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

Twenty-two years ago, the old Marquis of Zhenguo launched the first Northern Expedition of the Southern Liang Dynasty.

Its momentum was fierce, and the fire swept across the north bank of the river.

In this battle, Ning Changling took the lead and led his troops into the heart of the Northern Dynasty, holding back the Northern Dynasty's Green Standard Army and the Plain Yellow and Plain White Banners for a month, thus buying enough time for the old Zhenguo Marquis to build the defense lines of Liuhe and Jiangpu.

The old Zhenguo Marquis commanded with composure, and the two cities withstood a year-long, frenzied attack from the Northern Dynasty. He successfully built fortified cities, establishing these two powerful strongholds north of the Yangtze River, which became a shield for Nanjing and a reliance for the Southern Liang Dynasty to continue its northern expedition.

Ning Changling, then forty years old, was wounded and carried on horseback by his remaining subordinates. After several brushes with death, he slowly returned south after half a year. It was through this battle that Ning Changling achieved unparalleled merit and was enfeoffed as a marquis by the late emperor, given the title of Marquis of Jingbei and command of ten thousand households.

Three years later, the old Marquis of Zhenguo passed away.

After taking over the command, the Marquis of Jingbei guarded the two cities north of the Yangtze River for ten years. Only ten years ago, after handing over the command to a new generation of Jiangbei general, did he retire to recuperate from his injuries.

The sun is westward.

Ning Er walked steadily, and when he arrived at Taoshui Lane, the sunlight had just bathed the lane in a golden hue.

Today, he was summoned back to the Ning family mansion by his biological father.

He had two fathers when he was young.

One is his biological father, Ning Guangtiao, the head of the Ning family, and the other is his adoptive father, Ning Changling.

From a patriarchal perspective, he should actually be Ning Changling's son.

Not long after his adoptive father was ennobled, his adoptive father's eldest son passed away. At that time, he held his adoptive father's hand in the mourning hall. His father, Ning Guangtiao, then suggested that Zhiyuan be adopted by his elder brother. His adoptive father wiped away his old tears filled with the pain of losing his son and readily agreed.

Soon after, he was given a second name, Ning Beiyu, and became his adoptive father's second son.

Boom, boom, boom.

The servant knocked on the door to announce his arrival.

Ning Zhiyuan entered his father's study.

The father, who was seated at the head of the table, smiled and said, "My son has arrived."

"Greetings, Father," Ning Zhiyuan said, bowing.

According to patriarchal tradition, he should have addressed the other party as his uncle, but his mother scolded him in private, and his grandmother also complained to him in private... How could he be so distant from his own father?

Therefore, he could only address the other party as "father".

There were four other people in the study, sitting on either side.

Ning Zhiyuan glanced around. To his right were his second and third uncles, and to his left, at the head of the table, was Mr. Xue Yan, the chief advisor of the Ning family. He didn't recognize the middle-aged man in the next seat... but since the man was sitting here, he must be one of the core figures of the Ning family who was trusted by his father.

They exchanged pleasantries with warm smiles, calling out "Young Marquis" a few times, and Ning Zhiyuan responded to each of them.

"Alright," Ning Guangtiao's smile deepened as if he had heard a few words about the young marquis, but he also smiled and gestured for others to stop, saying, "You are all family members of the Ning family in the capital, and you could even say that you are the leaders of the family. You are people who can work together to accomplish great things, so let's not waste time on idle talk and polite words."

"Guangxun," he nodded to Ning Zhiyuan's second uncle, "tell me what happened, lay it all out in the open. At this point, don't keep things to yourself."

"Indeed," the chief aide on the left added with a smile, "Second Master, we're all of the same ilk, there's nothing we can't say to each other."

Ning Zhiyuan noticed that his second uncle took a breath. Then, his second uncle nodded solemnly and said to everyone, "Brother, everyone, Ning Nan has arrived in Nanjing. He arrived yesterday and is even staying on Datong Street now... The news of Ning Nan's poetic fame and the story of breaking Black Tiger Mountain has reached Brother Changling. He has been very happy these past few days. Even when Madam was in front of him, Brother Changling drank a few cups of wine."

"Break Black Tiger Mountain?" Ning Zhiyuan raised his head and frowned.

"Heh," the third uncle sitting on the lower right sneered, "Our young marquis doesn't know yet... The matter that was widely discussed a few days ago, that Gu Xichuan took action and defeated Black Tiger Mountain in three days, more details have come out. Others may not know, but our Ning family knows very well."

Uncle San chuckled coldly, "The rumors have spread like wildfire throughout the three counties of Yushui. Those brats are saying that the one who broke Black Tiger Mountain isn't Gu Xichuan at all!"

"Instead, it was an unknown advisor under Gu Xichuan, named something like Young Master Ning, who devised unpredictable plans and launched a swift and decisive attack on the mountain, defeating Black Tiger Mountain in a single day... Ha, those few men from the garrison are now spending their days visiting brothels, throwing money around, and bragging to everyone they meet."

"They say they got all the credit for fighting with Young Master Ning, made a fortune, and had fewer people die! Heh... all the money his mother earned by risking her life went to women!" Uncle San said gleefully.

The chief advisor on the left nodded and smiled, then stepped forward and said, "Third Master is right. The Marquis even invited me and a group of veteran generals to his residence to review the events... What the Marquis received was the battle report from the then-commander-in-chief, Wang Daban. It was very clear about everything, even including the details of the battle to annihilate Xiao Chun and the subsequent events of breaking through Black Tiger Mountain."

"When the group of veteran generals were greatly astonished and repeatedly asked who this man from Black Tiger Mountain was... the Marquis laughed loudly... saying that this was his grandson... Ha..."

Xue, the advisor, shook his head and smiled bitterly, his expression somewhat helpless.

Uncle San scoffed, "Although the rumors are exaggerated, I don't think it's entirely true. Black Tiger Stronghold is just a bunch of reckless thieves. If my Ning family wanted to break through such a small stronghold, we only needed to issue a transfer order to Fan Shiwei of Yunhu Camp, and it would be broken in an instant, wouldn't it? What's so special about that!" He said disdainfully.

Upon hearing this, the people in the room nodded slightly, their faces showing a mixture of pride and relief... Ah, that makes sense.

Ning Zhiyuan didn't really listen to what his third uncle was saying next; his brows furrowed even more deeply… The great victory over Xiao Chun, the great victory over Black Tiger Mountain… Ning Nan… had actually experienced something like this…

He knew that Ning Nan had come to Nanjing without their knowledge and had inexplicably won the poetry competition.

When he saw the name Ning Nan at the poetry gathering that day, he was surprised, thinking it was someone with the same name.

Later, he heard that the other party was a good friend of the seventh son of the Marquis of Zhenguo and was staying at the Marquis's residence. So he went to visit him. After some probing, the other party said that he lived in Hangezhuang. As soon as he heard this, he knew that it was probably true.

Later, the people my father had arranged to stay in Lijia Village returned and said that it seemed that the daughter of some important person had fallen into trouble near Lijia Village and had been rescued by a scholar named Li Yanting.

Ning Nan also contributed to this, which earned him the appreciation of a powerful figure and the acquaintance of the Imperial Guards and Shangguan Xiu. Thus, he left the village… This is roughly the pieced-together information.

Otherwise, the other party shouldn't have had a road leading out of the village.

"Brother," Uncle said seriously, "we really need to think of something!"

Uncle San shrugged and said, "What plan? Damn it, he lives next to the Prince Xin's mansion. Are you planning to storm in?"

"If you ask me," Uncle Three glanced at his silent eldest brother at the head of the table, "it's because eldest brother was too soft-hearted that he left this loose end..."

Second Uncle glanced at him and scolded, "Third Brother, if it weren't for you back then..." Before he could finish speaking, Second Uncle stopped talking, snorted through his nose, and turned his head away angrily.

Chief Advisor Mr. Xue paused for a moment, then turned to Ning Guangtiao and said, "Master, the most urgent matter, in my opinion, is to see if the Marquis truly intends to pass on the title to Ning Nan... If he truly intends to..." Mr. Xue's eyebrows furrowed, and before he could finish speaking, everyone in the room understood what he meant.

Currently, Ningnan has caught the eye of the Marquis, and has also been valued by Grand Tutor Gu Xichuan and that so-called nobleman, who even gifted him a house.

Most importantly, Gu Xichuan and Wang Daban even attended each other's weddings... Compared to these things, matters like poetry competitions and literary fame are trivial.

If Ning Nan gains power... no, even if he doesn't gain power, even if he lives a little longer and makes the Marquis start to suspect certain things, then the entire Ning family in the capital... might face annihilation.

At this moment, Ning Guangtiao, who had been quite silent, suddenly raised his head, frowned, and said, "Mr. Dou, I wonder if the Qi Prince's Mansion has found out who the nobleman who caused your daughter's misfortune in Li Family Village is...?"

Ning Zhiyuan followed his father's gaze and saw that the person being questioned was the middle-aged man he didn't recognize at the far left.