Qin Wende carried the chest as he walked with Yang Wan toward Chengqian Palace.

He was straightforward by nature and usually talkative. Now, with his jokes and banter, he had Yang Wan laughing the whole way.

Taking advantage of Yang Wan’s good mood, Qin Wende thought to put in a few good words for Deng Ying.

“Miss Yang.”

“Hmm?”

Qin Wende adjusted the chest on his shoulder, “Have you seen our Superintendent’s house yet?”

Yang Wan replied while walking, “Not yet. I heard you helped arrange it.”

Qin Wende smiled, “Indeed. The location has good feng shui, though we thought it was a bit small. We figured the Superintendent should at least have a two-courtyard residence. This single courtyard… well, it’s not bad, just a bit cramped.”

Yang Wan laughed, “A single courtyard is good—it’s open and easier to clean.”

Qin Wende hurriedly said, “How could we let you clean, Miss? Once you and our Superintendent move in, surely we’ll have to buy some servants.”

Yang Wan turned back, smiling, “You’re letting him buy servants? How much silver does it cost to keep a servant these days?”

“Oh my, that’d be more than ten taels, depending on their appearance.”

Yang Wan laughed, “Just how much is your Superintendent’s monthly salary?”

“Ah?”

Qin Wende nearly tripped over himself at this question. “Well… this…”

He dragged his words, hesitating whether to expose Deng Ying’s circumstances to Yang Wan.

Deng Guixun only had one bottom line for his men—they couldn’t arbitrarily harm lives. He usually didn’t stop the depot guards from collecting “service fees” from officials and civilians, but he seemed to never take any. Even if he received anything, he would later distribute it among the depot guards. People said the Ceremonial Department received many rewards, but from what Qin Wende saw of Deng Ying’s daily expenses, he truly didn’t seem wealthy. These past few days, he and several depot guards had been helping arrange furniture and decorations, thinking it was his money, so they were hesitant to spend freely.

“Eh… the Superintendent’s salary comes from the inner court, we don’t know…”

Yang Wan continued, “He doesn’t have much money, and besides, he wouldn’t buy people to use as servants.”

“I indeed don’t have much money.”

Yang Wan and Qin Wende were startled by this voice, looking up to see Deng Ying walking toward them.

Today he wasn’t wearing his official robes but instead dressed like an outside scholar in jade-colored clothing, his hair tied up without an official headdress.

Qin Wende felt awkward but pressed on, “I didn’t mean you’re poor, Superintendent, I just…”

“I am quite poor right now.”

“That’s not what I meant…”

Qin Wende was stunned by Deng Ying’s frankness and could only change the subject, “Weren’t you at Chengqian Palace? Why did you come here?”

“Oh.”

Deng Ying rolled up his sleeves, “I came to see if I could lend a hand.”

The depot guards behind Qin Wende hurriedly said in unison, “How could we trouble you with that?”

Yang Wan smiled, “You’re not dressed for manual labor today.”

Deng Ying held his sleeve, smiling at Yang Wan, “Then what do I look like?”

Yang Wan said, “Like you’re heading to the autumn provincial examination.”

Deng Ying laughed, “The Shuntian Prefecture is setting up examination sheds. Would you like to see it?”

“Examination sheds?”

Yang Wan asked puzzled, “Why only sheds? Aren’t they building examination cells?”

Deng Ying nodded, “They should be, but since the imperial city and surrounding walls aren’t completely built yet, finances are limited. They can only use wooden boards and reed mats to build sheds, with thorn bushes as walls. People say the capital’s examination hall is built worse than the bookstores around it.”

This piqued Yang Wan’s interest, “What bookstores are nearby? Can we go see them today?”

Deng Ying replied, “I have a pass. I can take you out.”

Yang Wan looked back at her luggage, hesitating.

Seeing this, Qin Wende quickly said, “You should go with our Superintendent. We’ll hand these over to Miss Heyu, guaranteed not to damage anything.”

Yang Wan smiled, “Alright then… be careful.”

She then walked behind Deng Ying and poked his back, “Let’s go, quickly!”

Deng Ying turned to look at Yang Wan—her face was bright, her gaze light.

Come to think of it, since the Hejü case, he hadn’t seen Yang Wan smile like this for a long time.

The Shuntian Prefecture office was located on East Public Street off Drum Tower East Street. Near the Drum Tower were several publishing houses, the most famous being the Zhou family’s Kuanqin Hall and the Qi family’s Qingbo House. Both publishers had operated for over a hundred years, with not only large showrooms but also substantial printing operations.

Publishing flourished in the Ming Dynasty. Though management had many loopholes, it was relatively free, divided into official, private, and commercial publishing. Deng Ying loved buying books, especially hunting for private editions by unknown writers in private bookstores.

But Yang Wan didn’t go to these private bookstores. After getting out of the carriage, she pulled Deng Ying straight to Qingbo House. Deng Ying’s leg injury had flared up a couple of days ago, making walking difficult now, but he didn’t want to tell Yang Wan to slow down. He could only helplessly watch her back with a wry smile. Passersby in the book market who saw this scene all smiled and commented, “This gentleman is so good-natured, willing to go along with the young lady.”

Hearing these words, Deng Ying’s ears grew hot, and he couldn’t help calling out to Yang Wan.

“Wanwan.”

“Yes?”

Yang Wan turned back to see his pale face and quickly asked, “Is your ankle hurting again?”

“A little.”

Yang Wan stopped walking, “Why didn’t you say so?”

Deng Ying said, “You seemed so excited.”

Yang Wan held Deng Ying’s arm, “Walk like this, lean on me.”

“Aren’t you tired?”

Yang Wan shook her head, “No, really, don’t worry about me, lean over. You’re so thin, I can support you.”

Deng Ying looked down at Yang Wan’s profile, “Wanwan.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you so interested in Qingbo House?”

Yang Wan didn’t immediately answer Deng Ying’s question, but she recalled what she had once told him, “To fight for him, to wage a battle with brush and ink.”

What was brush and ink?

In the Great Ming Dynasty, brush and ink were like armies—both were weapons. They were the voice of scholars, public opinion, and life that imperial power constantly tried but failed to extinguish completely.

“Has Qingbo House ever published your writings?”

Deng Ying nodded.

“Yes, in the past.”

“Which piece?”

“‘Letter to Zixi at Year’s End.'”

He finished speaking and looked up at Qingbo House’s signboard, “At that time, I had frequent exchanges with Zixi, with quite a few poems and essays between us. However, after I was imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, my writings could no longer circulate. The printing blocks from before have probably been burned by now.”

Yang Wan was stunned.

Qingbo House had preserved the printing blocks for “Letter to Zixi at Year’s End.” Later, when Qingbo House moved to Guangzhou, those blocks were taken there too. The blocks changed hands several times and ended up abroad, but Yang Wan had seen photos of them in the Guangzhou Museum.

“Maybe they weren’t burned.”

Yang Wan held Deng Ying’s arm and gave him a bright smile, “Let’s go see.”

Deng Ying nodded and smiled, saying “Alright.”

Qingbo House had a shop in front and a factory in the back, with temporary examination stalls set up in front for the imperial examinations, creating quite a bustle. Deng Ying paused, scanning the books on the stalls. Yang Wan looked up and asked him, “Between you and my brother, who was better at studying?” Deng Ying smiled but didn’t answer.

Just then, the shopkeeper came out to greet them. Seeing Yang Wan and Deng Ying standing far from the examination stalls, he said, “You two customers aren’t here to look at examination books, are you?”

Deng Ying replied, “No, I wanted to bring…”

He momentarily didn’t know how to address Yang Wan, but she unexpectedly continued, “My husband wanted to bring me in to look around.”

The shopkeeper assumed they were a learned, refined couple, “Does madam read as well?”

“Yes, I recognize a few characters.”

“You’re being modest. Please come in.”

Yang Wan held Deng Ying’s hand as they entered the book hall, seeing Qingbo House’s published works like “Journey to the West,” “Chronicles of the States,” “Three Kingdoms with Commentary,” “Water Margin with Commentary,” “Romance of Eastern and Western Jin,” “Chronicle of Western Han,” and other books—some editions even preserved to modern times.

Yang Wan picked up a copy of “Journey to the West” and opened it, casually asking, “Do you still have the printing blocks for this book?”

The shopkeeper said, “Madam asks this—are you interested in doing business with us?”

Yang Wan tucked her hair behind her ear, glanced at Deng Ying, and smiled without speaking.

The shopkeeper, thinking Yang Wan was being reserved and waiting for him to approach first, eagerly said, “The blocks for this edition have been destroyed by our proprietor, but we have blocks for another version still preserved. Our proprietor keeps blocks based on his preferences. Some books sell well, but if he doesn’t like the blocks, they still get burned.”

“Oh? Your proprietor must be quite particular.”

“Indeed he is.”

The shopkeeper proudly said, “How did we compete with Kuanqin Hall? It’s because our proprietor is a graduate of provincial examinations, a true scholar.”

Yang Wan closed the book, “Then do you still have the blocks for ‘Letter to Zixi at Year’s End’?”

The shopkeeper said, “Ah, you asking about the blocks for this essay shows you have true insight. Our proprietor loves this essay—he supervised its engraving. Although the writer is now a criminal and the essay can no longer be printed, the proprietor has kept the original blocks.”

“Could we see them?”

“Well…”

The shopkeeper hesitated.

Yang Wan said, “Don’t misunderstand. Since your proprietor personally supervised the engraving, it must be of the highest quality. I just want to see what your publisher’s best engraving looks like.”

Hearing this explanation, the shopkeeper’s face relaxed.

“Alright, please have a seat first. We have important guests in our workshop, and I don’t want to cause any offense. I’ll go check, and if it won’t disturb anyone, I’ll take you in.”

“Good.”

Yang Wan helped Deng Ying sit down and then lifted her skirt to crouch down.

Deng Ying hurriedly asked, “What are you doing?”

Yang Wan reached to lift his robe, “While we have this quiet moment, let me warm it up for you.”

Deng Ying quickly bent down to cover his ankle, but Yang Wan pinched the skin on the back of his hand and forcefully lifted it away.

“Be good, Deng Ying.”

Deng Ying was startled.

“I can’t…”

“If we’re pretending to be husband and wife, we should make it convincing.”

She interrupted Deng Ying, then clasped his ankle with both hands, using her palm’s warmth to help ward off the cold pain, smiling as she said, “Coming here today was truly worthwhile.”

Deng Ying looked at Yang Wan’s hands gently pressing his ankle and pressed his lips together: “Why… did you want to see those printing blocks?”

Yang Wan spoke softly, head lowered, “I wanted you to know that although you can’t write essays anymore, your past hasn’t been erased. You left traces, and future generations will follow them.”

She looked up, “Deng Ying, if you want to write essays in the future, just write them, and I’ll copy them.”

Deng Ying smiled, “Even if you copy them, only you will see them.”

Yang Wan was about to reply when she suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind the screen.

“Since your proprietor isn’t here, we can only discuss this much. For the rest, I’ll come back when your proprietor returns to discuss it in detail.”

Yang Wan stood up, hiding behind the screen, and glanced at the door to the back hall.

Deng Ying softly asked, “Who is it?”

Yang Wan said, “Pang Ling, the eunuch from Noble Consort Jiang’s household.”

Just as she finished speaking, she heard someone from the bookstore say, “Actually, our manager can make this decision. Adding another virtuous consort after the ‘Five Virtuous Consorts’ – even Kuanqin Hall hasn’t finalized their blocks for this, so it shouldn’t be difficult.”

Yang Wan was startled to hear “Five Virtuous Consorts.”

This book was written by a Ming Dynasty scholar named Du Heng, recording five virtuous empresses and consorts from history. It wasn’t a very famous book and hadn’t survived to the present, for unknown reasons. Yang Wan had only glimpsed its title in fragmentary historical materials.

“Deng Ying.”

“Yes?”

“Have your guards watch this Pang Ling.”

“Why?”

Yang Wan pressed her lips together, “I can’t explain clearly yet, but by the time I figure it out, it might be too late—just like with Zheng Bingbi.”