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

"I'm tired! Time to go home!"

The woman turned around, flicked her black hair, and by sheer coincidence, it hit Ning Nan's nose.

My nose felt itchy, and there was a hint of minty fragrance.

He touched his nose, paused for a few seconds, and then ran after the woman's retreating figure.

As the saying goes, going up a mountain is easy, but going down is hard. But Yaoshan is different. The path up the mountain is quite steep, but the main road down the mountain is long and the slope is very gentle.

As Ning Nan walked, he slowly sketched out the image of Nanjing in his mind, considering the unexpected events that might occur along the way.

Since transmigrating, he has never actually left Li Family Village. He's a man of few words and doesn't intend to challenge the legal system of the Great Liang Dynasty without a travel permit.

As for how to obtain the travel permit, it's not necessarily a difficult problem right now. After all, many people in the village heard Jiang Sixue's invitation. Li Baoxin would probably be happy to befriend such a respected and kind-hearted doctor and give him a travel permit that would allow him to go to Nanjing to see Doctor Jiang.

The mountain path was gentle, and the two walked side by side, their legs not tired, their pace unhurried.

When they were halfway up the mountain, Ning Nan noticed a few people coming towards them. He slowed down, wondering who would come up the mountain at this time of year.

He stopped in his tracks, took a closer look, his pupils contracted, he grabbed the woman's hand, and darted into the nearby woods.

Zhu Cuiwei's delicate hand was pulled like this, and a warm palm pressed tightly against her palm. She frowned and her body was pulled to the side. Her heart started beating very fast. There was no one around. What did he want to do?

Ning Nan shushed her with his finger, then pulled her along for about a hundred steps into the woods before crouching behind a clump of grass, his eyes serious.

The woman squatted down next to him, puzzled.

Ning Nan lowered his head and moved closer to her, whispering two words: "Li Liang!" His breath was almost on the woman's face.

Zhu Cuiwei frowned slightly. The name sounded familiar, and she thought about it carefully.

Li Liang… She remembered Ning mentioning in casual conversation that Li Liang was one of the two womanizers who had been arrested by Ning Nan and handed over to the authorities. Shouldn’t he be in prison? How come he’s here?

At this moment, those figures had already walked over.

There were three people in total, all dressed in black.

Li Liang was arrogant and haughty, accompanied by two burly and fierce men. One had an axe at his waist, and the other held a harpoon. Both weapons gleamed silver in the light.

"Brothers... we're not far from Li Family Village. Those Imperial Guards... haven't been here for seven days... the scholarly family... let's make our move..."

The sound came intermittently from the air.

As Ning Nan pieced together the information, her heart sank deeper and deeper.

"So it was Li Liang..."

Three figures slowly walked towards the mountaintop. Ning Nan withdrew his gaze and slowly exhaled.

After learning that one of the two flower thieves that day was a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had been wondering why the assassins who were supposed to kill Miss Zhu hadn't arrived yet, especially yesterday, when it had been more than ten days and they still hadn't come.

But if Li Liang is in cahoots with those people, that wouldn't be surprising.

Li Liang was that spy.

It's not that they didn't come; they came a long time ago.

And now, they've brought people with them.

"They are very likely trying to harm your young lady... I'll take you home first." Ning Nan briefly explained to Cui Cui beside her before standing up.

Although he really wanted to follow them now and see what their plan was, he couldn't possibly take Cuicui with him. Leaving Cuicui here to wait wasn't a solution either. There were wolves, wild boars, and even tigers. Even a snake could easily eat this fragile Cuicui. Letting the girl go back alone along the mountain path? That wouldn't work either; it would be too dangerous, and he couldn't leave her at ease.

"If you send me back first, you'll lose them."

Seemingly having seen through the man's thoughts, Zhu Cuiwei said calmly,

"I'll go with you," she said in an unquestionable tone.

Ning Nan glanced at her abdomen.

A faint pink blush immediately appeared on her fair cheeks: "My injury is almost healed, I won't hold you back." Her tone was a little angry, hoping that the man would look away quickly.

Ning Nan said speechlessly, "This group of thieves is very likely the same ones who tried to assassinate you and your young lady. They are ruthless."

That's why I have to go... Zhu Cuiwei raised her chin: "You said you're my young lady... what reason would it be if I didn't go?"

As if he had discovered a weapon, he pointed it at Ning Nan.

"If you don't let me go with you, I'll tell our young lady that you deliberately let the clues to the person who harmed her escape."

Now that she had discovered clues about the group that assassinated her, she naturally couldn't miss the opportunity.

Ning Nan's eyes widened and his lips parted, but the woman opposite him swept her eyebrows across him with a sharp look and raised her eyebrows in a provocative manner. Several words like "You heartless Cui Cui!" were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.

However, as the other side said, the enemy is currently in the open while we are in the dark. If we don't follow them now, we may not be able to track them down later. If we don't figure out Li Liang and his group's movements, the situation will turn back to the enemy being in the dark while we are in the light.

Ning Nan's face darkened, and he negotiated, "Since you want to go, we need to agree on three rules first."

Zhu Cuiwei raised her eyebrows, gesturing for him to speak first.

First, this trip is just to find out the enemy's strongholds and such; we won't take action or be reckless. "We can't beat them," Ning Nan said, shrugging.

Zhu Cuiwei nodded in agreement.

The injury has mostly healed, but if I exert too much force, the dull pain in my abdomen will still come, so it is indeed not advisable to fight.

The second rule is that you must follow his instructions throughout the journey: "Do whatever I say."

Zhu Cuiwei frowned.

"This is very important," Ning Nan said solemnly. "I can guarantee that every word I say afterward will be for the sake of the matter and I will not let you do anything against your conscience. At the same time, you can also offer your opinions, and I will consider them."

"Time is running out." Seeing the other party remain silent, Ning Nan pointed to the mountain, where the three figures had already disappeared.

"Okay," I replied.

"The third rule," Ning Nan held up his third finger, "If you encounter a life-or-death crisis, and I tell you to run, then you must run. Don't look back, and don't worry about me."

"I wasn't worried about you in the first place," the woman said casually. "Don't overthink it."

"That's good." Ning Nan nodded in satisfaction.

The woman, dressed in a simple cloth skirt and wearing a hairpin, looked up at the mountain. The sunlight fell on her fair profile, making her look like a beautiful piece of white porcelain, radiant.

"Let's go." She stepped forward, intending to catch up.

"No rush." ​​Ning Nan took her hand and shook his head.

He pulled out two gray strips of cloth from his pocket and asked the other person to cover their face.

Zhu Cuiwei frowned slightly, feeling that the other party had done the right thing; they should indeed cover their faces.

She tied the cloth strip behind her head with both hands, her bright eyes looking at Ning Nan, before she could even take a step.

The other person then took out some more strips of cloth and sat down on the ground.

Start by covering the soles of the shoes with strips of cloth.

"This way, you won't make any noise when you walk, and you won't leave any footprints."

Zhu Cuiwei suddenly realized what was happening and immediately sat down, mimicking the other person by covering the soles of her shoes.

Afterwards, the other party took a foot-long sharp knife off his back, wrapped it around his right hand with a strip of cloth, and Zhu Cuiwei's eyes became somewhat glazed.

"That way, even if your hands are stained with blood, they won't be slippery."

Finally, the other party covered the dagger with a black cloth, tied one end of the cloth to his wrist, and pointed to the sky. Zhu Cuiwei followed his gaze and realized that this was to prevent glare.

She couldn't help but frown slightly:

"Where did you learn all this?"

Ning Nan wiped the two thin wooden strips with a handkerchief, handed one to the other person, and held the other in his left hand. "The bald-headed monk taught me this." After blaming the other person, he put the wooden strip in his mouth and gestured for the other person to bite it as well.

This time, no explanation is needed.

This is to prevent sounds from coming out of the mouth.

Zhu Cuiwei looked at the man in front of her with some suspicion; only his eyes were visible, but his expression was very serious.

Beneath the gray cloth, she pursed her pink lips, her mind filled with both confusion and a sense of understanding, as if she were gradually coming to a realization... Why, after so many days, had the Imperial Guards still not tracked her down to this farmhouse...

"That can't be..."

Zhu Cuiwei's eyesight was somewhat dull; some of this person's methods could be directly copied into the night scouts of the army!

"Stay close to me."

The man stood up, took off the wooden strip, and said something, his words mumbled indistinctly.

He stuffed more wooden strips in, took her hand, bent down, and pulled her behind him. Zhu Cuiwei subconsciously clenched the warm hand in hers.