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

Ning Nan sat on a small bamboo stool and poked at the firewood.

At this moment, a gaunt old man dressed in brocade robes, followed by several servants and maids, came running over.

The group hurried along, panting heavily.

"master……"

The old man cried out twice, wiped the tears from his eyes, and hurriedly led his men to kneel down and kowtow, saying, "Master has suffered, Master has suffered..."

Tap tap tap, Zhu Qingmian walked over a few steps and called out, "Get up, get up, get up quickly!" She looked at the thin old man, her eyes shining, and said, "My cousin is here?"

"They're here!" the old man said, getting up. "The young master has arrived in Chuzhou. He has prepared a large sedan chair for his master, carried by twenty men, and is also preparing a lot of clothes, food, and other necessities for his master."

"This servant will escort you away immediately, Master. The guards from the manor have also arrived. Please rest assured, Master, we will be in the city in a little over an hour by galloping on horseback..."

"Go..." Zhu Qingmian was taken aback. In the darkness, she flicked her long black braid, which was covered by a melon-shaped hat, and looked at the man whose face was reflected in the firelight.

Ning Nan smiled and said, "Miss Zhu, please rest assured. If anything happens, you may leave first. As I am part of the delegation, nothing will happen to me."

His tone was gentle.

He was extremely grateful for the princess's protection... It was expected that someone from the Northern Dynasty wanted to ambush and kill him.

Otherwise, would those so-called "Iron-Capped Princes" still have any face left?

It's terrifying that there's none... This shows that the entire Qing Dynasty was completely and utterly united, with no one left who outwardly complied but inwardly defied it.

He, along with his brother-in-law and Cui Cui's wife, had made preparations for some possible scenarios in advance.

The seventeenth princess's protection was completely unexpected.

A few stars shone in the sky, and a chilly wind blew from the north, causing everyone present to tighten their robes and shrink their necks.

The gaunt old man glanced at his master, then at the young man sitting and gathering firewood, his eyes narrowing slightly as he smiled kindly:

"Master, who is this young master...?"

Zhu Qingmian retorted angrily, "It's none of your business!"

The gaunt old man immediately shut his mouth and lowered his head.

The night wind made her dark green mandarin jacket flutter, and Zhu Qingmian bit her lip.

If my cousin comes from Beijing, he must have brought news from my mother.

Having not seen her mother for so long, she wished she could fly to Chuzhou right now to ask her mother about her situation in person.

But as soon as she left... the Northern Dynasty princess looked at the young man who was making her some kind of "beggar's chicken" with a complicated expression... the members of the delegation, including Jige, were alright.

But she really couldn't control the other servants after she left.

Hesitated for a moment.

The seventeenth princess, whose beauty inherited from the concubine Nian in the capital, gritted her teeth and said:

"Hey, do you still have that jade pendant I gave you before?"

Ning Nan was taken aback.

He then lowered his head, took out a purse from his pocket, and took out the piece of mutton fat jade that the other party had given him several months ago.

The front is decorated with dragons and phoenixes, while the back is engraved with several characters written in Manchu script.

Ning Nan himself felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at the jade pendant.

He had previously hit Hong Jiao, and the other party, fearing retaliation from Hong Jiao, pretended to know a "nobleman of the Northern Dynasty" and gave him this jade pendant.

However, things turned out strangely afterward. Hong Jiao never took revenge, which was a waste of all the preparations he had made.

Looking back now, it must have been this princess who warned Hongjiao.

Seeing that the man was carrying the jade pendant, Zhu Qingmian glanced smugly at the female Taoist priest on the other side of the fire.

But that stinky Taoist nun surnamed Xu was currently meditating with her eyes closed, and the Seventeenth Princess, whose eyes were meant to be seen by a blind man, couldn't help but feel annoyed. She glanced over and snorted:

"Just take it with you... If anyone makes things difficult for you, just show them this jade pendant. My uncle gave it to me, and everyone in Beijing knows it's the only one. Don't misunderstand."

Her face flushed slightly, but under the cover of night, no one else could tell except herself that her face was burning.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."

Hmm... she thought to herself... I just wanted to thank him for saving my life.

The man who married that hateful woman... Hmph... Who cares...

Thinking this way, her flushed face slowly cooled down as the cold wind blew.

Ning Nan felt a warmth in his heart, cupped his hands in thanks, and said with a smile, "I thank Miss Zhu very much."

Done.

Miss Zhu sat back down on the small stool, resting her chin on her hands and her elbows on her knees.

Everyone present was stunned.

Ning Nan was also stunned; he thought the other person was about to leave.

"I'm leaving," she said, nudging the fire with her head. "Hurry up and make that beggar's chicken you were talking about... hurry, hurry, hurry..."

……

A magnificent carriage pulled by four horses sped away, heading straight for Chuzhou City.

Ningnan roasted four beggar's chickens, and the other party wrapped one in a cloth and took it away.

He ate half of it himself, and gave the rest to Sanzhuang and Erlaizi.

The night wind howled.

The simple barracks have been set up.

His tent was lined with thick furs as a bed.

Sitting in the tent with an oil lamp lit, Master Ning pulled over a box and used it as a table.

About ten sheets of paper were laid on top.

The paper was covered with densely packed, tiny characters.

He frowned, slowly sorting out the possible situations he might encounter on his journey north and south, as well as the preparations he, his brother-in-law, and Cui Cui's wife had made.

If the people of the Northern Dynasty wanted to kill him legitimately while ensuring the alliance between the North and the South, after much consideration, there were three most likely scenarios.

The first option is naturally to impersonate a bandit or rebel and ambush him.

This is the most likely possibility. For the Iron-Capped Kings, to maintain their dignity and establish their authority, this is the best way to do it. The whole world knows he did it, but as long as they frame the bandits, and the Liang dynasty can't produce evidence, there won't be any problem.

The second type is framing or falsely accusing someone.

Using the pretext that "your envoy has violated our laws," they forcibly detained him.

This is something the emperor's faction might do, leaving room for maneuver in both the north and south, and also appeasing the hereditary princes. They themselves are also a card in the other side's hand.

The third type… thump, thump, thump, Master Ning frowned, stretched out his finger, and tapped on the wooden box… This is the most difficult one…