In her previous life, Yang Wan had never imagined she would be teaching the builder of the Forbidden City how to eat, 600 years in the past. Yet here he was, following her instructions earnestly, cupping the nuts she had given him in his hands and popping them into his mouth all at once. He lowered his head to chew slowly, the nuts crackling between his teeth like small duds during New Year’s firecrackers.

Yang Wan rested her chin in her hand, quite pleased with the metaphor that had suddenly sprung to mind.

She sat up straight, observing Deng Ying’s silhouette in the lamplight.

This rainy evening in the twelfth year of Zhenning suddenly felt very real, like those late nights she spent in the library with her thermos full of lemon and wolfberry tea, hand warmer beside her snack pack of nuts. The man before her, Deng Ying, had accompanied her through several complete winters, transformed into pages upon pages of sharp text.

“Hey.”

She couldn’t help calling out to him.

When Deng Ying heard Yang Wan’s voice and tried to respond, he unexpectedly choked. Yang Wan quickly poured a cup of water and handed it to him, “Here, take a sip to ease it down.”

Deng Ying swallowed a mouthful of water while suppressing his cough, then laughed at himself, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t like this before.”

“It’s fine, keep eating. I’ll stay quiet. When you eat, you don’t seem like yourself at all.”

“Then… what do I seem like?”

“Like the hamster, I used to keep.”

“Hamster?”

“It’s similar to a mouse.”

“Ah?”

Hearing this comparison, he couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile, covering his mouth and nose as he swallowed the remaining nuts.

Yang Wan propped her chin and asked him, “Are you like this with others too?”

“Like what?”

“Good-natured, never getting angry no matter what people say.”

“Hmm…”

Deng Ying held his teacup and paused for a moment, “I don’t associate with many people.”

“What about my brother?”

Hearing her question, Deng Ying seemed to hesitate.

“Your brother… is one of my few friends. Though now I can’t associate with him anymore.”

Yang Wan looked at the scars on the back of his hand and suddenly said, “The way he treats you now, don’t you think he’s shameless?”

Shameless?

Deng Ying had no expression at first, but after repeating these three words in his mind, he let out a laugh. He looked up at Yang Wan, “You always make me want to laugh.”

“That’s because I love speaking the truth.”

Yang Wan almost crossed her legs as she spoke, “Honestly, I used to think Yang Lun was pretty impressive, but now looking back, he was just average during the Zhenning years.”

She pursed her lips, “To his sister, yes, he’s good, but his methods are too clumsy. He doesn’t know what’s best, only knows how to be blindly protective. As for his teaching… it’s passable, just reading straight from the books – educated by Elder White. Hey, Deng Ying.”

Getting excited about the topic, she unconsciously grabbed the mattress beneath Deng Ying.

“When will you lecture at the Inner School?”

Deng Ying looked at Yang Wan’s hand, just three inches from his leg. Just as he was about to move away, she withdrew it at the right moment.

“You must teach better than Yang Lun.”

No matter what she said, Yang Wan always took Deng Ying’s side.

Even now, Deng Ying still didn’t understand why this woman he had never met before was willing to stand with him.

At South Lake, he thought it was a kind of misplaced affection, but now he wasn’t so sure.

But he didn’t want to ask.

“Does Miss want to hear Deng Ying’s lecture?”

“Yes.”

Yang Wan pulled out a string-bound notebook from her sleeve.

“Look, I’ve already prepared my lecture notes. Also, don’t call me Miss anymore. I have a name, as I told you – I’m Yang Wan. I also have a nickname, Wanwan. Though they say my personality later went astray and this nickname doesn’t suit me anymore, you can still use it if you want.”

“Not at all, Wanwan suits you very well.”

His gaze and voice were both very sincere. Hearing this, Yang Wan wanted to laugh, suddenly deciding to add a note to “The Biography of Deng Ying” – Deng Ying was also someone who could lie straight-faced to a young lady.

“You’re the first person to say that since I became an adult. Ah…”

She sighed, looking up toward the window, “But I’m worried that Yang Lun doesn’t seem to like how I am now.”

“Zi Xi…”

He blurted out Yang Lun’s courtesy name, then paused and corrected himself, “How is Master Yang these days?”

“Very well, what could be wrong with him?”

“And you?”

“Huh?”

Yang Wan didn’t react immediately.

Seeing her stunned expression, Deng Ying suddenly became anxious and hurriedly said, “Deng Ying meant no offense.”

Hearing him say this, Yang Wan smiled, resting her chin in her hand, “Are you asking about my recent situation? Worried that Zhang Luo is giving me trouble? Ha…”

Her eyes sparkled, “Don’t worry, probably every woman in the capital looks down on him now, cursing him daily for being unfaithful, forcing me to break off the engagement while still trying to tarnish my reputation. Yesterday, my sister seemed to mention my situation with him before His Majesty. The Emperor was angered and ordered the Office of Careful Punishment to give him twenty strokes. He’s probably at home nursing his wounds now. My brother publicly submitted a petition asking for leniency for the Zhang family, but privately, I can see he’s quite pleased.”

She laughed after saying this, and once she managed to contain herself, continued: “Don’t worry, none of this has anything to do with you. Just focus on your matters. When you go to the Inner Study, let me know so I can ask for leave from the Department of Palace Affairs.”

“I haven’t lectured in a very long time.”

“You… get nervous too?”

Deng Ying shook his head, “No, I’m afraid I won’t live up to your expectations. Deng Ying has carried an undeserved reputation for many years, in truth I’m just a teacher’s discarded student.”

When Yang Wan heard him speak of this, she suddenly remembered Yang Lun mentioning in his private collection that after Deng Ying’s death, there was no coffin for his burial, and no one in the capital dared to handle it. It was White Huan who gave Deng Ying the coffin he had prepared for himself, and when he died later, he was hastily buried in a cheap wooden coffin.

Such deep teacher-student sentiment, yet in their lifetime, they could not speak of it.

This was a tragedy of the times.

Some emotions violated the current ethical principles – though they existed, they had to be guarded with one’s life to prevent them from being exposed.

Walking back to Chengqian Palace with her lantern, Yang Wan kept thinking about the relationship between White Huan and Deng Ying.

Their real break happened in the autumn of the twelfth year of Zhenning when a particularly brutal massacre occurred in history – over seventy people from the Tongjia Academy were beheaded.

These people were mostly members of the Donglin Party, who had dared to criticize even the imperial cabinet. In the end, they were tortured one by one by Zhang Luo until they were mutilated. Many couldn’t endure the torture and betrayed the principles they had believed in all their lives in the imperial prison, yet in the end, not a single one survived.

Yang Wan had once read such a description in historical materials:

“Zhou Conghai’s knees were exposed to the bone, unable to kneel at the execution platform anymore. Before death, he cursed the emperor bitterly, vomiting blood that clotted, showing much-rotting flesh. It could be said his internal organs were all wounded and festering from torture, the brutality beyond description.”

There were several blind spots in this piece of history that Yang Wan had tried to verify many times but couldn’t find concrete evidence.

First, these people were imprisoned for defending Deng Ying, but their tragic deaths were caused by Zhang Luo. Why Zhang Luo killed these people so cruelly wasn’t clearly explained in historical records.

Second, these people’s fates were so tragic that the civil official corps was shaken. The emperor, unable to withstand the pressure, was forced to employ the Eastern Depot to supervise the Imperial Guards, thereby weakening the power of the Northern Depot.

It was at that time that Deng Ying walked from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to stand between the Directorate of Ceremonial and the entire Ming Dynasty’s civil official corps. The historical records don’t document the exact process, but later researchers, analyzing the fact of White Huan and Deng Ying’s falling out, believed this tragedy must have happened with Deng Ying’s instigation. This became the first crime that historical academia attributed to Deng Ying – for the sake of his advancement, he pushed those who had once risked their lives speaking for him into a pile of bones.

Yang Wan didn’t agree with this view, but regrettably, this was just an emotional disagreement – she had no concrete evidence to support it.

Now, half a year remained until the autumn of the twelfth year of Zhenning, and this seemed to be Deng Ying’s purest time in the inner court.

Yang Wan recalled how he sat before her eating nuts like a hamster, feeling somewhat melancholic.

She quickly rubbed her eyes, warning herself not to think too much.

History was history after all, and no matter how difficult it was for those involved, it had nothing to do with her.

“Auntie.”

A child’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

Yang Wan looked up and found she had already reached the gates of Chengqian Palace.

The Consort Ning’s son, Crown Prince Yi Lang, was swinging his arms, “I want to see Auntie make little people again.”

Seeing no one was with him and he was sweating, Yang Wan crouched down and took out her handkerchief to wipe his face.

“You’re calling this servant ‘Auntie’ again.”

Yi Lang grabbed Yang Wan’s hand, “Mother said you’re her sister, so you’re my auntie.”

Seeing his little boss’s expression, Yang Wan always wanted to pinch his face when no one was around.

No matter the era, warm-hearted children always touched people’s hearts.

“Auntie, are you unhappy?”

Yang Wan shook her head, “This servant is not unhappy.”

Yi Lang let go of her hand and asked very seriously, “Then why were you staring at the ground without speaking just now?”

Yang Wan smiled, “This servant’s earring fell off.”

Just as she finished speaking, a gentle voice suddenly came from the palace gate, “When did it fall off? I’ll have someone help you look for it.”

Yang Wan looked up to see Consort Ning walking down the steps. She had just removed her evening makeup and was dressed simply. She said to Yi Lang, “When did you run out?”

Yang Wan hurriedly bowed, and Consort Ning held Yi Lang’s hand with one hand while helping Yang Wan up with the other.

“You’re back.”

“Yes.”

“Where did you go?”

“Went to see an old acquaintance.”

Consort Ning asked her gently, “What old acquaintance does Wan’er have in the palace?”

“…”

Yang Wan just smiled without answering.

“It was Junior Supervisor Deng, wasn’t it?”

Yang Wan was startled. Consort Ning tucked a strand of Yang Wan’s rain-dampened hair behind her ear and said softly, “Silly girl, you used to be the most cautious, what’s happened to you now?”

Though she said this, there was no reproach in her voice.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

“With Your Highness protecting this servant, what should this servant fear?”