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

The woman exhaled, her brows furrowed. She was only wearing a light, soft white silk garment. Ning Shi was worried that she wouldn't be used to coarse cloth, so she took her measurements and had someone make this silk garment in Han Gezhuang. The quality was naturally not as good as her own clothes, but in this rural area, it was already considered a very expensive material.

After thinking for a while, she stood up, smoothing her hair as she slowly walked towards the dressing table.

Two hours have passed since Ning Nan left home. At first, I felt a sense of relief and relief.

After all, the people who came first were the Imperial Guards, not the assassins, which was a great thing.

She has been sleeping very lightly these past few nights.

He was on tenterhooks, worried that assassins would break into the Ning family home that night, searching for him and killing the kind-hearted mother and son.

Although he was seriously injured, he still had martial arts skills. In the past few days, his health had been getting better and better. He slept lightly and could get up at the slightest noise to hold off the Ning family mother and son.

But unexpectedly...

Six days have passed, and this farmhouse has remained peaceful and safe beyond belief.

In such days, her spirits became more and more relaxed, or rather... more and more sluggish.

However, since neither the Embroidered Uniform Guard nor the secret agents and guards under the Emperor's command had come, he still couldn't relax.

The woman looked at herself in the bronze mirror; her face was still slightly pale, and her temples throbbed.

"Are all spies this bad these days?" She puffed out her cheeks, somewhat incredulous.

When I'm lying in bed alone, I often think about these things.

For example, he was thinking that after returning to Nanjing, he should reorganize the Embroidered Uniform Guard and question Shangguan Yun about how the Embroidered Uniform Guard could monitor the world with its current capabilities.

Occasionally, she would think that she would have to train a new army. Shangguan Yun in the Embroidered Uniform Guard was naturally loyal to her brother, but her brother was, after all… Her expression struggled for a moment, and she remained silent for a while before she finally removed the words “not long for this world” from her mind. Not everyone in the Embroidered Uniform Guard was reliable, and even the Imperial City Military Cavalry Command was not entirely reliable.

In addition, what he thought about most was naturally who those assassins were and who wanted to kill him.

She took a breath, then slowly exhaled, and pushed open the wooden window. In an instant, the cool night breeze rushed in, carrying moisture after the rain. It was refreshing, pleasant, and made her head clearer.

The woman rested her elbow on the dressing table, her right hand supporting her chin, gazing at the cold, white moonlight outside the window.

During the two hours I lay in bed, I had already planned out the direction of the investigation step by step. As soon as I returned to the manor, things could be arranged in an orderly manner.

But she didn't expect... the Imperial Guards never came.

"What on earth is going on?"

The moonlight from the window shone on the dressing table, and the woman's brows were furrowed.

Just then, a burst of laughter suddenly came from outside the window.

The woman narrowed her eyes, making them a dangerous slit.

Through the window, in the cold white moonlight, one could see two figures, arm in arm, walking toward the Ning family's courtyard.

Zhu Cuiwei opened the dressing table drawer, took out a pair of scissors, and held the handle with her right hand.

She couldn't use her abdomen, which greatly restricted her leg movements. But killing wasn't like practicing martial arts. A small pair of scissors flew out and pierced the other person's neck. No matter how high her martial arts skills were, the blood that could flow from her throat was the same as that of an ordinary person, and it would dry up quickly... This was what her martial arts master had taught her since childhood.

"Squeak—"

The wooden gate to the courtyard was slammed open by the two staggering figures, who staggered and swayed as they walked toward the main room.

A faint smell of alcohol wafted in from the courtyard.

"liquor?"

After clearly identifying one of the two people, Zhu Cuiwei coldly slapped down the scissors.

The smell of alcohol wafting in grew stronger and stronger.

"A drunkard," she said casually.

The word "drunkard" was used to refer to one of them, this country bumpkin doctor, who was so fond of drinking?

But as the two figures drew closer, the look of disdain on Zhu Cuiwei's face slowly turned into confusion.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard?"

Her brows furrowed. She wore a black flying fish robe, a black gauze hat with gold trim, and a gilded embroidered spring knife. Was she a member of the Imperial Guard? Or perhaps a centurion?

Why would this country bumpkin doctor come back with a member of the Imperial Guard? His face was flushed, and the two of them were drinking together? They looked like close friends.

"Clang!"

The door to the main room was also kicked open.

"mother--"

Ning Nan, supporting the heavily intoxicated Shangguan Xiu, called out loudly for her mother, her face flushed.

"My godmother hasn't come back yet."

Ning Nan squinted his drunken eyes and saw, oh, it was Cuicui. Cuicui opened the door and came out.

"Heh," Ning Nan said with a blush, "Still not asleep?"

Zhu Cuiwei ignored him and fastened her cloth skirt and hairpin.

He stared at the Imperial Guard with a questioning look in his eyes.

Shangguan Xiu was dazed, drool was still dripping from his mouth, and his bloodshot eyes were staring at the woman who had suddenly appeared.

"Huh?"

He chuckled like a fool, staggered, slapped his face repeatedly, and laughed at Ning Nan, "Brother, I'm drunk... I think... hiccup... I saw Prince Xin?"

Ning Nan shook his head, his face half-red, especially his eyes: "What... Brother Yushan?"

Ning Nan's head was throbbing terribly; he never imagined the liquor would be so strong...

This cheap wine was sent over by Master Li, who said it was to properly entertain the officials coming from above, and he sent two jars of the finest Daughter's Red wine.

San Zhuang collapsed after drinking one cup.

Erlaizi did drink two cups, but he also collapsed, feeling weak and listless.

Only he and Shangguan Xiu refused to give up and insisted on finishing the drink while still eating peanuts. In the end, the two of them even smashed the jar.

As Shangguan Xiu looked at Zhu Cuiwei's indifferent face, his drool dripped more and more from his mouth.

"I'm not drinking anymore... Brother... I'm not drinking anymore... I'm dizzy, too dizzy... I'm going to sleep..."

boom!

Ning Nan loosened his grip on his right, and the brocade-clad centurion, dressed in a flying fish robe, fell straight down.

He lay down on the ground and fell fast asleep, snoring loudly.

Before Ning Nan's mocking smile could even fully bloom, he was pulled to the side by the man, staggering and about to fall... when a slender hand grabbed him.

"Hehe... Cui Cui... Cui... Thank you..."

The man's face pressed close to hers, extremely close.

She closed her eyes in disgust.

"Hehe...hehe...household registration...Cui Cui...I'll soon...be a Daliang citizen..."

"Aren't you originally from Daliang?... Stand still!" Zhu Cuiwei frowned, not wanting to look at this person at all, and just wanting to help him back to his room as soon as possible.

"hey-hey……"

The smell of alcohol hit the woman's face, Ning Nan hiccuped, and could no longer open his eyes. He slumped into the woman's arms.

The woman's eyes snapped open, her pupils widening rapidly, but she was already unable to dodge.

"flutter--"

The man's face fell into her arms, and his entire body weight pressed forward... She felt a pain in her abdomen and was too weak to push him away.

"Mmm...so soft..."