The feast was laid out in the small flower hall. Yang Lun’s two concubines helped Xiao Wen arrange the seats.

Yang Jing, having caught a cold in the imperial prison, appeared frail, wrapped in a thick fox fur cloak, and greeted Yang Wan at the door.

Yang Wan asked her, “When will you return to the Wenhua Hall?”

Yang Jing smiled wryly, “I’ve failed Sister. I won’t be going back.”

Yang Wan nodded and took out a Qingbo House edition of “Five Worthies” from her bundle, handing it to Yang Jing.

Yang Jing took it and saw the author’s name was written as “Du Heng.”

“Du Heng?”

“Yes.”

Yang Jing looked up, “Why Du Heng? He died of illness last month.”

Yang Wan patted Yang Jing’s shoulder, “Yang Jing, listen to Sister. It’s fine not to return to Wenhua Hall. Stay outside, study with a clean conscience, and take the spring imperial examination next year.”

Yang Jing stared at the book cover for a long while before looking up, “Thank you, Sister.”

Yang Wan gestured for her to rest while she rolled up her sleeves to help the two concubines set the table.

Xiao Wen looked at the seating arrangement with hesitation and pulled Yang Wan aside, “Today I’m confused about the seating order.”

She glanced outside the threshold, “Should we give the seat of honor to Superintendent Deng?”

Yang Wan smiled, “Sister-in-law, just have someone bring me a thick cushion.”

Xiao Wen turned to the maid, “Go get a cushion.” Then asked Yang Wan, “Are you not feeling well?”

Yang Wan shook her head, about to answer when Yang Lun strode into the flower hall, taking off his cape and handing it to Xiao Wen, asking, “Have you chosen the opera?”

Xiao Wen replied, “Let’s wait for the Superintendent to choose.”

Yang Lun glanced at Deng Ying who followed behind him, “Tired of ‘The Thousand Gold’?”

Deng Ying stepped inside with a smile, “‘ The Phoenix Cry’ is better.”

Yang Lun looked at Yang Wan, “What do you want to hear?”

Yang Wan, hugging the soft cushion, asked, “Is there ‘Bo Ya Plays the Qin’?”

Yang Lun gave Yang Wan a look, “‘ Lüshi Chunqiu’ isn’t for entertainment, we don’t have that here!” Then he called out to the opera stage, “Sing ‘The Appointment of the General’ from ‘The Thousand Gold’!”

‘The Appointment of the General’ was about Han Xin’s appointment, the scene “Destitute Han Xin Ascends the Platform” from the fifty scenes of ‘The Thousand Gold’, following “Han Xin Begs for Food in Huaiyin County.”

After three rounds of drinks, Yang Lun became emotional, his eyes red as he struck his chopsticks and stood in the hall to sing a verse of “Breaking Jade Song”:

“Before General Han’s time came,

In Huaiyin he suffered shame beneath the legs.

By the river, he fished to survive,

The washerwoman showed him kindness and brought food to keep him alive.

‘Appointed general, granted marquis, appointed general, granted marquis,

A thousand gold to thank you, a thousand gold to thank you.'”

After singing, Yang Lun was thoroughly drunk but refused to leave the table.

Yang Wan sent Xiao Wen, Yang Jing, and the others to rest, dismissed the attending servants, and sat propping her chin, watching the two men amid the messy dishes.

Deng Ying wasn’t drunk but remained silent.

Yang Wan looked at Yang Lun and said, “So drunk like this, better to have a good cry.”

“I’m not drunk!”

Yang Lun knocked over the cold soup in front of Yang Wan, propped himself up, and rambled at Deng Ying, “Deng Fuling, tell me how you ended up becoming a eunuch…”

Deng Ying reached out to support Yang Lun’s arm, “Because my Deng family was guilty.”

“The Deng family’s guilt has nothing to do with you!”

Yang Lun stood up swaying, and as Deng Ying tried to support him, he pulled at his wound, unable to help saying, “Yang Zixi, will you please sit down?”

Yang Lun shook off Deng Ying’s hand and spat, “Stop meddling with me!”

Yang Wan pulled Yang Lun back to his seat, his head hitting the chair back with a “thud,” making him even more dizzy.

“If he didn’t meddle, you would have died on the river!”

“So what if I died on the river? Why should I owe him anything!”

He covered his eyes with his sleeve, “I, Yang Lun, have lived my life without shame before heaven and the common people, so clean and proper, why must I owe him, Deng Fuling…”

Deng Ying looked up at Yang Lun, and took a sip of the cold wine from the table, “I never asked you to owe me.”

“But I do owe you! Thank you so much I can’t even protect my sister! You’ve ruined her like this, and I as her brother can’t kill you with my own hands, can’t even curse you properly, I, Yang Lun, am just a…”

As he spoke, he loudly slapped himself.

Yang Wan quickly grabbed his arm, “Have you gone mad?”

Yang Lun, with the handprint on his face, looked at Yang Wan through drunken eyes and suddenly cried out miserably, “You’re both protecting me, but I can’t protect either of you.”

Yang Wan froze, speechless.

Deng Ying’s voice came from across Yang Wan.

“Zixi, serving as an official at court, managing well your corner is already admirable. One can’t perfect everything in officialdom, you must overcome this in your heart.”

He moved the wine cup away from Yang Lun.

“Drink less wine in the future, take care of your health.”

“Damn it.”

Yang Lun cursed under his breath, “I told you to stop meddling!”

Deng Ying smiled, “Zixi, one of us must survive to write the teacher’s epitaph. Your calligraphy is better than mine.”

Yang Lun coughed a laugh, his whole body slumping in the chair, “Teacher only appreciated your calligraphy, you know that…”

With those words, he finally slumped in the chair, drunk and lost to the world.

After Yang Wan handed Yang Lun over to Xiao Wen to settle, she left with Deng Ying, walking toward Donghua Gate.

Snow fell like goose feathers, landing silently on the umbrella Deng Ying held up.

Near the year’s end, people bustled back and forth in the streets, the sweet fragrance of kitchen candy wafting into their noses. Yang Wan walked with her hands behind her back, looking at the cooking smoke rising over the city, saying, “I wish this year wouldn’t end.”

Deng Ying turned his head, “Why?”

Yang Wan stopped and faced Deng Ying, “Because right now is good. But I’m not afraid of next year either, Deng Xiao Ying…”

Deng Ying smiled, “Wan’er, I’ve always wanted to ask, why do you add ‘Xiao’ to the middle of my name?”

Yang Wan looked up, “It’s a term of endearment.”

“Deng Xiao Ying, I can’t let go anymore. No matter how difficult it gets, I want to face it with you. Who cares what happens later, I refuse to believe we can’t live well, watching those we protect create a new world.”

She finished speaking and looked up at the snowy sky.

With Zhang Cong’s departure from the Cabinet, the crack in history lay before Yang Wan.

For Yang Wan, this was her heroism.

Even if she wasn’t the fish that slipped through the net, she would fight desperately to swim out of it.

The study of history teaches one to view the rise and fall of a dynasty comprehensively, encompassing everyone’s actions and deaths within it.

But Yang Wan wanted to see the “people.”

Yi Lang’s compassion, Yang Lun’s contradictions, and her descent.

After two years in the Ming Dynasty, she suddenly began to understand the meaning of time travel.

It wasn’t about self-destruction, nor about arrogantly shattering others’ beliefs, but about living as a vibrant person, living on despite being covered in scars, living to love people, respect people, establish lives for people, or create memorials for them. Even if nothing could be changed, one shouldn’t give up on becoming a real memory for others.

“Deng Xiao Ying.”

“Mm?”

“Smile for me.”

Deng Ying stood under the umbrella, looking at Yang Wan and shaking his head as he laughed.

“Come here, Wan’er.”

Without thinking after hearing those words, Yang Wan threw herself into his embrace.

Deng Ying gently stroked Yang Wan’s temple, “Originally, I didn’t want to live too long, but now I’ve begun to desire a peaceful end. I fear I won’t live long enough to atone for my sins against you.”

Yang Wan wrapped her arms around Deng Ying’s waist.

“I asked you for one smile, and you made me cry instead. Now you have to give me ten smiles, or you’ll sleep under my bed today.”

As soon as she finished speaking, her face was lifted.

Deng Ying’s smile came into view as the last pure snow of the fourteenth year of Zhenning fell to its end.

The first month of the fifteenth year of Zhenning.

After the fifteenth day of the New Year, the minor officials of the Ministry of Revenue were driven to distraction by demands for the annual silver. Early one morning, as Yang Lun walked into the Ministry of Revenue office, the Minister immediately summoned him to the main hall. Inside, tea bowls were laid out, and both Bai Yuyang and Qi Huaiyang were present. The three had already had one round of tea, and beside Bai Yuyang was an empty chair, clearly left for Yang Lun.

The Minister of Revenue gestured for Yang Lun to sit and said to Bai Yuyang, “Lord Qi, please continue.”

Qi Huaiyang said, “Actually, I don’t have much more to say, just the question of whether we should write this impeachment memorial or not.”

Bai Yuyang said, “If our Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Justice don’t write it, do you think the Censorate can’t pick up the brush?”

He stood up, “Ever since Zhang Cong was imprisoned for private dealings with the inner court, the Six Offices have wanted to hang the Cabinet on the city tower for public scorn. If the impeachment against Deng Ying comes from the Censorate, think about it…”

“Minister Bai, don’t be hasty.”

Qi Huaiyang glanced at Yang Lun, trying to mediate, “Even if we write it, we need to consider who should take the lead. The Cabinet Elder is ill now, exhausted from the many threads of Hangzhou’s new policies. We absolutely cannot trouble him further.”

“You want me to write it.”

Yang Lun interrupted Qi Huaiyang, looking up at Bai Yuyang.

“Bai Yuyang, let me tell you, I, Yang Lun, won’t write this memorial, nor will I sign it.”

Bai Yuyang strode to Yang Lun’s front, “When Fu Bainian exposed the Hangzhou school lands, you protected them. Now you won’t even clear your name?”

Yang Lun said, “If you want to impeach him, I have nothing to say. The Hangzhou school lands should be cleared, clear them. Those vermin in Hangzhou who should be arrested, arrest them. When Deng Ying is imprisoned, I’ll personally request permission to confiscate his property. Is that enough to prove my innocence?”

Qi Huaiyang said, “Yang Lun, don’t be so temperamental. Today’s public discussion in the ministry hall hasn’t concluded. The lords need to express their thoughts and concerns. Deng Ying is now the Eastern Depot Superintendent, not an ordinary Palace Secretary. His Majesty has increasingly trusted the Eastern Depot in recent years. Once this impeachment memorial goes up, it must be decisive. Otherwise, if he takes the opportunity to strike back, we’ll all be in danger.”

Yang Lun put down his teacup, “Fine, let me ask you, lords, do you think His Majesty will deal with Deng Ying?”

Qi Huaiyang remained silent.

Bai Yuyang said, “Are you saying that if His Majesty doesn’t deal with him, we should let him embezzle right under our noses?”

“He hasn’t embezzled!”

“How do you know!”

The two men were at daggers drawn, Yang Lun clenched his fists but couldn’t speak.

Bai Yuyang pressed, “The Hangzhou new policy is yours and your father’s life’s work. We overcame countless difficulties to implement it to this point. The common people are eagerly hoping they can eat their fill this year. Now there are obstacles everywhere in the localities, officials whose authority exceeds the Cabinet’s. What do they rely on? Isn’t it the Directorate of Ceremonial and the Eastern Depot? They’ve all become sons of eunuchs, forgetting their sovereign father. As officials, instead of clearing the clouds for our sovereign father, you sympathize with the eunuchs. Yang Lun, your actions are neither those of a conscientious official nor of the pure stream, but of one in league with those eunuchs. It’s utterly shameless!”