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

Mr. Dou?

Ning Zhiyuan frowned slightly.

Upon hearing this surname, coupled with his father's question just now, he had a sudden realization and roughly guessed the person's identity.

Dou Yuan, a member of the Dou family in the capital, was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations but was not appointed to a post outside the capital. Instead, he went to work as a staff member in the Prince of Qi's residence.

Not long ago, my second uncle's family became related to Dou Yuan by marriage.

My second uncle's son, my cousin Ning Zhixi, married the eldest daughter of the other family. Looking at it this way, the two families can indeed be considered closely related.

The Dou family of the capital was also one of the most prominent clans. Dou Jie, the secretary of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection and Appointment Department, was a member of the Dou family. In addition, the Dou family had a county magistrate who was sent to Fujian, and even a commander in the Five Cities Military Command. With their various in-laws, the Dou family was indeed quite famous.

Dou Yuan was around forty years old. Although he was only a staff member of the Prince of Qi, the situation in this dynasty was special. Princes should guard the country's gates, Nanjing, and Xiaoling Mausoleum together with the emperor.

Only after the next generation is demoted to a prince can they leave the capital and go to their fiefdom.

If the Northern Dynasty moves south and the emperor's affairs are not handled well, the princes will have to go to the north and south respectively to organize military forces to resist the Northern Dynasty. Whoever drives out the Tartars and reclaims Southern Zhili can then ascend the throne and become emperor.

Therefore, the three princes, Qi, Wu, and Jing, each had their own factions supporting them in the court.

Dou Yuan served as a staff member in the Qi Prince's mansion and enjoyed the Prince's deep trust. His power was not necessarily inferior to that of other Dou clan members who held official positions.

Dou Yuan stood up, cupped his hands to Ning Guangtiao at the head of the table, and said solemnly, "Brother Ning, please rest assured. My Qi Prince's Mansion has investigated and found that the so-called nobleman is just a member of the Zhu family, a member of the imperial family. It's just that when His Majesty was still a prince, his family helped His Majesty and Prince Xin and his sister, and His Majesty is only grateful for their kindness."

Dou Yuan's gaze slowly swept over the crowd, and he continued, "Now, the royal relative's daughter has returned to her residence, her body and reputation are completely unharmed, the bandits of Black Tiger Mountain who robbed the royal relative have also been brought to justice, and the bandit leader Meng Hao has been hung on the city gate by Gu Xichuan as a warning. All the pent-up anger has been released."

"As for the two men from Li Family Village who rescued the noble lady," Dou Yuan paused, glanced at Ning Guangtiao, and then nodded, "His Majesty and that imperial relative have already repaid them sufficiently. Ning Nan was rewarded with a valuable mansion by the imperial relative; Li Yanting was sponsored to attend Bailu Academy and helped with his imperial examinations. In this way, the grudges are considered settled."

The people in the room immediately nodded, exchanged glances, and then nodded in agreement... As expected of the advisors of the Prince of Qi's mansion, they had found out the ins and outs of the matter so quickly.

"Hehe," Dou Yuan chuckled, adding, "The reason these things are only known within the royal family is mainly to protect the noble lady's reputation. If the outside world were to find out her identity and that she had been living among the common people for over a month, it might affect her marriage in the future..." He clicked his tongue, then stopped speaking.

But the people in the room naturally understood. After being stranded among the common people for so many days, who knows what happened?

The third uncle on the right chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Brother Dou, we know that. Even if it's not shit, it's still shit if it's mud between your legs."

"Brother Guangshao's words may be rough, but the reasoning is sound," Dou Yuan said with a smile, offering his compliment.

Ning Guangtiao frowned: "Mr. Dou, in your opinion, Ningnan is actually not within the royal family's sights?"

"Absolutely not," Dou Yuan said firmly. "According to the intelligence from our Qi Prince's spies, Ningnan has no connection with the royal family whatsoever."

Xue Yan hesitated and asked, "Then why are there so many Imperial Guards outside Ning Nan's residence on Datong Street?"

He sent out quite a few spies, but they had no choice but to retreat because they saw a large number of Imperial Guards outside. In fact, you could say they were driven back.

Many of those Imperial Guards were open sentries, which served as a warning to outsiders not to approach.

Dou Yuan slowly said, "This is the seventh son of the Marquis of Zhenguo, Shangguan Xiu, who abused his power. He befriended Ning Nan, and it was through Ning Nan's schemes that he achieved the merit of Shili Gorge and was promoted to deputy commander, leaving no room for criticism from others. This fellow Shangguan Xiu was worried that Ning Nan would be retaliated against by the remaining bandits of Black Tiger Mountain, so he arranged for people to protect him."

"Yes," Second Uncle nodded and said, "Brother Dou is right. Besides, that place is right next to Prince Xin's mansion, so it's only right that there are more Embroidered Uniform Guards there."

"Brother Guangxian hit the nail on the head." Dou Yuan nodded slightly and said, "With both, it wouldn't be surprising to have even more Embroidered Uniform Guards."

Xue Yan frowned and continued, "What about Grand Tutor Gu Xichuan? Brother Dou, do you know what Grand Tutor Gu's current attitude is towards Ningnan?"

Dou Yuan shook his head and gave a wry smile: "I really don't know about the Grand Tutor's attitude."

Uncle Ning Guangshao scoffed, "What attitude could he possibly have? A country bumpkin who probably can't even read, he got incredibly lucky and broke through Black Tiger Mountain. If he had shamelessly stuck with Gu Xichuan as his advisor, he might have even become Gu Xichuan's servant. But he went back to the village, and that connection was immediately severed... I think Gu Xichuan's decision to send people to his wedding was a huge show of respect; it meant he wanted to completely sever their ties!"

Dou Yuan nodded, his eyes showing appreciation.

"Third Master is right." After a moment's thought, Xue Yan smiled and nodded.

The second uncle chimed in, "Third brother is right." Then, he looked at Ning Guangtiao at the head of the table, his eyes flashing with sternness, and gritted his teeth, saying, "Eldest brother! Mr. Dou has already laid everything out plainly with us! You are the clan leader, the head of the family; you must make a decision!"

Seeing his second brother's heated words, the others also turned their attention to him, but Ning Guangtiao remained silent.

He lowered his eyes, staring silently at the desk, his gaze gradually darkening.

"Zhiyuan," he said after a long pause, turning to his son who had been standing obediently, "and what about you? What do you think?"

Ning Zhiyuan pursed his lips and calmly cupped his hands, saying, "It is all up to Father to decide."

"Alright." Ning Guangtiao smiled, tapping his fingers on the desk. "Then Zhiyuan, you should go back and rest first. I'll talk to your uncles and aunts some more."

"Yes."

Ning Zhiyuan respectfully cupped his hands, then turned around and walked straight out of the study.

The sky outside had turned a hazy blue-gray, and night would soon fall.

He walked slowly, and after a short while, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He turned around and saw that his second uncle, third uncle, and Mr. Dou had also come out.

……

Inside the study.

Ning Guangtiao leaned back in his chair, squinting slightly, and said, "Mr. Xue, how much of what Dou Yuan said can we believe?"

Xue Yan stood by the desk and said softly, "At least 30% of what he said is believable. But according to our plan, no matter how much of what he said is true or false, the Ning family will remain uninvolved and have nothing to worry about."

Ning Guangtiao nodded, hummed in agreement, and closed his eyes.

After a while.

He opened his eyes. "Dongchen," he placed his hand on the table, his gaze darkening, "then let's do it."

Xue Yan's courtesy name was Dongchen. He knew that whenever his master addressed him by his courtesy name instead of "sir," it meant he had made up his mind.

"Yes."

……

It was getting dark.

Inside the main hall of the Ning Mansion on Datong Street.

Chu the Fat Man had already passed out drunk.

This guy had just secretly told Ning Nan that he would get Zhao Jing and the other three drunk and then try to extract the secrets of the imperial examinations from them.

But after only three drinks, the fat man was the first to collapse.

Zhao Jing and the others were also quite drunk, but the one who could drink the most was actually the youngest, Zuo Yong, who came from Sushui County.

"What secret manual?" Ning Nan glanced at the snoring fat man and shook his head with amusement.

He picked up a bowl of yellow wine that the maid Chunyu had warmed with boiling water, and slowly took a sip... Hmm... It was a bit cheap, but the taste was quite good.