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

"Oh? Why would you think I'm from Li Family Village, brother?" Ning Nan asked, his expression unchanged, though somewhat surprised.

Both of them shared the surname Ning. Ning Er smiled and introduced himself by age. He was five years older than Ning Nan, so he addressed him as "Brother Ning, Little Ning." Ning Nan was also very respectful and addressed him as "Brother."

Before leaving Lijia Village.

Li Baoxin solemnly instructed him that if he encountered anyone from the Jingbei Marquis's residence in the capital, he should lower his head and walk around them.

Even a servant would have to avoid them. Ning Nan asked why, and the old man said that Li Family Village had offended the Marquis's Mansion in the past.

He found it both strange and funny, thinking that the old man was exaggerating and trying to make himself look good in this way.

But now, upon hearing the Second Young Master Ning of the Jingbei Marquis's Mansion speak, he immediately sensed that something was amiss.

Ning Erke is practically the heir to the Jingbei Marquis's mansion, so it's quite a surprise that someone like him would know about the Li Family Village in Hangezhuang.

The fact that they could accurately guess that he came from Lijia Village is definitely not a coincidence.

This old geezer Li Baoxin might not have been lying this time. Perhaps Li Family Village really did have some connection with that noble Marquis's mansion, and it was a negative one at that.

"Hehe, I'm ashamed to say it."

Ning Er gave a wry smile, picked up his teacup and gestured to Ning Nan, as if to say that he was using tea instead of wine.

"I've heard about this from my elders since I was a child. Back then, I wasn't the Marquis's adopted son yet... About twenty years ago, something happened in the countryside that caused chaos... At that time, some people from Lijia Village went to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor... Hmm, I think their name was Baoxin?" Ning Er frowned at Ning Nan in a questioning tone.

"Brother, I'm not from Li Family Village, I didn't know that... My surname is Ning, not Li." Ning Nan waved his hand with a smile.

"Oh..." Ning Er pretended to realize something, then lowered his head and chuckled awkwardly.

"I was being presumptuous... I just made a guess because there really was a family surnamed Ning in Li Family Village back then..."

"It's alright."

"Ah... Brother Ning, since you have nothing to do, how about I reminisce about that old case?"

Ning Nan slowly picked up his teacup, the steam rising and the aroma of tea filling the air. He took a small sip.

The tea at the Zhenguo Marquis's residence is much better than the Junshan tea I tasted at Yanchun Pavilion that day, but unfortunately I don't know its name... Of course, even if I did know, I still wouldn't be able to afford it.

He seemed to only want to drink tea, but seeing that Ning Er was in the mood to talk, he could only reluctantly cooperate. He smiled gently and said, "If you are in such a good mood, then I will listen."

Ning Er patted the folding fan happily, and after taking a few breaths, said in a warm and mellow voice, "Twenty years ago, my Jingbei Marquis's manor had a property downstream from Lijia Village. One day, two people fell into the water and drifted to the manor. When I, Ning Shi, rescued them, I found that they were already dead. But at that moment, Li Baoxin arrived with some people from his village. Seeing our manor's servants nearby, they insisted that our manor's people had strangled them..."

Ning Er said helplessly, "Later, it escalated to the point of bloodshed... The people from our village called in the government officials, and only then did things finally calm down... Later, Li Baoxin went to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor, accusing our Jingbei Marquis's mansion of disregarding human life. This caused quite a stir... At that time, my adoptive father, the Marquis of Jingbei, had just been granted a marquisate and had performed a great service to the country in the front-line military camp. For the sake of the overall situation, the late emperor suppressed the matter and sent Li Baoxin back..."

Ning Er shrugged and said with a wry smile, "Now, this matter has become an unsolved mystery, and my Ning family is in deep trouble, without even being exonerated... Sigh, if only this matter had been investigated and clarified back then..."

According to Ning Er, the Jingbei Marquis's manor was eventually sold off, and the matter gradually subsided in Nanjing.

After seeing Ning Er off.

Ning Nan went back to her room and thought about it for a long time, but she really couldn't recall anything.

It seems the village keeps this matter a closely guarded secret. The young people of yesteryear have grown into middle-aged or even elderly people, yet they still haven't let the next generation utter a single word about it.

"Ha, Li Baoxin was so fierce when he was young, he even filed a lawsuit against the emperor?" Ning Nan said with a smile.

The threshold of the side gate of the Marquis's mansion is nine inches high, and the gate is two zhang deep. Two stone lions stand at the entrance, majestic and imposing, each as tall as a person.

Above the side gate hangs a plaque with the four large characters "Purple Qi and Mysterious Shade". In terms of grandeur, the side gate of the Marquis's mansion is much taller than the main gate of many houses.

All three carriages were parked outside the side gate.

After checking the three carriages, Ning Nan glanced at the sun and decided to set off again tomorrow morning.

In this way, they can make it home in time for lunch, and the three drivers can get back to Nanjing before sunset.

The next morning, Shangguan Xiuxiu got up very early to see him off.

Accompanying them was a graceful and elegant noblewoman... Shangguan Xiuxiu's mother, Madam Jia.

Jia was forty years old, but looked only thirty. She was very young, not rigid, and quite knowledgeable. She could even crack a joke occasionally, saying, "Thanks to Young Master Ning, our Xiu'er has finally learned more than a hundred characters."

The poem "Touching Fish" has a total of over a hundred characters, and the woman is jokingly teasing her son for not studying enough.

Shangguan Xiuxiu sighed helplessly, "Mother—"

Ning Nan smiled as well.

In the past few days, he only met Jia Shi on the first day and today. On the first day, they had dinner together, and on today, they had breakfast together, and then she came to see him off.

He's been staying in Shangguan Xiuxiu's courtyard for the past few days. He doesn't dare go to the backyard where the women of the Shangguan family live. When Jia comes over, he just greets her.

"Don't forget June 24th. Bring your family too, to support me," Shangguan Xiuxiu instructed.

"I can't forget it."

Ning Nan waved his hand and sat in the seat of the first carriage, next to the old soldier driving the carriage—Ning Fu.

On June 24th, the Zhenguo Marquis's mansion will hold a grand banquet, at which time the Zhenguo Marquis will officially recognize his concubine, Jia, as his wife.

The emperor will be very accommodating and bestow upon him the title of a first-rank noblewoman. Shangguan Xiu will rise to prominence and become the legitimate son of the Marquis of Zhenguo.

The wife of the Marquis of Zhenguo has been dead for more than ten years.

When Jia was forty years old, he made her his principal wife. This was certainly not because Jia, who came from a humble background, had received much favor from the Marquis... If she had truly received favor, she would have been made his principal wife ten years earlier.

It was simply because Jia's younger brother, Shangguan Xiu's uncle, had just been promoted last year and was already the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

At thirty-six years old, the Vice Minister of War has an extremely promising future; even saying he has a bright future is an understatement. In ten years, it's still uncertain whether he'll even enter the cabinet.

Lord Jia lost his father and mother at a young age and was raised by his older sister.

After his elder sister married into the Marquis's household as a concubine because of her beauty, Lord Jia worked hard and passed the imperial examination as a second-class scholar.

He served as magistrate in three different counties, in Lingnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan, where he spent more than ten years in various positions.

Now he has risen to the top in one step, and even the Marquis of Zhenguo is willing to give him face and make his sister his official wife.

For this day, Shangguan Xiu officially sent out invitations. On the day of the ceremony, all you need to do is bring this invitation to the ceremony.

My mother has never been to Nanjing before. You can bring her here. The same goes for Erlaizi, Sanzhuang, Lixing, and the others. Bring them here to see the city.

Dahei has to take care of his paralyzed master, so he probably can't leave.

At that time, Cui Cui should have been taken back to Nanjing by the Zhu family, but if there was any contact, they could bring her in under the guise of her being their cousin, so that the young girl could broaden her horizons.

"Let's go, Uncle Fu—"

Ning Nan chuckled.

Ning Fu smiled, cracked his whip, and urged the chestnut horse in front of him to move. With a "snap," the horse snorted a few times in pain before slowly setting off, causing the two carriages behind to sway.

The weather is much cooler today than yesterday.

Three carriages walked together on the road, one after the other, which looked quite impressive.

Moreover, all three carriages were exquisite and grand, and many people gave way to them along the way.

Even on the main road outside the city, some merchants' mule and donkey caravans, upon seeing their three carriages from afar, would hurriedly shout for their caravans to make way for them.

The carriage swayed and rocked, making his backside ache a little. After about an hour, Ning Nan looked back.

After a few breaths, he turned back and smiled helplessly at Ning Fu: "Uncle Fu, it seems the three of you will have to stay in the village tonight..."

Immediately…

He began directing Ningfu to take a detour…

The road between Nanjing and Hangezhuang is not smooth; one has to go around several mountains and cross several rivers.

A figure dressed in black and wearing a straw hat rode a white horse, following them for about a hundred feet, and had been following them for almost half an hour.

Judging from her size, she should be a woman, but with a sword hanging from the side of her horse, she doesn't seem like a courtesan who sneaked out of the brothel and secretly followed him.

"Let's try taking a detour," Ning Nan smacked his lips, gazing ahead, "and see if she still follows."