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

Li Xing tiptoed and whispered a few words in Ning Nan's ear.

Ning Nan's brows furrowed even more. After listening, he slowly exhaled, turned his head and smiled at Cuicui who was standing at the door: "I have something to take care of. Tell my mother not to worry."

That's all.

He then led Li Xing away, their figures moving faster and faster until the two figures, one large and one small, quickly disappeared into the distance.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard... Zhu Cuiwei's heart clenched as soon as Li Xing uttered those three words.

The threshold of the main room is about one inch high.

She unconsciously lifted her right foot and stepped onto the low threshold, just one step away from leaving the house.

I've been thinking about a question for the past few days.

Through conversations with the Ning family, he learned that the village was not far from where he had been attacked.

Given the current situation between North Korea and China.

My elder brother will certainly not search for me in a big way. On the one hand, he is afraid that my three uncles will take the opportunity to cause trouble, under the pretext of taking precautions and continuing the Zhu family ancestral temple, and let my elder brother choose an heir first.

On the other hand, the emperor is probably also investigating who is behind the attack, and may even mistakenly believe that he has fallen into their hands. The emperor may be waiting for them to make demands.

However, the Emperor and Shangguan Yun will not give up searching for me. They will definitely send out a large number of people to search everywhere. The problem lies here: with the capabilities of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, why have they not found me after six whole days at such a close distance?

This question lingered in my mind for several days.

Until this moment...

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard has finally found us."

She took a breath and finally felt relieved.

She pursed her rosy lips, lowered her eyes, and instead of stepping over the low threshold, she withdrew her right foot, slowly walked into the inner room, gently closed the door, and sat down in front of the dressing table.

The dressing table is not high and is made of wood. According to Ning, it was made by her husband when she got married. It has been many years and the stripes are somewhat mottled.

On the table was a not-so-clear bronze mirror. In the mirror, a face with an oval shape first showed a hesitant expression, but quickly turned into a confident one.

"The knife wound in my abdomen hasn't healed yet... I should really let it rest longer, otherwise it might leave lasting damage..."

"But if you need to recuperate, returning to the Prince's mansion is naturally the best and safest option. Staying in this farmhouse is really inappropriate..."

"There's a physician in the city, and I heard he has a prized female disciple. I might as well have her examine my injury. This country bumpkin..."

"Ha... He can't even understand pulse diagnosis... His only good thing is cooking... But the food at the Prince's residence... Hmm... I've never paid attention to it before... It doesn't satisfy my appetite... That's what the Grand Tutor always says..."

"Hmm...it has to be like this, it has to be like this...this is the right way..."

"If the Imperial Guards who came do find this place and rescue me, then... I will reward them handsomely! Handsomely..."

Zhu Cuiwei was weak and pale, her thoughts were racing, but she had already drafted a reward for the other party's great contribution in her mind.

"Finally I can go back... I've wanted to go back for so long..." she thought.

Thinking and thinking.

She opened the door again and went out.

The main room of the Ning family was very simple. At the very back was a three-foot-high altar with three memorial tablets and a simple iron incense burner on it. Ning had lit three sticks of incense in the morning, and they had already burned out, with the ashes accumulating in the burner.

On the east side were several hoes and a bundle of pig feed, the hoes covered in yellow mud.

A simple wooden bed occupies the west side, with two quilts stacked on it. Ning has been sleeping here for the past few days.

There was a wooden table and four stools in the middle of the main room, but the workmanship was poor, and the table kept wobbling when she ate. She didn't like it, and Ning Nan said he would make a new set tomorrow.

Only half of the lotus leaf chicken on the table was eaten.

"We don't need to work in the fields on rainy days. My godmother has been playing mahjong all afternoon and hasn't come back for dinner yet."

She wrapped up the remaining lotus leaf chicken, her abdomen aching slightly. She bit her lip and slowly dragged herself to the kitchen. She put the lotus leaf chicken into the iron pot, covered it with a wooden lid, and, as Ning Nan had taught her yesterday, this was called keeping it warm.

"Don't let it get cold."

After wiping her hands on her simple cloth skirt and hairpin, the woman stood silently in front of the stove for a while, took a deep breath, and slowly walked back into the inner room.

Pull the bolt on the door.

……

……

A light rain fell from the sky, pattering into the stream. As if whipped by a lash, the current became turbulent and swift.

The usually deserted stone bridge was now crowded with people. The villagers, hoes in hand, looked tense. It seemed that the weather was too cold, as their knees and backs were bent. They were whispering to each other, talking in hushed tones.

Li Baoxin stroked his gray beard with a worried expression. As soon as he saw Ning Nan arrive, he quickly went up to greet him and grabbed Ning Nan's arm.

"Ningwa! You little rascal, you've caused a huge disaster! Quick, quick, quick, go and kowtow to the centurion!"

Ning Nan frowned; Li Baoxin couldn't pull him away.

Li Sanzhuang ran up behind Ning Nan with a long stick in his hand.

Erlaizi and his father returned from Hangezhuang. The boy had a pig-slaughtering knife tucked into his waistband and stood at the bridgehead.

Ning Nan flung Li Baoxin away, who was holding him, and frowned, saying, "How can you be sure that peddler is really a commander of the Imperial Guard?"

"Officer Chen and those constables who arrested people are here! How could this be fake?" The old man stared wide-eyed.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard is no joke!

He never imagined that the womanizer he arrested three days ago would actually be a member of the Imperial Guard! And a high-ranking officer at that!

Li Baoxin was so anxious that his face turned pale. He had already sent someone to invite Master Li. Ningwa and his group had offended the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In the entire Li Family Village, it was likely that only Master Li could speak a few words to the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

"That's pretty damn intimidating."

Ning Nan pursed his lips, reached behind his back to touch the dagger at his waist, and asked San Zhuang how many people the other side had.

"Four, the peddler, a constable, and two constables." San Zhuang gripped his long stick tightly. He wasn't using an umbrella, and his face was wet from the light rain, with water dripping from his chin.

Ning Nan withdrew his hand from his lower back.

If more than ten people come, then there's nothing more to say. He'll have Sanzhuang and the others push all the blame onto him, he'll run home, send Cuicui to Miss Zhu, and then carry his mother on his back to the east end of the village.

In the reeds at the east end of the village, he and Han Laoguai hid a boat. They were thinking that if bandits came to the village or the Northern Dynasty crossed the river, Han Laoguai, himself, and his mother would have a backup plan.

In those times, soldiers were like combs and bandits were like hairpins; soldiers and bandits were one family. Add to that the even more vicious Northern Dynasty people, and he was forced to make some plans long ago. Fortunately, Old Monster Han had also fled from the north and agreed with his ideas.

"Really only four?" Ning Nan looked at Li Baoxin.

Li Baoxin's beard twitched: "What? You want to kill officials and rebel?"

"Since there are only four, let's go take a look," Ning Nan said casually.

The arrest of the peddler was a plan of their own, but the other party walked into the trap willingly. At the same time, there were more than ten able-bodied men from Lijia Village who participated in the arrest that day.

If the other party really wanted to vent their anger on him, they wouldn't have only brought three people. Otherwise, how could they have suppressed the hundreds of strong men in Lijia Village?

Two of them were even the constables who arrested him that day, not a team of Imperial Guards.

These two constables were both very lively. If it came down to anger, they should have been the first targets. He saw it clearly that day; the constables weren't very polite to Li Liang and the peddler. They were kicking the peddler's butt the whole way.

The fact that the other party brought a constable and a police officer seemed more like an attempt to prove their identity, as if they were worried that the ignorant villagers wouldn't recognize the Embroidered Uniform Guard's badge.

Whoosh!

"Ningwa is here!" someone whispered.

"Hey, Ningwa, why aren't you running away?"

"What if those hundred-household adults beat Ningwa? Should we step in?"

"What the hell? Ningwa could just kowtow to him, why is this adult so fierce? Does he have to kill someone? It's a fact that he climbed over the wall to pick flowers!"

"That's absolutely right!"

Ning Nan walked to the bridge and saw the peddler.