“What are you thinking about?”
Yang Wan watched him from the couch.
She was still feverish, her face flushed and eyes somewhat moist.
“Just now, I…”
“Don’t apologize, Deng Ying.”
She interrupted him again, looking at his profile and speaking softly, “Though I feel embarrassed, I’m not humiliated. I asked you earlier because I didn’t want you to keep it in your heart, and then go off alone thinking about those frightening things you said in front of Yang Lun.”
She gently revealed Deng Ying’s concerns, leaving him speechless. He could only silently nod.
Yang Wan looked at the medicine bottle in his hand, “I can apply medicine to the wounds on my legs myself, but I can’t see the ones on my waist and ribs. I’m sorry, I know you’re unwilling, but I have no one else to ask.”
Indeed, there was no one else who could help Yang Wan here.
Palace servants couldn’t have private contact with Yang Wan, and the guards outside were all men. Only Deng Ying himself was a eunuch.
Everything seemed arranged to expose the “desire” he had hidden in his heart, but it also seemed to build a high execution platform where Yang Lun, Consort Ning, Yi Lang, and even Bai Huan and Zhang Zhanchun all stood below watching him. His shame had nowhere to hide.
In his life until now, he could face most people with a clear conscience, but before Yang Wan, he felt that only by having a guilty conscience could he continue to live.
“Wan Wan.”
Deng Ying called to Yang Wan, his hands squeezing his knees, then bent down to lift her inner garment at the waist and abdomen, gently holding it with his wrist.
Yang Wan felt his warm breath on her skin and was about to respond when Deng Ying continued: “I will remember these days in my heart, but after you leave, please forget about it.”
“Why should I forget?”
Deng Ying warmed the medicine in his palm before gently applying it to her wounds.
“If you don’t forget, how can I face myself?”
Hearing this, Yang Wan fell silent but shook her head while watching Deng Ying.
Dozens of lash marks, some two or three inches long, others stretching from ribs to navel.
Yang Wan stared at the bed frame, trying to distract herself, pressing her lips together to endure.
Only when Deng Ying straightened up and tucked in her blanket did she release her lips and let out a long breath.
Deng Ying stood with his back turned at the table, cleaning the blood stains from the medicine bottles and cloths. Qin Wende, standing by the window, said, “Superintendent, people from the Northern Command have arrived. There’s a court hearing today, they request your presence.”
Deng Ying looked at the disturbing bloodstains near his hand, then suddenly said in a deep voice, “Let the Northern Command wait.”
Qin Wende rarely heard Deng Ying speak like this. He was stunned for a moment, then felt pleased.
“Yes, this subordinate will let them wait properly.”
“How is Scribe Zheng doing?”
Yang Wan, having recovered somewhat, leaned on the couch and softly asked Deng Ying.
Deng Ying replied, “Don’t think too much about it.”
Yang Wan shook her head, “How many court hearings has it been?”
“Three times now.”
“The previous times… was torture used?”
When she said the word “torture,” her shoulders trembled involuntarily.
“Not the first time, the second time… the injuries weren’t too severe. Don’t think about his situation now. Tomorrow His Majesty will personally interrogate you. What you say affects not only yourself and the entire Chengrong Palace but also over a hundred land reform officials in the south, including Lord Yang.”
Yang Wan swallowed and lowered her head, saying, “I understand, I’ll be careful.”
She looked up at Deng Ying, “Deng Ying, are you trying to use this opportunity to take over the Northern Command’s interrogation and detention authority?”
“I’ve been thinking about it, but I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“It’s alright…”
Yang Wan clasped her hands together under the blanket, “I’ll think carefully about how to answer His Majesty tomorrow.”
Deng Ying said, “His Majesty is different from Zhang Luo. He won’t torture you, but… he holds everyone’s lives in his hands. However, you’ve always been better than me at reading His Majesty’s mind. I have no advice to give you now, except one thing: take care of yourself, don’t think about trying to save anyone.”
Hearing this, Yang Wan pressed, “Did Scribe Zheng say something to you?”
Deng Ying lowered his eyes without speaking.
“Tell me…”
Yang Wan struggled to sit up, and Deng Ying hurried to support her. “The Hejü case hasn’t been simple since the moment you entered the imperial prison. If Consort Ning is found guilty, Yang Lun must be immediately escorted back to the capital, and the southern land reforms must be suspended. What you and the Chengrong Palace need to do now is distance yourselves from Scribe Zheng – you can’t have any thought of saving him.”
“I know, I won’t be rash, but Consort Ning…”
Yang Wan gripped the blanket, “Consort Ning will be heartbroken.”
Deng Ying sighed, looked down at Yang Wan, hesitated for a while, then still asked softly.
“Is it true?”
“What…”
“That Consort Ning and Scribe Zheng were old acquaintances.”
Yang Wan nodded.
“It’s true. I once helped the Consort save him outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation. You remember he came to thank me, right?”
“Yes.”
“That was when I first learned about the connection between the Consort and Scribe Zheng. They weren’t just acquaintances – they were in love when they were young. Later, in all these years in the palace, though they saw each other, they never spoke, all to keep each other safe. That time at the Hall of Mental Cultivation, when His Majesty was going to beat Scribe Zheng to death, the Consort almost lost her composure. This time, since it involves Yang Lun, she might endure, but…”
Yang Wan’s throat choked up, unable to continue speaking.
Deng Ying sat with her.
Outside the window, the warm sun shone, and the shadow of a lone tree’s crown fell through the window screen onto Yang Wan’s shoes, then gradually crept up to Deng Ying’s knees.
In this patch of shadow, Deng Ying saw the same retribution that faced Zheng Yuejia, but he didn’t want to tell Yang Wan.