Deng Ying switched hands to hold her trouser leg. “You’ll have better days ahead.”
Yang Wan shook her head. “No, right now is the best.”
Deng Ying gently massaged Yang Wan’s injury. “Don’t say such things, it makes me imagine too much.”
Yang Wan lowered her head. “Would you believe I’ve been imagining days like this for ten years?”
Deng Ying didn’t respond.
Ten years seemed to be a very important timespan for Yang Wan, but for some reason, whenever she mentioned this number, Deng Ying felt a sense of “unreality,” as if standing before a bottomless abyss, about to send someone sinking down – or perhaps sending them back. He would feel an inexplicable reluctance.
So instead of responding to Yang Wan’s words, he asked, “By the way, I haven’t asked you what you said before His Majesty today?”
Hearing this, Yang Wan finally smiled.
“I didn’t say a single bad word about Noble Lady Jiang before His Majesty and the Empress.”
Deng Ying looked up. “Then what did you say?”
Yang Wan said, “I just said that my sister, after hearing what those servants said, went back and cried alone, hiding from us.”
Deng Ying was startled.
He was amazed at her grasp of human nature and her control over propriety. This outsider’s calmness and decisiveness were something neither he nor Zheng Yuejia could match.
“How did you think of that?”
Yang Wan said evenly, “His Majesty has no real feelings for his harem. Don’t be fooled by Noble Lady Jiang’s favor – it’s only because she’s pretty and has a pleasant personality before His Majesty. Even if she bears a prince, His Majesty may not necessarily make him Crown Prince. His elevation of the Noble Lady’s family is probably to give my brother something to fear. My sister is prettier than the Noble Lady, His Majesty likes her…”
She left the latter half of the sentence unspoken.
The “male gaze” that was condemned in modern society was simply a fact in the Great Ming Dynasty.
Yang Wan coughed and tried to keep her voice level as she changed the subject. “His Majesty also likes her, but she’s too gentle, too silent… when wronged, she won’t speak of it before His Majesty, just swallows it herself. That’s why I deliberately spoke that way before His Majesty. Having said that, they can’t accuse me of stirring up trouble. With the Empress sitting beside him, she had to express concern for the palace consorts, and everything fell into place naturally. However, Senior Lady Jiang felt that our Senior Ladies’ Office, being in charge of major palace ceremonies, shouldn’t get involved in such disputes, so…”
She wiggled her knee. “This is the result.”
Deng Ying gently steadied her leg.
“Don’t move around, I haven’t finished applying the medicine.”
He then took off his robe that was getting in the way, folded it and placed it beside Yang Wan, switched to her other leg, and crouched down again. “This medicine you gave me happens to be good for bruises. Fortunately, there was some left from last time. Hmm… if it’s not too much trouble, you should still get some different medicine from the Imperial Dispensary.”
Yang Wan shook her head. “It’s not that much trouble. I was planning to sneak in while you were out and steal some, just take it back and apply it myself. But you caught me red-handed – how embarrassing.”
Deng Ying turned and moved the brazier closer to Yang Wan’s legs. The charcoal fire produced a fine, warm breeze that stirred Deng Ying’s casual shirt. By candlelight, he carefully avoided the bruised swelling, his fingers moving in circles as he gently applied and massaged the medicine for Yang Wan.
Yang Wan watched his hands and suddenly called out to him.
“Deng Ying.”
“Mm.”
He made a soft sound through his nose, still focused.
“When you treat me like this now… does it remind you of what you said to my brother…”
“Yes.”
He answered, “So just consider me serving you.”
“Then I should leave.”
“Don’t go.”
The words suddenly burst from his mouth.
After speaking, he was stunned himself, and looked up to find her leaning forward with her hands propped on her legs, chin in her palms.
“Deng Ying, do you know? You’re completely incapable of lying.”
Deng Ying lowered his head and smiled to himself. “Will you come again tomorrow?”
“I will.”
Yang Wan nodded. “Anyway, I don’t dare apply it in the Hall of Diligent Government or the Five Offices. My sister would be heartbroken if she saw, and Senior Lady Jiang and Song Yunqing would scold me to death. Only you and Li Yu are nice, neither of you say anything to me.”
After speaking, she sighed softly and rubbed her face, flushed from the charcoal fire. “Ah… but I’m thinking, this can’t go on forever. At year’s end, when the court is at odds with His Majesty, His Majesty will always be at odds with the harem, and even with his son.”
Deng Ying looked up. “Don’t worry, things will be better after the spring court session next year.”
“Because the Grand Secretariat wants to implement new policies in the South?”
“Yes. Before the new policies, there needs to be land registration in the Jiangnan area. This matter will have huge implications. There will be a tug-of-war between the Ministry of Revenue and the southern noble families and royal relatives. So before spring, the Grand Secretariat will certainly put aside the matter of deciding on the Crown Prince. You, the Noble Consort, and the young prince will have better days.”
“What about you all?”
Yang Wan continued, “The land registration in Jiangnan will face great resistance. The fate of the imperial commissioners sent there might be even worse than those inspecting salt and mines. Being hanged on boats would be getting off lightly.”
Deng Ying put down the medicine bottle. “Don’t worry, the people you want to protect are also the people I want to protect.”