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

Just as an honest official finally caught a corrupt official red-handed, Ning, the honest official, spoke with righteous indignation.

"Of course not!" Li Yanting said urgently, his face flushed.

"If that's not the case, why not swear an oath?" Ning Dasou retorted quickly and ruthlessly.

Before Li Yanting could answer, Ning Nan abruptly turned his head and raised his chin towards the white-bearded Muramasa: "Muramasa, what do you say?"

Huh?

Li Sanzhuang and Li Erlai exchanged a glance: What's going on? Why does our eldest brother need the village head to uphold justice?

The old villagers, including Yang Qiniang and Uncle Jiu, were also taken aback.

Has Ningwa gone mad?

When did Muramasa ever speak to him?

Muramasa will always be on the side of those who want to study!

"cut!"

Ning Nan curled his lip, ignoring the whispers of the village darlings behind him.

Others don't understand Li Baoxin.

He knows it all too well.

Li Baoxin had only one daughter, and he married a man who moved into his wife's family home. His daughter then gave birth to another daughter.

This granddaughter is the apple of Li Baoxin's eye.

The old man had long regarded Li Yanting as his grandson-in-law, and he estimated that once Li Yanting passed the imperial examination, he would arrange for someone to force Li Yanting to come and propose marriage.

It would have been better if I hadn't pointed out that "Li Yanting might be attracted to this woman's looks."

Once it's pointed out.

Old Village Chief is no pushover.

Was that precious tree in the yard planted for nothing?

As expected, the white-bearded man's expression calmed down. He stroked his beard, lowered his eyes, and said, "What Ningwa said actually makes some sense. As the saying goes, 'Public opinion is a fearsome thing.'"

The old man carefully chose his words.

Li Yanting was somewhat exasperated. He clasped his hands in a fist salute and said, "Uncle! I, Li Yanting, am well-versed in the classics. How could I do such a despicable thing! The saying goes, 'Seeing one's own heart reveals one's true nature; seeing a Buddha's heart reveals a Buddha's heart, seeing a ghost's heart reveals a ghost's heart.' This Ning the Demon is spouting nonsense, judging a gentleman by the standards of a petty person! If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext! I beg you, Uncle, not to listen to slander and to stand up for your nephew!"

Li Baoxin had a headache. His grand-nephew's words were more difficult to understand than the opera scripts of Hangezhuang, but he understood the meaning: he didn't want to sever ties with the woman he had rescued.

He sighed, helped the hunched-over student up, who wiped away a tear and turned his head away.

"Tsk tsk, look, it's clearly a good thing, a wonderful thing that our Tingwa did to save someone, how did it turn out like this?"

"Wouldn't it be even better if they got married?" Ning Nan retorted, sticking out his neck.

Li Baoxin was furious and raised his hand as if to hit him, but when he saw that the big guy deliberately raised his head, he gave up. Ning Nan was a boy that Widow Ning doted on, so she didn't dare to lay a hand on him. She had beaten him since he was a child, but it was no use and he couldn't get on the right path.

"Well then," the old villager said, looking at the aggrieved young scholar, "Yanting, tell your uncle the truth: how do you feel about the woman you rescued? If you're truly interested in her, once we find her family, your uncle will personally go and propose marriage on your behalf. What do you think?"

The eyes of everyone outside the door lit up immediately.

"Uncle—" Li Yanting said in grief and indignation, "I've already said it! I was only acting out of the teachings of the sages! I was simply saving a person with a clear conscience, and it had nothing to do with personal feelings! Besides, that woman's life is still uncertain, and Doctor Jiang is doing his best to treat her! The Master once said..."

"Okay, okay!" Li Baoxin quickly pressed his hand down to stop.

"Oh dear!"

Li Yanting stomped his foot.

"In that case, I will make the decision," the old village chief said in a deep voice.

"Tingwa, you and the woman you rescued should become sworn sisters."

Li Yanting's eyes widened.

"Reputation".

Li Baoxin uttered two words and pressed down on Li Yanting.

Great defense for men and women.

You brought the person back in front of everyone.

You carried her back to your own house, even if you carried her back to Yang Qiniang's house or the house of one of your other widowed sisters-in-law, it wouldn't matter.

But you brought her home by chance, and you happen to be an orphan. Otherwise, at least your own mother could take care of her.

You may not care about your own reputation, but you can't be indifferent to a woman's reputation, can you?

After understanding, Li Yanting was momentarily dejected, but he immediately perked up and waved his hand impatiently, saying "Okay, okay, okay." It seemed that he really didn't have any intention of coveting the other person's beauty. He was just eager to save her and didn't care about the details, so he directly carried her home. Only now did he realize that something was wrong, so he was impatient and wanted to resolve the matter quickly.

"Sign and put your fingerprint on it." With the mindset of killing the snake, Ning Da pressed his advantage.

There happened to be writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones in the main room.

Ning Nan was worried that this studious boy would write the oath himself, fearing that the boy might leave some loopholes, so he volunteered to write it himself.

"You can write?" Li Baoxin asked, somewhat skeptical.

Li Yanting had heard Mr. Han mention Ning Nan's calligraphy a few times, saying that it was quite good.

Brush brush!

Ning the Demon Lord was too lazy to pay attention to them and just wanted to finalize the matter as soon as possible. He wrote a vow on the precious porcelain blue paper of the Reading Seed. The latter felt a little heartache. This paper was a gift from the young master of the Han family in Hangezhuang and was originally intended for writing poetry.

The oath was very simple. It stated that, witnessed by all the relatives in Li Family Village, Li Yanting and this woman became sworn brothers. Although he did not know the woman's name, Ning Nan specifically mentioned the date, time, and place where he rescued her and where she was taken back to.

In any case, the woman suffered from amnesia after waking up and did not know her own name. Since it was written down clearly, there was no possibility that Li Yanting would take advantage of the situation in the future.

"Wow, Ningwa can really write!" An auntie peeked over and exclaimed.

"Yes, she can write. Aunt Ning praised her to me, but I didn't believe her at the time."

"Wow, Ningwa's handwriting is so good!"

"Impressive, isn't it? My brother's handwriting is amazing..." Li Sanzhuang hesitated, trying to speak in a refined manner like a bookworm, but he just couldn't get the words out.

"That's really dark!" Li Erlai said smugly, having saved San Zhuang.

"Yes, yes! Wow! It's so dark!"

Li Baoxin stared at the words Ning Nan had written with some suspicion.

He doesn't know many characters.

I glanced at Li Yanting.

"Tingwa, what do you think?"

Li Yanting was somewhat stunned.

He noticed that this character was exactly the same as the one Mr. Han had been practicing recently.

"Oh, it's not bad."

"I'm not asking if you can do it or not!" Old Village Chief glared at you. "I'm asking if Ningwa's handwriting is correct, isn't that what I mean?"

"More or less," Li Yanting said, turning his gaze away and nodding his chin. "That's fine then."

Three copies.

Li Yanting signed each document.

Then, Li Baoxin, Yang Qiniang, and Uncle Jiu, as witnesses, also signed their names.

"This woman's reputation has been preserved!" Li Baoxin put away one copy, gave the other to Uncle Jiu, and kept one copy for himself.

The woman's reputation, the reputation of Lijia Village, and the reputation of the students have all been preserved. What a fortunate and wonderful thing!

"Yanting, a fine man!" Old Village Chief patted him on the shoulder.

Li Yanting reluctantly cupped his hands in a gesture of respect.

While everyone was praising the bookworm, Ning Nan curled his lip and went into the inner room. The seriously injured woman was lying on the bed with her eyes closed and her face pale.