After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Instead of returning the way they came, they took a long detour to the north to prevent these criminals from tracking them to their home.

He had figured out the route three years ago.

Following the grassy path, stepping across the gravel-paved mountain road, bypassing Yaoshan Mountain, head north all the way to the upper reaches of the stream.

After running into the woods for about fifteen minutes, passing through two connected banyan trees, a large rock stood squarely in front of me.

Ning Nan put the woman down, moved the stone aside, and took out a cloth bag covered in dirt. He patted it hard, opened it, and found several pieces of clothing inside. These were his mother's clothes from when she was young, which he had just stolen yesterday.

When Widow Ning was young, she loved to dress up. Her clothes weren't made of very good material, but they were quite stylish.

Ning Nan removed the woman's emerald green silk outer garment and replaced it entirely with his mother's coarse cloth clothes.

He took the woman's clothes and washed them in the stream to remove the blood, then removed the precious hairpin from her hair and buried them together in the pit he had dug three days earlier.

The woman's lips were dry.

He took out his water pouch and fed the woman some water. He checked her forehead and found she had a fever, but it shouldn't be anything serious. He put her back under the tree, took off his own clothes and covered her with them, and waited a while to let her sleep a little longer.

In ancient times, there weren't many ways to treat injuries, but the human body's own functions are actually very powerful. In such cases, sleeping peacefully is the best form of healing.

By the time it was 9 AM, the fog in the forest had dissipated, and sunlight filtered through the shadows of the trees.

Ning Nan checked the other person's forehead again. After sleeping for a full hour, the other person's vital signs gradually stabilized.

He exhaled, rolled up his trousers, carried the woman on his back, and waded into the stream. The water was bone-chillingly cold, and he exhaled a puff of white breath.

This place was carefully selected; the stream is the narrowest and shallowest, and even the deepest part of the stream is only waist-deep at this point.

The Ning family lived in a mud house on a hillside at the northernmost part of Lijia Village.

Ning Nan carried the woman around for half an hour, relying on the marks he had made beforehand, and successfully found his way home without getting lost or being seen by anyone.

"call……"

When I entered the courtyard, even though I was young, my legs were already sore and weak.

"Mother!" he whispered.

"Hey! Coming!" The woman's gentle and soft voice rang out.

"Squeak~"

The wooden door opened.

A woman with a full head of silver hair poked her head out from inside. When she opened her old eyes and saw that her son was indeed carrying a woman on his back, Widow Ning cried out "Ouch!" and ran out with her arms outstretched.

"Hey, what do you mean by betrothal gifts? Don't worry! In a couple of days, your son will bring you a wife! We won't ask for a single betrothal gift!"

Remembering the boast her son had made two days earlier, the woman was overjoyed and directed him to carry his wife in and put her on the bed in her room.

The Ning family had four rooms in total. The middle room was the main room, the east side was the son's room, and the west side was her room. To the south of her room was a small kitchen, and the eaves of the kitchen were piled high with firewood.

"There's blood! Kid, did you steal it?" the woman said anxiously in a low voice.

"Found it on the street... phew... let me take a sip of water... their family... they were attacked by bad people... it's terrible..."

"Oh! You're my savior?"

Ning Nan gulped down a large mouthful of water, exhaled a breath, and nodded reservedly.

"Is this girl still alive?"

Widow Ning smoothed her neatly combed hair, placed her fingers on the woman's philtrum, and asked herself, "Alive...alive..."

"Water...water..." the woman whimpered a few times, thirsty again.

Widow Ning called out, "Hey, hey, Mother's here to feed you, Mother's here to feed you," and gently lifted the woman from the bed with a bowl of water, resting the woman's head against her chest as she fed her. This notoriously shrewish widow, known for her fierceness in the surrounding villages, was incredibly gentle at this moment, like an old cat caring for a baby.

The rim of the porcelain bowl clattered against the woman's white teeth, making a crisp, ringing sound.

"What a lovely girl!" the woman said in a low voice, her smile wide and beaming.

Ning Nan scoffed. He didn't care whether she was obedient or not; he just wanted her to regain her memory as soon as possible so she could repay her savior properly... resolve her household registration issue, give her a hundred or two hundred taels of silver, and finally, offer herself to him in marriage.

The third point is optional.

The second option is to give gold.

As for the first point... it's more important than his life.

Having a household registration makes many things possible.

Ning Nan stared at the woman's pale face, panting heavily, "It's all up to you, beautiful lady!"

After instructing his mother to take care of the woman, Ning Nan changed his clothes and went out.

Following the path back, they began cleaning up any remaining marks, thoroughly checking all areas where bloodstains or similar items might have been left.

Sneaking back to Luofeng Slope, I parted the bushes and found that the body had already been cleared away.

"That's ruthless."

Ning Nan touched the soil; beneath it, there were some buried bloodstains.

Humming a little tune, wearing straw sandals, with a foxtail grass dangling from his mouth.

This time, we'll be heading back to Lijia Village along Yaoshan Mountain.

When we reached the stone bridge, it was already noon.

The stream gurgles under the stone bridge, making a "splashing" sound, and the sunlight shines down, making the water surface sparkle.

"Brother Ning! Brother Ning!"

At that moment, a rough voice rang out.

Ning Nan looked back.

A tall man ran towards him, carrying a bowl filled with rice and a piece of cured meat on top of it.

"Hey, Sanzhuang, where have you been? You're not even eating properly."

Ning Nan scooped a clump of rice from the other person's bowl and threw it into his mouth.

Li Sanzhuang, panting, opened his eyes wide and said, "Big brother, let's go to the school seed's house! Come along!"

A seed of reading... Li Yanting.

This title was given by Han Laoguai from the west end of the village. Han Laoguai is the village schoolteacher. Three years ago, he insisted that Li Yanting was the seed of learning in Lijia Village, his successor, and that he would pass the imperial examination sooner or later!

"What? Go find a reading whiz to learn to read?" Ning Nan scoffed.

"How could you do that, brother!" Li Sanzhuang picked up a piece of cured meat from his bowl and fed it to Ning Nan. Ning Nan smiled with satisfaction, the cured meat smelling delicious in his mouth.

"We already know how to read, right? Those simplified characters you taught me, brother, are damn vivid and lifelike!"

"Vibrant and fragrant" is an idiom that Li Sanzhuang recently learned from him, and he's using it very poorly... Ning Nan did some stretching exercises as he walked onto the stone bridge. "So what are you going to do?"

"Let's go to his house to see the bride!" Li Sanzhuang smiled憨厚ly.

"Um?"

Ning Nan frowned, a sudden thought striking him. "What?"

Li Sanzhuang shoveled some rice into his mouth, mumbling, "Brother, you weren't here this morning, and the whole village is buzzing about it... That kid Li Yanting must have had some incredible luck; he went to Luofeng Slope this morning and ended up bringing back a stunningly beautiful bride!"

At this moment, on the other side of the bridge, Li Erlai was also calling out to Li Xing, shouting, "Let's go! Let's go see the bride!" Aunts like Ninth Sister-in-law and Yang Qiniang from the west end of the village were also running excitedly towards the east end of the village.

"Big brother! Let's go!"

Li Sanzhuang urged, holding the bowl.

"Oh...oh, oh..."

Ning Nan stood on the bridge for a moment, speechless. When he saw Li Sanzhuang pick up another clump of rice and stuff it into his mouth, he finally managed to say, "Let's... let's... go take a look."