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

Outside, gongs and drums resounded.

Hundreds of monks from Dinghui Temple came out three miles in advance to greet the coffin. After arriving at the coffin, the abbot led the way, and hundreds of people kowtowed to the emperor. Then they chanted sutras and struck wooden fish together to pray for the Empress Dunsu's well-being.

The sound of chanting sutras filled the sky and blocked out the sun.

It was as if they were trying to shield Consort Dunsu from an overwhelming disaster.

As the sound suddenly rang out, yet remained as smooth as water, silence once again fell within the narrow sedan chair.

A moment later.

Ning Nan wiped the sweat from his eyes and solemnly promised the woman below, separated by a wooden board:

"Before I leave, I will kowtow several times in the direction of your mother's golden coffin to thank the Imperial Noble Consort Dunsu for her protection today. Please forgive me if I have offended anyone."

This was one of the few things he could and should do, even though it seemed insignificant to the other party.

Upon hearing this, Burbuza's expression froze for a moment, seemingly not expecting the other party to say such a thing.

Then, she loosened her slightly pursed lips, raised her hand to wipe her lake-like eyes, and said with a self-deprecating laugh:

"Kowtowing to my mother? If you don't want to stay in Beijing, won't you still make things difficult for my father when you go back?"

"I..." Ning Nan opened her mouth, subconsciously wanting to explain something.

His lips trembled slightly, but he didn't speak in the end; instead, his eyes darkened.

What the other party said is absolutely right.

Her father wanted to go south and seize Jiangnan. And he, naturally, wanted to go back and do everything he could to protect Jiangnan.

Not only must he protect Jiangnan, but for his wife and children, for his elderly mother, for... the past, for the present, and especially for... many, many people in the future, he must devote all his efforts to the Northern Expedition and reclaim the old Central Plains in his lifetime.

The two of them...

They were born to be on opposite sides.

The woman was not surprised by the silence of the person above her; in fact, she was somewhat relieved.

at least,

The other party did not lie to her in order to save their own life.

This shows that the other party's offer to kowtow to her mother was not just a pretense, but a genuine expression of their intention.

She took a silent breath, remembering something she needed to clarify with the other person. Her eyes were calm as she spoke softly:

"Your sister, the wife of Prince Duan, asked me if I would be willing to marry you and become your son-in-law if you were willing to stay in Beijing."

Ning Nan's eyes were blank, and his heart sank.

Burbuza pursed his lips and smiled:

"I told you you definitely wouldn't want to stay in Beijing."

Her voice was light and cheerful, and her lips were almost bloodless when she spoke.

"But that's what she asked,"

Before anyone could reply, the Seventeenth Princess's expression had already calmed down:

"So I answered."

"I said..." she lied, "I don't want to."

Ning Nan was stunned in the dark trapezoidal space.

"This princess wants to marry!"

Burbuza rolled his eyes with an arrogant smugness that no one was sure would see, and snorted:

"I'd only marry the cook from Li Family Village. Who wants to marry some pedantic scholar who writes pretentious poems? ... I've hated pretentious and stinky literati since I was little. Such people are definitely not interesting at all... The person I'm going to marry in the future will take me to Ningguta to see the snow, take me to climb Hawk Mountain, take me to the grasslands to herd horses, take me boating in Jiangnan, take me to eat all over the country, and be willing to put in the effort to cook dishes that no one in the world has ever eaten before... Hey, Ning Da... Scholar, someone as tiring and boring as you... only your Southern Dynasty's Empress would be interested in you. Boring, very boring..."

Inside the swaying sedan chair, the woman began to chatter on and on, a sound she hadn't heard in a long time.

"so……"

She rubbed her eyes.

"When you get back, treat her well..."

In the dark and cramped space.

In Ning Nan's mind, a scene of heavy snow appeared, along with the lush green Yaoshan Mountain, herds of horses beyond the Great Wall, and boats on Xuanwu Lake… Finally, what surfaced in his mind was a figure in green clothes standing beside a row of willows along the Yangtze River. The river flowed mightily, and the willows seemed to weep with parting sorrow… She was waiting for him to return to Jiangnan… Yes… he, he would definitely return to Jiangnan… he would definitely return… definitely…

A moment of silence.

Master Ning, who never liked owing favors, especially such an indescribable favor that was difficult to describe even in life or death, gently closed his eyes.

He shattered all the warm images in his mind like reflections in a mirror or the moon in the water, and his tone became solemn and serious.

"Blue cotton,"

This seemed to be the first time he had addressed her in this way.

"If in the future, I...I really do manage to lead troops north, to the outskirts of Beijing..."

His throat tightened, but he had no choice but to ask the question ahead of time.

"you……

"Will you regret helping me get out of town today?"

twitter.

The bird turned its black eyes and chirped twice.

After flapping its wings for a long time, it finally managed to escape from the cage opened by the old locust tree and fly into the vast white sky.

Ning Nan put the jade pendant that the woman had given him into his bosom.

According to the first agreement he made with the other party.

Thump, thump, thump, they kowtowed several times toward the main hall where Consort Nian's golden coffin was located.

"regret?"

The light streaming through the sedan chair curtains dappled the woman's face, and her voice trembled.

"Hmm," he said.

Burbuza didn't say, "How could you possibly defeat my Emperor?" nor did he say, "Hmph, I'd rather spare your life."

Instead, he thought about the scenario carefully.

Although such a scene seems very ethereal and very difficult to achieve, like the highest mountain, the incomparably powerful Emperor Father could never lose to anyone.

But she still thought about it seriously.

At last.

"I regret it..."

Her tone became deep and complex as she said:

"I'll definitely regret it... I'll regret it so much... I'll be so ashamed I'll want to disappear..."

"Oh."

Ning Nan took the riding whip from Su Su and smiled from the bottom of his heart.

The big white horse snorted a few times.

Deng.

He stepped into the stirrups and mounted the horse.

He grabbed the reins and pulled the white horse around.

Facing northwest.

It is still about a hundred li to Miaofeng Mountain.

far away.

Layer upon layer of green mountains, with glimpses of golden light and billowing white clouds.

A dark shadow flew across the sky in the distance, from east to west.

"Hey!"

It turned out to be... a falcon striking the sky. He withdrew his gaze and gripped the reins tightly.

Hearing the woman's true feelings from below.

In the dark, trapezoidal space, Ning Nan was so quiet that he could even hear his own heartbeat.

Thump, thump.

A few rays of light shone through the gaps in the trapezoidal roof.

He turned over, following the light.

Extend your palm.

"Bang bang bang!"

He patted the trapezoidal top and bottom plates three times and laughed:

"Consider this a high five as a pledge."

immediately.

Ning Nan spoke solemnly to the woman below, separated by a wooden board, about a new agreement.

Inside the sedan chair.

The woman was taken aback when she heard the agreement.

After a while, she pursed her lips, which had finally turned a little red, and, holding onto the edge of the sedan chair with her left hand, slowly got up.

He reached out his right hand, lifted the white curtain, looked at the wooden board above his head, and followed the sound of the other person striking it.

"Bang, bang, bang," the right palm struck the spot where the opponent had hit three times.

She sniffed and smiled:

"It's a deal then."

"Ning~ Chef~"

"Snapped!"

Ning Nan's smile vanished, and he raised his riding whip and slammed it down.

The white horse reared up and galloped forward.

The horse's hooves left a series of deep footprints on the ground.

It stirred up dust and smoke.

He faced the Northwest head-on.

Taking the lead.