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

The tea was still pre-Qingming tea, very fragrant. Uncle Donghu's tea-brewing skills were also excellent. Just for this tea, Ningnan felt that it was not excessive for Shangguan Xiu to give Uncle Donghu two taels of silver.

It was just past dawn, and a few rays of sunlight shone on the low wooden table in the courtyard.

The morning mist gradually dissipated, and the temperature in the air rose slowly and steadily.

Every now and then, a few farmers would pass by on the road, casting curious glances at them. Ning Nan would turn his head to the side, and the farmers would immediately look away. He would pretend nothing was wrong and continue to herd the cattle.

Nanjing City is about sixty miles away from Lijia Village, but Shangguan Xiu appeared in Lijia Village so early. Ning Nan asked him curiously how he got here.

Shangguan Xiu smiled and said that he had actually come over last night, but it was too late to bother him, so he stayed at Li Sanjin's house.

Ning Nan nodded, covered the teacup with her warm palm, and remained silent for a moment.

The handcuff blueprints weren't kept secret; they were given to the other party without reservation last time.

The fact that the other party is being so attentive this time is definitely not because of the blueprints; they probably feel guilty.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Shangguan." Ning Nan smiled and thanked him. "It seems that the household registration matter is quite difficult to handle."

Only when things are very difficult will the other party have such a weak expression. It's not their fault, after all, it was my fault for asking them to do something they didn't want to do. The other party originally only planned to pay money to buy the blueprints. Among the social classes of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, artisans seem to be ranked third, but in reality, they have a low status and are ranked last, since artisans are not as wealthy as merchants.

It's quite good that the other party has some awareness of copyright and knows to buy the blueprints from him.

Shangguan Xiu's expression froze. He didn't know how to explain that he had messed things up, but he didn't expect the other party to put it so bluntly without blaming or mocking him.

He immediately looked somewhat apologetic: "Well, Brother Ning, it's like this, it's not that it's difficult to handle, it's just that the imperial court, you may not know, its official documents are cumbersome, many things are not impossible to do, but rather take a long time to complete..."

After considering it for a moment, Shangguan Xiu gave a timeframe: "Next month." He smiled and said, "Next month, I guarantee I'll get this done for Brother Ning."

Next month, his father, the Marquis of Zhenguo, will hold a grand banquet to elevate his mother, Lady Jia, from a concubine to his principal wife. At the same time, His Majesty will bestow upon his mother the title of First-Rank Lady, and he will soon be transformed from a son of a concubine to a son of the principal wife, receiving imperial favor and being granted a nominal title of Third-Rank, such as Silver-Blue Grand Master of the Palace, and receiving a salary from the imperial court.

At that time, even with Prime Minister Qin's decree that "Southerners should return to the South and Northerners to the North," the people in the county government would naturally rack their brains to find a way to make the Ning family no longer "Northerners."

Ning Nan smiled and said, "Thank you, Brother Shangguan." His smile was much fainter than the tea in his cup, but his tone was very polite.

Shangguan Xiu smiled politely, and then the two chatted for a few more minutes. Ning Nan was in a hurry to find Li Baoxin to get his travel permit, so he took his leave directly. Shangguan Xiu quickly got up to see him off, his face relaxed, as if he had finally unloaded a burden.

Li Baoxin's house was located on the south side of the village, a three-courtyard dwelling. It was far inferior to Old Master Li's house, but much better than the average villager's.

To Ning Nan's surprise, obtaining the travel permit from Li Baoxin went quite smoothly this time, and he quickly signed the document. However, Li Baoxin still glared at him: "Once you enter Nanjing, you are not allowed to commit any crimes! You are not allowed to be disrespectful to superiors! You are not allowed to offend any important people! Do you understand?"

Ning Nan casually replied, "Okay, okay," and reached out to ask for a bright yellow road permit.

Li Baoxin slapped the travel permit into his hand, hesitated for a moment with his head down, then suddenly looked up, his wrinkles deeper than the bark of an old locust tree: "Also, once you enter Nanjing, if you encounter anyone from the Marquis of Jingbei's residence, even a servant, you must avoid them, understand?"

"The Marquis of Jingbei?" Ning Nan frowned. "What does this have to do with him?"

"Don't ask so many questions, you idiot!" Li Baoxin glared at Ning Nan, seemingly afraid that Ning Nan would be stubborn, and added, "Our Li Family Village has offended someone..."

"Tch!" Ning Nan scoffed. What ability did Li Family Village have to offend the Marquis?

But they didn't press the matter further, too lazy to ask, and simply said, "Okay, okay, fine."

Before leaving, Li Baoxin stroked his gray beard and asked indirectly, "Why did the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard come to see you again today?"

Ning Nan curled his lips, knowing that there was no way that old man Li Baoxin would give out the travel permit so readily today. It turned out that he was still afraid of Shangguan Xiuxiu.

"It's nothing. I helped him with a small favor last time, and he just happened to be passing by and wanted to thank me. We're not really friends."

He handed the travel permit to the man with the gray beard, saying, "Here, I'm not familiar with Shangguan Xiu, should I take the permit back?"

Li Baoxin's face immediately turned ashen. "Take it away! Take it away!" he shouted.

Ning Nan took a big step and stepped over the six-inch threshold of the village head's house.

The sun was high in the sky at noon.

Ning Nan did not forget his promise to Miss Zhu, the "reading seed family," and cooked her a new dish.

I should have done it yesterday, but I was too tired yesterday, so I only asked Li Xing to deliver a dish to Miss Zhu in the evening.

"You finally remembered me..." The woman, with an elaborate and elegant hairstyle and wearing a white silk dress, sat in the main room and said resentfully.

Ning Nan placed the cooked braised goose in an iron pot on the table and chuckled awkwardly.

"Busy...busy..."

Yang Qiniang served the woman rice and carefully handed her chopsticks, her smile somewhat ingratiating, like a wet nurse.

Miss Zhu raised her eyebrows and gestured, and Ning Nan quickly lifted the wooden pot lid.

In an instant.

Steaming hot and fragrant, Miss Zhu glanced at the pot and took a satisfied sniff.

Goose, cabbage, braised vegetables, green beans, and vermicelli made from mung beans and rice by Ningnan are stewed together in an iron pot for half an hour, resulting in an incredibly delicious flavor.

It's a pity.

Without potatoes, it lacks a certain aroma.

Miss Zhu twitched her nostrils, picked up her chopsticks, grabbed a piece of vermicelli she hadn't seen before, slurped it into her mouth, and made a satisfied "Mmm mmm mmm" sound.

"A reward!" After taking the first bite, a smug smile appeared on her fair face, and her voice was as clear as a canary perched on a branch.

"Eh—" Yang Qiniang responded in a drawn-out voice.

She took out a delicate little cloth bag from her bosom, opened it, took out a silver bean, and handed it to Ning Nan.

Ning Nan's eyes widened.

"Where did it come from?"

Is Li Yanting really that rich?

"It's not my brother's money." Miss Zhu tilted her chin up, pointing her slender, pale finger at herself. "It's my money."

Yang Qiniang's face was wrinkled as if it had blossomed, "It's Miss's money!" she echoed.

Ning Nan took a breath, picked up the silver bean and looked at it. It was round and plump, about three or four coins in size, and the design was exquisite.

It really doesn't look like Li Yanting's.

Yang Qiniang said that Li Yanting had gone to Hangezhuang to study these past few days. Before he left, he gave her enough money to take care of Miss Zhu.

However, Yin Douzi had nothing to do with Li Yanting. It was Miss Zhu who remembered something and realized that she had dropped a money bag somewhere and went to pick it up yesterday.

Yang Qiniang received three silver beans and has now become Miss Zhu's devoted maid.

"The one surnamed Ning,"

As Miss Zhu picked up a piece of cabbage, she said casually, "How about it? I, Zhu Qingmian, didn't lie to you before, did I? I'm very rich... If you work as my cook for the rest of your life, you won't lose out..." She blew on a piece of cabbage as she spoke.

As they talked...

Miss Zhu counted on her fingers again, "About twenty more days," she said, tapping her chin, "I should regain my memory in about twenty days, and then I'll take you home."

Ning Nan's expression was somewhat blank and confused. He was still immersed in the shock of Miss Zhu's wealth. He didn't expect that the other party would casually drop a small cloth bag containing a bag of silver beans!

During lunch.

Zhu Qingmian glanced at Ning Nan with her brown eyes. Seeing his astonished expression, her smile widened. Her gaze moved and finally settled on the hand holding the silver bean.

She remembered that when she opened her eyes that day, the hand she was holding was this warm and strong palm.