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

Her family were originally from the south. Her in-laws found her on the way south and took her in as their daughter, giving her food. Unexpectedly, she was back to being alone and helpless in the blink of an eye.

If it weren't for Ning Nan's arrival, she probably would have passed away long ago along with her parents-in-law and husband... But she never imagined that she would meet her father-in-law Ning Changping's elder brother, whom he had talked about all his life, today...

Widow Ning's eyes stung with tears, overwhelmed with emotion. She handed over the half of the Ning family genealogy left by her father-in-law to her uncle. If her father-in-law and Bei Wang knew this in the afterlife, they could finally rest in peace.

Ning Changling's lips turned pale, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Niece-in-law..."

He called out, intending to say that the child didn't need to kneel, but he stopped himself as soon as he opened his mouth... The other party had just said that the child was not his nephew's biological child, but an abandoned baby that his nephew's wife had picked up from the riverbank. However, his grand-nephew had been well-mannered and knowledgeable since childhood and had never disgraced the Ning family.

If the child is not allowed to kowtow at this moment, his niece-in-law might overthink it and think that the Ning family does not acknowledge the child.

Ning Changling sighed inwardly, feeling somewhat troubled.

If the child is unwilling to kneel before this strange old man who suddenly appeared, the niece-in-law's emotions will likely be difficult to calm down.

In fact, to him, whether the child kneels or not... based on the fact that his niece-in-law had burned incense for Changping and Zhou Rui's sister-in-law for twenty years, based on the fact that his niece-in-law had kept a widowhood for Beiwang for twenty years, based on the fact that the child's surname was Ning, based on the fact that the child had kowtowed to Changping and Beiwang for so many years, this child... had long been a descendant of his Ning family!

These are the direct descendants of his younger brother, Ning Changping... No one can refute that!

He would solemnly write his nephew's wife's name and the child's name in the family genealogy, to remember Changping, to remember his nephew Beiwang, and to remember his ancestors of the Ning family... After his death, this child would be the head of the Ning family after he moved south from Beining!

"Bang Bang Bang!"

Just as Ning Changling was struggling with his inner conflict, Ning Nan had already knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Ningnan pays respects to the Earl..."

He replied somewhat perfunctorily.

There's no way around it... Judging from Mother's attitude, if I don't kowtow a few times today, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep well for the next few days.

"Just think of it as kowtowing for a red envelope during Chinese New Year..." Ning Nan consoled himself, kowtowing loudly.

"Hey, hey—hey! My good grandson! My dear grandson..."

Ning Changling's eyes stung with tears, and she quickly stepped forward, bent down, and helped Ning Nan up.

His lips trembled. He really didn't expect that the young Ning who played chess with him that day would have such a connection with him!

The old man's eyes were filled with emotion, and a wave of lingering fear washed over him... If it weren't for his daughter Beizhi's acquaintance with Ningnan, and her kind act of sending Ningfu to escort Ningnan back to his hometown, and if Ningfu hadn't seen the memorial tablets of Changping and Beiwang here, and noticed that the characters "Chang" and "Bei" were the same as his own generation name, Ningfu would have found it strange. Several days later, she found an opportunity to mention it to him, and that's how he learned about it... Otherwise, he probably would have never found Changping's whereabouts before he died!

"My dear grandson..." Ning Nan looked at the excited old man before him, and his lips twitched involuntarily. Just over ten days ago, he was treating the old man as an equal! In the blink of an eye, he had become the old man's grand-nephew?!

Fortunately, the old man didn't let him suffer a loss. He wiped away his tears with his sleeve, then pulled off the jade thumb ring from his right thumb and stuffed it into his hand.

"Uh... thank you, Uncle." Ning Nan glanced at his mother, who was covering her mouth and crying. Seeing that she didn't say "no, no" as expected, he obediently accepted it... The ring looked quite expensive. This Uncle was really generous.

Then, the old woman wiped her eyes, went into the room and fiddled around for a while before coming out and handing the old man a book wrapped in red silk.

The old man took it with trembling hands, and mumbled something in a hoarse voice that Ning Nan couldn't understand. Then, the old man turned his gaze to the memorial tablet on the altar, and slowly walked over to it.

Seeing this, Widow Ning pulled Ning Nan out of the main room and gently closed the door behind them.

"Your uncle and his brother have something to say, we won't disturb them," Widow Ning said, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.

Uh… Ning Nan pouted… But aren’t Grandma and Dad with them? Should we bring out their memorial tablets? … Ning Nan’s lips curled up slightly. This kind of joke could only be thought in his mind. If he said it out loud, his mother might beat him to death.

"Greetings, Madam; greetings, Young Master," Ningfu said, running up from the courtyard and bowing.

Young Master… Ning Nan immediately felt a headache coming on and said, “Uncle Fu, don’t try that with me.”

Widow Ning smiled and joked, "Come, young master, go and offer Brother Fu a seat. I, as his wife, will make him some tea."

Ning Fu was immediately embarrassed and at a loss for what to do.

Ning Nan ran to the other side of the eaves and brought over a few chairs, refusing Ning Fu's help.

Widow Ning went to the kitchen with a smile to add firewood and boil water.

Young Master Nan pressed down on his shoulder, and Ning Fu could only sit down obediently with an embarrassed expression.

Ning Nan asked curiously what her uncle did in Nanjing and what his relationship was with Ning Beizhi.

He remembered Uncle Fu saying that Ning Beizhi's family was a military family. But he didn't know if his uncle was that military general, or if his uncle was an important figure in that military general's family.

Ning Fu was very tactful, worried that if he directly said that the master was the famous Marquis of Jingbei, Ning Juyong, the Ning family mother and son would find it unreal and have doubts about the master's identity.

So, just like last time, they said the master was a military general, but he has now retired and is living a leisurely life at home.

Miss Bei Zhi is the Marquis's own daughter.

It really is… Ning Nan's eyes widened, and he immediately gasped… His own daughter? That’s my… aunt?

Ning Fu said that his master was a person who migrated south, leading the remaining Beining people across the river and seeking refuge with the Ning family in the capital. Now, there are not many Beining people left, but under the master's protection, they have gained a foothold.

At this moment, Widow Ning, who had brought the tea, slowed her pace slightly, lowered her gaze, and asked, "Brother Fu, is the Ning family in the capital... treating my uncle well?"

"Of course it's good." Ning Fu hurriedly stood up, took the tea with both hands, and replied that thirty years ago, it was the Ning family of the capital who protected Bei Ning and opened up a channel for the master to join the army and make great contributions, which gave Bei Ning a chance to catch its breath.

As Widow Ning listened to these words, she gradually lowered her eyes.

After a moment, she forced a smile and said, "That's good, that's good..."

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the old man in the main room opened the door and came out.

Ning Nan glanced at him... the old man had almost calmed down.

Ning Changling smiled and said that he would return to the capital overnight and send someone to pick them up early tomorrow morning. He would arrange the best courtyard for Ning Changling and his daughter at the Ning family home. Ning Nan's future was also not a concern, as he would make proper arrangements and would not let his niece-in-law worry about it anymore.

Uh… Ning Nan opened her mouth, about to politely refuse the house that Master Zhu had promised, but her mother spoke first.

She smiled and bowed slightly, saying thank you, Uncle, but the Ning family has twelve mu of land in Lijia Village, which is the only ancestral property left by her parents-in-law. It needs someone to take care of it, and she is getting old. She can't bear to leave the mountains and rivers of Lijia Village. Back then, it was Lijia Village that sheltered her family...

Ning Changling listened and nodded. He wanted to offer some more advice, but when he saw his niece-in-law's red eyes, he knew that she had endured decades of hardship and possessed a proud spirit. So he stopped talking and said with a smile, "Then your uncle has sent some people to help you. He also said that he will ask someone to choose an auspicious day to hold a ceremony in the capital to mark your return to the family line. At that time, he would like to ask your niece-in-law and grand-nephew to bring the memorial tablets of Changping and the other two back to the Ning family. He wants to write Ning Nan's name into the family genealogy."

Widow Ning immediately burst into tears and thanked him profusely, then pulled Ning Nan to kowtow again...

After a long pause... she looked up, wiped away her tears, and said with a smile, "Please ask Uncle to choose an auspicious day a few days later, because June 28th is the big day for my good-for-nothing grand-nephew Ningnan to get married."

Ning Changling was taken aback, then laughed and patted Ning Nan on the shoulder, saying, "Good, good, good! Your uncle will prepare a big gift for you and your niece-in-law! Bring your aunt along to your wedding!"

Ning Nan immediately smiled and thanked him.

Uncle Bogong led a group of people outside Lijia Village. He left Uncle Fu and the carriage behind and went back to the capital with the group.

Uncle Fu found a farmhouse to stay in and said that if there was anything he needed, he should ask the madam and young master for instructions.

Ning Nan waved his hand with a wry smile.

After seeing his uncle off, he and his mother slowly returned to the courtyard.

Ning Nan felt that having this uncle around was not a bad thing. At least, when he took Cuicui to Nanjing tomorrow to attend Xiuxiu's "from illegitimate son to legitimate son" ceremony, with Uncle Fu there, he wouldn't have to worry about his mother.

He had just invited his mother to Nanjing, but she rolled her eyes at him and said that she wasn't ignorant. Judging from the two carriages that came to pick him up, she knew that the other family was very wealthy. Why would she go to a place like that? Don't show your weakness for nothing... The woman raised her chin, having her own reasons.

Ning Nan thought about it and agreed. If it made his mother feel uncomfortable, it would indeed be better not to go.

Originally, I wanted to take Sanzhuang and the others with me, but Li Xing didn't come back, Erlai and Sanzhuang were both injured, and Dahei had taken on a new apprentice and had been teaching the new apprentice blacksmithing these past few days... This time, I'm afraid only I and Cuicui can go.

Upon hearing that she was going to take Cuicui with her, her mother nervously whispered, "Cuicui might be afraid of showing her weakness. After you take her into Nanjing, before you go to other people's houses, go to a clothing store first and spend a little more money to buy her a more expensive dress."

Ning Nan pursed his lips and hummed in agreement, but inwardly he was thinking... What was she afraid of? She dared to be half a step ahead of the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and dared to dine at the same table with the Grand Tutor and the young emperor's chief eunuch... He had no idea how bold this woman was!

...

...

The next day, at dawn, a misty fog enveloped the area.

With the eggs his mother had boiled, Ning Nan asked Qi Dongsheng and Lao Jiang to drive to Qiniangzi's house to pick up Cuicui. Since the house was empty anyway, he planned to take a large carriage with Cuicui and head directly to Nanjing.

"Perfect timing," Cui Cui nodded, and said as the young doctor called her out the door, "After we go to Shangguan Xiu's house, you'll come with me to a place."

Ning Nan stood beneath the carriage, seeing her off as she boarded, and asked curiously, "Where?"

"My family," the aloof woman said calmly, "before the wedding, my brother... wanted to meet you."