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

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jiamu's eyes lit up, and he secretly praised her. This Madam Ning was indeed clever and reasonable. After explaining things clearly to her, she made a decision so quickly and helped persuade her husband. That was quite good. She was also beautiful and a virtuous wife, but she was a bit cold-hearted. He wondered if she was prone to jealousy.

Overjoyed, the young princess didn't realize that the other party had asked, "Do you want to withdraw?" instead of "Do you want to withdraw and go to Guangzhou?"

"Uh..." Ning Nan hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how to refuse this uninvited princess without hurting her feelings.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Cui Cui nodded her chin and said softly, "If you want to withdraw, I can have the Ministry of Revenue or the eunuchs take over."

Huh? Zhu Jiamu's expression froze.

Ning Nan's eyes widened slightly, and his breathing became a little rapid... Hey, hey, hey! You woman, you're just a clerk in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, why are you so arrogant!

"He can brag even more than I can..." The head of the Ning family twitched his face and quickly pretended not to care, saying, "Hehe, they're just small matters, no need for Madam to worry about them or ask for favors."

Master Ning's eyes narrowed, a fine layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his tone was awkward and unnatural. Although he knew that his wife had a good relationship with Miss Zhu and could ask Miss Zhu for help, and then have Miss Zhu ask the wealthy Master Zhu, who was a relative of the emperor, his wife's tone was still a bit intimidating.

"Through connections?" Zhu Jiamu's stiff expression softened slightly. The capital was indeed the capital; this Madam Ning must come from a good family and have some connection with a nobleman or the royal family. But it seemed that she still didn't want her husband to go to Guangzhou.

She smiled, her two dimples spreading across her face, and raised her chin slightly, saying, "Madam Ning is unfamiliar with court affairs and does not know the court's rules, which is why she thinks this way."

"In Jia Mu's opinion, as long as your husband is in the capital, even if the imperial court really takes over Baiyufang, even if Mr. Ning has no share or position in Baiyufang,..."

"But as soon as there is any trouble at Baiyufang, the court officials who take over Baiyufang will naturally shift the blame to Mr. Ning."

"As a newcomer, Mr. Ning will remain in a situation of being in debt for both money and cotton as long as Baiyufang remains open. He will be stuck in this debt situation year after year. Even if the officials take over, they will certainly not let Mr. Ning leave easily."

Zhu Jiamu was extremely confident about this.

No matter who the imperial court appoints to take over Baiyufang, that official will never let Ningnan go. The longer it goes on, the more obvious the problems with Baiyufang will become. If something goes wrong, who will take responsibility?

Therefore, if Mr. Ning wanted to stay out of this mess, or even if he wanted to survive, he would have to flee to the capital and have a local official protect him.

She believed that with Mr. Ning's intelligence, he should be able to understand this point. And the Tang Prince's Mansion would be his best choice.

Zhu Jiamu stared intently at Ning Nan.

Ning Nan glanced at the furrowed brows of Cui Cui's wife, then turned to look at the young princess. After a moment's thought, he smiled, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "First of all, um, thank you for your kindness, Princess."

Zhu Jiamu's almond-shaped eyes immediately became bright and sparkling.

"But Your Highness is overthinking it." Ning Nan shook his head and smiled. "I am not someone who is afraid to take responsibility. Baiyufang is indeed to be handed over to the court. But that will be a few days later, after I have resolved the problems with Baiyufang, rather than having Baiyufang be handed over with such a huge pit in its wake."

The young princess's expression froze.

How to solve the problems?

How can such a major problem be solved?

Or should we resolve this in a few days?

Upon hearing the young doctor's smiling words, Zhu Cuiwei's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and the corners of her lips became slightly rounded.

"Uh..." Zhu Jiamu's lips parted slightly, and he frowned in confusion, asking, "Mr. Ning, how do you plan to resolve this?"

Ning Nan said, "The general plan has been drafted, but some details still need to be revised and considered. I won't embarrass myself in front of the princess today." He smiled and said, "The princess will know about it when she reads the newspaper in a few days."

"Hmm..." Zhu Jiamu's expression froze.

She wanted to ask more questions, but seeing the other person's expression, she felt that asking such questions would be disrespectful to someone with great talent, so she suppressed her curiosity.

However, waiting a few more days is not a problem.

I just hope it will be before August 14th.

The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet at Prince Xin's residence is on the fifteenth of August. On the fourteenth of August, she will represent Prince Tang's residence to pay homage to Prince Xin, both to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and to congratulate His Highness on his ascension to the throne. At that time, she can ask for this junior advisor under Grand Tutor Gu.

Although the plan was set, Zhu Jiamu still wanted to try his best, and said with a smile: "Mr. Ning, even if you can solve the problems of Baiyufang, please don't forget that you still owe the cotton merchants more than 300,000 taels of silver and the cloth merchants millions of catties of cotton at a price of 100 wen."

"Now, the price of cotton on promissory notes at Baiyufang is close to three hundred cash. Where will you get cotton to sell to the cloth merchants? And where will you get the money to pay them? Jiamu is already having a headache just thinking about the deficit. Are you really not planning to withdraw now?"

Ning Nan clasped her hands in a fist and smiled, saying, "This is a very small matter and will be resolved quickly. There's no need for the princess to worry about it."

"Princess,"

At this moment, Cui Cui's wife stepped forward and said softly with a smile, "It's getting late, why don't you stay for dinner at my house, Princess? Although the cook's skills aren't great, they're still edible."

If the food isn't good, and you still offer it to the customer... that's basically driving them away.

Zhu Jiamu smiled and said, "I have an appointment with guests at Xiankeju, so I won't bother you any longer."

She smiled sweetly at Ning Nan and said, "Then Jia Mu will await good news."

Ning Nan bowed his head, clasped his hands in a fist and said gently, "Thank you for your understanding, Princess."

After opening the middle gate and politely seeing the princess off, Ning Nan finally relaxed and slowly exhaled.

By this time, the sun had turned into a fiery red orange, reflected in the turquoise waters of the small lake in the front yard. A gentle breeze stirred the water, causing the fiery red orange in the water to rise and fall with it.

We've eaten.

He and Cui Cui's wife went to the study together.

The couple each had a sandalwood desk, which was connected together.

The two had very different styles. Cui Cui's desk was neat and tidy, while Ning Nan's desk was a complete mess. He wouldn't allow anyone to tidy it up for him, saying that he did it on purpose. It looked messy, but it was actually organized. He knew where the books he wanted to take and the papers he wanted to read were. He knew exactly where they were. If it were tidy, it would make him feel confused, and he wouldn't be able to find or get what he wanted.

Having just finished bathing, Cui Cui, still smelling of fragrance and with her hair damp, sat barefoot in a chair, hugging her right leg, and asked, "Your Ning Family Trading Company has opened?"

"Our business," Ning Nan corrected, then continued, "Well, now it has two businesses: the Nancheng Daily and Baiyufang." He pulled out a copy of "Records of the Imperial Examination Hall in the Twelfth Year of Longchang" and looked at it silently, speaking casually.

The woman nodded her chin: "Bei Zhi is a member of the same family, right?"

"On August 5th, you took the money your uncle gave you again, and then gave 20% of it to the Marquis of Jingbei's residence?"

"Hmm," Ning Nan rustled a page of her book and nodded, "My uncle heard about the Su Jin Pavilion from somewhere and sent over 30,000 taels of silver. He also said that I could manage the accounts of the Jingbei Marquis's mansion. I accepted 3,000 taels, which I counted as investment in the Ning Family Trading Company, a 20% share... After Bei Zhi got married, it was all given to her."

Cui Cui rested her right hand on the armrest of the rosewood chair, propped her chin on her hand, and said calmly, "The Marquis of Zhenguo's mansion took two-thirds of the profits?"

"Yes," Ning Nan said calmly, "On August 6th, Aunt Jia asked Xiu Xiu to send money over, saying that if there were any difficulties, we should ask her for help. I accepted two thousand taels, which I consider as Aunt Jia's investment in us, a two-tenths share. In the August 6th newspaper, I wrote an article about the second-generation Zhenguo Marquis; in the August 7th newspaper, I wrote an article about the Jingbei Marquis."

Ning Nan held the book pages and chuckled, "Heh, it's quite popular. Quite a few people are asking me to write a sequel." His arm was getting a little sore, so he stopped holding the book and placed it on the desk.

After their casual conversation, Cui Cui, resting her chin on her hand, narrowed her bright eyes slightly and suddenly asked calmly, "What do you think of Zhu Jiamu?"