trial of this case, so I am fortunate to be able to present my case in front of your majesty. Otherwise... I would have gone crazy and talked nonsense in the imperial prison, and even if I died ten thousand times, I would not be able to atone for my sins."
After Yang Wan finished speaking, she had almost exhausted all her energy. Her vision went dark and she reached out to grab the chair leg beside her, barely able to kneel before the emperor.
She was nervous and held her breath, waiting for Emperor Zhenning's reaction.
This was the only way Yang Wan could think of to deal with the situation.
During this process, she had to grasp her current identity. She couldn't talk arrogantly about Yang Lun and politics, or even about the Heju case. She just had to follow the sensitive and conceited nature of a king and stab him with words that were neither light nor harsh.
The rest was left to the suspicious Emperor Zhenning to doubt himself.
Although she was not sure what decision the emperor would make, she had tried her best to understand Emperor Zhenning, to find the tiny cracks between the imperial power and the Northern Pacification Office, to give Concubine Ning and herself a glimmer of hope, and to create an opportunity for the East Factory to share the power of the Northern Pacification Office.
However, she did not dare to be as confident as when she saved Zheng Yuejia, because her own life and death now depended on Emperor Zhenning's decision.
"Yang Wan, what you said is sincere in my eyes."