A restricted zone had been established outside Clear Wave Lodge. Apart from the Northern Guard’s officers and Eastern Depot’s guards, no one moved within a hundred meters.
The seal on the door had been broken. Qin Wende pushed the door open forcefully, his blade pressed against the throat of the person at the door, forcing the Northern Guard’s men back several steps.
The innkeeper walked out from behind the door, calling loudly, “Everyone please stop! Our proprietor has words for you all.”
Zhang Luo reined in his horse, looking behind the door.
A slender shadow emerged from behind the wooden door. Though her hair was disheveled and her makeup smeared, she possessed a delicate beauty.
“Commander Qin, let them go.”
As she spoke, she walked to Zhang Luo’s horse, bowing deeply, then looked up saying, “I must be quite important, with the Eastern Depot wanting to seal the lodge and the Northern Guard wanting to break in. As a mere woman, I can’t stop either of you. Commissioner Zhang, whatever questions you have, ask them here.”
Zhang Luo gave a cold laugh, shouting, “Go in and seize them!”
“Wait!”
Zhang Luo looked down at Yang Wan, “Resisting stubbornly will get you killed too.”
Yang Wan stepped backward, watching Zhang Luo as she retreated, “Then you’ll have to kill me first.”
She backed up to the door, “I’d rather die here than enter your prison.”
Zhang Luo said, “I see you’ve gone mad. Do you think I won’t dare kill you just because you raised the Crown Prince? Today I’m here on His Majesty’s orders to arrest the rebels from Shushan and Hutan academies. I won’t show you mercy.”
“Then order them to strike!”
She tilted her head back, “Commissioner Zhang, I’ll tell you this: today I won’t let the Eastern Depot’s men fight with the Northern Guard, but if you want to seize the students inside, you must step over my corpse first. I’m not threatening you with death—I know you won’t pity me—but I can wager my life with you. If I die today, your Northern Guard will be finished tomorrow.”
After saying this, she looked at the blade-wielding officers, “Within one hour, His Majesty’s decree pardoning these students will arrive at Clear Wave Lodge’s door. Whoever kills me commits a capital offense. Whoever is willing to take the blame for Commissioner Zhang, come forward—I won’t resist.”
Zhang Luo said, “How do you know His Majesty will change his mind within an hour?”
“A guess.”
Her voice was calm, “Though it’s a guess, I’ve never lost. You say I’ve toyed with you three times, but ‘toyed with’ is too malicious a term. Those three times were just what I had to do to survive under your power. My only consolation is that I never lost once. This comes from my understanding of you, of the Emperor, of my place in this world. This time I still won’t lose. It’s up to you whether you want to gamble with me, Commissioner Zhang. I only ask for one hour. After one hour, if no decree comes, I’ll let you take me and everyone inside away.”
Though her expression remained calm as she spoke these words, her shoulders and back trembled uncontrollably.
Zhang Luo watched Yang Wan, remembering Deng Ying’s words to him in prison—”You can’t control Yang Wan.”
As Yang Wan said, she had toyed with him three times.
The first was with marriage when she broke free from the constraints of being subordinate to Zhang Luo. The second was the Crane Residence case when she had the Eastern Depot take away the Northern Guard’s interrogation rights overnight. The third was the “Five Virtuous Ones” case when she forced Zhang Luo to execute his father.
Indeed, she had never lost, but no one could explain how Yang Wan, from her humble position, had managed to outmaneuver such powerful figures.
“Will you gamble, Commissioner Zhang?”
She asked again.
“I will.”
Zhang Luo raised his hand, “Everyone back ten meters, guard the front and back doors. After one hour…”
He pointed at Yang Wan, “First arrest her, then take everyone inside away.”
Hearing these words, Yang Wan couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
She leaned against the door, pressed her lips together, and softly said to Zhang Luo: “Thank you, Commissioner.”
In the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Yi Lang knelt before the crane-shaped incense burner. Though Yang Lun and Bai Yuyang were present, they dared not intervene between father and son. In the entire hall, only He Yixian dared to speak up.
“Your Majesty, His Highness is still young. His heart is compassionate and easily moved by others’ words. Please don’t let anger harm your health.”
Yi Lang raised his head, “Master He, who are these ‘others’?”
“This…”
He Yixian’s voice faltered. The Emperor laughed shortly, telling He Yixian, “Enough, you’re getting old too—you can’t match his words anymore.”
He then addressed Yi Lang: “You know these people insulted your father emperor. Why do you dare plead for them?”
Yi Lang raised his head, “Father Emperor, your son isn’t pleading for them. Your son wants to take their punishment. They insulted Father Emperor, committing a serious crime—I hate them too. But these people knelt at the Cabinet Elder’s gate pleading for him, and Father Emperor pardoned the Elder. To then punish these students right after—simple-minded people might misunderstand Father Emperor’s sacred intention. Your son doesn’t want to hear them slander Father Emperor.”
The Emperor was silent for a moment, “If that’s so, why not just plead for them? Why take their punishment?”
Yi Lang pressed his lips together, “Your son wants them to understand that they are guilty, and guilt deserves punishment.”
The Emperor patted his knee, “Who taught you to do this?”
“No one taught me to do this.”
Yi Lang knee-walked two steps toward Emperor Zhenning, “Father Emperor, your son no longer has an Imperial Mother. Your son only has Father Emperor. Your son understands that in the past, there were many things your son didn’t do well, angering Father Emperor. Now your son has grown up, become sensible. Your son also wants to protect you.”
Hearing Yi Lang’s words, Yang Lun’s back burned and his scalp tingled.
These words sounded both sincere and heart-wrenching.
Though Yang Wan had taught Yi Lang what to say, these might well have been the child’s heartfelt words that he struggled to express.
Yang Wan had helped him say it, perfectly, at just the right moment.
Since ancient times, surviving in the capital’s official circles was like walking on a knife’s edge. Though open strategies could never match hidden schemes, with court officials in the light and the Ceremonial Office in the shadows, most times it was the civil officials losing their dignity. But above these two approaches was a supreme technique: “winning hearts.”
Though everyone wanted to master this art, countless people had played with fire and perished halfway.
Yang Wan, from her humble position, without a single real bargaining chip, skillfully guided the emotions of both emperor and prince to turn around what seemed a hopeless situation. This filled Yang Lun with deep terror when he thought about it.