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

When Ning Nan entered his mother's room, he made eye contact with the woman on the bed.

She had a delicate oval face, a straight nose, and a pair of big, dark eyes. Her hair was loose, and she was covered with a new green floral quilt that her mother had made. Her complexion was pale and sickly, which made her even more beautiful, but also made her look pitiful. People hoped that she would get better soon. As he looked at the woman, she was also looking at him, remaining silent.

"Let me take your pulse." Ning Nan sat down on the bamboo chair by the bed and very naturally took the woman's hand out from under the covers. It was a little cool outside the covers, and she pulled her left hand back slightly.

Her wrists were slender and fair, and the veins on the back of her hands were visible. To be fair, these were the most beautiful hands he had ever seen, but her fingertips were covered with thick calluses, which indicated that she was used to doing rough work.

My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

The woman on the bed must be Miss Zhu's maid.

What rich girl would do manual labor?

"She's lucky to be alive," Ning Nan thought to himself.

"It's nothing serious, just get some rest. My mother will take care of you."

He pretended to touch the woman's wrist a few times before putting her hand back under the covers.

"Are you a doctor?" The woman's voice was weak and hoarse.

"Oh, I've learned a few tricks."

The country boy nodded.

The woman's eyelids were heavy. While thinking, she forced herself to stay awake and asked a few questions intermittently, such as where she was and how long she had been asleep.

Ning Nan gave a brief reply, but seemed uninterested.

"Are all the others dead?"

"Pretty much. When I passed by, you were the only one still breathing."

The woman lowered her eyes, asked no more questions, turned her head away, and slowly closed her eyes.

Ning Nan had initially thought the pretty maid was being a bit too talkative, but when she turned her head, he felt a little uncomfortable with the awkward silence in the room.

Ning Nan stood up, planning to wait until the other party had rested and felt better before asking her where Master Zhu's home was, so that she could make preparations in advance. If Li Yanting's luck was too strong and the path of becoming a live-in son-in-law with Miss Zhu was blocked, then she could go to the Zhu family to report her merits, rescue their only daughter, and ask for a household registration. That wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?

"By the way, my name is Ning Nan. What's your name? Otherwise, my mother won't know how to address you."

The woman's bloodless lips parted slightly, as if she were deep in thought, before she finally opened her eyes and said, "Zhu Cui..."

……micro.

"Zhu Cuicui, right? Okay. You rest first." Ning Nan waved his hand. "My mother stewed meat for lunch, but you can't eat it now, you can only have the soup."

After saying that, he gave a few more instructions, such as not to get up and not to strain his waist. Only after the woman agreed did the man nod and leave.

The woman, whose real name was Zhu Cuiwei, watched the departing figure and frowned slightly. As the Prince of Liang Xin, who was to take over his brother's mantle, pay homage to the ancestral temple, inherit the throne, and wield the divine weapon of the Liang Dynasty in three months, she felt that the present moment was somewhat absurd and she still found it hard to believe her current situation.

But the faint breath within her body, the powerless hands she could lift, and the dull pain in her abdomen all clearly told her that this was not a dream.

Attacked.

He was stabbed.

The person who stabbed him was a maid who had been with him for many years.

He was rescued again.

He woke up in a strange room, where a kind old woman was taking care of him. She said that her son had saved him and that her son was a country doctor.

Her abdomen was in a lot of pain. She had actually wanted to ask the man a question... who applied the herbal medicine to her, who changed her clothes, and especially... where did her undergarments go?

"It must have been his mother who changed it."

He and his mother were passing by and rescued me... Zhu Cuiwei recalled the man's words, her mind was hazy, and her head was a little sore. She tried her best not to think about so many things for the time being.

But a few images just wouldn't leave my mind.

A blurry figure pulled her out of the pile of corpses, tore open her clothes, and applied herbs to the wound on her abdomen. The alternating cool and warm sensation made her feel much better.

The figure picked her up again and ran without stopping.

Mountain path, forest, sunlight, flowing stream... The scene shifts, and the figure undresses her while muttering in her ear, "It's just a temporary measure, don't blame me, or we'll be tracked down." In the end, even her undergarments are removed. After changing her clothes, she opens her mouth and says she's thirsty. The figure then feeds her water, which is of unknown origin but tastes very sweet.

My body was cold, but the back of that figure was warm and cozy, just like the blankets I was in right now.

It must be his mother who will reward this woman properly after returning to the manor... The woman frowned, trying to pull the quilt up a bit, but she couldn't lift her hands. She could only shrink her body down until the quilt covered her mouth and her breath hit the quilt, and then she finally fell asleep peacefully.

The meat smells delicious.

The pork my mother bought from Erlai's house weighed a full half jin. Erlai's father gave her an extra two liang. Half a year ago, Ningnan was scouting in Yaoshan and accidentally found a few laurel leaves in the forest, which are the same as the laurel leaves in later generations. But this stuff is common in the Mediterranean region of Europe. In theory, it didn't exist in the ancient East. I wonder if it was seeds brought by birds that crossed the ocean, which benefited him.

From that day on.

Widow Ning's stewing skills are unique in the village. The meat stewed with bay leaves is several levels more fragrant than ordinary pork.

Zhu Cuiwei was brought up by the fragrance.

While Ning Nan was eating in the main room, she vaguely smelled a fragrance in her sleep.

My eyelids twitched.

When Widow Ning brought a bowl of meat soup into the room and called out "Cuicui," she woke up.

Widow Ning smiled and propped the woman's head up a little, saying that she couldn't go without eating and that the woman had to try her cooking.

When I was four years old, my mother passed away. After that, my elder brother took care of me. The last person I remember feeding me was my elder brother's tender little hand.

After the emperor ascended the throne at the age of nine, the brother and sister spent less and less time together.

Never thought.

Zhu Cuiwei was somewhat helpless that she would be fed by someone in her lifetime. She just wanted to recover quickly so she could return to the palace and find out who had tried to assassinate her.

The old woman scooped up a spoonful of soup with a wooden spoon and handed it to Zhu Cuiwei. Zhu Cuiwei gently opened her mouth, the soup steaming, with a few scallions floating in the spoon. As soon as she tasted it, the aroma of oil and a strange herbal fragrance filled her mouth, and her tongue immediately felt an unparalleled sense of satisfaction.

"It's delicious," she said to the woman, her throat warm.

I thought about it.

Two more words were added.

"Thanks."

Widow Ning raised her eyebrows: "Isn't it amazing? It's a secret recipe my son taught me."

A tinkling sound rang out from the main room.

Ning Nan burped, tidied up the dishes and chopsticks, and took them to the kitchen. He was at the age when he was growing, and he ate every last bit of meat.

"In a few days, Miss Zhu will survive an assassination attempt."

Ning Nan poured the boiled water into the bowls and chopsticks, picked up a loofah, dipped it in some wood ash, and began washing the dishes.

"In the original book, Li Yanting and Miss Zhu's marriage was already ruined, but the assassination attempt would not disappear. It was this assassination attempt that caused Li Yanting and Miss Zhu's relationship to heat up rapidly."

Ning Nan shrugged, feeling a little regretful. The book didn't specify the exact number of days, so he couldn't estimate it, but it should be three to five days from now.

Ning Nan immersed his hands in the hot water, muttering, "The 'hero saves the beauty' thing... isn't for you. Study hard, you bookworm."