The banquet was set up in the small flower hall. Yang Lun's two concubines followed Xiao Wen in setting the table.
Yang Jing had caught a cold in the imperial prison and looked a little thin. Wrapped in a thick fox fur cloak, he greeted Yang Wan at the door.
Yang Wan asked, "When will you enter the Hall of Transformation?"
Yang Jing said, "Yang Jing has failed my sister and cannot go in."
Yang Wan nodded, took out a copy of "Biographies of Five Sages" printed by Qingbo Pavilion from the bag she brought and handed it to Yang Jing.
Yang Jing took it and looked at it, only to see that the name written on the book was "Du Heng".
"Du Heng?"
"Um."
Yang Jing raised her head and asked, "Why is it Du Heng? He died of illness last month."
Yang Wan patted Yang Jing on the shoulder and said, "Yang Jing, I heard from my sister that it's okay if you can't enter the Grand Palace. You can study outside and take the imperial examination in the spring."
Yang Jing looked at the book and raised her head after a while, "Thank you, sister."
Yang Wan gestured for them to sit down and rest, and she rolled up her sleeves to help the two concubines set the table.
Xiao Wen looked at the table with hesitation, took Yang Wan aside and said, "I am confused about the seating arrangement today."
He glanced outside the door and said, "Should we give up our honorable position to Governor Deng?"
Yang Wan said, "Sister-in-law, ask someone to bring me a thicker cushion."
Xiao Wen turned around and said to the maid, "Go get a cushion." Then she asked Yang Wan, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Yang Wan shook her head and was about to respond, but Yang Lun had already stepped into the flower hall, took off his cloak and handed it to Xiao Wen, and asked, "Have you ordered the show?"
Xiao Wen said: "Let's wait for the factory supervisor to tell us something."
Yang Lun glanced at Deng Ying who was following behind him and asked, "Are you tired of "The Story of a Thousand Golds" (1)?"
Deng Ying stepped into the room and looked around. "The Story of Ming Feng (2) is better."
Yang Lun looked at Yang Wan, "What do you want to hear?"
Yang Wan hugged the cushion and asked, "Do you know the "Bo Ya Plays the Qin"?"
Yang Lun rolled his eyes at Yang Wan, "Books like Lüshi Chunqiu are not entertainment, there is no point in reading them here!" He then raised his voice towards the stage, "Sing the scene 'Baijiang' from 'Qianjin Ji'!"
"Paying Homage to a General" is about Han Xin paying homage to a general. It is the "Poor Han Xin Ascends the Altar to Pay Homage to a General" in the fifth chapter of "The Story of a Thousand Golds", which comes after "Han Xin Begging for Food in Huaiyin County".
After three rounds of drinking, Yang Lun lost his temper, his eyes turned red, he clapped his chopsticks, and stood in the hall singing a passage from "Splitting the Jade Song".
"Marshal Han arrived before the time came.
I was bullied in Huaiyin.
Fishing is my livelihood at the riverside.
The washerwoman once showed pity on him and brought him food to fill his stomach.
'Appoint a general and make him a marquis, Appoint a general and make him a marquis,
I will give you a thousand gold coins to thank you. I will give you a thousand gold coins to thank you.'"
After the song, Yang Lun was drunk but refused to leave the table.
Yang Wan asked Xiao Wen, Yang Jing and others to go and have a rest, dismissed the servants, and leaned forward to watch over the two people who were sitting beside the mess of cups and plates.
Deng Ying was not drunk, but remained silent.
Yang Wan looked at Yang Lun and said, "Since you are so drunk, you might as well have a good cry."
"I'm not drunk!"
Yang Lun overturned the cold soup in front of Yang Wan, propped himself up and spoke nonsense to Deng Ying, "Deng Fuling, how did you become a eunuch..."
Deng Ying stretched out her hand to support Yang Lun's arm, "Because my Deng family is guilty."
"The Deng family is guilty of something, it's none of your business!"
Yang Lun stood up unsteadily as he spoke. Deng Ying tried to support him, which affected her injured part. She couldn't help but ask, "Yang Xixi, can you please sit still?"
Yang Lun shook off Deng Ying's hand and spat, "Leave me alone!"
Yang Wan pulled Yang Lun back to his seat, and Yang Lun's head hit the back of the chair with a "bang", making him even more dizzy.
"I don't care about you. I'll let you die in the river!"
"If you die on the river, you die on the river! Why should I owe you anything?"
After saying this, he raised his sleeves to cover his eyes, "I, Yang Lun, have been a worthy citizen of this land. I am so unclean. Why do I have to owe Deng Fuling..."
Deng Ying raised her head and glanced at Yang Lun, then took a sip of the cold wine on the table and said, "I didn't ask you to owe me."
"I owe you! I owe you so much that I can't even protect my sister! You've ruined her like this, and as your brother, I can't kill you with my own hands. I can't even curse you. I, Yang Lun, am a..."
As he said this, he slapped himself loudly.
Yang Wan quickly reached out and grabbed her arm, "Are you crazy?"
Yang Lun looked at Yang Wan with drunken eyes, bearing the slap mark, and suddenly said miserably: "You are all protecting me, but I can't protect either of you."
Yang Wan was stunned and remained speechless.
Deng Ying's voice came from the opposite side of Yang Wan.
"Xi, as an official in the court, it is good enough to do well in the corner at hand. Officialdom cannot do everything well. You have to overcome the hurdle in your heart."
After saying this, he lifted up the wine cup in front of him.
"Drink less alcohol in the future and take care of your health."
"Oh shit."
Yang Lun cursed, "I told you to leave me alone!"
Deng Ying smiled and said, "Xiao Xi, one of us has to stay and write the epitaph for the teacher. Your handwriting is better than mine."
Yang Lun coughed and collapsed on the chair. "The teacher only values your handwriting. You know that..."
After saying this, he finally curled up in the chair, drunkenly leaning on his back.
Yang Wan handed Yang Lun over to Xiao Wen, and then followed Deng Ying out and walked towards Donghuamen.
The heavy snow was like goose feathers, falling lightly and silently on Deng Ying's open umbrella.
As they approached the city, people were coming and going on the street, and the sweet aroma of kitchen sugar was filling their noses. Yang Wan put her hands behind her back, looked at the smoke from cooking fires all over the city, and said, "I really hope I don't have to go there today."
Deng Ying tilted her head and asked, "Why?"
Yang Wan stood facing Deng Ying, "Because everything is fine now. But I'm not afraid either, Deng Xiaoying..."
Deng Ying smiled and said, "Wan Wan, I have always wanted to ask you, what does it mean to add the word 'Xiao' in the middle of my name?"
Yang Wan raised her head and said, "It's a nickname."
"Deng Xiaoying, I can't bear it anymore. No matter how difficult it is, I will go with you. No matter what happens in the future, I don't believe that we can't just sit there and watch the people we maintain create a new land."
After she finished speaking, she looked up at the scene of falling snow.
Zhang Cong resigned from the cabinet, and the historical rift was placed before Yang Wan.
For Yang Wan, this is her personal heroism.
Even if she was not the one who escaped the net, she would try her best to swim out of it.
History teaches people to look at the laws of the rise and fall of a dynasty in a comprehensive way, taking into account the behavior and death of all people.
But what Yang Wan wants to see is "people."
Yi Lang's compassion, Yang Lun's contradiction, and her own downfall.
When she arrived at Dachao 2, she suddenly understood the meaning of time travel.
It is not about self-collapse, nor is it about arrogantly breaking down one's concept of life. It is about living as a living person, living with scars all over, loving people, respecting people, living for people, or building monuments for people. Even if nothing can be changed, don't give up on being a true memory of life.
"Deng Xiaoying."
"Um?"
"One."
Deng Ying stood under the umbrella, looked at Yang Wan and shook her head and uttered a word.
"Come here Wanwan."
After hearing this, Yang Wan threw herself into his arms without thinking.
Deng Ying gently stroked Yang Wan's temples, "I didn't want to live too long, but now I'm beginning to hope for a good end. I'm afraid that my life will be too short and not enough to atone for my sins against you."
Yang Wan hugged Deng Ying's waist.
"I asked you to do it, but you made me cry. Now you have to do it in front of me, or you will sleep under my bed today."
As soon as she finished speaking, her face was held up.
Deng Ying's face came into view, and the last clean snow in Zhenning City had just fallen.
**
Zhenning is in May.
After the 15th day of the twelfth month, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were in a state of panic because they were being asked to pay back the silver. Yang Lun walked into the Ministry of Revenue early in the morning, and the Minister of Revenue summoned him into the hall. There were loose cups of tea in the hall. Bai Yuyang and Qi Huaiyang were both there. The three of them had already had a round of tea. There was a chair next to Bai Yuyang, which was obviously reserved for Yang Lun.
The Minister of Revenue motioned Yang Lun to sit down and said to Bai Yuyang, "Master Qi, please continue."
Qi Huaiyang said: "Actually, I have nothing more to say. It's just a question of whether this impeachment book should be written or not."
Bai Yuyang said: "If our Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Justice don't write it, do you think the Inspectorate can't lift the pen?"
He stood up and said, "Ever since Zhang Cong was imprisoned for having private relations with the inner court, the six departments have wanted to hang the cabinet on the city wall and curse it. If the impeachment memorial against Deng Ying came from the Supervisory Office, you can imagine..."
"Minister Bai, don't be anxious yet."
Qi Huaiyang glanced at Yang Lun and spoke to smooth things over, "Even if you write it, you have to think about who will write it. The elder is ill now, and the new policies in Hangzhou are complicated. The old man is exhausted. We must not let him worry about it."
“You want me to write.”
Yang Lun interrupted Qi Huaiyang and looked up at Bai Yuyang.
"Bai Yuyang, let me tell you, I, Yang Lun, will not write this letter, and I won't even sign my name."
Bai Yuyang took a few steps to Yang Lun and said, "When Fu Bai was exposing Hangzhou Xue Tian, you were blocking him. Now you don't even bother to clear yourself?"
Yang Lun said: "If you want to impeach me, I have nothing to say. The school land in Hangzhou should be cleared, and those pests in Hangzhou should be arrested. Deng Ying was imprisoned, and I personally asked for an order to search his house. This way I can prove my innocence."
Qi Huaiyang said, "Yang Lun, don't be so angry. I am here in the Ministry today to discuss this matter. The adults need to speak out their thoughts and concerns. Deng Ying is now the director of the East Factory, not just an ordinary eunuch. Your Majesty has been trusting the East Factory more and more in recent days. Now that this impeachment letter has been submitted, we must fight to the end. Otherwise, let him take advantage of the situation to counterattack, and all of us are in danger."
Yang Lun put down the teacup and said, "Okay, let me ask you all, do you think His Majesty will punish Deng Ying?"
Qi Huaiyang didn't say anything.
Bai Yuyang asked, "You mean, Your Majesty won't punish me, but will let me be greedy right before our eyes?"
"I'm not greedy!"
"How do you know!"
The two men were on the verge of a fight. Yang Lun clenched his fists but was unable to speak.
Bai Yuyang pressed, "The new policy in Hangzhou is the result of the hard work of you and your father. We have overcome all difficulties to achieve this. The people are looking forward to it. Today, they can have a full bowl of rice. At present, the local government is constrained everywhere. The officialdom is more powerful than the cabinet. What do they rely on? It's the Silijian and the Dongchang. The sons of eunuchs have long forgotten their emperor and father. As a minister, you don't clear the fog for your emperor and father, but instead you are injustice for the eunuchs. Yang Lun, what you did is not a law-abiding official, not a clean stream, but colluding with the eunuchs. It's so shameless!"