"I'll go see him."
"… "
Yang Lun thought he had heard wrongly, and asked with wide eyes, "What did you say?"
"I said since you don't know how to protect me, just hand me over."
If it weren't for his wife protecting him, Yang Lun was really afraid that he would not be able to control himself and would slap her on the spot.
He walked back and forth in the ancestral hall in agitation, holding his hands. Finally, he stopped in front of Yang Wan and shouted, "I have protected you for eighteen years, and now you want me to hand you over. Do you think you are a big shot in the capital and can be the head of the Yang Mansion? Or do you think I am dead? Do you want you to take charge of the matter yourself?"
Xiao Wen could tell that he was defending her, so she tried to persuade him, "After all, you just love this girl. Why are you talking about death and life? It sounds scary. I think you should think carefully about how to avoid the spotlight."
Yang Lun was half-pushed and half-persuaded by her to take a step back. He walked into the shadow of the door with his hands behind his back. He was silent for a long while, and then he calmed down and said, "I'll go see Zhang Luo."
Xiao Wen asked, "Last time you wanted to see him he refused to see you, this time he came in person, will there be any problem?"
Yang Lun smiled and said, "Of course he has something to do. He didn't come alone. There are also Jinyiwei people outside."
"He brought the Jinyiwei people with him... What is he going to do?"
"This is not surprising. Questioning officials is the duty of the Northern Pacification Division."
Xiao Wen's voice trembled a little, "Then are you still going?"
"What I said before was just an angry remark. Do you really want her to go if she doesn't want to go? As long as I am alive, my family cannot be humiliated for no reason. This man is a secret errand for His Majesty, and his secret thoughts are not easily revealed. But since he is here this time, I want to see what kind of knife he has hidden under his robe."
Xiao Wen only felt a chill on her back.
"Why don't you avoid this time first, and then I'll go to Zhang's house and talk to Jiang..."
"You don't have to show up. What good things can I say to you over there? Just stay with your mother."
After he finished speaking, he turned to Yang Wan and said, "And you, just kneel here and don't even think about going anywhere."
Yang Wan simply refused to appreciate his "favor".
"Even if I kneel down, I am still disturbing my ancestors. The noise outside will not stop."
Xiao Wen was afraid that Yang Lun's anger would be brought out by Yang Wan again, so she hurriedly said to Yang Wan: "Wan'er, just listen to your brother, he will protect you."
Yang Wan put Xiao Wen aside, put her hands on her knees, propped up her upper body, raised her head and looked into Yang Lun's eyes, "Brother should understand in his heart that this matter was not caused by the Yang and Zhang families, but by those people outside who are eager to create chaos. Our two families are a joke to each other. If we want to have a better attitude, we can only force the other party to give in. If we give in and cancel the engagement, it means that I admit that I lost my virginity before marriage. If the Zhang family gives in and marries me, it means that they are bringing shame upon themselves. No matter what, it's very lively outside anyway, and there are a lot of bad things to say, so this limelight is not something we should hide from."
She seemed to be talking about her own affairs, but her perspective was not from her own perspective, nor was it limited to the Yang family.
Yang Lun was stunned.
Xiao Wen found it even more incredible.
Yang Wan took this opportunity to stand up and sit down. The blood in her knees suddenly flowed freely. She almost cried because of the pain. She lowered her head and rolled up her trouser legs without paying attention to Yang Lun's presence. "This is torturing your own family to calm yourself down. I know that my brother is angry with me for being ignorant. If my brother can really calm down, it's okay for me to bear it. But my brother got angry in front of me, so I still have to embarrass myself outside. What's the point of me doing this?"
As she spoke, she was about to reach out and rub it.
Xiao Wen looked at the bruised knee and felt distressed, so she quickly held her hand back, "Wan'er, don't rub it."
Yang Wan pulled her hand away, "Sister-in-law, don't bother me. I have to rely on self-abuse to numb myself, otherwise how can I stand up later?"
After she finished speaking, she took a sip, closed her eyes, and pressed hard on her knees. Sure enough, the blood circulation and numbness were relieved, and she felt "refreshed." However, Xiao Wen gritted her teeth when she saw this.
"Hiss... Oh my god, that Yin'er, give me a hand."
"this… "
Yin'er looked towards Yang Lun subconsciously.
Yang Lun was puzzled by the calmness and courage in her voice that he had never seen before, and couldn't help asking: "When did you think of this?"
Seeing that Yin'er was timid, Yang Wan didn't count on her and struggled to stand up. She patted the dust on her knees, stood up and walked in front of Yang Lun. She was much shorter than Yang Lun, but it didn't matter. She had to stare into Yang Lun's eyes before she was willing to speak.
"Haven't I been locked up here these past few days, thinking about it? I've also thought of a way to escape, and I've also thought of my own retreat. If I can save myself, I must also make Zhang Luo embarrassed to go against our Yang family."
After hearing this, Yang Lun suddenly laughed, raised his arm and pointed at Yang Wan's forehead, "Why are you so frivolous? What other options do you have now? If Zhang Luo cancels this marriage, I will have to keep you for the rest of my life. You are still thinking about saving yourself, I..."
"You have no choice, so you won't listen to me finish?"
You... can do it."
Yang Lun was so angry that he dragged a mat to his feet and sat down cross-legged. "I'll listen to you."
Yang Wan watched him sit down and softened her tone, "Okay, since brother is willing to listen to me, I will ask you something first. Do you believe that I am still a virgin?"
When Yang Lun heard the word "virgin", he immediately stiffened his neck, and Xiao Wen was unable to speak.
"Just answer it."
She crossed her arms, and even though she was talking about her body, her voice was dry and stern.
This difference in women's awareness of their bodies is beyond the times, and Yang Lun and Xiao Wen could never understand it.
Yang Lun could no longer bear it and could only scold her: "Who told you to talk nonsense like this? Is this what you should say? Even if my sister-in-law and I believe you, what do people outside think? You still say that you have figured it out, but I think you don't even know what you are suffering this time!"
"Whatever outsiders think is false, rumors are just rumors because no matter how true they are, they cannot be proven. Before Deng Ying was punished, he was indeed convicted of treason by the Three Departments, but things are different after he was punished. He is now a member of the Imperial Household Department. This idea was proposed by He Yixian, the eunuch who holds the seal of the Imperial Household Department, to the Three Departments, and His Majesty also gave the nod. So no matter what the purpose is, He Yixian does not want the dirty water outside the palace to be thrown into the inner court. Moreover, the reconstruction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is under urgent construction, and those in the Ministry of Works do not want to distract Deng Ying with such things."
Yang Lun asked back, "So what?"
"Brother, haven't you figured it out yet?"
Yang Wan tilted her head, "Because of Deng Ying, Zhang Luo didn't dare to challenge me."
As he spoke, his voice suddenly became heavy. "To force me to admit that I lost my virginity is to put Deng Ying to death. Zhang Luo is a member of the Imperial Guard. It will not be good for him if the Hall of Supreme Harmony cannot be built and the emperor is uncomfortable. I dare to go to see him. I bet he will not do anything to me. No matter how stable he is now and how he treats his brother, he just wants us to cancel the engagement on our own initiative to avoid involving our queen in the palace and embarrassing his master."
Although Yang Wan's voice was not loud, her meaning was sharp.
When Yang Lun heard this, the walls of his throat felt cold. He swallowed unconsciously, and the cold feeling actually flowed into his stomach.
He stared at Yang Wan's eyes in surprise, and gradually he began to examine her.
"Why do you know about the Imperial Household Department and the court?"
Yang Wan responded: "Do I feel like a dead thing in the house? I can listen to some of what you guys say."
Yang Lun looked at her and did not respond immediately.
After a long silence, he suddenly shook his head and said, "No, even though I occasionally say a few more words in front of you and your sister-in-law, I have never said it to this extent."
"That means I haven't lived in vain at home."
Yang Wan continued his words, "I haven't finished what I want to say. Brother, let me see Zhang Luo, and I will cancel this marriage myself."
"No, don't even think about it!"
Xiao Wen said distressedly: "Yes, don't go, that is Yama's ghost, you can't see it."
Yang Wan looked at Yang Lun and said, "I don't want you to stop it. This matter has nothing to do with you."
"If you keep saying such cruel things!"
Yang Wan was speechless and felt a little regretful.
Yes, it seems that what I just said has been said to Yang Lun.
The ancestral hall became very quiet for a while. The wind from the fireworks was warm and fine, making Yang Wan's face hot and Yang Lun's eyes red.
Seeing the stalemate between the two of them, Xiao Wen spoke to ease the situation, "If canceling the engagement can resolve the matter, then that's fine. But what about the future? What will happen to Wan'er? Isn't it going to ruin a good girl?"
Yang Wan followed her voice, shifted her gaze away from Yang Lun, and gently held Xiao Wen's hand, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. Although I can't defend myself, chastity is something that exists or not. Even if I can't prove it myself, there are still places in this world where I can seek justice."
Yang Lun glanced at Xiao Wen.
Although she is his own sister, he is a man after all, so it is not appropriate for him to say too much on this topic.
Xiao Wen will understand Yang Lun's intention.
"You can't just say that casually. Where can you redress such a hopeless injustice?"
"Yes, the Inner Court Ceremonial Bureau."
"The Shangyi Bureau..."
Yang Wan nodded, and habitually used the sentence structure she used when writing papers, directly pointing out the time nodes and the corresponding historical facts at the nodes.
"Since the tenth year of Zhenning, the Shangyi Bureau has been selecting female servants who must all be virgins. By participating in the selection, you can prove your innocence."
After she finished speaking, she sorted out the road ahead.
"If I go to see Zhang Luo, this matter will not involve my brother's morality, and Zhang Luo can't use the method of questioning Beijing officials to embarrass my brother. Moreover, I also want Zhang Luo's attitude. The more he humiliates me, the better. I am not afraid of those bad words from outside. After I joined the Shangyi Bureau, the Zhang family's act of breaking off the engagement will naturally become an evil act of them forcibly tarnishing my reputation. My brother can then sell a favor to the Zhang family. As for mother and sister-in-law, they don't have to listen to those dirty words for my sake."
Xiao Wen was stunned after hearing Yang Wan's words. She was speechless and murmured, "When you put it that way, it sounds like you are taking advantage of the situation, but..."
Her voice softened as she spoke, and her eyes became red. "It's too unfair to put your reputation on the line like this."
Yang Wan didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
However, Yang Lun vaguely felt that there was a layer of barrier between him and the sister in front of him that he could no longer see clearly. Although she was sitting in front of him, she was no longer like before. When something happened, she would just hold his sleeve softly and ask him what to do about this or that.
Every word she said was about gains and losses, and she calculated the cause and effect of everything, from Deng Ying to Zhang Luo, and finally even to herself. She made a dead end game come alive. This was totally beyond the imagination of the former Yang Wan.
The most chilling thing is that when she said these words, she did not have any self-pity for her own experience as a woman. She was even willing to expose her body to millions of people in order to use her reputation. Moreover, she was not sad at all.
"What happened to you in the lake?"
These words came out of his mouth in a low voice, and Yang Wan did not hear it. She also helped him to figure out the attitude of being an official and building a family.
"Brother, just hand me over. It doesn't make sense. I made a big mistake and hid at home, leaving you to deal with it. You are an official in the ministry, and what I am doing here are just trivial family matters. For the past two days, I have asked you to think over it over and over again as if it were a big deal. It's unnecessary."