Yang Wan shook her head and stood straight, looking at Yi Lang’s fever-flushed face.
“I didn’t take good care of him.”
Consort Ning followed her gaze, “Being able to return like this is already a great fortune.”
Yang Wan said, “Your Highness must have been worried.”
“Yes, but I didn’t dare say anything, fearing it would provoke His Majesty’s fury and cause the child more suffering, and worried it would implicate my brother.”
Yang Wan comforted her, “Now… it should be alright.”
Consort Ning led Yang Wan to sit behind the screen, “I hope so. Wan’er,” she hesitated for a moment, then continued with some uncertainty in her voice, “Would you… like to leave the palace?”
Yang Wan was startled, “Why does Your Highness ask this?”
Consort Ning said, “When you first entered the palace, you were such a lively spirit, but over this past year, sister feels you haven’t been as happy as before. If you’re willing, you could let Commander Deng set up a residence outside the palace. Living peacefully away from palace politics would be quite nice too.”
Yang Wan blurted out, “If I leave, what about Yi Lang?”
She was immediately shocked by her own words.
In saying this, she had already tacitly accepted that Consort Ning would not live much longer.
Hearing this, Consort Ning patted her hand, “He has his fate. He will be safe.”
As Yang Wan heard these words, she suddenly saw the shadow of a winter bird pass by the window.
It seemed to carry a sense of despair, trying to break through the void. Yang Wan deliberately avoided looking at it clearly, instead instinctively turning away.
On the tenth day of the first month of Zhenning’s thirteenth year, His Majesty personally visited Yi Lang in Chengqian Palace. Yang Wan and Song Yunqing stood outside Chengqian Gate, and at noon finally heard the contents of the imperial edict – Huang Ran was sentenced to execution, while the remaining instructors were to be tried by the Ministry of Justice.
When the Ministry of Justice sent people to receive them, each person was as joyful as if ascending from hell to heaven.
After taking over the case, the Ministry of Justice overturned most of the groundless charges from the prison investigations, concluding each matter quickly.
There was another edict issued to the inner court.
Dozens of imperial envoys who had questioned Yi Lang, including Deng Ying and Zhang Luo, were all sentenced to ten strokes of the rod.
Yang Wan next saw Deng Ying on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month, in the inner office of the Eastern Depot.
The inner office of the Eastern Depot was only two rooms wide.
The outer room was the main hall, while the inner room was the duty room.
The duty room had no decorations, only cramped with a low bed, three or four stools, and a table.
Deng Ying sat by the window reading Yang Lun’s “Land Reform Policy.” Two guards sat to the side shelling peanuts, and one asked, “What is the Commander reading? You’ve been at it for hours.”
The other said softly, “The Ministry of Revenue’s Land Reform Policy.”
“Southern land reform – my hometown’s fields will suffer.”
“Does your family have much land?”
That person waved his hand, “Fortunately not much. The people left at home don’t want to take care of it. If we could sell it, that would be fine.”
“That depends on the price.”
Just then they heard Deng Ying cough several times, and the speaker quickly stood up, “Commander, do you need water?”
Deng Ying put down the document and tried to stand, “I’ll get it myself.”
The man hurried over eagerly, “Let me serve you. If you hadn’t gone to Wuying Hall yourself that day, we would have been the ones suffering.”
“Shh–“
The other guard pulled at his clothes while looking toward the door.
The first man didn’t understand, “Don’t pull me, everyone knows our Commander is good, unlike those demons… oh… Lady Yang.”
He jumped up, brushing peanut shells from his clothes while pulling his companion out, and closing the door behind them.
Today Yang Wan wore a water-green wide-sleeved gown with a moon-white cloud-collar embroidered with auspicious patterns, her hair in a simple bun with a jade hairpin. She looked quite different from her usual palace attire.
“Why did you come here?”
Yang Wan adjusted her jade hairpin, “Chen Hua asked me to check how you’re doing, and if you’re better, to invite you to join them for hotpot the day after tomorrow.”
Deng Ying asked, “Why didn’t he come himself?”
“Oh, he was worried that if he came, it would look like he was currying favor with the Eastern Depot, so…”
“Would Director Song let him send you on errands?”
“You…”
Yang Wan watched Deng Ying sitting on the lamplight, analyzing so seriously, and suddenly had the urge to jump up and pinch his face.
“I asked him for the errand, alright?”
Deng Ying seemed to understand the meaning of these words, but reflexively said “Ah?”
“You…”
Yang Wan sat beside Deng Ying, “Do you believe…”
“Ouch…”
Yang Wan had accidentally touched his not-fully-healed wounds, and he couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath.
Yang Wan quickly stood up, “Oh no, where did I touch?”
Deng Ying stiffened his neck without speaking, but instinctively used Yang Lun’s “Land Reform Policy” to cover his thigh. This action reminded Yang Wan of the first time she entered his quarters, when Deng Ying sat on the bed, just as stiffly holding up a book.
“Would you sit across from me?”
He said this while carefully changing his position, “Would you like some water?”
Yang Wan understood he was changing the subject and went along with it, “Yes.”
Deng Ying reached out to pour her a cup of tea, then poured one for himself.
“Is His Highness better?”
“Much better. Among everyone, your injuries are the most difficult to heal. I’m sorry, I gave you all bad advice and ended up harming you. If you’re feeling resentful…”
She held out her hand, “Do you want to hit back?”
Deng Ying shook his head with a smile and placed a jade bead carved with a hibiscus in Yang Wan’s palm, “For you.”
Yang Wan was startled, and heard him continue, “I carved it while recovering from my injuries. It’s also a centerpiece bead – you can string it with your other jade pendant. This is from some leftover jade when they replaced the beast eyes on Zhonghe Hall’s roof ornaments. The jade quality is good, but I’m not very skilled at carving jade, so some parts aren’t well done.”
Yang Wan held the bead up to the lamp. The bead wasn’t even half the size of a fingernail, yet it was intricately carved with hibiscus stamens and petals. Though jade is smooth, it’s more brittle and harder to carve than wood. When she was young and studied “The Story of the Carved Olive Pit,” she had only marveled at the ancients’ exquisite craftsmanship. Now holding such a finely crafted object in her hands, besides admiration, she felt the joy of receiving a gift.
“Truly a masterpiece of Ming craftsmanship.”