“What servant?”
Yang Wan cut him off. “This is my room, and she is my sister. Are you still not willing to shed that skin of yours?”
“I…”
Yang Ni straightened up, looking at Deng Ying’s helpless expression, and said with a gentle smile, “Wan’er, the Factory Official has just returned. Don’t speak so harshly.”
Yang Wan responded, “Alright.”
She turned to Deng Ying and said, “If my sister wants to protect you, I’ll accept it.”
Deng Ying didn’t dare look at Yang Ni and kept his head down. “How is Your Highness here?”
Yang Ni smiled warmly, “Wan’er brought me.”
As she spoke, she crouched and gave Deng Ying a lady’s courtesy. “Consort Ning has passed away. The Factory Officials need not use honorifics anymore. If you’re willing, you may use my given name – I go by ‘Ni’.”
Deng Ying bowed. “Deng Ying wouldn’t dare.”
Yang Wan laughed. “Never mind. Even Yunqing sometimes can’t break the habit, let alone him.”
Yang Ni patted Yang Wan’s hand and nodded. “Indeed.”
She walked a few steps toward Deng Ying. “No matter how the Factory Official treats me, you are still a benefactor to both myself and His Majesty. If not for you, Yi Lang and I might never have seen daylight again. I know you won’t accept my courtesy, so when Wan’er wanted to make shoes for you and I saw her poor craftsmanship, I made them instead. This is my way of thanking you for your kindness. I hope the Factory Official will accept them.”
Deng Ying lowered his head. “How could I put something made by your hands beneath my feet?”
“Then what if…”
Yang Ni paused. “What if you treated me as a sister, like Wan’er does?”
She looked at Deng Ying. “You left home at a young age and grew up with Master Zhang, taking care of yourself all along. I heard you once had a sister who married into the Song family. Later, when the Song family took an official post in Lingnan, she went with them, thus escaping death, but making it difficult for you to meet again.”
“Yes…”
Yang Ni looked at Deng Ying’s feet. “Our Yang family doesn’t have many children in this generation. Yang Lun is the elder brother to Wan’er and me. Below us, we only have one younger brother, Yang Jing, but we’ve been separated since childhood and rarely see each other. Since entering the palace, I haven’t sewn for my family members. This is the first time…”
She smiled as she spoke. “If the Factory Official doesn’t want to take this as my gratitude, then please accept it as a gesture of goodwill.”
Without waiting for Deng Ying’s response, she turned to Yang Wan: “I’ve brought the sewing supplies you wanted. Keep them aside for now, and when Yunqing has free time, she can teach you together.”
Yang Wan’s shoulders slumped. “Alright… I’ll learn.”
Yang Ni smiled and nodded. “I’ll go check on Yunqing in the kitchen.”
Yang Wan watched Yang Ni’s retreating figure and leaned gently against Deng Ying’s arm. “Isn’t it nice to have a sister?”
Deng Ying turned his head. “I am the descendant of a criminal. My family registry has been erased. I cannot have family.”
“I know.”
Yang Wan held onto him, closing her eyes. “You can interact with us however you wish.”
The wind blew gently through the doorway, stirring Yang Wan’s soft dress. Dressed as a commoner woman, her hair was loosely bound, and the wind quickly disheveled it. She unconsciously reached up to fix it, her fingers brushing across her face, revealing a touch of weary elegance.
“Sit for a while.”
“Alright.”
Deng Ying knelt and helped Yang Wan sit as well.
Yang Wan stretched out her feet next to Deng Ying’s, their soft shoes side by side. The lamplight from behind the door enveloped their backs, providing warmth. The smell of cooking gradually rose from the courtyard as the meat soup boiled, and the fragrance of rendered fat slowly permeated the wind.
Yang Wan leaned on Deng Ying’s shoulder. “Deng Ying.”
“Yes.”
“If you could choose again, would you still become a Factory Official?”
Deng Ying gazed at the plants in the courtyard and said softly, “Yes.”
He lowered his eyes. “But if I had known I would meet you, I would have walked this path more carefully. At least I wouldn’t have given away all my money and become a scoundrel.”
“Become what?”
“A scoundrel.”
“Ha…”
Yang Wan closed her eyes and laughed.
“You still remember that?”
“I remember everything you say.”
“Then do you remember when I said earlier that we have time ahead of us?”
Deng Ying remained silent, and to his surprise, Yang Wan didn’t press him for an answer.
“I saw that the survivors from Tongjia Academy have come to the capital.”
“Yes, and the teacher’s son has come too.”
Yang Wan coughed once. “These two cases will be retried.”
“Yes.”
“Will these two cases cost you your life?”
Deng Ying shook his head. “No.”
He cradled Yang Wan’s chin in his hand. “Wan’wan, though I am of low birth, my life and death are my own choice. In this life, I only wish to place my shackles in your hands. Just lead me, and don’t mind how others see me. Don’t trouble Zi Xi for my sake either.”
“I understand.”
Yang Wan took a deep breath. “You are not beneath those men in the cabinet at all. On the contrary, you are nobler than all of them. Rest assured, I will never trample on your dignity. I won’t interfere with how the cabinet treats you – let them scheme. I only bet on my understanding of you as a person.”
“Wan’wan, you’ve only known me for four years.”
Not only that.
Not only that.
She opened her mouth, silently forming these words.
The “Biography of Deng Ying” she had written after ten years of being buried in ancient documents now seemed so forced and rigid in retrospect. His life had its ups and downs, yet showed no joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness.
But the man in her notes was like shattered jade, like a broken moon, like a pine tree after a storm, like a crane wounded and nesting in lake mud.
By chance, he had prostrated himself before Yang Wan, offering up a lifetime of pain and pleasure.
Yang Wan’s observation notes were filled with records of his injuries and ailments, his inner struggles, and the Ming Dynasty’s exploitation and persecution of him. He was both a historical subject of the 21st century and a living person from the Zhenning era.
This was undoubtedly the sacrifice of the research subject to the researcher.
As if to thank Yang Wan for her arrival, he had answered all the questions of her academic career, fulfilling her but also making her the only person from later generations who truly understood everything.
That’s why Yang Wan couldn’t let go of Deng Ying.