Deng Ying helped Yang Wan kneel and lit the bronze lamp beside Emperor Zhennin. The lamp’s light fell on Yang Wan’s face and cast the emperor’s shadow beside her knees.
She instinctively wanted to look at Emperor Zhennin, but heard Deng Ying say: “Record Keeper Yang, do not raise your head.”
“Yes…”
Emperor Zhennin said: “No matter, raise your head and let Us see.”
Yang Wan lifted her head in response. Emperor Zhennin glanced at the blood seeping through her middle garments and asked Deng Ying, “How many times did the Northern Investigation Office question her?”
Deng Ying replied, “In response to Your Majesty, only once.”
Emperor Zhennin nodded, “Your report was timely.” Then he looked down at Yang Wan, “Your name is Yang Wan, correct?”
“Yes.”
Emperor Zhennin supported his forehead, recalling for a moment, “In Zhennin’s seventh year, Consort Ning asked the Empress Dowager to arrange your marriage to the Zhang family. We didn’t interfere in this matter, but We still remember – why didn’t you marry afterward?”
Yang Wan lowered her head, “Your servant fell from a cliff and was away from home for long. The Zhang family doubted your servant’s chastity was lost, thus the marriage did not proceed.”
Emperor Zhennin nodded, “Ah, We remember now. Because of this matter, We even reprimanded Zhang Luo last year.”
“Your servant thanks Your Majesty for supporting your servant then.”
Emperor Zhennin gave a cold laugh. “Knowing to give thanks – not entirely foolish.”
After speaking, his fingers tapped lightly on the tea table as he turned the conversation to a critical point.
“We ask you, when did Consort Ning and Zheng Yuejia become acquainted?”
“The Zheng and Yang families were indeed old acquaintances. Your servant and sister had indeed met Secretary Zheng.”
Her answer somewhat surprised Emperor Zhennin.
“Is this how you spoke in the Northern Investigation Office as well?”
Yang Wan shook her head, “No…”
“Then how did you speak?”
“Your servant under torture in prison… feared being unable to endure the torture, spoke nonsense, so kept begging for mercy without saying anything.”
Emperor Zhennin stood up, “Very well, you may speak before Us now. We won’t torture you – if what you say displeases Us, We’ll simply kill you.”
Yang Wan coughed several times, supporting herself on the ground as she raised her head, “If Your Majesty killing your servant could stop these rumors, protect your sister’s reputation, and maintain Your Majesty’s and the royal family’s name, then your servant willingly accepts death.”
Emperor Zhennin walked before Yang Wan with hands behind his back, silently looking down at her for a moment before speaking in a deep voice: “We don’t understand why you’re so willing to die.”
Yang Wan gripped her trembling hands, “If Your Majesty doesn’t kill your servant, will you send your servant back to prison?”
Emperor Zhennin neither confirmed nor denied.
Yang Wan pressed her pain-whitened lips together.
“Does Your Majesty know why Lord Zhang learned before Your Majesty that sister and Secretary Zheng were old acquaintances?”
Emperor Zhennin was startled by these words, his hands behind his back unconsciously clenching into fists.
Yang Wan could barely maintain her kneeling position now. The high fever made her dizzy, her stomach churning. She ruthlessly pinched her leg wound, using the pain to keep herself clear-headed, and continued speaking: “They didn’t care about Your Majesty’s reputation at all – they just wanted… to make sister bear the crime of harming the prince… The Northern Investigation Office tortured me and Secretary Zheng – regardless of which of us broke under torture, making false confessions… The next day, Your Majesty’s imperial desk would have memorials calling for the sister’s dismissal… Sister was wronged, and how could Your Majesty not also be wronged… Fortunately, Your Majesty had Bureau Director Deng assist in investigating this case, allowing your servant the fortune to state these matters before Your Majesty. Otherwise… your servant’s mad ravings in prison, even dying ten thousand deaths would not atone for the crime.”
After finishing this speech, Yang Wan had nearly exhausted all her energy. Her vision darkened, and she had to grab the chair leg beside her to barely maintain her kneeling position before the emperor.
Her nerves taut, she held her breath waiting for Emperor Zhennin’s reaction.
This was the only response Yang Wan could think of.
In this process, she had to maintain a grip on her current identity, could not wildly discuss Yang Lun and politics, and couldn’t even discuss the Crane Residence case. She only needed to grasp a monarch’s sensitive and arrogant nature, using words to deliver a measured strike.
The rest she would leave to this suspicious Emperor Zhennin to doubt on his own.
Though she had no certainty about what decision the emperor would make, she had already exhausted her mental capacity in trying to understand Emperor Zhennin as a ruler, seeking tiny cracks between imperial power and the Northern Investigation Office, creating a lifeline for Consort Ning and herself, while also creating an opportunity for the Eastern Bureau to take some power from the Northern Investigation Office.
However, she dared not be as confident as when she saved Zheng Yuejia, because her own life and death now also hung on Emperor Zhennin’s momentary whim.
“Yang Wan, these words of yours, We consider sincere.”