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

……

Jingren Palace is one of the six eastern palaces of the imperial palace. It has a hipped roof with yellow glazed tiles and is decorated with dragon and phoenix paintings.

The Emperor Emeritus, who was seriously ill and had shown some improvement in the past few months but was still far from being fully recovered, continued to live in the western-facing warm pavilion.

The main hall, which was originally used to receive guests, is now empty.

When Ning Nan came out of the West Warm Pavilion, Sister Lychee, dressed in a red kimono and wearing a pearl and jade crown, came out to see him off.

As the sun set and white clouds drifted by, a not-so-bright, dark gold hue hung above the distant mountains.

In the chilly courtyard of Jingren Palace, a few withered yellow leaves fluttered in the air, and three or five eunuchs were sweeping the courtyard with brooms and dustpans.

Thanks to His Majesty, Lady Lychee, who was promoted from a lowly concubine to a noblewoman a month ago, bowed respectfully to Ning Nan and said with a smile:

"Regarding the penicillin ointment, although he didn't say much, he was very grateful to you... Grand Prince Consort Ning, I also thank you for saving the Emperor's life."

Lizhi's original surname was Guo, but she did not have a formal name. She only had a nickname, Lizhi, given to her by the Emperor Emeritus. When she was recorded in the Imperial Family Register, the Emperor Emeritus gave her the name "Guo Suhong".

Ning Nan quickly returned the greeting, saying, "Sister-in-law, you're too kind. Um... we're all family..."

While he was still in jail that morning, Cui Cui's wife told him that the former little maid, Li Zhi, was now his sister-in-law. She had originally been a talented woman, but she had been promoted to a noble woman.

Cui Cui's wife raised her eyebrows and said:

"My elder brother entrusted me with the task of posthumously honoring Lizhi as Empress after he and Lizhi pass away... But I insist on making Lizhi my elder brother's Empress while he and Lizhi are still alive."

Consort Guo, who would become the Empress Dowager sooner or later, smiled and said:

"If it weren't for your imprisonment this time, which worried that young doctor Jiang so much that he and the physician reported the matter of the penicillin ointment in an attempt to save your life, your brother and I would still be completely in the dark."

Having achieved her wish and successfully married the Emperor, Lady Lychee changed her somewhat boisterous personality, becoming much more gentle and dignified, truly befitting a "sister-in-law."

The once calm and diligent young lady, Prince Xin, has become somewhat girlish after marriage, sometimes acting spoiled and lazy in front of Master Ning.

Ning Nan also had a wry smile on his face.

He had only just learned that Doctor Jiang and her master had actually used penicillin to save his brother-in-law and even his own great-uncle. Hmm… these two medical sages, master and apprentice, are truly skilled and daring…

Several months ago, he had considered observing his brother-in-law for a period of time to rule out what illness his brother-in-law might have, and he dared not rashly use penicillin.

On the one hand, there was the fear of allergies; on the other hand, there was the fear that if the brother-in-law really had tuberculosis or something similar, penicillin wouldn't be very effective.

In other words, according to Cui Cui's wife, her brother-in-law's illness had never been transmitted to anyone else, and he felt that the possibility of tuberculosis was unlikely, which is why he dared to give it a try.

Otherwise, the brother-in-law himself might not dare to go out, lest he implicate others.

The doctor, whom I'd never met, and Doctor Jiang, on the night my brother-in-law fell seriously ill, tried anything, even penicillin, and managed to save him. He was both terrified and deeply grateful.

However, since it was effective, it's likely that my brother-in-law didn't have tuberculosis, but rather pneumonia caused by some kind of bacteria.

His medical knowledge was very rudimentary. It was only in recent years, thinking about saving Miss Zhu in the future, that he diligently tried his luck to obtain penicillin and identify some hemostatic and qi-nourishing herbs.

With the thermometer in place and the constant temperature conditions met, Dr. Jiang's large-scale production of penicillin would proceed much more smoothly, which greatly relieved him.

Lychee escorted him to the entrance of Jingren Palace.

The palace was very large, and Cui Cui's carriage came to Jingren Palace again to wait for him and take him back to Ning Mansion.

Upon exiting the Meridian Gate, Qian Sijin and the other Imperial Guards, who had already received orders, rode horses to protect the imperial carriage.

Master Ning greeted the Imperial Guard officer he hadn't seen for seven days. Qian Sijin, his eyes gleaming with excitement, lowered his voice and said:

"Young Master Ning...well done!"

The phrase "well done" naturally refers to his defeat of Hongfeng in the Golden Palace.

Ning Nan smiled, not dwelling on the matter, and instead asked, "Qian Xiaoqi, would you dare to travel north?"

Riding a white horse, Qian Sijin, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, was taken aback. Although he didn't know what Young Master Ning meant, he raised his eyebrows and immediately patted his chest, saying:

"What is there to be afraid of!"

Hearing Qian Xiaoqi's spirited reply, Ning Nan smiled and praised, "That's a real man!"

Among the Imperial Guards who had previously protected him, Qian Sijin was the head and Xu Cheng was the deputy.

Later, Xu Cheng was recruited by Qin Yuanyao.

The dark-skinned women not only conscripted Xu Cheng, but also several familiar faces from Ningnan.

He hadn't seen him for months, and he never asked too many questions, so he had no idea where Commander Qin had gone.

It wasn't until yesterday, when he was chatting with Cui Cui in prison, that he learned that the woman had actually led a group to Heilongjiang to investigate the true situation of the Luosha and the Northern Dynasty. Now that it's freezing cold, he wondered how their group was doing...

Sitting on the imperial carriage, Ning Nan lowered the curtain and looked at the crimson carriage curtain in front of him. He gritted his teeth slightly, and his eyes became somewhat heavy and gloomy.

Back at the Ning residence, the two maids, Chunyu and Qiumu, with red eyes, carried a brazier and helped Master Ning step over it.

Chunyu used a bright green branch that she had found somewhere to dab water on him and patted him all over while muttering incantations.

"...The master is blessed with good fortune and a long life... May the bad luck and misfortune be swept away, may the Bodhisattva protect you, and may evil spirits disappear..."

After the head maid of the Ning family finished her ritual in front of the side gate, the two maids stepped back and stood with about ten servants from the Ning family, led by Steward Wang.

The group bowed and said together:

"Greetings, Your Highness..."

Ning Nan immediately covered his forehead and took a deep breath...

……

"Master, I was terrified that day... Steward Wang brought us to hear the announcement of the top scholars, and you were the best! We were so happy... but then... we heard the news that you were imprisoned... We were terrified..."

"The Madam is not here either, but thankfully the Old Madam has arrived... The Marquis of Jingbei's residence also sent people over, so the Ning family finally has a master... A day later, the imperial court issued a proclamation... I heard that the Master has become the Grand Prince Consort..."

The maid's small mouth opened in an exaggerated shape.

"Our household is even more stunned... The master has become the imperial son-in-law... What about the madam? What will happen to her?... "

"Several palace maids came to the manor and took away the anxious Second Miss Qinghuan... Madam returned to the manor on New Year's Day... wearing a dragon robe... a dragon robe... our knees were sore from kneeling... we didn't dare to get up at all... it was only after Madam, um, His Majesty gave the order... that we dared to get up... our legs were so weak with fear..."

"Waaah... Master, you're finally back..."

"..."

As they walked towards the flower hall of the Ning Mansion, Chunyu, a young maid, accompanied him, chattering away. Qiumu and the cook, Xu, ran ahead to make him tea.

The somewhat aged Steward Wang hunched over and silently followed behind Master Ning.

Every now and then, Steward Wang would slightly lift his eyelids to glance at his master's back.