Deng Ying lightly gripped the fabric at his knees.

“What does the Seal-Bearer want Deng Ying to say?”

He Yixian looked toward Hu Xiang, “You question him. I’ll listen.”

“Yes.”

Hu Xiang stood up at the command and strode several steps to stand before Deng Ying.

He was a straightforward person, his bearing not much like that of a eunuch. His voice was rough and direct, even somewhat harsh.

He took up a formal stance before Deng Ying.

“The Ministry of Justice’s documents arrived at the Office of Ceremonies today, requiring you to attend a hearing tomorrow. Today we’ll set up a court here – just pretend I’m the official from the Ministry of Justice. I’ll ask, you answer.”

Deng Ying obediently responded: “Yes.”

Hu Xiang coughed once and asked in an official tone: “In the tenth year of Zhenning, how many bricks were supplied from Linqing, Shandong?”

“Thirty thousand pieces.”

“Why did Shandong report supplying fifty thousand fine bricks that year?”

Deng Ying glanced at Wang Changshun trembling on his knees on the ground, then looked up and answered: “In the tenth year of Zhenning, there was a failure in rebuilding the moon platform of the Longevity Emperor Hall, which wasted twenty thousand fine bricks.”

“Are there records that can be checked?”

“Yes.”

He answered this series of questions almost without any hesitation. Hu Xiang nodded with satisfaction, stepped aside, and looked toward He Yixian.

He Yixian took a sip of tea, then continued Hu Xiang’s line of questioning: “Were they wasted?”

Deng Ying looked up, “If the Ministry of Justice asked Deng Ying, naturally they were wasted. If the Seal-Bearer asks me, then they were not.”

He Yixian laughed, “Good, then tell me the truth.”

Deng Ying spoke evenly: “In fact, Linqing in Shandong only supplied thirty thousand fine bricks, but falsely reported fifty thousand. The funds for the additional twenty thousand bricks were still disbursed by the Ministry of Revenue. As for where that silver is now, Deng Ying does not know.”

“Then why didn’t you answer Hu Xiang truthfully just now?”

At this question, the hall fell silent.

He Yixian set down his teacup, “Still can’t let go of your status, eh? What harm is there in saying it? You’re now a servant of the Office of Ceremonies, not their Cabinet’s firecracker to be lit as they please, isn’t that right?”

Deng Ying remained silent.

Looking at the torture wounds on Wang Changshun’s body, he suddenly felt that he too bore such bloody gashes.

“Speak.”

Just two words, not particularly forceful.

But they held the power to slice through consciousness.

Deng Ying stared at his own shadow at his feet, bowed, and then suddenly paused for a long moment before finally responding: “Yes.”

After hearing this, He Yixian shook his head with a smile, “Still not answering enough.”

Zheng Yuejia glanced at He Yixian’s eyes, then looked uneasily toward Deng Ying.

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly grew heavy.

Zheng Yuejia couldn’t help but bark at Deng Ying: “Deng Ying, answer properly!”

“You be quiet!”

He Yixian shouted back at Zheng Yuejia, “Watch how he responds himself.”

Everyone in the room looked at him.

Under their gazes, Deng Ying slowly released his hand from within his sleeve. He knelt.

His blue robe touched the ground as he closed his eyes. At this moment, he thought of nothing, only feeling grateful that Yang Wan wasn’t here.

“Yes, this slave understands.”

Only then did He Yixian nod, waving for Hu Xiang to step back, and continued: “You were more than a little late today, but you’ve answered well enough just now. However, from now on, you need to change your thinking. We are palace servants – only when the masters live well will they bestow money upon us. You just said you don’t know where the funds for those twenty thousand fine bricks went. Fine, now I’ll tell you – all that silver went into the accounts for renovating the master’s Banana Garden. We servants didn’t see a single coin of it. But the master is happy, and that’s more important than anything. Do you understand? If you understand, stand up and answer.”

Deng Ying stood up at the command, eyes downcast as he responded: “Yes.”

He Yixian nodded and stood up himself.

“Alright. That’s enough for today’s discussion. I’m tired too, you may all disperse.”

Seeing they were about to dismiss, Wang Changshun hurriedly grabbed He Yixian’s leg, “Godfather, what about your son’s life? Godfather promised to save your son!”

He Yixian bent down and brushed aside his hair, “Supervisor Deng hasn’t said he’ll save you, so how can I save you, hmm?”

“Godfather…”

“Enough!”

He Yixian straightened up and sighed: “Your woman, and that godson of yours – Godfather will look after them all. You can go in peace. Godfather has prepared plenty of spirit money for you – you won’t be able to spend it all down there.”

“Godfather! Godfather! Godfather, please don’t, your son still wants to keep his life to serve you!”

As he spoke, his voice broke with tears and his body shook like sifted chaff.

He Yixian grew somewhat impatient with his clinging and said to Hu Xiang: “Go send word to the imperial prison – if they can cut out this man’s tongue, cut it out. I see he doesn’t want to live anyway. If it’s done now, we can say he bit it off himself.”

With that, he kicked hard, sending the man sprawling to one side.

When Wang Changshun heard these words, heat rushed between his legs, and yellow liquid seeped through his prison pants – all dignity instantly lost.

Deng Ying’s throat tightened as he watched the terrified man soil himself.

The scholarly die for their principles, warriors die in battle – only insects steal life, ultimately dying in filth, soaking in their waste.

When Yang Lun studied with him, he had said that in his life he most despised eunuchs – they had no backbone, and after death were nothing but a puddle of mud, utterly disgusting.

Deng Ying had once thought these words somewhat extreme, but at this moment, he seemed to understand why Yang Lun would think that way.

“Deng Ying.”

He Yixian covered his nose and mouth, his voice somewhat muffled.

“Here.”

“Do you know what it means now that he has no tongue?”

“The Ministry of Justice will use Deng Ying as their breakthrough point.”

“Do you know who stands behind the Ministry of Justice?”

Deng Ying suppressed a cough in his throat: “Minister Bai and Vice Minister Yang.”

“Very good. From now on, whether the Office of Ceremonies can protect you will depend on how you face those two people this time.”

Meanwhile, Yang Wan returned alone to the Fifth Bureau.

The apricot blossoms along the wall of Cining Palace should have bloomed at the end of March, but due to the warm and humid early spring this year, they were already in full bloom, creating an interesting contrast with the glazed tiles covering the hall roof. Many passing palace servants couldn’t help but stop to admire them. Song Yunqing, a female official from the Department of Imperial Ceremonies, saw Yang Wan coming from the south corner and waved to her, “Yang Wan, where are you coming from?”

Yang Wan didn’t mention the Inner School, only saying, “I’m not on duty today, just walking around.”

Song Yunqing hurriedly said: “Then do you have time to go to the Imperial Pharmacy?”

“Hmm, what errand?”

“It’s nothing much, just Lady Jiang’s medicine. I was supposed to go get it from the Imperial Pharmacy, but the palace servants from Cining Palace asked me to sketch these apricot blossoms, saying it was an errand for Consort Xu. I’m working carefully on it, and unexpectedly it’s taken until now and still isn’t finished. I’m afraid by the time I finish this work, the Huiji Gate will already be locked.”

Yang Wan glanced at the time of day, “Lady Jiang’s headache still hasn’t improved?”

“Indeed not. It’s gotten much worse these past few days with the strong winds.”

Yang Wan nodded.

“Alright, I’ll go get it.”

Song Yunqing clasped her hands in thanks: “That’s troubling you. You know, you’re Consort Ning’s sister, but whenever we trouble you, you never make a fuss. You’re truly a good soul. Next time I’ll do your duties for you.”

Yang Wan smiled, “Fine, I’m going then.”

After bidding farewell to Song Yunqing, she headed to the Imperial Pharmacy.

The Imperial Pharmacy was behind the Wenhua Hall. During the Ming Dynasty, imperial physicians were not allowed to serve inside the inner court, so the physicians on duty would stay in the duty room at Huiji Gate to respond to urgent summons from the inner court at night.

When Yang Wan reached Huiji Gate, the duty room behind the gate was changing shifts.

Imperial Physician Peng Jiang handed Jiang’s medicine to Yang Wan, “We were just waiting for someone from the Department of Ceremonies to collect it. Fortunately, Huiji Gate is closing half a quarter late today.”

Yang Wan took the medicine, “When I passed Renzhi Hall earlier, I thought this trip would be wasted, but unexpectedly I still got something. However, why is your gate closing late today?”

She glanced behind her as she spoke.

Behind her, the wind lamps flickered, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“Oh, it’s nothing major. I just heard that the Commander and two Directors of the Imperial Guard are at Yangxin Hall, and they’ll be leaving through Huiji Gate later.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Wan hurriedly took her leave from Peng Jiang and walked west past Huiji Gate.

Just as she passed the square in front of Huangji Gate, she saw Zhang Luo walking silently in the night, dressed in black.

Yang Wan knew she couldn’t avoid him, so she stepped aside.

Zhang Luo didn’t avoid her either, walking straight up to her.

“Look up.”

Yang Wan raised her head, “Does the Lord have instructions for this slave?”

Zhang Luo gave a cold laugh, “You enjoy being a servant here?”

“My Lord…”

“Or do you prefer being a servant’s servant?”

He interrupted Yang Wan, bending down to stare into her eyes, “Your brother’s backbone couldn’t be broken even by court beatings, yet you are so base.”

“How am I base?”

Yang Wan pressed her lips together. “If you would spare my brother, I wouldn’t have resorted to such measures.”

“Heh heh.”

Zhang Luo straightened up, “You think speaking like this will make me pity you?”

Yang Wan shook her head, “I dare not think anything. If my Lord would spare this slave, this slave would be eternally grateful.”

Zhang Luo didn’t immediately respond, trying to make out this woman’s true face in the darkness.

“Fine.”

After a long while, he finally uttered this word.

“In all of the capital, there’s no one who doesn’t want the Northern Command’s mercy. You don’t want my pity, so I’ll treat you as if I never knew you. The next time you see me, you’d better stand as straight as you did today.”

Having said this, he turned and strode toward Huiji Gate.

“Wait.”

Yang Wan hurried after him, holding the medicine.

Zhang Luo stopped but didn’t turn around.

Yang Wan stood behind him and raised her voice, “Although I did it for self-preservation, I indeed went too far. I dare not ask for my Lord’s pity, but I am willing to promise my Lord one thing as compensation.”

Zhang Luo half-turned his face, looking down at her: “Would I ever need anything from you?”

“Perhaps not, but I want to be able to face my conscience better.”

After saying this, she softened her voice, “I inadvertently caused some trouble, and by the time I realized it, the grave mistake was already made and couldn’t be remedied. This was truly not my intention, but I’m also powerless to explain to my Lord. I only hope that my Lord won’t take out his anger on others because of me.”

After hearing these words, Zhang Luo snorted coldly.

He spoke icily: “You’re wrong, Yang Wan. The Northern Command has always enforced the law impartially. I despise that criminal slave not because of you, but because he evades criminal law, associates with eunuchs, and lives on with a slave’s face and servant’s heart – his actions and his mind are both nauseating.”

“What did you say?”

Zhang Luo suddenly felt the voice behind him turn sharply cold, and he couldn’t help but turn around.

Yang Wan fixed her eyes on his, “You can call me base if you wish, I’ll listen without saying a word, but as for other matters, I hope my Lord will be careful with his words.”

Zhang Luo said coldly:

“Why do you insist, again and again, on defending that criminal slave before me?”

“He may be the son of a criminal, but he is not a criminal himself. If not for him, where we stand would be nothing but a pile of rubble and wood!”

After saying this, she also turned away, “I take back my promise to my Lord just now. I shouldn’t have harbored any false hopes about Lord Zhang.”