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

A loud shout and a rhetorical question.

The candlelight flickered in the simple room.

Tears streamed down Zhu Zi's face, which was barely recognizable as human. His expression turned anxious. He could kill him, but he couldn't accept being called a Tartar dog, especially by someone from Hejian Prefecture. He absolutely couldn't accept it! Even if the sky were to fall, it wouldn't be acceptable!

The trusted Qilin of Beiqian Temple took deep breaths through his nostrils, glanced at the few Imperial Guards, and then looked at his fellow countryman who had fallen into exile in the south. Seeing the look of shock in the eyes of this fellow countryman who was famous in the capital, Zhu Zi felt relieved, but he did not continue to speak.

He sobbed twice and continued in his local accent, "Anyway, listen to me, I, Zhang Zhuzi, am no bad guy, I won't say more."

Ning Nan's eyes reddened, and he looked at the other person deeply for a moment. He didn't say anything more, but just nodded silently, telling Xu Cheng to take good care of this fellow villager from Hejian Prefecture in front of the other person.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zi's eyes welled up with tears. Watching the other person's somewhat hunched back as he left, he opened his mouth, wanting to remind him that someone else would come to arrest him later. However, thinking of the incense he had burned when he joined the sect, Zhu Zi closed his mouth again, only uttering two resentful "Aiya, Aiya" sounds. He thought that if he didn't die, after the major events in the sect were over, he could go and beg Chen San to spare this fellow villager surnamed Ning's life... He still had an old mother at home.

"Clang!"

Xu Cheng closed the door.

Ning Nan's eyes darkened, and he let out a breath.

He lowered his voice and said to Qian Sijin and Xu Cheng, "It's from the Heavenly Principle Sect."

Qian Sijin and his companion, whose eyes were already red, were stunned when they heard Young Master Ning's words. After a breath, they realized what he meant.

If the soldiers who stormed the Forbidden City were not from the Great Liang, then it could only be the Heavenly Principle Sect, which stormed the Forbidden City twenty-two years ago and assassinated the Tartar emperor!

Qian Sijin and his companion were shocked and couldn't help but take a deep breath.

They ripped off the other person's wig and saw that his head was shaved, so they knew he was from the north. However, they assumed he was someone sent by the Northern Dynasty to harm Young Master Ning.

Once the other party spits out the contents, they can take the opportunity to disconnect the sticky rod from several lines in the capital.

Unexpectedly, this person turned out to be a follower of the Heavenly Principles sect!

Qian and Xu exchanged a glance and silently exhaled.

Fortunately, Young Master Ning's mother was from Hejian Prefecture, and Young Master Ning had spoken the Hejian accent since childhood. This person was so stubborn, if it weren't for Young Master Ning's kind heart, genuine feelings, and compassion for his hometown, he probably wouldn't have given in.

"Clang!"

As they walked, Xu Cheng opened another door for Ning Nan. The fake scholar dressed in Confucian robes was also handcuffed to a chair. "Tian Lao Si," Xu Cheng pointed to the guy who had also been beaten beyond recognition.

Ning Nan nodded and looked at the dying Tian Lao Si.

Unlike Zhu Zi, who gritted his teeth and remained silent, this man cried and begged for mercy while being tortured. However, he was also quite tough, insisting that he was there to rob people, no matter what.

Tian Laosi opened his eyes, saw the person who had come, and cried, "Waaaaah... Young Master Ning, Young Master Ning, I dare not, I dare not, I will never dare to rob you again..."

Ning Nan suddenly frowned, squatted down, and asked in a puzzled tone with a Qingzhou accent, "You're from Qingzhou Prefecture?"

Upon hearing the sound of Tian Laosi crying, he was somewhat stunned.

Ning Nan didn't say anything, just stared at him. After a while, Tian Lao Si let out an "Ah".

Ning Nan looked at him intently for a few moments, her gaze shifting between warmth, anger, and disappointment. After a long pause, she sighed and said:

"My mother was from Qingzhou Prefecture too. There was a great disaster back then, and my mother's parents couldn't survive..." Old Tian's eyes widened: "Your mother was from Qingzhou Prefecture too? Then you..."

Ning Nan looked at him, nodded, and gave a bitter smile, saying, "I'm practically a native of Qingzhou Prefecture... Fellow villager, fellow villager, have you become a dog for the Tartars, come here to kill me?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Laosi's face immediately turned anxious: "Which motherfucker's dog is...?"

……

Qian Sijin and Xu Cheng's pupils contracted as they witnessed this scene, speechless with astonishment.

Hejian Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture... The two of them were now completely bewildered. Where exactly was Young Master Ning's mother from?

However, when the two thought about the old woman's current identity, they tacitly kept their mouths shut, not daring to say a word more. But when they looked at Young Master Ning, they couldn't help but feel a bit incredulous.

Young Master Ning... how come you speak so much northern dialect?

……

"Yes, I knew it from the womb."

After they came out, Ning Nan casually said something that Qian and Xu didn't understand, but they didn't dare to ask any more questions.

Ning Nan said, "The third one is self-evident; they are from the Heavenly Principle Sect."

Old Tian let slip, saying, "I'm the one who's been burned incense," though he quickly shut his mouth, it was enough. Qian and Xu immediately nodded.

Ning Nan said, "They must have come to avenge Xiao Chun."

The black-robed member of the Heavenly Principle Sect had framed Er Lai and even tried to control Bo Gong with some kind of evil magic. He had no choice but to learn about the Heavenly Principle Sect, even if he didn't want to.

The token given to Grand Tutor Gu was the identity token of the leader of the Kan Shui Altar of the Heavenly Principle Sect, and it was quite important. Only then did he realize that Xiao Chun's status in their sect was not low.

Ning Nan ordered Er Lai to lead ten servants to guard the place and see if the Tianli Sect people would be lured here.

Since the Embroidered Uniform Guards weren't his own people, Ning Nan couldn't give them orders. Their duty was to protect him, so he should just continue to protect him.

However, they still asked Qian Sijin and the others to give Erlai a plaque to exempt him from the curfew. In case of any incident, they could send someone to report it. Erlai agreed enthusiastically, hoping that the people from the Heavenly Principle Sect would come tonight.

……

……

Seeing that it was getting dark outside and that the matters to be discussed for the day had been concluded, Zhu Cuiwei said to the officials in the hall that it was time to disperse for the day, as the five firearms craftsmen invited from the Ministry of Works had arrived with their muskets and were waiting in the drill ground.

Sun Chengshan and the others immediately stood up and bowed in response.

At this moment, hurried footsteps sounded outside the hall. A young eunuch came to report that Cao Du, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, was requesting an audience. Zhu Cuiwei nodded upon hearing this.

Before long, Cao Du, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, wearing a bright red round-necked official robe with a peacock pattern on his chest and a rhinoceros horn belt around his waist, hurriedly entered the hall.

Cao Du took a breath, bowed, and said, "Your Highness, I heard that Your Highness has summoned five master firearms craftsmen from the Ministry of Works, saying that you want to test the flintlock muskets made by the Great Liang."

Cao Du lowered his head and looked on nervously. He had thought that once the original was made, the chief craftsman of the Ministry of Works would confidently pat his chest after receiving the gun, saying that it would not be difficult to imitate and that Vice Minister Cao could rest assured. Cao Du was quite knowledgeable about firearms and also felt that it would not be difficult. He thought that if it was made, it would be a great achievement.

He then took charge of the supervision himself, but little did he expect that while replicating the exterior was not difficult, the difference in the interior was so vast.

The firearms workshop can now manufacture the Hongyi cannons, but they haven't figured out the flintlock musket at all. The five master craftsmen of the Ministry of Works have all turned quite a bit gray these past few days.

When Cao Du heard that Zhu Cuiwei had summoned five craftsmen, he thought that with a new emperor came a new court, and the crown prince was going to punish him and make him vacate his official position. He was anxious and rushed over without stopping.

Zhu Cuiwei thought for a moment and said, "That's right. Since Vice Minister Cao is here, we can go and take a look together."

Upon hearing this, Cao Du's heart sank even further. He didn't know what the Crown Prince meant, but it was better for him to be present than not to be. If the Prince of Xin asked any questions, he would be the first to answer without hesitation, so that no one would take advantage of the situation. He quickly agreed.