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

Chapter 285 Warming the Wine

Nilon sneered a few times, took a few steps away from his seat, stood up, and shouted:

"Lord Cao! Your esteemed dynasty's Ning Baixuan, relying on firearms, acted tyrannically, brutally murdering our dynasty's envoy, Commander Mu Lang, in the street, and beating our dynasty's fourth son, Prince Yi's son, without cause. He disregards the law, has a long list of misdeeds, and his behavior is despicable. For all this, your dynasty has only confined him to his quarters. How can this possibly win the hearts of the people?... Ha, so be it!"

Nilon tossed his two small mustaches and changed the subject. He had originally intended to continue arguing about the matter, but seeing Princess Tang suddenly stand up, he decided not to dwell on it. If Princess Tang insisted that the Fourth Prince had acted dissolutely and unreasonably first, it would likely incite the Southern Dynasty's united indignation. So he said, "Enough," and with a flick of his sleeve,

"However, now that Ning Baixuan is present, seeing the superiority of our dynasty's firearms and admiring the bravery of our warriors, he pretends to be deaf and dumb, acting as if it's none of his business. Even though several of your dynasty's people have died, he remains indifferent, showing none of the arrogance he displayed on the day he acted so fiercely! In my opinion, this heir of the Jingbei Marquis's mansion in your dynasty is truly a cowardly, weak, and cowardly villain who bullies the weak and fears the strong! He is a laughingstock and makes one's teeth ache!"

Nilon's words took several turns, and he finally hurled insults.

This immediately stirred up waves of excitement in the arena.

Ning Baixuan… a rising star in the North-South Poetry Society… cold and aloof…

Tonight, in the first courtyard, he single-handedly challenged all the ministers with chess... Jia Songling... whose chess skills were even slightly superior to Shangguan Zhao's...

He was almost beheaded by His Highness just now... His Highness spared his life... Now he's sitting at the very end... far away from them...

Everyone couldn't help but turn their heads to look...

At the last seat, Ning Baixuan seemed intently focused on the small stove before him, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Beside him sat two people, one large and one small. The larger, seemingly clumsy-looking man appeared to be a member of the Imperial Guard? Eating rice? Oh… his name seemed to be Li Sanzhuang… he'd just been rewarded with a hundred taels of gold by His Highness. The smaller one, a chess prodigy, was currently poking at the charcoal fire with tongs. What were they doing? A teapot? A stove? Were they… warming wine?

Everyone was taken aback.

This person...

Shooting a Northern Dynasty officer?

Beating up the fourth son of a prince from the Northern Dynasty's Iron-Capped Prince family?

Or should we use a musket?

How could they be so bold?

Everyone had heard that an important figure in the Northern Dynasty delegation had been beaten, but they thought it was just a rumor. They didn't expect it to be true.

Exclamations arose from the crowd, and people kept asking those around who might know the truth. The officials from the Ministry of Rites had complicated expressions, and they couldn't help but nod in agreement. Occasionally, murmurs of surprise would ripple through some small circles.

The nobles and princes were amazed. They never expected that this aloof man who wrote poetry and played chess could also wield a firearm and possess such courage in his bones.

What's even more surprising is that Nilong said this person was the heir to the Jingbei Marquis's mansion? What does that mean?

soon.

The old eunuch at the head of the table explained with a complicated expression that Ning Baixuan was the grand-nephew of Marquis Jingbei, Ning Changling, and was regarded by Marquis Jingbei as his eldest grandson, and would indeed inherit the Marquis Jingbei's mansion in the future.

Everyone was shocked, thinking that as expected of Ning Changling's eldest grandson, he actually dared to beat up the son of the Iron-Capped Prince in the street!

Li Hanchen, Feng Xi, and many other young nobles all turned their heads in surprise, such courage was truly rare!

Zhu Xianze, the heir of the Prince of Jingjiang, and other princes were also shocked. Cheng Qianqiu looked serious and whispered to Zhu Xianze, "No wonder this person dared to disrespect His Highness." Zhu Xianze also breathed a sigh of relief. The grandson of the Marquis of Jingbei, no wonder he was so arrogant.

"Lord Cao! Gentlemen!"

Nilong shouted, and everyone's eyes turned to him again. He had just exposed his shortcomings, and seeing the Southern Dynasty people exclaim in surprise, he felt even more smug.

Tonight, we will expose the shame of the Plain Yellow Banner! We will leave the Plain Yellow Banner with no way out and force them to comply with our strategy of first going south and then north! He shouted:

"This scoundrel is arrogant and unscrupulous because he thinks he has Ning Changling to protect him. He dares to disrupt the harmony between the two dynasties during the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunion!"

"If this were our dynasty, no matter how great the merits of their fathers and grandfathers, such sons of noble families would still be guilty of crimes punishable by death!"

Nilon suddenly turned around and sneered at the Southern Court officials:

"Just now I heard several officials say that this beast is brave and courageous..." Some of the Southern Dynasty officials who had said this in a low voice immediately looked embarrassed.

Nilon, however, didn't seem to care and waved his sleeve, saying:

"That's because Ning Baixuan had firearms on hand that day, so he was fearless! And what about our Fourth Young Master? He was empty-handed! Now, ha! Everyone, just watch and see if he dares to utter a single fart after our Danzhu makes his move!" These words were disrespectful in front of the palace, but Nilong didn't care at all.

Madam Jia, a woman of great courage and strength, rose and glared at him angrily, saying, "Your Excellency, your words are utterly wrong! It was the fourth young master of your delegation who acted violently that day, and Ning Baixuan, out of public interest, took up a firearm to save him..." To protect the reputation of Princess Tang, she omitted the details of how the fourth young master had acted violently.

"Your Excellency, please be careful with your words!" Cao Du said in a deep voice. "Since Ning Baixuan is regarded as the eldest grandson of the Marquis of Jingbei, and His Majesty has already made a fair judgment on his past with the Fourth Prince, Your Excellency's words are far too aggressive!"

One of the Northern Dynasty's envoys slammed his fist on the table and exclaimed, "Then let Ning Baixuan fight Danzhu with his musket! If Mu Lang had had firearms that day, would Ning Baixuan have dared to approach within three zhang of the Fourth Young Master!"

"Great! Let's see who got their head smashed!"

"Exactly!"

"Forget about that pill, if Ning Baixuan dares to come out, I'll fight him! I'll blow his head off with one shot!"

"The Southern Dynasties have no talent!"

"Ning Changling is all talk and no action!"

"Come out if you dare..."

The people of the Northern Dynasty were excited.

"Your method of comparison is utterly absurd!" Li Hanchen stood up, his face flushed, and shouted. "Using firearms back-to-back is nothing but reckless bravado!"

"Heh, you want to have a sword fight? Why a sword fight? Isn't it because a sword fight will make others let you young masters off the hook!"

"That's right! Competing with muskets is a death sentence for you!"

The nobles of the Southern Dynasty, their faces flushed with anger, stood up and retorted, "Even the sons of wealthy families wouldn't sit under a dangerous roof!" The people of the Northern Dynasty then burst into laughter, saying:

"That Danzhu is the son of the Banner Chief of the Bordered Red Banner! A mighty eagle soaring over the Changbai Mountains and the Heilongjiang River! He is far more noble than your so-called Marquis of Jingbei from the Southern Dynasty!"

The nobles of the Southern Dynasty were both angry and furious. They no longer cared about their composure and their faces turned red as they began to curse loudly.

Benefiting from Danzhu's bravery, the people of the Northern Dynasty were naturally unwilling to be outdone, and their insults were even louder than those of the people of the Southern Dynasty!

Seeing that the Northern Dynasty people were determined to vent their anger and make Ning Baixuan either die tonight or lose face, the officials of the Ministry of Rites had no choice but to step in and smooth things over, saying that it was the Mid-Autumn Festival and so many people had already died.

The people from the Northern Dynasty then said, "Since it's the Mid-Autumn Festival, let Ning Baixuan come out and kowtow to the Fourth Young Master who is recuperating from his injuries! What do you say?"

"Yes, make him admit he's too scared to fight! Make him kneel down and kowtow!"

"Go and kowtow to Mu Lang's corpse, and break one of your fingers!"

"One leg is ruined!"

"It's not enough for Ning Baixuan to admit it! Ning Changling also needs to admit it!"

"Outrageous!" The Marquis of Jinxi and other nobles could no longer remain seated. They slammed their fists on the table, stood up, and shouted, "Let's see who's capable on the battlefield! What kind of skill is this mere bravado!"

"Don't you Han people say, 'If you can't sweep one's own room, how can you sweep the world?' Who, then, is capable of sweeping even one's own room?"

"You fear not only our muskets, but also that Danzhu!"

Although the officials of the Southern Dynasty continued to curse, they were also somewhat bitter. Their muskets were inferior to others, and going up would only lead to their deaths. Several bloody lives were right in front of them!

Someone cursed, "So what if we go! Come on! I'll send my general Qu Wen!"

The Northern Dynasty man laughed immediately: "Haha, you nobles really only know how to send people to their deaths! Do you dare to face that Eastern Pearl yourself!"

"Do you dare to face the artifacts crafted by the artisans of my Northern Dynasty...?"

"Bang!"

in the night sky,

A gunshot rang out.

The noisy, chaotic, lively, and highly charged atmosphere was suddenly brought to a halt by the gunshot. Everyone's pupils contracted, and they fell silent.

They all turned to look at the training ground.

"Bang!"

In the instant of turning one's head,

Another gunshot rang out.

Everyone looked on in astonishment. What was going on?

What happened at the drill ground?

Did Danzhu and Anatoli have a duel?

All sorts of ideas came to mind.

A short while later.

The night wind whipped up sand and dust from the drill ground.

A figure walked slowly and steadily from the training ground through the flower hall and through the sandstorm towards this place.

As they approached, the crowd gradually came to see who it was.