Deng Ying returned from the Imperial Household Department to the direct room by the moat. The midday sun was dazzling, and the shadows of the large willow trees by the river were caressing the dry white ground. Li Yu was about to go out, but when he saw Deng Ying coming back, he stepped back and said, "Chen Zhangyin gave me some tea to reduce internal heat. I don't know what it is, so I made a pot for you and put it in your room."
Deng Ying saw that he had tied up his sleeves and changed his shoes into cloth shoes, and couldn't help asking:
"Where are you going?"
Li Yu rolled his eyes. "You must have been distracted these past few days. Today is June 6th, and you even forgot to turn over the scriptures."
"oh… "
Deng Ying pressed her brows and said, "I am a little shaky."
Li Yu said, "In the past, when the Shangyi Bureau and the Han and Fan scripture factories came to help translate the scriptures, they would draw the palace maids who served the ladies from the six palaces in the inner court to help. And those people were happy to do so. This year, the six palaces are temporarily unable to draw people, so they can only transfer people from the four outer gates and the four inner gates. I didn't want to go at first, but my godfather said that someone will be executed in the palace tomorrow. Translating the scriptures is a merit, and if you do it well, you can dedicate it to others. I want to... give some back to Deng Bingbi."
After he finished speaking, he asked again: "By the way, you came back so early, are you going to the East Jishi Factory? Tomorrow you have to..."
He choked up at this point and stopped talking.
"I'll come back and get some sleep."
"Oh, yes."
Li Yu looked unhappy and lifted the loose straps on his shoulders, "You can take a rest. I'm going to the factory now."
After walking a few steps, he turned back and said, "If you want... I'll reply for you as well."
Deng Ying shook her head and smiled, "It would be a waste if you reply to me, please reply for your sister."
"Oh, sure."
After Li Yu left, Deng Ying went back to his room, washed his face, took off his palace clothes and hung them on the wooden board. He did not lie down immediately, but leaned on the couch with his knees bent to read "Cleaning the Fields Strategy" written by Yang Lun again.
Although the actual progress of clearing land in the south was slower than Yang Lun expected, Deng Ying found that Yang Lun had almost dug up all of Hubei. If he went further south, he would have to enter Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The situations in Zhejiang and Hubei are somewhat different.
Although Hubei has relatives of the emperor like the Duke of Jing, these people only appear to be intimidating, and in reality they are just wealthy and powerful families without any real official power.
The situation in Zhejiang is more complicated.
Although He Yixian was not from Zhejiang, Lu Tong, the then governor of Zhejiang, was despised by Bai Huan for his character and knowledge when he entered the government. In anger, he took He Yixian's way. Unexpectedly, he was successful and later became a frontier official in a key place.
Although the Yang family's roots were in Zhejiang, the old man had been cultivating in the temple and had long stopped taking care of the household affairs, leaving a few illiterate young men to rely on Yang Lun's position in the cabinet to do cotton cloth business with officials. Yang Lun was far away and only visited a few times a year. Yang Lun himself did not know whether there was any mysterious hidden field under the family business.
If he wants to touch the strange fields (1) of others, he must deal with his own family.
This is already difficult, and with the constraints of local officials, if you are not careful, even your life may be in danger.
Deng Ying remembered that at the end of May, there was a message from the south saying that Yang Lun had slipped and fallen into the water on a boat heading south to Zhejiang, and later became ill due to a convulsion. Later, Yang Lun personally wrote to the emperor, saying that it was just a rumor.
For Yang Lun, clearing the fields was a one-time effort, and the third time would be enough.
He was unwilling to be transferred back to Beijing due to illness. But he might not know that the drowning was a deliberate murder, just as Deng Ying and Yang Wan knew that the people behind the Heju case, like He Yixian, were eyeing the "Qingtian Strategy" to the end. Yang Lun would not leave room for these people, his reasoning was aboveboard, and it was absolutely reasonable in the judicial sense.
During the hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, countless young and clean intellectuals, like Yang Lun, continued to dream of a clear political future.
But it was just a dream after all.
After being stabbed like that and sunk into the mire, how could one know how turbulent the gray waves between light and darkness were, and how the world could be turned upside down in a single thought of the king and father.
Deng Ying closed his eyes. He was indeed a little tired these days. It was hot in summer and he didn't get enough sleep. He suddenly relaxed and his eyelids became heavy. He put down the book and lay down on his side on the bed with his arms around his chest.
The weather was too hot, but Deng Ying was willing to cover herself with a quilt and even left the window open.
The shadows of the water waves were clearly imprinted on the window sash.
Deng Ying curled up his legs consciously, his trouser legs rubbing against the mattress on the bed, half rolled up to his knees. The old injury on his ankle was exposed to the wind from the window, which was a little painful, but he was really sleepy and didn't want to move.
**
It was a dreamless sleep, and when I woke up, the sun was already setting.
Deng Ying lowered his head and saw that his ankle was loosely wrapped with a piece of silk. He quickly sat up and took it off.
It was made of silk, embroidered with hibiscus, and had a faint feminine scent. You could tell who was coming at a glance.
Deng Ying was about to get off the ground when she saw Yang Wan running in with two bowls of noodles. She put down the bowls and hurriedly pressed her hands to her earlobes, "It's so hot, it's so hot."
Deng Ying didn't even bother to put on her shoes and walked barefoot to Yang Wan, "Let me see."
Yang Wan bared her teeth and said, "It's not burned."
As he spoke, he spread out his hands and said, "Look, it's a little red."
After saying that, he lowered his head and looked at Deng Ying's feet on the ground, "You're just stepping on the ground like this?"
"oh… "
Deng Ying was a little embarrassed, "I'll put it on right away."
Yang Wan sat down, holding onto the table, "Get dressed and come eat noodles."
She said as she bent down and smelled the soup, "I'm still good at this."
Deng Ying looked at her while putting on her shoes.
She was wearing the official dress of the imperial court today, and like Li Yu, she had her sleeves tied up.
Her makeup was delicate, but her face was still a little pale because her injury had not yet healed.
Seeing Deng Ying looking at her, she turned over Deng Ying's face and said, "Hurry up, it's going to burst."
Deng Ying sat on the couch and put on her shoes, washed her hands by the basin rack in front of the door, walked to the table and sat down, took the chopsticks from Yang Wan, picked up the noodles and turned them over. The chopped green onions at the bottom were stirred up and floated on the surface of the lard-covered soup, spreading a refreshing fragrance.
“It smells good.”
"It smells good. I haven't eaten it for a long time."
Yang Wan held her chin and looked at him, "I see, you won't eat tonight?"
"Um."
Deng Ying ate the noodles and responded sincerely from behind her nose. Suddenly, she felt that her answer was correct, so she quickly put down her chopsticks and changed her words: "Yes, I will eat it."
Yang Wan didn't expose him. She carefully picked up the noodles and drank a mouthful of the noodle soup. "Will you be there for the execution tomorrow?"
Deng Ying bit her noodles and shook her head, "I let Qin Wende go."
"oh."
Yang Wan picked up a piece of noodles with her chopsticks, but didn't put it into her mouth.
Deng Ying looked up at her and asked, "Are you going?"
"Yes, all six innings are there, I want to go too."
"To fuck me..."
"Use Deng Ying."
Yang Wan tucked her hair around her ears, lowered her head and took a bite of noodles, and said softly: "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who will vomit when I smell blood. And..."
She paused, mixed the noodles in the bowl, and said in a deep voice: "I will never vomit again."
After saying that, he took another big mouthful of noodles and put it into his mouth.
"Wan Wan."
"Um?"
Deng Ying folded her arms on the table and started a conversation that Yang Wan had not expected.
"I want to... buy an outhouse."
"Why?"
"You must have misunderstood me. I just want to amass some personal wealth. The house is too big, and a courtyard is good. It doesn't matter whether it's new or old. I can do something with it myself. I want to buy it... and put it there."
Yang Wan put down her chopsticks and asked, "Why do you suddenly think of this?"
Deng Ying lowered her head and did not tell the truth to Yang Wan.
What was he afraid of? He was afraid that he would be like Zheng Yuejia, and would not be able to leave anything for Concubine Ning.
So he wanted to leave a house for Yang Wan, which was the easiest and most practical thing for him to do.
He can design and build the courtyard himself, and also make boxes and drawers by himself.
No matter whether Yang Wan has her own home in the future, she can visit it occasionally, just like visiting him.
That house was like Deng Ying who had not experienced all this.
He had been tortured, was not a factory supervisor, and had no crime. He was just a young man who built many houses. He is worth remembering.
"Why are you talking?"
Yang Wan's eyes were filled with worry.
Deng Ying collected her thoughts, raised her hand with a smile, and picked off the chopped green onions that were on the corner of her mouth.
"I have no descendants, no relatives, but I still need a home. If I get old and your majesty is willing to show mercy and pardon me from the palace, I will have a place to live."
Yang Wan nodded after hearing this, "Then buy it, and ask Qin Wende and the others to help you choose one."
Deng Ying looked at her with a smile, "Wanwan likes it."
Yang Wan thought for a while and said, "It's best to go near Guangji Temple. It's lively there and close to my brother's home."
"good."
"Eh... No, it's OK. The yards there are very expensive."
"It doesn't matter. How about facing west?"
"Good, it's warmer towards the west. Your feet are sensitive to cold, and it will definitely get worse when you get older..."
She suddenly choked up when she mentioned the word "old".
Indeed, Yang Wan was also secretly deceiving Deng Ying.
According to historical records, Deng Ying was still young when he was executed, and the heaven and earth did not give him the qualification to grow old.
"It's going to face west, that's it."
Yang Wan swallowed, holding back the heat in her throat. "In winter, we hang extra thick cotton curtains. I can also make you ankle warmers."
Deng Ying couldn't help laughing. "Can you do it?"
"Yes."
Yang Wan pursed her lips, "It's not easy. Besides, I'm clumsy, but you're awesome. I can draw you a blueprint and ask you to build me a box, a cabinet, or something. Also, we can build a swing in the yard. You know how to build a swing, right?"
"meeting."
"Look, how nice it is."
She clasped her hands together as she spoke, trying her best to smile more naturally.
Deng Ying looked at her and smiled, "It sounds like you want to live with me."
Yang Wan said: "I just want to live with you."
She said as she turned away and rubbed her eyes, then turned around and let out a choked breath.
"Deng Ying, when you are old, you will definitely be a little old man with no bad temper. You will have done all the housework, and you will probably have some money. I will just be idle every day, eating and drinking with you everywhere, and at most I will help you peel a few nuts. I tell you, you must grow old, I must see you when you are old."
"good."