Because of that jade carving, Du Haoran asked to take it out and have a look, so Zhou Ji, who was in charge of the warehouse, had a deep impression, and soon came over with the jade carving in his arms.

  Nie Zhongkun took the jade carving and looked at it in his hand, his expression slowly becoming serious.

  It's said that outsiders watch the excitement, while insiders watch the doorway. When Yang Jianxu first heard Ye Zhuo say she had a feeling about that black and white agate and wanted to carve it, he didn't think there was anything special about it. But now, looking at this jade carving in Nie Zhongkun's eyes, the feeling is completely different.

  He could see that this jade carving was made from a piece of agate with multiple natural colors. The main colors of the agate material include soy sauce red, ivory white, water white, black, red, gray, and yellow, some are in pieces, some are in dots, and some are in lines, intersecting each other without rules, both colorful and rich, yet messy and disorderly. Designing on such a material is extremely difficult. A person with low design skills would be at a loss when faced with this material, not knowing where to start.

  After Ye Zhen obtained this material, she cleverly utilized its color, as if the various colors of this agate were not naturally formed and used by her, but rather added by her. She wanted what color she got, and she wanted how much she got. This kind of grasp and utilization of the natural color and shape of the raw materials has reached an extreme point, which can be called a master level.

  The main tone of this agate is grayish black, and Ye Zhuo designed it into a deep mountain forest, a quiet valley with a gushing spring, giving people a sense of a deep and secluded atmosphere. The large area of grayish black serves as the environmental color to set off the main subject, highlighting the protagonist; while in the middle part of the agate, there are more prominent reddish-brown and irregular white colors. She made it into a "Amitayus Buddha" leaning against the rock, drinking dew and eating frost, wearing a white robe, with the reddish-brown skin and white robe complementing each other, both rare and realistic, leaving people to savor the flavor. Above and below, in front of and behind the main subject, some parts of the raw material are milky white, and Ye Zhuo skillfully carved them into swirling white clouds. The rapid spring flow creates a sense of stillness with movement, silence is more powerful than sound, an "empty valley, echoing with the cry of geese" atmosphere, making the viewer feel as if they hear the sound, see the scene, and are in the midst of it.

  This jade carving is not only exquisite in design, but also extremely skilled in craftsmanship. The Amitabha Buddha sits on a rock with a relaxed posture, looking straight ahead with a smile, holding a wish-fulfilling jewel, and the expression of the figure is extremely vivid and lifelike, as if this Amitabha Buddha were standing alive in front of one's eyes; plus the flowing clouds and moonlight surrounding him, the flying bats, further highlighting his broad mind, free from worries and troubles, with everything going as he wishes, symbolizing boundless good fortune and longevity, making people forget their worries and troubles at a glance.

  So in terms of carving techniques, Nie Zhongkun felt that there was still room for improvement, but this piece of agate jade carving made him have to admit that it was already a work of art. Although he had many top-notch jade materials, and also possessed top-notch carving skills, having seen countless excellent jade carvings by masters, he still couldn't help but sigh in admiration at this one.

  After a good while, Nie Zhongkun finally shifted his gaze from the jade carving and asked Zhou Ji: "Who sent this jade carving?"

  This jade carving not only caught the attention of Du Gongzi, but even the old master of the house had asked about it. So Zhou Ji had already ordered someone to investigate when Du Haoran returned it, and before coming here, he checked the registration documents again to confirm. Therefore, as soon as Nie Zhongkun asked, he immediately replied: "It was Yang Jianxiu, the county magistrate of Nanshan County. He used to be the chief clerk of the prefectural government, but recently became the county magistrate of Nanshan County. That day, he came with Yuan Chaolin, the county governor of Nanshan County."

  "Go and find out who carved this jade sculpture." Nie Zhongkun instructed, putting the jade carving back in the wooden box. "And take it to Du Gongzi's residence while you're at it." Although he was reluctant to part with the jade carving, Du Haoran rarely asked him for anything, so he couldn't very well refuse.

  "What is it?" Nie Bowen walked in from outside, curiously reaching out to take the wooden box and opening its lid.

  "Hey, be careful, don't fall." Nie Zhongkun called out anxiously as he saw his son's flustered appearance.

  Nie Bowen held a wooden box in both hands and looked up at his father with a puzzled expression. What good thing had Father not seen before? It was rare to see him so nervous.

  He lowered his head, casting his gaze at the wooden box, and found that inside was a jade carving. He collected the casual smile on his face, stretched out his hand to take out the jade carving, and carefully examined it.

  This jade carving must have its unique qualities for Father to be so serious about it.

  After glancing at it twice, he became serious like Nie Zhongkun. After a while, he asked the same question: "Who carved this?"

  Zhou Ji looked at Nie Zhongkun for a moment, just about to respond, but Nie Zhongkun asked instead: "How do you think this person compares to you?"

  Nie Bowen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the jade carving, and said slowly: "This person has not been studying jade carving for a long time, and their technique is still very immature. However, the carving has a lot of spirit. If they can learn our Nie family's carving techniques, with time, they will definitely be able to rival me. And if this ingenious design and carving are both from the same person's hand, then I will lose to him sooner or later..."

  As he said this, his expression suddenly changed and he cast his eyes on the jade carving again. After a long while, he raised his head and muttered to himself: "Could it be her?"

  "Oh? Do you know the author of this jade carving?" Nie Zhongkun asked.

  Nie Bowen didn't respond, and instead turned his head to glance at Du Haoran. Seeing that he was sitting next to a pile of original stones, examining them one by one, as if the matters here had nothing to do with him, Nie Bowen's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he asked Ou Ji: "Who sent this Wang Ou?"

  "Returning to the young master, I am Yang Jianxiu from Nanshan County."

  "As expected." Nie Bowen stood up straight and casually tossed the jade carving back into the wooden box.

  "Bo Wen!" Nie Bo Wen's action made Nie Zhongkun very dissatisfied. "You've been a bit too impulsive lately. I've told you how many times? As a jade carver or as the master of the Nie family, you can't act on your own preferences and emotions; even more so, you can't disregard other people's hard work. No matter what grudges you have with the designer and craftsman of this jade carving, its excellence is undeniable, it deserves all your respect."

  "Yes, father, I was wrong just now." Nie Bowen lowered his head and admitted his mistake honestly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Du Haoran was still selecting original stones, and suddenly he felt like he couldn't breathe - wasn't he just scolded for Du Haoran's sake?! But that little brat didn't even help him beg for mercy, how inhumane!

  Nie Zhongkun saw that his son was sincere in admitting his mistake, and his expression softened. He asked again: "Who carved this after all?"

  Nie Bowen hooked his mouth and did not answer his father's question, turned to Zhou Ji and asked: "Was this jade carving brought by Master Du?"

  "Master Du had me bring it out a few days ago to take a look, today it was the old master who asked for it." Zhou Ji replied.

  Nie Bowen nodded and turned to Nie Zhongkun: "Father, if I'm not mistaken, this should be the daughter of Yang Jianxiu, the county magistrate of Nanshan County, who is about to remarry. She's a 15-year-old girl with the surname Ye, carved by her. Haoran has helped her several times."

  He looked at Du Haoran with a self-satisfied expression after finishing speaking.

  "Oh?" Nie Zhongkun looked at Du Haoran in surprise.

  His own daughter liked Du Haoran, and he had always been in a supportive and encouraging attitude. Although the daughters of the Nie family were used to marrying into the wealthy families of the capital to gain more power to support the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine, Nie Zhongkun felt that if Nie Weiyue could marry Du Haoran, it would be even better for the Nie family than marrying into a famous family. After all, the foundation of the Nie family was in this jade mine, and only with the production of jade materials from this mine could they have a large amount of wealth to help the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine. Now, the old mines were almost depleted, and if new jade mines were not found, Nie Zhongkun dared not imagine what fate the Nie family would face. In the capital, there were many people eyeing the mining rights of the Nie family's jade mine, among whom the most threatening was the Second Prince, who was competing with the Crown Prince for the throne.

  Du Haoran didn't like Nie Weiyue, and he had explicitly expressed that he wouldn't marry her. However, Nie Weiyue kept pursuing him relentlessly, refusing to give up even when she couldn't marry Du Haoran herself, and also preventing others from marrying him. Several excellent girls in the Nie family were driven away by her. But Nie Zhongkun was helpless against his youngest daughter.

  Now, has Du Haoran set his sights on another girl?

  Du Haoran, who had been busy examining the jade, finally stopped what he was doing and said: "I'm helping Ye because she's a smart person and works hard. She learned jade carving in less than a year and has already achieved such impressive results. The design is breathtaking, and the finished product is full of spirit. It's clear that she has great talent. If Master Nie can take her on as an apprentice, it would be a good thing for the Nie family too."

  "Less than a year?" Nie Zhongkun's eyes lit up, and his mind, which had been led astray by Nie Bowen's words to gossip, was brought back. He took a few steps forward, took the wooden box from beside Nie Bowen, and took out the jade carving to take another look. After looking at it, he nodded and said: "Indeed, it's a good sapling. Zhou Ji, you'll go in person tomorrow, bring two women with you, and bring this Mr...". He turned to Du Haoran.

  "His surname is Ye." Du Haoran added.

  "Yes, Ye Niang, bring her here and I'll test her in person. If she really has talent for design and carving, I'll take her as my apprentice." said Nie Zhongkun.

  "Dad..." Nie Bowen hurriedly said, and signaled to Du Haoran behind him.

  Nie Zhongkun pretended not to see.

  He naturally understood Nie Bao Wen's meaning. A decent apprentice, but it was icing on the cake, and could be done without; however, a good gambler master was a godsend for the Nie family at this time. If Du Hao Ran had a crush on Ye Zhuo and wanted to marry her, and he himself wanted to marry another daughter of the Nie family, the difficulty would increase greatly. But who is Du Hao Ran? He's an extremely proud person, if he really likes that girl, he'll marry her. Even if Nie Zhong Kun or Nie Gui Fei were not happy about it, what could they do? Why did he need to explain why he was helping this girl?

  He's willing to explain it that way, then he's truly broad-minded and selfless. Just as he said, it's all for the sake of the Nie family. (Thank you for your support, it's my greatest motivation.)

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