The word “boundaries” struck Yang Lun like lightning.
He hurriedly said to Yang Wan, “What you’ve said here, keep it in your belly.”
Yang Wan nodded and continued, “You can’t be too aggressive either. You must carefully gauge the Empress Dowager’s position and find the right moment while staying mindful of your boundaries as a subject.”
Listening to her words, Yang Lun pressed his tiger’s mouth point while nodding and turning toward the Yangxin Gate. Yang Wan took a few quick steps to catch up with him, saying, “Brother, wait!”
She pushed a money pouch into Yang Lun’s hand. “Take this money to buy things for Deng Ying.”
Yang Lun glanced at it and replied casually, “Buy what? Right now he won’t eat anything except prison food.”
Yang Wan said, “Then buy him some apples and tangerines to eat, for vitamin supplements, so he won’t lose his hair.”
Yang Lun narrowed his eyes, “You said supplement what…”
“Ah? Oh.”
Yang Wan coughed once, somewhat embarrassedly correcting herself, “I meant to supplement his health.”
Yang Lun looked at Yang Wan’s expression, half-believing as he tucked the money into his robes. After walking a few steps, he quickly returned to stand before Yang Wan, pointing at her, “Yang Wan, when you leave the palace, you need to come home.”
Yang Wan stepped back, pressed by his intensity.
“For what?”
“For what?” Yang Lun stretched his neck, “I need to interrogate you!”
Yang Wan crossed her arms and laughed, “Fine, set up your court, and I’ll show up for questioning.”
As November passed, the Ming Dynasty welcomed its coldest year-end in history.
On the tenth of December, the inner court was to send off the Zhenning Emperor’s funeral procession. The capital was under strict security with cleared roads, and reed shelters of various sizes were built along the route for the new emperor and officials to rest during the procession.
Apart from the case of the Imperial Household Department, all other cases in the Ministry of Justice were suspended due to the grand mourning. Prisoners couldn’t be properly distributed between labor and exile sentences, leading to overcrowding and uneven provisions. Families of prisoners were forced to find ways to send supplies inside, but half was scraped off at the entrance to the ministry, and another half was stripped away by the prison guards, leaving very little to reach the prisoners.
Yang Lun had his servant buy a pile of apples and tangerines from the market, wrapped them in a bundle, and personally brought them, standing in the Ministry of Justice hall waiting for Qi Huaiyang. Qi Huaiyang hadn’t been home for nearly ten days and was just taking his noon rest in the inner office when summoned by the yamen runners. He was still putting on his mourning robes while walking, hanging them on his sleeves, and casually asked, “The joint tribunal hearings are all suspended these days, waiting for the ‘face questioning’ inside. Why did you come…”
Before he could finish, he saw the bundle in Yang Lun’s hands.
“Bringing supplies?”
Before Yang Lun could speak, Qi Huaiyang crossed his arms and said, “He won’t accept them. While I’m here, you might as well go in and see him.”
Yang Lun smiled, “That works too.”
Qi Huaiyang turned to ask the jailkeeper coming from behind, “Did someone come from the palace today?”
“Yes, an attending eunuch from the Imperial Household Department came to teach the prisoner about the etiquette for ‘face questioning.'”
“Have they come out?”
“Not yet, they just went in.”
“Oh.”
Qi Huaiyang tied his mourning sash, led Yang Lun out through the back hall, ordered the prison door open, and then turned back to the office.
Yang Lun carried his bundle into the inner prison.
In Deng Ying’s cell stood the attending eunuch from the Imperial Household Department and four yamen runners. The eunuch held a register, reciting word by word, while Deng Ying stood by the wall with hands lowered, listening silently. After the eunuch finished reading, a runner asked Deng Ying, “Do you understand?”
Deng Ying nodded and replied evenly, “Yes, I understand.”
The runner said, “Recite it back.”
“Yes.”
Deng Ying gently squeezed his wrist and lowered his head to recite.
His pace wasn’t fast, each word and sentence very clear, almost identical to the text in the register.
“I had heard before that you could memorize at a glance, today I truly witnessed it.”
Deng Ying smiled somewhat shyly, “Thank you for your trouble, Sir.”
Yang Lun hadn’t heard Deng Ying recite texts for a long time. This was a skill of children from scholarly families, their ‘horse stance’ training, and in this area, he had quite a reputation. They had competed before, with wins and losses on both sides, but he always suspected that in the times he won, Deng Ying hadn’t given his all.
The attending eunuch put down the register, bent down to come out, and took a sip of tea. Before he could set down the teacup, he saw Yang Lun looking at him sideways and hurriedly came forward to pay respects, “Assistant Minister Yang…”
Yang Lun glanced at Deng Ying, still standing behind the prison door, and lowered his head to ask, “Has the date been set?”
“Yes…”
“Alright, you may go. I’ll inquire about the details at the ministry.”
“Yes.”
The attending eunuch didn’t dare drink more tea and withdrew from Yang Lun’s side with a bow.
Yang Lun bent down to enter the cell. Deng Ying lowered his hands and laughed once, “To let you hear me reciting these things.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Yang Lun put the bundle on the ground and sat cross-legged on Deng Ying’s rush mat, “After all these years, you can still memorize at a glance.”
Deng Ying sat down on his knees, “The inner court has many rules, just the ‘Inner Palace Instructions’ alone must be memorized thoroughly.”
He mentioned inner court life casually, but Yang Lun’s ears grew hot.