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

Ning Changling's wrinkles were still quite smooth in the morning, after all, her newly recognized grand-nephew was getting married soon.

This is a major life event for my nephew, and also a joyous occasion for the Beining branch of their family to flourish in the Southern Dynasties.

Early in the morning,

He then brought his daughter to attend the ceremony.

From a patriarchal perspective, his grand-nephew was the only male member of his and his younger brother Changping's branch. Once he was recorded in the family genealogy, he could inherit his title, just like Ning Er Ning Beiyu, the adopted son he had taken from the Ning family in the capital.

But as soon as they arrived at Lijia Village, they lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw another carriage and a group of people parked at the village entrance.

He exclaimed in surprise, his brows furrowing slightly. This carriage... looked somewhat familiar.

The servant said that the carriage of the Marquis of Zhenguo was ahead.

Twenty guards from the Zhenguo Marquis's residence, dressed in blue and black uniforms and each carrying a sword, stood guard beside the carriage.

He glanced at it and realized that he even recognized the captain of the guards.

This guy's name is Lou Feng. When he joined the army, he started as a night scout, then became a scout in the north. He made meritorious contributions and was promoted to squad leader. Later, he was promoted again and again until he became a chiliarch.

Nearly ten years have passed, and the boy who once clamored to cut off the head of the Tartar ruler with one stroke has now become a middle-aged man.

As he alighted from the carriage, Lou Feng led his men over to kneel and kowtow. He kicked Lou Feng up, too lazy to exchange pleasantries, and laughed and scolded him for what was going on... The other man was also very surprised, not expecting to see the Marquis here. He truthfully replied that the Marquis and his wife were in Li Family Village with the Seventh Young Master, attending the wedding of the Seventh Young Master's friend.

Seventh Young Master's friend... Ning Changling raised an eyebrow. At this moment, Li Family Village had already become lively.

As soon as the sound of gongs and drums rang out, the daughter, dressed in men's clothing, suddenly lit up and jumped up, urging everyone to hurry up and go in to see her nephew's wedding! Her aunt had even prepared a red envelope for him... Ning Changling had no choice but to suppress his doubts for the time being, ordering his guards to stay at the village entrance as well, and then led his daughter and a few servants into the village.

The scene at the Ning family's courtyard was very lively. When they arrived, they saw their grand-nephew riding a tall horse to pick up the bride, surrounded by a retinue, looking very happy.

Ningfu, a servant dressed in red, came forward and said with a smile that Madam Chen had already made the arrangements.

When he went up, his niece-in-law's eyes were moist. She greeted him with a smile, calling him "Uncle." After being introduced by him, she quickly took Beizhi's hand and called her "sister." He was worried that Beizhi might look down on him because he was from a farming family and say something inappropriate. But to his surprise, his fifteen-year-old daughter just said happily, "Wow! Sister Chen, my nephew was so proud just now!"... His niece-in-law's mouth immediately broke into a wide smile.

Then... he saw Marquis Shangguan Xie of Zhenbei and his wife in the Ning family's courtyard... The other party's eyes widened as well.

But it was too noisy at the time, and when the boy pulled his wife over, he said something that was hard to hear. All I heard was, "Uncle, my wife dragged me over..."

Shangguan Xie is already the third-generation Marquis of Zhenguo. When he joined the army thirty years ago, he was under his father's command. The unreliable young marquis back then has now become a pillar of the Liang Dynasty after the old marquis passed away.

Just as he was about to pull the boy aside to ask him something, a large group of people approaching from the front made his eyes narrow even more... Grand Tutor Gu Xichuan, and Grand Eunuch Wang, the Emperor's chief attendant.

The two men, dressed in casual clothes, walked in front, followed by a group of people.

His brows were furrowed so deeply at that moment that they seemed impossible to smooth out.

Wang Daban stepped forward and said with a smile, "Please forgive me, Your Excellency. I wonder how Your Excellency learned about this matter?"

Before anyone could answer, the grand-nephew had already brought the bride back.

As the matchmaker was announcing the ceremony, Wang Daban, being quite perceptive, smiled and gestured for everyone to observe the ceremony first.

Before the grandnephew and granddaughter-in-law were about to perform the kneeling ceremony, Ning Fu squeezed through and brought his niece-in-law's message, saying that Ning Nan's grandfather was not here, and that the uncle would temporarily take on the role of the grandfather and receive the two's deep bows... He was immediately filled with mixed feelings and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, okay," but just as he was about to step forward, he was stopped by the two people at the same time.

One of them was Wang Daban, who smiled bitterly and said in a low voice, "My lord... this, this..." The eunuch stammered for a long time but couldn't come up with anything!

The other one was Shangguan Xie's wife.

Madam Jia laughed and said, "Uncle, why are you going up to join in the grand ceremony?"

As he glared and exclaimed, "This is my grand-nephew!" Madam Jia chuckled and said, "Oh dear, he's not even my own grandson... You're sitting with Ningnan's mother, and there's a generational difference between you... Who knows what others will think!... On such a joyous occasion, Uncle, you shouldn't steal the spotlight from someone else's mother..."

Upon hearing this, he immediately stopped in his tracks... After thinking for a moment, he felt that what Jia said made sense, so he waved his hand and told Ningfu to tell his niece-in-law that on such a joyous day, she should be a good mother-in-law and he would not try to take credit for her...

Amidst the resounding cries of "Send them to the bridal chamber!", he watched the perfect couple enter the new room and nodded with satisfaction.

As the tables and chairs were set out one by one, they and the other guests took their seats, led by a tall man.

With the help of several people, the niece-in-law stood on a platform in the courtyard and shouted with high spirits, "Thank you all for today... The Ning family is deeply grateful... It's getting late... Let's eat..."

The lively atmosphere in the Ning family courtyard gradually reached its peak.

Some farm children mingled between the tables, carrying dishes in both hands and calling out, "The dishes are here!" "The dishes are here!"

At the dinner table, after Ning Changling recounted his connection with Ning Nan's family with a bittersweet smile, everyone suddenly realized what had happened.

The Marquis of Zhenguo laughed, "Then I made the right decision to come today... I wasn't familiar with this kid anyway, so wouldn't it have been fine if Seventh Brother had come? But Madam insisted on dragging me along... I never expected that we'd agree to come here..."

"Hey! Since he's my great-uncle, then he's my own nephew! You've come to the right place, you've come to the right place. Luckily, Madam's gifts are very generous..."

Wang Daban across from him smiled: "No wonder... so it's the Ning family of the Marquis..." No wonder his military tactics were so formidable... when he broke through the Black Tiger Stronghold, a menace at Yunhu Lake, he swept through it in one fell swoop...

Ning Changling frowned... The Marquis of Zhenguo and Madam Jia came because of Shangguan Xiu, that naughty child, but what about Gu Xichuan and Wang Daban?

Wang Daban laughed and said, "The Marquis has been recuperating for a long time and has not been involved in court affairs for many years. He will later send someone to bring over your nephew's merits to His Majesty for the Marquis to review. The Marquis will know at a glance..." Ning Changling saw that the place was noisy and was not a place to talk, so he frowned and nodded. However, when he heard the word "His Majesty", he couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

With a creaking sound.

The groom, dressed in his wedding attire, emerged from the room.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The group of Imperial Guards where Shangguan Xiu was immediately slammed their fists on the table and stood up... Shangguan Xiu, beaming with pride, declared, "Xing-ge'er! Bring the wine!"