After finishing her duties at the Collection Storage, Yang Wan went directly to the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

As she exited the Extreme Gate, the magnificent glazed tiles atop the Hall of Supreme Harmony’s roof entered her view.

Yang Wan had seen the existing Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, but never its appearance during the Ming Dynasty.

At this time, it was still only half-finished under Deng Ying’s supervision.

Though its scale was grand, the exterior remained plain.

The sundials and standard measures had not yet been placed on either side of the imperial steps. Of the six double-eaved pavilions along the imperial way, only their bases had been completed. The stone remained unpolished, exposing grayish-white foundations amid the splendid halls and pavilions. Even so, one could still sense the dedication its builders had poured into it.

Yang Wan entered the felt tent beneath the moonlight terrace. Just past noon, the craftsmen were occupied with various tasks. Only two artisans remained in the tent discussing technical issues. Seeing Yang Wan enter, they hurriedly put down their drawings to greet her.

“The young lady has arrived.”

These men weren’t palace eunuchs. They were older, with the roughness of those who had spent their lives in construction. They spoke directly but not rudely.

Yang Wan smiled and nodded to them. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

“Not at all, please sit, young lady.”

After saying this, they realized that with Deng Ying absent, there was hardly room to step into the tent. They felt somewhat embarrassed. “Ah… when the master is here, he can’t stand mess. Once he leaves, we rough folk can’t keep up. But the tea belongs to our master – let us pour you a cup.”

“Thank you.”

Yang Wan wasn’t particular and casually found a place to sit among the piles of wood and stone.

“I’ve come to collect something the master left here.”

“Oh, that strange box?”

The person pouring tea heard this and walked over with the cup, chiding: “What strange box? The master spent several nights making it.”

The first man quickly agreed: “Yes, yes, not strange – just a style we hadn’t seen before. I’ll go fetch it for the young lady.”

Yang Wan accepted the tea and took a sip, looking up to ask the tea pourer: “He made it at night?”

“Yes, these days the construction work has been too busy. We guessed you needed it urgently.”

Yang Wan smiled at this. “So the masters think I’m being inconsiderate.”

“Hey now.”

The man picked up scattered drawings from the ground, dusting them off: “Who are we to comment on the master’s affairs?”

Just then, the craftsman returned with the box, chiming in: “That’s right, we’re just rough folk. We hear those unpleasant palace rumors but can’t make sense of them. Young lady, you’re from the palace, and so is the master. You like him, and he treats you well – what’s wrong with that, right?”

Yang Wan listened and smiled. “Right.”

The man placed the box before Yang Wan. “Please take a look, young lady.”

Yang Wan pulled the drawer box onto her lap.

Indeed, Deng Ying had managed to realize her hurriedly drawn design.

The box was made of nanmu wood, apparently using leftover materials Deng Ying had on hand.

Below were three levels of double drawers, topped by a small cabinet with double doors. When Yang Wan opened the cabinet doors, she vaguely noticed something carved in the dark corners.

“Oh? What’s this…”

She moved her hand into the light and looked closely, discovering a fingernail-sized lotus flower carved in the most obscure corner, as if meant to remain hidden.

“How did he manage to carve in such a tricky spot?”

The two craftsmen came over to look, and one proudly said: “Our master’s handiwork – that’s not something just anyone can match.”

Yang Wan was still examining the lotus flower. “But he told me earlier that he wasn’t as skilled as you all at making these things.”

“What? He said that to you?”

“Yes.”

Yang Wan tried reaching in to touch the lotus and found its edges smooth, not sharp at all. Looking at the box itself, though not yet lacquered, the surface was extremely smooth, requiring countless rounds of sanding to achieve such a texture. As she marveled at the exquisite craftsmanship, she didn’t notice the expression of exasperation gradually appearing on the face of the craftsman who had fetched the box.

“Frustrating.”

He muttered.

The person beside him bumped his shoulder: “What are you frustrated about?”

“Heh.”

The man looked at Yang Wan and lowered his voice: “The master usually speaks so plainly, but facing the young lady, he becomes completely tongue-tied.”

The person beside him crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

“If the master can’t speak, you think you can?”

“I… well, I was just helping speak for the master, wasn’t I?”

“By the way.”

Yang Wan finally put down the box and turned to see their faces flushed red. She paused, “You two…”

“It’s nothing, please continue, young lady.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just wanted to ask when the master left.”

At this, their expressions immediately became serious.

One of them hesitated.

“We’re not sure if the master would want the young lady to know…”

“What’s there to hide? I’ll tell you. Early this morning, people from the Ministry of Justice came to summon him. Later, Chief Secretary Eunuch Zheng from the Directorate of Ceremonies and Minister Xu Qi from the Ministry of Works also arrived. We heard quite a debate between the two sides. Though the master didn’t say much.”

“A debate? Between Eunuch Zheng and the Ministry of Justice people?”

“Yes, because of the Porcelain Factory matter, the master had already been to the Ministry of Justice once. We’re not clear why they needed to take him again this time. We just overheard something about the Shandong brick supply… you heard it too, right? I heard them mention several people from the Imperial Palace construction from ten years ago…”

“Right.”

The other man continued, “Eunuch Zheng didn’t want the Ministry of Justice to take the master away, but the master told us not to worry, saying he’d return in a few days. Usually, we should trust the master’s words, but this matter seems… somewhat complicated.”

More than just complicated.

If the Directorate of Ceremonies had sent Zheng Yuejia to inquire, it meant the Shandong brick supply issue was likely as concerning as Deng Ying had feared – something had been overlooked.

As Yang Wan considered this, a sharp pain suddenly struck her temple. She quickly pressed her hand against it, lowering her head to endure.

“Young lady, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.” She waved one hand at them. “It’ll pass in a moment.”

She ended up resting her head on the table, closing her eyes tightly.

Through the pain, she vaguely sensed that this matter stemming from the Porcelain Factory seemed connected to the Tongjia tragedy from twelve years ago in autumn, but she couldn’t yet piece together the specific links.

The vast blank spaces in history have always both terrified and excited researchers.

Yang Wan used to think these two emotions were equal in measure, but now, finding herself within such an unknown void, beyond fear and excitement, there seemed to be another emotion she couldn’t quite name yet. Like this sudden headache, it emerged without warning, piercing through her self-control.

After recovering, Yang Wan didn’t stay long.

She returned to the Fifth Office with the box, sat by the window, and reviewed her notes, trying to connect the threads of thought.

Yang Wan knew clearly that regardless of Deng Ying’s situation, she shouldn’t directly intervene in his political life.

Yet this role of observer left her feeling as if balanced on a knife’s edge.

As the sun set in the west.

Song Qingyun returned from the Department of Imperial Attire and, seeing Yang Wan lost in thought, assumed she was worried about Deng Ying being taken by the Ministry of Justice. She sat beside her to offer comfort.

“I came in and saw you brooding.”

Yang Wan turned to see her, dropping the hand that had been propping up her chin, and closed her notebook.

“It’s nothing.”

“I heard about what happened at the Hall of Supreme Harmony.”

She took Yang Wan’s hand, “We’re all palace servants, getting into trouble is inevitable. Chen Hua used to frequently get into trouble and be taken out for beatings. I was as anxious as you are now. But things got better after some time – he gained status, and people became wary of him. You’ll see, in the palace, as long as one isn’t completely foolish, they can carve out their place. If someone like Chen Hua could do it, let alone Deng Ying.”

Yang Wan suddenly remembered that Song Qingyun was the household keeper of the Fuel Conservation Office’s Chief Eunuch.

“Qingyun, let me ask you something.”

“What is it?”

Yang Wan hesitated, “Just… when you were worried about Chen Hua, what could you do?”

Song Qingyun rested her chin on her hand, thinking, “Not much really, could only pray in my heart for the masters to show mercy. Oh, right, Chen Hua loves food, and while we female officials might not have other advantages over them, we can at least help with that.”

At this, Yang Wan suddenly remembered her glorious achievement of nearly burning down her brother’s kitchen, frightening her sister-in-law enough to almost call the police.

“Um… I don’t know how to cook.”

“I know, you’re the young lady of the Yang family, your fingers have never touched spring water.”

She poured herself a cup of water after speaking, “Shall I serve you one too?”

Yang Wan stood up and grabbed her hand, “Can you teach me?”

“Teach you to cook?”

“Yes.”

“Alright.”

Song Qingyun held her tea in one hand and leaned on the table with the other, moving closer to her.

“Then tomorrow’s office documents…”

“I’ll copy them.”

In the prison office of the Ministry of Justice, Deng Ying and Yang Lun sat facing each other.

After a silent standoff, Yang Lun inevitably lost.

He sprang up, slamming the table hard, immediately raising a thin layer of white dust from the empty wooden surface.

“Can’t you just let us take this gamble? The Directorate of Ceremonies cannot remain under He Yixian’s control any longer!”

Deng Ying raised one arm to the table, straightened his back, and looked at Yang Lun. “I won’t say whether you can win this gamble or not. Even if you win and His Majesty deals with He Yixian, the Directorate will still be the Directorate – just with someone else in charge. But the new policies that Minister Bai and you want to implement in the South won’t even get past the land-clearing stage with His Majesty.”

“With your current status, what do the new policies have to do with you!”

Yang Lun immediately regretted his words after speaking.

However, Deng Ying merely turned his face aside, silently avoiding this remark.

Yang Lun stood with a stiff neck in silence for a while, forcing himself to sit down and trying to suppress the anger in his voice, “Do you know that Bai Yuyang has found the craftsmen from the Imperial Palace construction from the tenth year of Zhenning? For some reason, several of them directly implicated you. Although you and Minister Zhang kept the accounts clean back then, with human testimony, Bai Yuyang can torture you at will to make you talk, and even the Directorate won’t dare say anything. The reason you can still sit here today is because Qi Huaiyang spoke for you. Once tomorrow’s court session is over, you’ll be sent to the Ministry’s prison!”

“You haven’t spoken, have you?”

He looked up to ask this question.

Yang Lun gritted his teeth, “Deng Fuling, I’ve told you many times not to meddle in my affairs.”

Deng Ying gazed at the lamplight between them, “Didn’t I tell you all to consider me dead?”

Yang Lun couldn’t help but stand up again, “How can you expect me to do that? Watch you die? If Yang Wan knows I just stood by and watched, I’ll lose this sister.”

Deng Ying still didn’t move, “Minister Yang need not watch then. As for Minister’s sister…”

He looked up, “She understands better than Minister does.”

Yang Lun’s shoulders suddenly slumped, and he couldn’t help stepping back, shaking his head: “I don’t understand why you do things you don’t need to do.”

“‘Letter to My Son at the End of the Guichou Year’ – does Minister still remember?”

After hearing these words, Yang Lun suddenly clenched his fists, feeling both shame and hatred in his heart, and for a moment didn’t dare look at Deng Ying before him.

“Enough, be quiet!”

Deng Ying didn’t heed Yang Lun’s words, continuing in an even tone: “I am already a broken man, having disgraced the scholarly tradition. The face is not worth mentioning, so even if clubs, ropes, and whips fall upon my body, they won’t disgrace the tradition. I know Minister Bai doesn’t want to listen to me, and you, Minister, need not be troubled in this matter. Life and death are merely a servant’s concerns. Since you don’t trust me, take it lightly.”