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

Inside the Qianqing Palace, red charcoal burns in the bronze incense burner with animal patterns at the four corners. It is smokeless and odorless, but it warms the hall like spring.

Upon hearing the words of the reserved new palace maid, Zhu Cui smiled and put down her pen.

She bent her fair fingers, rubbed her slightly sore eyes, and nodded.

Just as she was about to get up, she saw the fox fur hat on the table and paused again.

He reached out and picked up the fox fur hat that the young doctor had asked the Imperial Guards to bring him. It was somewhat heavy, soft, and thick.

Her Majesty the Empress of Daliang was wearing a bright red round-necked dragon robe, and since she wasn't wearing a crown, she took this hat and put it on.

After wearing it on my head, it held down my hair, the size was just right, and it was indeed warm.

After a while, her eyes widened, she raised her hand and gently wiped it, muttering a few words to herself.

"Hmm... how could it have only been two days..." She had a feeling that the other person had been gone for a very long time and was about to come back.

The imperial kitchen prepared many dishes for her at noon, and after tasting a few, she felt nauseous.

Chunyu quickly peeled an orange for Her Majesty the Empress:

"Your Majesty, the old lady said that you should sleep more now that you're pregnant, and not overwork yourself... She also said that she wants to cook for you, but she's afraid her cooking won't be as good as the imperial kitchen's..."

Zhu Cuiwei's face was a little pale. After eating a few slices of orange and recovering for a while, she smiled and said:

"Go and tell the old lady... from now on I'll only eat her cooking... um, remember to have Chef Xu help out, so the old lady doesn't get too tired..."

Chunyu smiled and quickly nodded her little head.

We've had lunch.

As always, Zhang Qi, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, waited obediently in the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Cuiwei picked up the letter from the young doctor, intending to hand it to Zhang Qi and order him to send someone to copy out the young doctor's complete strategy.

Her fair right hand paused, she pursed her pink lips, and her expression turned somewhat helpless.

The young doctor's letter contained many private words, and after thinking about it, she decided it was not appropriate to show it to outsiders.

So he copied down a strategy himself and handed the copy to Zhang Qie.

"Send someone to make a few more copies, then go and invite Grand Secretary Gao, Grand Secretary Li, the Minister of Revenue, the Minister of Works, the Minister of War..."

She thought for a moment and continued:

"Also, there is Vice Minister Sun Chengshan of the Ministry of Revenue, Censor Liu Zhi, and Director Chen Yuezhi of the Ministry of Personnel... who will enter the hall to discuss matters... and let them review the strategy."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Zhang Qi respectfully accepted the paper with both hands.

……

……

The thirteenth day of the first lunar month, at Shen time (3-5 PM).

As the sun hung high above the distant mountains, the massive delegations from both countries, like dragons, leaped out of the north gate of Jiangpu City and continued their journey.

Ning Nan rode on his white horse and looked back at the city gate of Jiangpu City behind him.

After passing through this tall city gate, and walking another twenty or thirty miles, they could say they had reached the territory of the Northern Dynasty.

For the first time in his life, crossing the river and leaving the Great Liang Dynasty, Master Ning silently turned his head and looked ahead.

The Northern Dynasty delegation of over two hundred people was in front.

The more than three hundred members of the Southern Dynasty delegation followed behind, forming a long line on the winding official road.

At the head of the Southern Dynasty delegation, thirty horsemen led the way, carrying various colored banners.

Behind them followed Prince Jing's two-horse carriage. The carriage was painted vermilion, exuding majesty and elegance.

Following them were the deputy envoy, Jia Shi'an, and the Southern Dynasty officials of various ranks who had accompanied the mission, totaling more than twenty people, traveling in about ten carriages.

On each of their flanks, there were about thirty riders protecting them.

Behind the group of mission leaders were fifty heavily armored infantrymen.

Following the armored infantry were about 150 civilian laborers, driving mules and horses.

As for Master Ning, who was accompanied by twenty Imperial Guards and ten servants, he lagged behind at the end of the delegation.

They rode more than thirty horsemen, following behind the laborers, and walked slowly with their reins in hand.

However, their group today also included about a dozen incongruous figures wearing traditional Chinese jackets.

A dozen or so Northern Dynasty guards, each wearing a black riding jacket, rode behind a young man in a dark green riding jacket, occasionally glaring angrily at the Southern Dynasty men beside them.

The Imperial Guards and their servants naturally didn't treat these Northern Dynasty people well either.

Tensions were high between the two sides.

However, since their owners were riding side by side, they naturally wouldn't fight.

"Phew..." Master Ning sighed.

He glanced at Zhu Qingmian, the young master, who was riding a large black horse beside him.

Young Master Zhu had a cold expression and red eyes.

He was clearly still angry.

Ning Nan looked somewhat embarrassed and said, "Young Master Zhu... I'm sorry, I was wrong at noon."

Zhu Qingmian, disguised as a man, ignored him, her watery eyes fixed on the line ahead, her eyes still red-rimmed.

She pouted, and her originally indifferent face now looked somewhat aggrieved.

Ning Nan held the reins of the white horse, glanced at her, and when he saw that she ignored him, his expression became complicated.

This morning, the other person came to ask him to have breakfast together.

After breakfast, she asked him to accompany her to stroll through the market in Jiangpu City, but he said, "I have some urgent business to attend to."

The other party said, "Not going? Humph! Then I'll say that the Southern Dynasty's deputy envoy bullied the Seventeenth Princess."

Upon hearing this, Master Ning was left speechless with frustration.

The other party wandered around, and when they came to a restaurant, she asked him to have lunch together. Xu Xiyin, who had been following her, finally couldn't hold back and said a few words, which led to an argument.

Xu Xiyin was cold and sharp-tongued, which made the seventeenth princess cry and run away.

Until just now.

As the delegation was about to leave Jiangpu City, the Northern Dynasty princess rode up on her horse and followed, but she did not speak to him.

Ning Nan sighed inwardly, thinking that if the other party were not a princess from the Northern Dynasty, the two of them could probably be friends.

He opened a restaurant, and when the other party came to patronize it, he personally cooked, and the princess generously rewarded him with silver...

but……

Sooner or later, he would have to fight the Northern Dynasty, and even destroy it... The Northern Dynasty naturally wanted to destroy the Southern Dynasty as well, so it was not advisable to have a close relationship with them.

"Pah! Who would even look at you?!"

At that moment, the woman wearing a melon-shaped hat suddenly cursed.

Ning Nan quickly replied with a smile, "Yes..."

Zhu Qingmian turned her head, her brows furrowed, and she said angrily:

"Believe it or not, if I hadn't been with you..."

She pointed.

"Whether it's Jige from the Plain Yellow Banner or Fan Xingwei, the lackey from the Bordered White Banner, which one of them wouldn't want to tear you apart?"

"besides,"

With a wave of her hand, she circled around the open fields on either side, cursing viciously in a clear, crisp voice.

"Do you even know that there's a troop of cavalry right now... humph! How many lives do you think you have?! You still dare to go on a mission? If it weren't for the fact that you saved my life, do you think I'd even bother with you? And you even let her insult me?"

As she continued to curse, her voice began to sound aggrieved.

Ning Nan also glanced angrily at the female Taoist priest Xu Xiyin on his right, but the female Taoist priest kept her eyes down, seemingly indifferent, and continued riding her horse without even glancing at him.

Master Ning could only helplessly turn his head and look at the princess on his left, saying:

"Master Xu wasn't insulting you..."

"You're not insulting me?"

Zhu Qingmian retorted loudly,

"What she said about you being a married man is an insult to me! What does it matter to me if you're married? What does she mean? You saved my life, and I thought you were a good cook, so I was worried you'd be killed by my servants and spared your life. Do you think I wanted to say another word to you? What's with this fake Taoist nun saying all this?"

Xu Xiyin immediately said:

"Firstly, I am not a fake Taoist nun. Secondly, the Seventeenth Princess has feelings for my young master, but he has no feelings for you. I am advising you for your own good."

Zhu Qingmian immediately erupted in anger, pointing at the Taoist nun and saying:

"Young master my foot! What does a top scholar like him need to be called a young master! You fake Taoist nun! I am the dignified Seventeenth Princess, what do I need...what do I need...Pah!"

She wanted to say "You can have any man you want," but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead, she got so angry that her face turned red and she started cursing.

They hurled insults like "fake Taoist nun," "judging others by one's own standards," and "shameless."

Xu Xiyin had cultivated Taoism for many years and her mind was already as still as water.

Enraged by Zhu Qingmian's rebuke, she was so angry that her three internal organs throbbed and her lips trembled. She could only silently recite the Taoist Heart-Cleansing Mantra in her heart, looking for an opportunity to refute him.

"Don't let your throat become hoarse..." Master Ning looked at Zhu Qingmian, whose face was flushed, and felt a headache coming on.

While he was in prison at the Zongren Temple, Cui Cui's wife had sneered at him, saying that this Miss Zhu Qingmian had some feelings for him back then, but she didn't know if she still did.

He scoffed.

Back then in Lijia Village, he was an unregistered resident who had difficulty finding a wife. He thought the other party was the real "Miss Zhu" and used all his tricks to get her to treat him as her "exclusive chef".

Forget about feelings; this is just Cui Cui trying to glorify herself. Replacing the illusion that "she likes me" with "she likes my husband"—isn't that still an illusion?