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

Ning Nan's pupils contracted, then slowly widened, as if he didn't quite understand, or perhaps because the situation was too absurd, so for a moment he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

He frowned slightly, his lips moved, and he tried to gather his thoughts, wanting to ask again to confirm this sudden event... but the old man's clear speech, his raised head, the wide-open gate of the Marquis's mansion, and the humble and reserved attitude of the people around him towards the old man... everything seemed to have already made everything clear...

Ning Nan's expression froze, and he stood there stunned.

The old man smiled at him.

The wrinkles on his face were piled up, and there was a hint of pride in his eyes, but his smile seemed a little awkward.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Beside him, Uncle Fu, supporting the old man's hand, chuckled憨厚ly, "Young Master, I really didn't know how to tell you and Madam Chen before... but... Master is indeed a military general, and—" Ning Fu also said somewhat awkwardly, "Master was indeed personally bestowed the title of Marquis of Jingbei by the late Emperor!"

"what……"

Ning Nan glanced at Uncle Fu and subconsciously responded with a sound of realization.

He turned his head again and looked carefully at the old man.

His eyes were glazed over for a long time, his mind filled with all sorts of scenes, thoughts, evidence, speculations, and the enemy's motives... At this moment, it was as if a thread had extended over and strung them together... After a long pause, he finally took a long breath.

call.

His eyes filled with a mixture of heaviness and shock.

It turned out to be like this...

So that's how it is...

The air he inhaled was trapped in his chest, and at that moment, he found himself in a situation where he could hardly exhale.

I did a lot of mental preparation on the way here.

I pondered my uncle's attitude toward this matter over and over again.

The old man is old after all.

Compared to the dead, the elderly would probably rather swallow their pride and protect those who are still alive.

Moreover, the Ning family of the capital had sheltered my uncle who had fled south, and were his benefactors.

It's been too long since then.

With Li Baoxin, one of the parties involved, also dead, it will be extremely difficult to produce evidence and bring the truth to light.

Especially after seeing Uncle Fu take him to Taiping Street, the heaviness in his heart became even more apparent.

The Marquis of Jingbei was surnamed Ning.

It is the powerful force behind the Ning family in the capital.

This was also the main reason why Li Baoxin's lawsuit failed back then—the emperor and the court could not afford to offend the then-powerful Grand Marshal who was poised for a northern expedition because of the deaths of two villagers.

He had initially thought that his uncle was a military general, also surnamed Ning, which was why he had been appreciated by the Marquis of Jingbei and had a way out, allowing the Northern Ning to take root in the capital of the Southern Dynasty... This was another act of kindness in recognizing his talent.

But I really didn't expect it.

It turns out that...

He couldn't believe it, nor could he tell... that the old man in front of him, dressed in black, somewhat hunched and even a little thin, was actually Ning Juyong, who once dominated the Northern Dynasty!

Ning Nan's gaze gradually became complex and indescribable.

……

"Back in the Northern Dynasty, our Ning family was actually a scholarly family. Although we were forced by circumstances to shave our heads and change our clothes, we remained loyal to our former master. No one in our family took up an official post; we only wished to pass on our family tradition of farming and studying..."

"My father, Changping's father, was named Jiezhang... Mr. Jiezhang was learned in both ancient and modern times and was a famous scholar at the time. At that time, there was a man named Zhuang in the Northern Dynasty. He had been well-versed in poetry and books since childhood, but he was about to die. He planned to compile a book on the history of the Former Liang Dynasty so that his name would be published and his fame would last forever... My father had read a vast number of historical books. He was invited by the Zhuang family to proofread this book and compile the history of the previous dynasty. My father felt it was his duty to do so and he went happily. However, he did not expect... that this trip would lead to a great disaster."

As Ning Changling walked, he chatted slowly with Ning Nan about some past events.

After arriving at a secluded study.

He ordered people to provide Ningnan with a seat and tea.

Ning Nan helped the old man sit down.

Ning Changling smiled and said, "Thank you, Bai Xuan."

Ning Nan shook his head, then frowned and asked, continuing his uncle's words, "Because of compiling this history, Mr. Jiezhang... encountered a literary inquisition?"

"good,"

Ning Changling nodded slowly and said in a deep voice,

"At that time, the Zhuang family and my father and others proofread the documents and overlooked one thing. The Mingkai era of the Former Liang Dynasty was also the Shunzhi era of the Tartars. However, when the Former Liang records described some events, they used the Mingkai era name instead of the Shunzhi era name. This was what the Tartars seized upon."

"At that time, the Zhuang family and we proofreaders spent all our wealth and pulled strings to buy back all the books that had been published and replace them with the revised versions..."

"But things didn't go as planned... The Zhuang family happened to run into a power struggle at court. At that time, a powerful official of the Qing Dynasty, in order to establish his authority in the court, launched a literary inquisition. The villain who framed the Zhuang family went to great lengths to find an unfinished copy of the Former Liang Dynasty's compilation and presented it to that powerful official... As a result, that villain surnamed Wu's official career flourished and he rose to prominence, while the Zhuang family and my Ning family, who were involved in proofreading the book... all ended up being executed... My father, Mr. Jiezhang—"

Ning Changling's voice trembled, he closed his eyes, and his tone became extremely sorrowful as he spoke.

"He was executed by slow slicing by the Tartars."

Ning Nan lowered his head.

He stood silently beside the old man.

The study remained quiet for a long time.

Ning Changling slowly exhaled, opened her eyes, and pulled Ning Nan's hand, asking him to sit next to her.

"Heh," the old man chuckled, "the whole family was executed... but your great-uncle wasn't one to be trifled with. Before the authorities came to arrest our family, he took your grandfather and some other relatives who listened to his advice and fled south across the river... Later, the pursuers caught up, and most of the relatives died... Your great-uncle and your grandfather were also separated..."

The old man's voice gradually faded.

Ning Nan nodded slowly, gently, and somewhat forcefully... Hmm, so that's how it is.

He asked why his uncle changed his name to Ning Juyong after moving south, instead of continuing to use Ning Changling.

Uncle shook his head and gave a bitter smile: "When I was young, I thought the same thing. I dreamed that one day I would return to the Northern Dynasty under the name Ning Changling, kill that brat surnamed Wu, and like Wu Zixu, whip the corpses of the Tartar emperor and that powerful minister... to avenge my father and my dead relatives... But—"

The old man's expression suddenly became complex and profound: "When the Marquis of Zhenguo promoted me to the rank of commander of a thousand, after hearing about my background, he insisted that I change my name and that I should never talk to anyone about my origins and past... At the time, I did not understand why the Marquis did this. It was only after the Marquis passed away and I had been in charge of the two cities of Jiangbei for several years that I slowly came to understand the Marquis's good intentions."

"I'm afraid you'll become like Yue Fei..." Ning Nan thought to himself.

"I suppose... the Marquis is afraid that I might act in Ning Changling's name. If one day the Northern Dynasty marches south, and we warriors are powerless to stop it, given my background... perhaps a single word from the Northern Dynasty could be enough to have my head taken and sent to negotiate peace..."

"certainly,"

Seemingly fearing that his grand-nephew would lose faith in the imperial court, the old man immediately added with a smile, "If one day I were to cause the imperial court such trouble, then it would indeed be time for a warrior like me to die..."

"Ning Juyong," the old man sighed, repeating his name.

He pounded his leg with a self-deprecating laugh, his eyes filled with confusion and despair, and said, "The Marquis hopes that I will cross the Yangtze River, cross the Yellow River... fight my way to Juyong Pass... and even fight my way to Shanhaiguan Pass, and drive the Tartars out of the Central Plains."

"It's a pity..." the old man sighed, "Uncle is already the age when the Marquis passed away."

Inside the study, a breeze swept across the desk, causing the hanging pens to clatter and tinkle.

Ning Nan silently looked at the old man's somewhat gray hair and pursed his lips.

It lingered in my mind for a long time.

"Uncle,"

He finally spoke solemnly:

"Did you ever send people from the Ning family in the capital to search for my grandfather's family?"