The charcoal fire crackled and Emperor Zhenning looked down at Bai Yuyang.
"What do you think?"
After saying that, without waiting for Bai Yuyang to answer, he looked at He Yixian again, "What do you think?"
Neither of them responded immediately.
Emperor Zhenning brought the people closer to the charcoal fire and said to himself, "I think this is fair. Since you all have nothing to say, let's just agree on it."
After he finished speaking, he said to Deng Ying, "Come here. I have something else to tell you."
Deng Ying stood up, walked to the charcoal brazier and knelt down again.
The jade ring on Emperor Zhenning's chest was heated by the charcoal fire. He unscrewed the ring and handed it to He Yixian, but his eyes were still on Deng Ying.
"The elder was once my assistant minister. Before you convict him, you must not be rude to him. Otherwise, I will execute you."
Deng Ying bowed her head and replied, "I understand."
Zhenning flicked the charcoal ash off his knees. Seeing that Deng Ying did not move, He Yixian squatted down and flicked the ash for Emperor Zhenning.
Emperor Zhenning glanced at everyone in the hall. Everyone was in their proper place and no one had overstepped their boundaries. He was very satisfied and stood up and walked towards the inner hall, saying, "Let's go today."
**
Yang Wan stood on the platform and watched Wang Jixiang, the palace supervisor, filling the water jar. From time to time, she glanced towards the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
The palace maids working in front of the palace were very cautious and didn't say a word. Yang Wan listened to the sound of the water and felt uneasy.
Not long after, Yang Lun, Bai Yuyang and others walked down from the platform. Yang Wan did not look up and turned around to avoid these people. Although Yang Lun saw her, he did not say anything.
Basin after basin of water was poured into the tank, and inevitably some water would spill out and flow to lower places through the cracks in the ground.
When Yi Lang ran down the stage, he nearly slipped on the water on the ground and stumbled into Yang Wan's arms.
Yang Wan was caught off guard. In order to protect him, she didn't even bother to use her hands to support herself, and she fell heavily to the ground.
"Hiss..."
The eunuchs in front of the hall saw Yi Lang and Yang Wan fall and hurried forward to help them.
The few people who poured water were afraid of being punished, so they knelt on the ground.
Yi Lang stood up and immediately turned around to see Yang Wan.
"Aunt, did you fall?"
"No, can you guys check if His Highness is injured first?"
Everyone checked in a panic, but fortunately there were no external injuries. However, Yang Wan found that she seemed to have hit her coccyx, but she couldn't say it out loud, nor could she touch it with her hands. She had to ask those who wanted to help her to wait while she sat on the ground and tried to relax for a while.
Deng Ying walked slower than Yi Lang. When she saw Yang Wan, she was struggling to stand up from the ground.
"What's wrong."
Yang Wan pulled her hair up in embarrassment and said, "I slipped."
Deng Ying glanced at the water on the ground, turned around and said to the eunuch kneeling on the ground: "Go down and accept your punishment."
After saying that, he bent down and wiped the dirt off Yang Wan's body.
"It's okay, just go back and change it."
"I'm sorry, I asked the Palace Department to fill the auspicious jar with water today. February is coming, and we need to prevent fires before they happen."
Yang Wanhao looked at the water in the jar and said softly, "There are thunderstorms in February. There are indeed many fires from the sky. And... it's really not peaceful."
She sighed after she finished speaking, "Your Majesty must be feeling a bit uneasy."
Yi Lang took Yang Wan's hand and said, "But father praised me today."
Yang Wan lowered her head and smiled, "Really? Your Majesty, do you like the Qingci written by Your Highness?"
"Yes, Father likes it, especially the one you carefully considered, aunt."
"That's good."
After she finished speaking, she endured the pain in her tailbone, bent over to tidy up Yi Lang's clothes, and said, "Let He Yu follow His Highness to Wenhua Palace."
"Where's my aunt?"
"My aunt... fell down, and I want to go back to see her."
Yi Lang nodded, "Then wait until I come back and send the imperial physician to my aunt."
After saying this, he looked relieved and led He Yu and others towards the Cultural Hall.
Yang Wan and Deng Ying watched Yi Lang go away. When he was out of sight, Yang Wan asked Deng Ying, "Did everything go well?"
Deng Ying nodded, "It went smoothly."
Yang Wan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Deng Ying, "From now on, everything will go smoothly for everyone except you."
Deng Ying smiled and said, "Wanwan, thank you for helping me."
Yang Wan pursed her lips, "Actually, I don't know if I should help you. Do you know your current situation?"
"Know."
Yang Wan's face turned pale. "Master Bai can't get into any trouble in the prison, otherwise His Majesty will use you to appease the public anger. However, if you want to help him get rid of the crime, you must prove his accusation of embezzling school land. If Bai Yuyang and the others still refuse to give up using you to overthrow the Imperial Household Department, do you know how miserable you will be?"
"Know."
Yang Wan was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Then do you know that I want to cry now?"
Deng Ying was stunned.
I looked up and saw that Yang Wan's eyes were red.
He quickly raised his sleeves, and the shackles on his wrists touched Yang Wan's cheek.
"Don't cry, Wanwan, no matter where I am in the future, I will do my best to come back to see you."
"I just don't want to believe you."
"Believe me, I promised Madam Ning, and I dare not break my promise."
Yang Wan lowered her head and said with a bitter smile: "I am the one who pushed you into the pit, and now I need you to coax me."
She slapped her face and said, "Forget it, when are you going to go to Bai's house to get him?"
"The day after tomorrow."
"oh."
Yang Wan forced herself to lower her voice, "Before that, can we stay at your outer house for a day..."
For some reason, she tried her best to make her voice calm, but at the end of the sentence, her voice still trembled a little.
In fact, it is best to avoid quiet places before the storm, as the contrast is extreme and hurtful. However, Yang Wan wanted to stay with Deng Ying in a self-abuse way.
"Is your place habitable now?"
"Yes."
"Is the bed ready?"
"It's ready."
"Where are the beddings?"
“Both.”
"Is there a place to bathe?"
"have."
Yang Wan smiled after hearing this and said, "Deng Xiaoying, stay for just one day, and I'll be back soon."
**
They really only stayed for one day.
For most of the time, I did nothing.
Deng Ying's outer residence was cleaned up for her by Tan Wende and several factory guards. Because Deng Ying did not have any extra money, the house only had the necessary furniture and no other furnishings.
The bed was a wooden frame bed with a gray mattress and a new quilt that was a bit hard.
There was a thin layer of dust on the ground.
After Deng Ying entered the house, she took the broom and slowly swept the floor. The sound of the chain rubbing against the ground was always there, so much so that Yang Wan didn't hear it even though it was raining outside.
She knelt on the bed and made it.
"Deng Ying."
"Um?"
"Do you want to sleep inside or outside?"
Deng Ying straightened up and said, "Let's sleep outside."
"good."
Yang Wan picked up a pillow and said, "I'll give you this softer pillow."
Deng Ying put down the broom and said, "Wanwan, are you hungry?"
“A little.”
"I asked Qin Wende to send some food over. I'll make you something to eat."
Yang Wan put on her shoes and got out of bed, "Can you do it?"
"I know a little bit. I learned it from Li Yu in the past one or two years, but I'm not very good at it."
After he said that, he walked into the yard and brought in the vegetables and rice in front of the wooden gate.
A light gust of rain rushed into the room, and Yang Wan realized that it was drizzling outside as fine as hair.
A white mist rose in the yard. The surroundings were quiet, with only the sound of the torture instruments dragging on Deng Ying's body.
Deng Ying rolled up her sleeves, squatted down, and took out the vegetables and rice one by one.
Yang Wan said, "Why don't I do it."
Deng Ying smiled and said, "Wan Wan, how about not eating noodles today?"
Yang Wan said, "Deng Xiaoying, do you dislike me for only knowing how to make noodles?"
"I don't."
He raised his head and said, "Your Highness eats the noodles you make, and I can eat them too. This makes me feel that I may not be a person who has lost all dignity."
Yang Wan's eyes moved.
"Can I really give you dignity for just a bowl of noodles?"
Deng Ying looked at Cai Mi in front of her, "Wan Wan, do you still remember when you told me to 'get up' in front of the Guangji Temple?"
Of course she remembered.
Although it had been two years since that incident, Yang Wan at that time still maintained her pure fearlessness and did not love Deng Ying. She was still an outward appearance, and although strong, she was not enough to help others to improve their inner self. She fell in love with Deng Ying when they were together, and it was in the shadow of the Ming Dynasty that she truly saw the shadow of Deng Ying. She never wrote about these shadows in the biography that vindicated him.
She once wrote about a tragic and heroic Deng Ying with her pen, but she didn't know that this man had soft skin and fragile bones. His clothes, the way he held the pen, the places where he sat and lay, all carried the ancient meaning of "rain on banana leaves under the eaves". For a modern man, he portrayed the fragility and humility of a man to the sharpest point.
The so-called "dignity" cannot be solidified into stone. After he is shattered into pieces, it can only turn into glue and seep into his life bit by bit.
Yang Wan thought about it, took Deng Ying's arm, and pulled him up from the pile of rice and vegetables.
"stand up."
After she finished speaking, she bent down and picked up the rice noodles. "If one day you feel that you can live with me even if you don't consider yourself a sinner, you must tell me."
She coughed as she spoke, "I'm not a considerate person. You told me in Nanhaizi that you didn't know why you were treated like that. I didn't know how to comfort you at the time, so I just kept saying it wasn't your fault. Now that I think about it, I was really a bit stupid. Later, all I could do was to reassure you, even if you kept hurting yourself in front of me, as long as you felt good, I didn't say anything. But Deng Ying..."
Yang Wan lowered her eyes, "Sometimes, I feel really bad..."
She sniffed as she spoke, "I really wanted to be a high-handed person at first, but now I don't."
Having said this, she paused again.
"You didn't ask me what kind of person I wanted to be."
"What kind of person do you want to be?"
"I just want to be Yang Wan. An unknown woman in the Ming Dynasty, I can't resist any fate, but I just won't give up, neither myself nor you. I will do my best to live a good life with you, take good care of you, and let you live a long life."
Deng Ying looked down at her wrist and said, "Wan Wan, even if I'm like this, I don't want you to take care of me. I can take care of you."
"Will you cook for me?"
She picked up a large cabbage from the ground and shook it towards Deng Ying.
"It tastes delicious when it's vinegary. I'll go wash it for you. Go light the fire and be careful with your waist. I brought some of the medicine His Highness gave you. I'll apply it to you after dinner."
"Wan Wan."
"ah?"
"Does it still hurt where you fell yesterday?"
Yang Wan turned around holding the cabbage: "There's still a little bit, what's wrong."
"I'll help you take a look later."
After hearing this, Yang Wan lowered her head and smiled, then turned around and walked a few steps towards Deng Ying: "Do you know where I fell?"
"where?"
Yang Wan said: "Your Highness fell from the steps into my arms, and I sat down on the ground, hitting my coccyx at the back."
Deng Ying was stunned for a moment.
"Deng Xiaoying, you still blush now."
"I… "
"You, you, you...what?"
After Yang Wan finished speaking, she put down the cabbage on the table and gently hugged Deng Ying's waist. "Deng Ying, it's okay. Sometimes I really feel like a cultural hooligan, but I can't do anything to you."
Deng Ying pursed her lips and said, "Actually... I also learned it."
"What are you learning?"
"Well… "
He paused, "Wanwan, I can't say it."