A strong wind arose under the dim sky. When Yang Wan returned to Chengqian Palace, Heyu was leading the palace servants to close windows everywhere. The creaking of door pivots and the clicking of locks intermingled, creating a chaotic cacophony that set minds in turmoil.
Yang Wan stood before the folding doors of the main hall. Ripples disturbed the water in the porcelain vats beneath the corridor.
Yang Wan looked up as raindrops large as beans fell from the sky, striking the sun-baked, cracked earth. The sky instantly grew even darker.
Consort Ning sat behind her embroidery frame in the main hall and said to Yang Wan: “Wan’er, come sit. Yi Lang will return shortly.”
Yang Wan closed the folding doors, walked to the window to light the candles, and carried a stool to sit opposite Consort Ning. “It’s raining outside, and the lamplight strains the eyes. Perhaps Your Highness should stop embroidering?”
Consort Ning shook her head. “Just a few more stitches left.”
Just as she finished speaking, Heyu called from outside: “Your Highness, the young prince has returned.”
Yang Wan rose to open the door. Yi Lang ducked in, soaked through. “Mother, it’s raining very hard outside.”
Consort Ning hurriedly wiped his face with her sleeve. “After so many stuffy days, it was bound to rain. Quickly go inside and change clothes. Mother has made sugar crisps for you.”
Her words seemed somewhat forced, her voice even trembling slightly.
Yang Wan understood she was trying to comfort Yi Lang and the palace people, but people are always more sensitive to danger than to good fortune.
During Emperor Zhengning’s reign, this was the first palace search. Besides the Embroidered Guard, both the Imperial Guard and the Capital Guard had dispatched units to participate in the search. Most palace servants were experiencing such a frightening search for the first time. With a prince’s life at stake, everyone feared for themselves, yet they couldn’t help craning their necks to peek outside.
When Yi Lang came out after changing clothes, Heyu and several other older palace servants had already gathered under the corridor outside the main hall. Though the rain was loud under the corridor, they could still hear chaotic footsteps on the palace path.
Heyu asked: “Haven’t they found that wet nurse yet?”
A palace servant who had just returned from scouting replied: “Earlier they said she fled to the Fifth Bureau. Now they’ve turned the Fifth Bureau upside down but still haven’t found her. I heard they’re going to search palace by palace through the night.”
“Does that mean they’ll search here too?”
“Looks like they will.”
As these words fell, the lamplight in the main hall flickered. Consort Ning’s needle missed its mark and pricked her hand. Yang Wan quickly moved the lamp closer to check. “Your Highness is unsettled. Better stop embroidering.”
Then she called toward the folding doors: “Heyu, come in and report.”
When the door opened, great waves of damp air rushed in. Water poured from the eaves like a hundred dragons spitting water, splashing across the corridor as cold rose from the ground like returning moisture. Heyu clutched her lined garment, shivering as she entered: “This servant sees the situation outside isn’t good. Your Highness, you and the Registry Official should take shelter.”
Consort Ning held Yi Lang and asked, “How is the Second Prince now?”
Heyu replied: “We don’t know yet. All the duty physicians from the Imperial Dispensary have gone over. The Assembly Gate area is in complete chaos—it’s hard to get any news.”
Yi Lang looked up at Yang Wan. “Aunt, what happened to Second Brother? Why are they searching the palace?”
Yang Wan was about to speak when she saw Consort Ning wave her off.
Yang Wan looked down at Yi Lang. Though his hands were hidden in his sleeves, they were clenched into fists.
“His Highness needs to know eventually.”
She said this to Consort Ning, whose gaze revealed reluctance mixed with a flash of panic. She didn’t speak, only lowered her eyelids and nodded slightly.
Yang Wan knelt to look at Yi Lang: “The Second Prince was attacked at the Crane Residence. The palace servant who attempted the assassination has escaped and hasn’t been captured yet. Does Your Highness understand what this means?”
Yi Lang nodded. “I understand. The officials were previously debating with Father Emperor about establishing the heir apparent. Now that Second Brother has been attacked, Father Emperor will surely suspect Mother and me.”
Yang Wan and Consort Ning exchanged startled looks.
Yang Wan had only intended to tell him the facts, not expecting him to have already independently grasped the underlying currents. She decided to follow up with a question.
“If that’s the case, what will Your Highness do?”
Yi Lang turned to look at Consort Ning. “I will explain to Father Emperor. Mother would never do such a thing.”
A clap of thunder overtook Yi Lang’s words, exploding above everyone’s heads as the gloomy sky split open with a dark, cold light.
Sandalwood incense curled in the main hall of Yangxin Palace. Zhang Luo and Deng Ying stood together before the crane-headed incense burner while Zheng Yuejia knelt prostrate, hands bound before his knees.
A woman’s crying continuously came from the side hall.
Emperor Zhengning impatiently tapped the imperial desk. “He Yixian, go tell her if she wants to cry, go back to Yanxi Palace to cry. Don’t cry here in front of me, repeating the same groundless words over and over.”
He Yixian bowed and went to the side hall. Soon enough, the crying gradually stopped.
He Yixian emerged from behind the screen and softly reported at the emperor’s side: “Her Highness has nothing else to say, only begging Your Majesty to uphold justice for her and the Second Prince.”
The emperor turned to look at Zheng Yuejia. “Will you speak here before me, or in the imperial prison?”
Zheng Yuejia raised his head. “This servant received imperial orders to select a wet nurse for the Second Prince, yet allowed the Second Prince to be harmed by the wet nurse, nearly losing his life. This servant knows the crime deserves death ten thousand times over and dares not ask Your Majesty for mercy. But this servant would never dare harbor thoughts of harming a prince, much less conspire with others. I beg Your Majesty to investigate clearly.”
The emperor turned to sit behind his desk and said coldly: “You’ve served me for so many years. I don’t want to question you while covered in blood. But I can hand you over to be jointly interrogated by the Northern Patrol Office and Eastern Bureau. I refuse to believe such a mad woman could simply enter from the outside into the inner palace. I must know exactly whose hands have reached my side in this matter. Guards, strip his official robes and send him to the Northern Patrol Office for questioning. Deng Ying.”
“This servant is here.”
“As Superintendent of the Inner Eastern Bureau, you will jointly investigate with the Northern Patrol Office. Remember this well: I want those truly connected to this assassination attempt, not random names he might blurt out under torture. You must keep the Embroidered Guard in check on this point. I forbid execution or suicide. This concerns major palace security—I will not accept a case without a head.”
Deng Ying knelt beside Zheng Yuejia and prostrated himself. “This servant accepts the imperial command.”
Several Bureau guards entered the hall, untied the ropes on Zheng Yuejia’s hands, and removed his Secretary eunuch’s official robes. Taking advantage of the moment when their hands were occupied, Zheng Yuejia crawled on his knees to Emperor Zhengning. “Your Majesty, this servant truly has nothing more to say, but begs only for death. Please show mercy, Your Majesty…”
The emperor kicked him hard in the chest and said in a deep voice: “You’ve been with me long enough to know what I hate most. The inner palace is where I lay my head. Today someone in the Crane Residence harmed my prince—tomorrow will someone come to Yangxin Palace to take my life? I nurture you all and forgive you all, yet you grow increasingly bold, daring to conspire against me with villains behind my back. You still dare ask for my mercy! Utterly shameless! Guards, drag him out and give him forty strokes first.”
The Bureau guards acknowledged and dragged Zheng Yuejia out of Yangxin Palace.
He Yixian offered a cup of tea. The emperor took a sip and calmed somewhat. Seeing Deng Ying still kneeling, he gestured outward with his tea-holding hand. “Rise and go oversee the punishment.”
The Bureau guards dragged Zheng Yuejia to behind the Yangxin Gate. Knowing he would be sent to the Northern Patrol Office for questioning after the punishment, they didn’t set up a punishment bench. Instead, they laid a white cloth on the ground beneath him to avoid staining the Yangxin Gate. The Bureau guard in charge of punishment asked Deng Ying: “Supervisor, how should we strike?”