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

His Highness Prince Xin, who had reviewed countless memorials and discussed important military and national affairs with his ministers for two hours, narrowed his clear eyes.

A scholar?

A female scholar disguised as a man?

Are they playing chess with the young doctor?

She glanced at it.

They discovered that their younger sister, Qinghuan, was sitting to the side, pounding something in a stone bowl with a stone mortar and pestle.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the table where Qinghuan was located was covered with colorful flower petals.

Qinghuan... is she pounding flowers?

Zhu Cuiwei pursed her pink lips. Hmm, no wonder the flower hall smelled so good.

The turquoise embroidered shoes were getting closer and closer to Ningnan.

"Sister!" Qinghuan looked up and saw the other person. Her eyes lit up and she quickly jumped up.

Zhu Cuiwei paused, hummed in response, and gently patted Qinghuan's head as she ran over, asking, "How are you feeling today?"

Qinghuan nodded her little head and said, "I'm much better now, my chest doesn't hurt anymore." Upon hearing this, Zhu Cuiwei couldn't help but feel a pang of pain in her heart. She took Qinghuan's hand. Just now, Qinghuan was pounding flowers, and her hands were covered in all sorts of colors, with pollen and flower mud under her fingernails. As a result, some of her hands inevitably got on them as well.

Qinghuan exclaimed "Ah!" and lowered her head, blushing as if she had done something wrong, but Zhu Cuiwei just smiled.

Ning Nan was yawning, her mouth wide open, her eyes red and sore, with a few tears streaming down her face. Upon hearing this, she quickly turned around to look.

Sure enough, he saw Cui Cui's wife standing behind him, and she smiled and said, "Oh, you're back. What do you want to eat tonight? How about some roasted lamb skewers?"

Cui Cui's wife turned her gaze over, but ignored him, only looking indifferently at the woman dressed as a scholar opposite him.

Gongsun Heng stood up, her phoenix eyes gazing at the beautiful woman in green before her, and she was somewhat stunned.

Although she wasn't proud of her looks, she believed there weren't many women in the world more beautiful than her. She never expected to see one today… Mr. Ning's wife was so beautiful! She seemed a little thinner, fairer, and… a little taller than her. Seeing the other woman's gaze, Gongsun Heng's face flushed slightly. She pursed her lips and quickly bowed:

"Disciple Gongsun Heng greets Master's wife!" The female scholar's voice was clear and loud.

Zhu Cuiwei was taken aback, and her eyebrows, which were as light as distant mountains, furrowed.

Looking at the young master and granddaughter who were actually kneeling on the ground, Ning Nan said helplessly, "Miss Gongsun, I have already said that I will teach you a little bit of chess, but I will not accept you as a disciple."

A delicate hand rested on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Cui Cui's wife asked, frowning as she looked at the young doctor whose face was contorted with bitterness.

……

Qinghuan pounded the petals and pollen in the stone mortar with each pounding sound, filling the flower hall with fragrance.

Chunyu and Qiumu, two young maids, served tea to the master, mistress, and second young lady.

Miss Gongsun has left.

After Cui Cui's wife helped her up, she excitedly said that she would prepare generous gifts and come to visit her master's wife again tomorrow.

Cui Cui nodded demurely and asked if she had a carriage. The other woman said yes. Cui Cui then said that there was a curfew now and asked if she should stay at her teacher's house for the night. The other woman shook her head, took out a token from her waist, waved it, and said that her grandfather was the headmaster of Bailu Academy and that the imperial court had issued a token to her grandfather.

Cui Cui's wife nodded and escorted Miss Gongsun to the door before returning.

"You have to help her." Granny Cui sat opposite the young doctor, picked up the tea that Chunyu had served, blew on the steam, and said firmly.

Ning Nan rolled his eyes and said, "Let alone whether I can break that chess game, even if I help her break it, I'm afraid Master Gongsun will fight me to the death."

Granny Cui raised an eyebrow and calmly said, "Master Gongsun put up the sign himself, so who can he blame?"

Ning Nan ignored the troublemaking woman and began tidying up the chess pieces. As he did so, he cursed the old man, Gongsun Shanzhang, whom he had never met before... What a boring old man.

Miss Gongsun persisted, pestering him all day, wanting him to teach her how to play chess, and even came to his house.

Feeling uneasy, he called his sister-in-law over to keep him company, to avoid gossip. Later, unable to contain himself any longer, he asked her what was going on and why she was so eager to break the laurel chess game.

She pursed her lips for a long time before finally saying with tears in her eyes that she wanted to stay home and practice Buddhism while keeping her hair, but her grandfather wouldn't allow it.

Ning Nan rolled her eyes and said, "Is it so strange that your grandfather doesn't allow it? Whose grandfather would allow it?"

The other party said that her grandfather had put up the Laurel Chess Game and said that whoever could solve the game could make him a request, and he would never refuse.

Ning Nan frowned and said, "So you want to break the Laurel Chess Formation?"

"good!"

"And then you want your grandfather to become a monk?"

Gongsun Heng immediately retorted angrily, "Mr. Ning, I'm not joking with you!"

Ning Nan said, "If you're asking your grandfather to become a monk, then this matter is negotiable. But if you're asking your grandfather to allow you to become a monk..."

Ning Nan snorted twice and shrugged, saying:

"Then your grandfather will probably make me become a monk, or even enter the palace."

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Heng knew that Ning Nan was afraid that his grandfather would take his anger out on him, so he immediately changed his words. However, Ning Nan still didn't believe him.

Chunyu's tea-making skills improved day by day; the tea leaves floated, swirled, and finally sank in the cup, filling the air with fragrance.

When Zhu Cuiwei heard what her young doctor said, she thought it made sense. If a young woman in the prime of her life were to stay at home and practice Buddhism, and anyone dared to persuade Miss Gongsun to do such a thing, Master Gongsun would really fight them to the death.

Thinking about it this way, she couldn't help but feel a little worried. Just now, seeing that Miss Gongsun's words were sincere, she softened her heart and responded to the other party with "Master's wife".

After the young doctor explained the pros and cons, she seemed to understand. After a pause, she glanced at the young doctor, took a sip of tea, and said calmly:

"It's alright, if you won't teach me, then I will."

Ning Nan paused, finishing his game.

He looked up at his wife blankly, and after a while, nodded and said:

"Then I'm relieved."

Cui Cui's wife's veins throbbed, and she almost couldn't resist spilling a cup of hot tea on him...

Inside the kitchen of the Ning family mansion, the air was filled with the aroma of food and the fire was blazing.

The lamb skewers on bamboo sticks were very fresh, with the fat sizzling out.

Zhu Cuiwei had never eaten such finely grilled lamb skewers before. After taking a bite, her taste buds seemed to explode, making her want to call Qin Qianhu and Lizhi to come and try them. It seemed that they had also added some kind of powdered bay leaves, which added a touch of fragrance.

As Qinghuan ate, she kept slurping her breath. Xia Wan and Dong Ying, the two stern-faced maids, swallowed hard but didn't eat a single bite. Ning Nan's urging was useless; they only said, "Thank you, Master, but we dare not."

Chunyu and Qiumu, the two girls, dared to take a skewer each, but they only took one and ate it in small bites.

The two girls would occasionally exchange glances, their faces revealing a satisfied smile that only the little maids knew. Ning Nan was in the kitchen, grilling meat while saying with a smile that lamb skewers should be eaten in big bites and while they were hot. The two little maids did not speed up their eating, but just smiled and nodded their little heads.

After eating.

He and his wife, Cui Cui, played chess in the flower hall to digest their food, but naturally they weren't playing Go; they were playing Connect Four.

This game is short and doesn't require much brainpower. Even if a woman cheats, it's not like playing Go, where she wastes many of her clever moves.

After a while...

Cui Cui's wife glanced at him and said casually:

"The Ministry of Works restored two guns from the Northern Dynasties and the Portuguese... um... I think they were called flintlock guns."

"Oh." Ning Nan picked up a white chess piece, stared at the chessboard, nodded, and placed the piece.

"However," Cui Cui picked up a black bullet, pursed her pink lips, and said lightly, "the Ministry of Works' guns don't seem to have a high success rate in firing."

"How many?" Ning Nan asked.

"Around 10%, but the best ones can reach 20%."

Ning Nan nodded, placed another piece, but remained silent.

Cui Cui took a breath, and seeing that he seemed somewhat interested, she couldn't help but glance at him again and said:

"The Ministry of Works... Hmm, the head craftsmen of the Ministry of Works find it very strange. Even though everything is the same, why are they so much worse than the guns of the Northern Dynasty and the Portuguese? The difference is huge. The Northern Dynasty's guns are about 80% better..."

"oh,"

Ning Nan responded with a sound of agreement, then shook his head, his eyes fixed on the chessboard.

"They can't see the problem with flint."

He casually remarked, then placed another piece on the board, making it a perfect five-piece set.