Zheng Yuejia got off the carriage and Donghua Gate was already in front of him.
The rule of the Ming Dynasty Imperial City was that starting from the four outer gates, all palace personnel, except the emperor and his concubines, had to walk.
The guards from the Inner East Factory lifted up Zheng Yuejia's arm, and with just this move, all the blood in his body flowed to the wound.
"Slow down."
He couldn't help but plead.
Deng Ying turned around and glanced at Qin Wende, who immediately looked apologetic.
"Slow down, it's okay."
"Yes, Lord Governor."
A group of people walked slowly on the quiet palace road.
The flowers that bloom in season are hidden behind the layers of palace walls, and the wind blows up waves of petals, with a sound like distant thunder.
Zheng Yuejia asked Deng Ying, "Aren't you going to take me to the Inner East Factory? Why are you going to Huiji Gate?"
"Let's go to the Imperial Pharmacy."
Zheng Yuejia did not respond immediately. He staggered behind Deng Ying and sighed after a long while.
"Is this necessary?"
He raised his head and said, "I don't need to be worshipped by future generations, and I don't need to have a complete body to use. I don't think it's a big deal if I die like this."
Deng Ying looked up towards Huiji Gate, and after walking a few more steps, he saw Wenhua Hall beyond Huiji Gate.
On this day, there was a daily lecture led by Zhang Cong. Although it was not as big as the spring lecture of the Imperial Lectures, because it was a new topic pointed out by the cabinet, several editors of the Hanlin Academy and the chief academic officer of the Imperial College were all present.
"Deng Ying."
"exist."
"What's in it?"
This place is the one Zheng Yuejia is most familiar with, except for the Imperial Household Department and the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.
He served Emperor Zhenning with writing materials all year round and attended the imperial lectures twice a year with him. Although Emperor Zhenning later became tired of giving lectures, he served at the Spring and Autumn lectures every year since Yi Lang left the palace to study. In the past, even if he only heard a few words, he could tell what the lecturer was saying.
The pain from the torture was so severe that his ears were buzzing and he couldn't hear a single word.
When Deng Ying heard him ask that, he stopped and closed his eyes to listen for a moment. "Zhenguan Zhengyao."
"oh… "
Zheng Yuejia laughed, "During the last few days of the Spring Lectures, I was not here. Who did the Imperial Household Department send to serve as a bookkeeper in Wenhua Hall?"
Deng Ying replied, "Hu Xiang."
"He..."
Zheng Yuejia coughed with a smile, looked at her own steps and said, "Don't make the ground beneath His Highness's feet dirty."
"Zheng Bingbi is careful with his words."
"fine."
Zheng Yuejia smiled and shook her head. "He couldn't hear me from such a distance. I'm very happy today. Seeing His Highness still receiving a lecture in Wenhua Hall, I know...those people didn't succeed."
After he finished speaking, he lowered his head and looked at the shadow in front of him, never looking up again.
On the platform of Wenhua Palace, Concubine Ning stood alone behind the white jade railing.
Not far away, Zheng Yuejia was being carried through Huiji Gate and walking towards the Imperial Pharmacy in the south.
Or it can’t be said that he walked, as he was seriously injured and could hardly walk, he was practically dragged all the way.
The clothes on his body had been changed, but at this moment they were completely soaked with blood.
Concubine Ning couldn't imagine what kind of torture Zheng Yuejia had endured for her during those days in the imperial prison. She wanted to ask and remember this gentle kindness seriously, but he couldn't hear her.
They didn't say much in their lives, almost all of it was when they were young.
She was a lady from a rich family, and he was too polite in his conduct. Even when they sat together, their words never crossed the line of human desire. After entering the palace, they often saw each other, but apart from greeting each other, they never said anything else.
As time goes by, people weave the splendor in their hearts.
But she couldn't tell Zheng Yuejia that she continued to read and practice calligraphy, and did needlework and cooking. She had a gentle temperament, a rich inner world, and had improved even more than when she was young.
Ten years of looking at each other, ten years of silence.
At this moment, she could only look at the person who was unwilling to look up again, and continue to fall into the endless silence...
Deng Ying saw the figure behind the jade railing in Wenhua Palace, turned around and said to Zheng Yuejia: "Every year in the spring and autumn lectures, you serve the emperor and the prince in Wenhua Palace. Don't you want to take another look at this place?"
Zheng Yuejia shook his head and said, "I am not you. I have never built an imperial city, so I don't have any regard for these palaces. I won't regret not seeing them."
After he finished speaking, he sighed again, "Deng Ying, the real regret in my heart is bigger than the sky, and the longer I live, the harder it will be to make up for it. So let it be..."
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and phlegm, and his body shook in the hands of the factory guards.
"Did your majesty tell me how to deal with me?"
Deng Ying shook his head, "No clear order yet."
"As long as it's not a beating."
He laughed as he spoke, "Since ancient times, eunuchs rarely have a good end. My fate is already good. I originally wanted to die outside. My uncle and my niece would have been looked down upon when they collected my body. Now it's good. The palace has collected my body and buried it simply. Everyone is happy."
As he spoke, he was almost passing the Wenhua Hall.
Deng Ying couldn't help but said, "Walk slower."
Tan Wende said: "Master, the slower you walk, the more Zheng Bingbi will be offended."
Zheng Yuejia waved to Deng Ying, "Come here."
Deng Ying walked up to him and held one of his hands, "Tell me what you want to say."
Zheng Yuejia exhaled slowly and whispered, "I know... who's there."
"… "
Deng Ying stood stiffly, speechless for a moment.
"I am responsible for her own life and death. I wish her well from afar."
**
At the end of June in the 13th year of Zhenning, the handling of the Heju case was all transferred from the imperial prison of the Northern Pacification Office to the inner court.
The Palace Administration Office and the Eastern Investigation Office conducted a thorough investigation of all the palace servants serving in Tsurui. Afterwards, the six palaces in the inner court, including the twenty-four bureaus and the six bureaus of the female officials, all underwent a brutal purge. The palace servants were in a panic, and they reported on each other if they had any personal grudges. At one time, nearly three hundred people were implicated.
The empress wanted to show some mercy to these people, but the emperor did not allow it and even rebuked the empress, "How can I tolerate any wolfish ambition beside my bed?" Therefore, all the convicted palace maids and eunuchs, including Zheng Yuejia, were sentenced to death with sticks. The emperor ordered the East Factory to be in charge of the execution and the Silijian to supervise the execution.
When Zheng Yuejia heard this decree in the Inner East Factory, he only said one sentence to Deng Ying, "Your Majesty... still hates us."
"It's not hatred, it's fear."
Zheng Yuejia laughed and said, "You dare to say such things because you think I'm about to die and won't report you in the future."
He stopped laughing after he finished speaking, "You're even afraid of dogs on leashes, huh... No wonder you're wary of Zhang Luo's dogs that aren't on leashes. As the supervisor of the East Factory, you're really on par with the Northern Pacification Office."
He was laughing and talking cheerfully before his death, which made people shudder.
Deng Ying didn't say anything more to him.
Outside the direct residence, Tan Wende came looking for him and in a few words told him about the cabinet's request for mercy for the palace maid.
Deng Ying walked towards the factory office while asking, "Did you meet someone from the Imperial Household Department?"
"Yes, I will go to see Hu Bingbi. He will be the one supervising the execution tomorrow."
"What did he say?"
"Oh." Qin Wende sighed.
"Your Majesty refuted the cabinet's memorial, and he went on to say that the purpose of punishing these people this time was to deter the inner court, so within a hundred strokes of the cane, they could not be killed."
Deng Ying stopped and asked, "What does this mean?"
Qin Wende sighed, "Not hitting the vital points with a hundred sticks makes these people live a life worse than death. Then hitting the vital points is both execution and torture. We have all practiced these moves since we were in the Jinyiwei."
Deng Ying replied, "Come and see me once at 3 p.m. I'll go back to the Imperial Household Department first."
"yes."
At this time, the approval for the Yangxin Palace had just been completed, and dinner was being served in the main hall of the Silijian.
After Hu Xiang and He Yixian returned from the Palace of Tranquil Longevity, they did not go in directly, but stood in front of the inner palace supply warehouse and talked.
When Hu Xiang saw Deng Ying coming over, he didn't even bother to greet him, and said directly, "If it's something that will happen tomorrow, don't mention it."
Deng Ying didn't answer him, but walked past him and stood in front of He Yixian, "I have something to say, I want to talk to the old ancestor alone."
He Yixian smiled and waved at Hu Xiang, "Take the meal outside and eat."
"Ancestor..."
"Just do it if I ask you to. There's no need to worry about that."
After that, he said to Deng Ying, "Let's go in and talk if you have anything to say."
The meal in the main hall was about to be served. There were twelve dishes on the table, including roasted meat, stir-fried vegetables, and a jar of pickled meat on the ground.
He Yixian squatted down, opened the lid of the jar and took a sniff. "Hmm, it's well stewed. Take out two pieces."
The eunuch hurriedly brought up the bowls and chopsticks, picked up two pieces and handed them to He Yixian, but He Yixian just laughed, "Where are Governor Deng's bowls and chopsticks? You guys are really getting more and more confused."
The eunuch hurriedly brought another set of bowls and chopsticks and handed them to Deng Ying respectfully.
Seeing that he had held the bowl steadily, He Yixian picked up a piece of meat from her own bowl and put it into his bowl.
"Sit down."
As he spoke, he sat down in the main seat, added a bowl of rice and handed it to the eunuch, "Take it out to Hu Bingbi."
After saying that, he looked at Deng Ying again and said in a relaxed voice, "Do you feel uncomfortable sitting here to eat?"
"yes."
He looked down at the bowl and chopsticks in his hands, "I am terrified."
He Yixian took a bite of meat and chewed it for more than ten times before swallowing it.
He raised his chopsticks and said, "Besides approving some important documents for the Emperor, the work done in the Silijian is just sitting and eating a bowl of rice with everyone, right? Those who can sit here are the ones who eat in front of the Emperor. Now that the East Factory has the power to detain and interrogate people, you are the second person in the Silijian to eat. If you don't sit here, the rest of the people can't sit down."
After listening to this, Deng Ying lifted his robe and sat down.
"That's right, eat peanuts."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and took a bite of rice, then asked casually while picking up the food, "You came here for Yue Jia's matter, right?"
"yes."
Deng Ying took a piece of green vegetable with chopsticks but didn't eat it. "I hope the ancestors will have mercy on him."
"hehe… "
He Yixian put down her chopsticks. "When he first entered the palace, he was very young and amiable, not much, but when it came to doing things, he was very determined and firm. In the first few years, he also called me godfather, and I really treated him as a child, but I don't know why, his heart was not here anymore, tsk..."
He sighed, "It's very hateful. But it doesn't make me feel good to watch him suffer. Everyone says I'm cruel, but who can understand the pain of losing a son at my age?"
"I understand."
"You understand? What do you understand? I can't help but be afraid of you now. Besides, I'm old and can't take care of myself. The one-third acre of land at home is about to be plundered. I'm old and I have to go home. Maybe when Minister Yang comes back, I'll have to wear shackles and kneel in front of you to be tried. I think there's not much point in living."
Deng Ying lowered her head. "Are you talking about the school field in Hangzhou?"
He Yixian asked, "Do you know where Jiangnan Qingtian has gone?"
"Yes. Hangzhou Chushan Academy and Hudan Academy have nearly 100 acres of school land, which are leased to farmers in Changping and Huaili counties for cultivation. But in fact, they are just private lands in the name of school land."
He Yixian nodded, "Then do you know who owns these fields?"
Deng Ying raised her head and said, "It's yours."
"ha… "
He Yixian put down his chopsticks and smiled, "In the fourth year of Zhenning, your majesty wanted to make a Taoist robe. Because it was a sudden idea, the price was not included in the annual salary that the Ministry of Revenue gave to the Zhen Palace Bureau. Those people in the cabinet wanted to write 10,000 words to point at their master just for that piece of clothing. How did this piece of clothing come about?"
He raised his chopsticks and pointed outside. "It's from that field. You said it was my field, haha... that's true. But I watched Your Majesty grow up. Although I am being disrespectful, I still can't help but feel sorry for you. It's a pity that the adults in the cabinet didn't even leave me this little bit of wiggle room."
"In that case."
Deng Ying stood up and said, "My ancestor, please give me the school land in Hangzhou. I will treat it as my private land. I will ask Minister Yang to clear it."
He Yixian lowered his head and stared at Deng Ying, "I want to hear what you are saying next."
"Please keep the matter between Empress Ning and Zheng Bingbi in your heart. I beg you to show mercy when the execution is tomorrow."