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

confusion.

noisy.

Shock.

From silence to madness.

The entire golden palace was completed in just one breath.

"presumptuous!"

"stop!"

"Madman! Audacious madman!"

"Let go! Let go now!..."

"Help! Help!"

The moment the figure in white grabbed the neck of the melon-shaped hat, the high-ranking officials in front of the hall reacted in unison, gripping their tablets tightly and roaring loudly!

Bai Chang pressed down on the head of the mandarin jacket with red and yellow stripes, and slammed it against the golden dragon pillar on the left like a dead dog!

The Grand Secretary Li Xiangsong on the right was shocked and cried out, "Stop, Scholar!"

Zheng Yu, the Minister of Personnel, narrowed his eyes. Sun Chengshan, the Vice Minister of Revenue, strode forward, reached out, and tried to grab the man's sleeve, but missed.

"Bang!"

Before anyone could react.

With his blood boiling, Master Ning strode to the golden pillar and slammed his head, adorned with a melon-shaped hat, against it... The golden pillar was stained with blood...

As blood spurted out, the top scholar, who had committed the murder in the Golden Palace, bulged his arm muscles and pulled back again, wanting to ram the man a second time to make sure he was dead...

On the left, Grand Secretary Gao Congzhe strode over, his beard trembling, and swung his ceremonial tablet, shouting, "How dare you!"

Although Minister of War Luan Zongyuan was not skilled in martial arts, he had grown up in a peasant family. At this moment, he also roared, "Are you out of your mind to commit violence in the imperial palace?!"

The nearly sixty-year-old man suddenly kicked!

The kick landed on the figure in white!

Ning Nan felt a sharp pain in his lower back, but his legs remained motionless. His eyes were extremely fierce, and the hand gripping Hong Feng's neck tightened even more instantly.

Zhao Silang, the Vice Minister of Rites, turned ashen-faced and quickly retreated.

Cao Du, the Vice Minister of Works, shouted "You scoundrel!" and ran over to hug the man in the melon-shaped hat around the waist.

Ning Nan raised his left hand and used his arm to block the scepter that Gao Congzhe was throwing, ignoring Luan Zongyuan's next kick.

He simply raised his foot and kicked Cao Du, who was hugging the Tartar's waist.

"hiss!"

Cao Du was terrified and quickly dodged to the right, avoiding the kick. He rolled to the ground and stretched out his hands to tightly hug the prince's legs...

"Stop...stop...stop immediately..."

"The Great Han General has arrived..."

"Brother Ning... Brother Bai Xuan..."

"Ningnan! Stop!"

"Do not make a grave mistake..."

Inside the Golden Hall, footsteps, shouts, roars, breathing... all sorts of sounds mingled together.

Just then, thump thump thump! A series of hurried running sounds came from nearby.

At the same time, clang clang clang clang!

The sound of swords being drawn filled the air.

The burly generals in golden armor stationed outside the main hall had all drawn their swords and were heading straight for this madman who dared to commit violence in the golden hall!

"This is outrageous!"

A golden-armored general, his beard and hair bristling, roared as he gave his orders.

"Cut off one of his hands first!"

People kept rushing towards him from all sides.

He blocked with his left hand.

Kick it away with both feet.

A flash of golden light, and a cold-faced, golden-armored giant suddenly appeared before him, thrusting his long sword toward his chest!

"Come on!" The enraged top scholar shouted at the sword, his face flushed red.

Just then, a red shadow flashed by...

"Sizzle..."

The soft sound of swords cutting into flesh rang out.

The tip of the sword stopped about three inches from Ning Nan's eyes.

Blood blossoms also bloomed here.

The smell of blood reached his nose.

Ning Nan's eyes widened in surprise.

About three inches in front of him, a familiar, small, fair hand gripped the sharp tip of the sword tightly.

His breath hitched.

He mechanically tilted his head to look.

The woman was wearing a bright red round-necked dragon robe, and the twelve-tassel crown on her head had fallen off somewhere. Her long black hair was loose, and she did not appear to have any majesty. She stretched out one hand and blocked the sword that was about to take his life.

Her lips were slightly parted, devoid of color, and she stared blankly at him with eyes that were filled with countless tears...

……

……

Yongshou Palace.

The Empress Dowager sat at the head of the table, holding a steaming stove in her hand.

Even though there was an underground heating system inside the hall, she was still afraid of the cold, and even had the feeling that she was getting colder year by year.

To her left.

King Anfeng sat calmly in the first position on the left, while King Weinan sat in the second position on the left.

Inside the hall, a dozen or so members of the imperial clan sat quietly, awaiting whether Hongfeng's marriage proposal would be successful.

"I have always been good at judging people, so you can all rest assured."

The elderly Prince of Weinan sat peacefully in the grand chair prepared for him by the Empress Dowager, draped with an expensive Western Region blanket, while a maid massaged his shoulders.

Prince Anfeng, leaning on a chair, looked worried and shook his head, saying:

"You can't feel at ease until things are implemented."

Opposite him, a middle-aged man in a python robe sat in a chair, a maid massaging his shoulders. Upon hearing Anfeng's words, he smiled and said:

"Fourth Uncle, there's nothing to worry about... Scholars are all incredibly pedantic. With loyalty and filial piety already on their minds, what else could he not understand?"

Another person scoffed, "I heard he's just a farmer in the village, right? He was just found by the Marquis of Jingbei, but we don't know if that's true or not. Even if it is, he's just a grand-nephew. It's only because Ning Changling committed too many murders that he lost his good fortune, leaving him childless and grandchildren, that he got a lucky break."

A slightly plump old man chuckled, "Whether it's truly the grand-nephew of the Marquis of Jingbei, or something arranged by the Emperor himself, remains to be seen..."

Anfeng Wang's voice was a little hoarse as he shook his head and said, "No matter what, this person's talent cannot be faked. He does have the talent of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations)."

"Ahem." The King of Weinan, his face wrinkled like tree bark, coughed as he lay on his recliner and said, "Well done, scholar. The more books a scholar reads, the more stubborn he becomes, a bookworm indeed." The others chuckled as well.

The Empress Dowager, seated at the head of the table, sighed and said, "It's just that poor Cuiwei has suffered..."

The Prince of Weinan shook his head and said, "What's there for her to suffer about... Didn't the Emperor also take that Tartar woman as his concubine before? It's the same thing."

He snorted again, "If I had known this child was so cold-hearted, we should have opposed it to the death last year when the Emperor Emeritus said he wanted to make her the Crown Prince! The country is in such turmoil, and she really wants to implement reforms? Things that even the Emperor Emeritus and the late Emperor dared not do, she dares to do?... She even wants to implement something like 'equalizing land tax and poll tax,' or 'gentry paying taxes together.' The Ministry of Revenue has already measured the land in the capital! So many people have come to us for help... Hmph... We should have... We should have... Prince Wu..."

When the word "reform" was mentioned, the crowd still showed a sense of shared indignation, but after the old man uttered the last two words, the room fell silent as everyone realized they had said something wrong. The King of Weinan himself also paused.

The Empress Dowager at the head of the table narrowed her eyes slightly.

The King of Wu... The King of Wu was her biological son.

His own son and grandson were both imprisoned in the Wu King's mansion, never to leave for the rest of their lives.

The Prince of Anfeng patted the Prince of Weinan's hand and said, "The Prince of Gui, the Prince of Tang, the Prince of Shu... have all submitted memorials to His Majesty, so let's not talk about them..."

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside.

"It must be Eunuch Xu returning!"

The people inside the hall immediately became excited and turned to look outside.

"Bang!"

The palace doors were suddenly kicked open with tremendous force!

A north wind, carrying snow, swept into the house, instantly chilling everyone to the bone and startling them.

"presumptuous!"

King Anfeng slammed his fist on the table and roared at the newcomer.

At this moment, outside the palace.

A figure clad in silver armor stood with his hand on his sword, exuding an elegant demeanor but with eyes as sharp as lightning.

Behind him, the sound of footsteps thundered as countless armored soldiers marched in. Everyone in the hall narrowed their eyes and swallowed hard.

After scanning the crowd in the hall with his eyes, the general calmly addressed them:

"Gentlemen, I am... General Fan Shiwei of the Brave Guard Battalion..."

"By order of the Emperor and His Majesty, we are to apprehend the remaining followers of the Prince of Wu's rebellion. We implore you gentlemen... not to resist!"