“He doesn’t trust you.”
Yang Wan’s voice came from behind, followed by an ice-cold hand gripping Yang Lun’s tiger mouth point, mercilessly pinching until Yang Lun released Deng Ying in pain.
Yang Wan extended a hand to Deng Ying, “Come here.”
Deng Ying glanced at Yang Lun, somewhat hesitant. Yang Wan simply took his hand and pulled him behind her.
“You go first. I have some words to say to my brother.”
Yang Lun had to suppress his anger before Yang Wan.
Back in Zhejiang, he had heard that Zhang Luo had tortured Yang Wan in the imperial prison. Now, seeing her standing before him with a pale face, he felt both shame and hatred. He adjusted his tone, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible.
“Are… your injuries healed?”
“They healed long ago. They weren’t serious to begin with.”
Yang Wan’s voice was faint, and her demeanor seemed to have grown quieter.
After bringing her back from Nanhai, Yang Lun felt she had become a different person – cold and hard. However, after several months without seeing her, she seemed to show again a layer of childhood fragility.
“I’m no longer a lady official in the Shangyi Bureau now, but a palace servant by the young prince’s side. It will be harder to see you in the future, so I want to tell you some things today.”
Yang Lun nodded, “Speak, brother is listening.”
“Thank you for being willing to save Deng Ying.”
Yang Lun smiled bitterly at her words, “Is this all you wanted to say? Don’t you know, this is what your brother least wants to hear from you?”
“I know.”
Yang Wan raised her hand to hold down her hair that the river wind threatened to scatter, “Regarding the Hejü case, I don’t know how much you’ve heard, and I don’t want to speak more of it. Sister is alone in Jiao Garden now, and Yi Lang dwells alone in Chengqian Palace. I, and my sister, almost lost our lives to protect your students. As for Deng Ying, to protect you all, his reputation is already in tatters. I hope you can also cherish this, not abandon Yi Lang, and not fail us.”
Speaking of Consort Ning, Yang Lun couldn’t help but choke up.
“How… how is Her Highness?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see her, and neither can Yi Lang. Perhaps you could submit a memorial to ask, but I know you won’t.”
“What nonsense are you talking?”
Yang Wan smiled slightly, “Brother, only now am I slowly understanding what kind of person you are.”
She was about to pass judgment on Yang Lun.
Before she spoke the words to follow, Yang Lun felt unexpectedly nervous.
“Before sister became an imperial consort, you still treated her as a sister, but after she became a consort, you treated her as an outsider. Similarly, if Zhang Luo had attacked me outside the imperial prison, I believe you would have rushed to fight him, but when he tortured me inside the prison, you could have done nothing. You place great importance on laws and principles, keeping yourself clean, and never involving yourself in private feelings or interests, but you throw yourself into fighting for the common people’s suffering. You deserve to be recorded in history but as people…”
Her tone changed, even carrying a hint of choking up, “We’re not bad people either.”
As she spoke, she walked a few steps toward the riverbank, “I asked Chen Hua privately – Deng Ying is borrowing silver from him to buy that single-entrance courtyard beside Guangji Temple. An Eastern Depot Director, a Ceremonial Court’s Chief Eunuch – if as you just said, he has thousands of mu of good fields, he couldn’t afford a courtyard? Do you know where his money went?”
Yang Lun remained silent.
Yang Wan pressed her lips together, “You can ask Qin Wende – this year, he didn’t take a single grain from those two Hangzhou academies’ school fields. He returned everything to the academies, even adding his annual salary. Brother, you want your scholarly reputation – if you let him be imprisoned and tried, you’ll be known as one who cleansed the Southern educational system. But he was once a scholar too. Now he has no scholarly reputation, and those who benefit from his kindness don’t know who he is. In hundreds of years, while you’re praised by thousands, he’ll still be on the list of criminals, enduring generation after generation’s contempt for his name… By then I’ll be dead too – who can save him?”
Yang Lun coughed once, “Why didn’t he tell me about this?”
Yang Wan said: “If he had told you, how could you face him?”
Yang Lun was once again speechless.
Yang Wan had struck at the core of what he was unwilling to face.
How to face Deng Ying?
Yang Lun had been struggling with this for almost two years, still unable to untangle the boundaries.
Yang Wan looked at Yang Lun and continued: “The Eastern Depot is a frightening place in many people’s eyes. By the young prince’s side, I’ve heard more than once his teachers telling him that to cleanse political terror, the sovereign must be cautious in using prisons beyond the Three Judicial Offices. But now, the Eastern Depot has torture rights and is even permitted to build internal prisons like the Northern Pacification Office. From your and the prince’s political perspective, can Deng Ying meet a good end?”
Yang Lun said softly: “He could still withdraw – it’s not too late.”
“But he told me that if he retreats again, you and the young prince will face deeper persecution.”
“…”
Yang Lun was speechless.
Yang Wan pursued: “The new policies are difficult – you’ve already taken the first step in the south, and all the achievements are yours. Sister, Deng Ying, and I are all happy for you, praying for peace for the suffering common people in the south. As for the political clarity you hope for, it’s not impossible when a wise ruler comes. For a better era, even as a nameless person, I will do everything I can to protect the child you value. Like Deng Ying, I absolutely will not retreat again.”
Yang Lun sighed out a burning breath, “Wan’er, brother only hoped you would marry into a good family. Brother didn’t want you to get involved in this.”
“But I’m already involved. If I hadn’t saved myself, I would have been one of those three hundred palace women beaten to death.”
Yang Lun’s heart twisted in pain, “I’m sorry, Wan’er, brother…”
Yang Wan cut off his words, “You don’t need to say sorry.”
As she spoke, she unconsciously lifted her neck, “I’m the only one left in Chengqian Palace who is Yi Lang’s family. But it’s alright – there’s still Deng Ying in the imperial city. If Deng Ying is willing to wade into partisan struggles, I’m not afraid to fall into inner palace conflicts.”
“Wan’er…”
“I’m not doing this just for Deng Ying – I’m doing it for myself too. I want to be a brave girl, living earnestly here. I want to see and remember everything from the Zhenning era. If you won’t leave a single word for us, then I’ll write it myself, speak it myself.”