"It won't work, it won't work," said the gatekeeper with a smile, curiously sizing up Ye Zhuo for a few moments. "Please use the visitor's entrance."

  "Let's go." Nie Yun also didn't bother to reason with him, called out to Ye Zhuo and headed towards the side door.

  Ye Zhuo glanced at the main gate and followed Nie Yun into the side door.

  Nie's family, although not enfeoffed, held a position in Nanyun City that was even higher than the prefecture. The compound occupied a large area of land, and Ye Zhuo followed Nie Yun for a good while before stopping in front of a courtyard gate.

  Nie Yun had been flattered and fawned upon all the way, with a somewhat arrogant demeanor. But when he arrived here and saw the three women standing at the door, his attitude became respectful. He said to one of the women wearing a cyan satin jacket: "Aunt Zhu, this is Ye Gongzhu, the new disciple that Master has just accepted. The young master asked me to bring her to see Madame."

  Before Nian Yunlai arrived, someone had already been sent to inform Mrs. Nian about Ye Zhuo's situation, so there was no need for any further explanation. Zhu Ayi waved her hand and said, "Alright, you can go rest now. I've received orders from the mistress to come to the second gate to welcome Miss Ye." She curtsied to Ye Zhuo with a smile on her face, "I pay my respects to Miss Ye, who has had a tiring journey. Please enter, the mistress is waiting for you in the hall."

  "Thanks, Aunt Zhu." Ye Zhen smiled and nodded at Nie Yun before following Aunt Zhu inside.

  Ye Zhuo had grown up in this mansion since her previous life, so she knew the nature of these underlings who flattered and bullied. If she took out some silver now to win them over, perhaps she would gain their favor and they would speak a good word for her in front of Mrs. Nie. But she had other plans this time, so she pretended not to understand anything. She just followed Zhu's mother into the inner courtyard without any intention of showing her sincerity.

  They walked for another cup of tea's worth of time and entered a courtyard, stopping in front of a flight of steps.

  "Green Sprout Maiden. Leaf Maiden has arrived, would you please help spread the word?" Zhu YaYa smiled fawningly at the maid standing by the door who was wearing a light green satin jacket.

  "Just a moment." Green Sprout glanced at Ye Zhuo, turned around and entered the house. Before long, she came out and said: "Miss Ye, the mistress is inviting you." As she spoke, she lifted up the curtain.

  Ye Zhuo nodded slightly and walked in slowly with Qiuyue under the autumn moon.

  In front of me was a four-paneled nanmu wood screen with silk embroidery, and behind the screen, I saw a woman sitting on a yellow rosewood chair with carved phoenix patterns. She was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old and extremely beautiful, wearing a dark red velvet jacket with gold trim and a high-collared long gown. Underneath, she wore a skirt embroidered with gardenia flowers and was quietly sipping tea from a cup. Behind her stood two young maidservants, while beside her stood a middle-aged woman wearing a light gray-purple satin jacket with floral patterns.

  "Ye Zhuo pays his respects to Nie's wife." Ye Zhuo stepped forward a few steps and bowed slightly to the seated woman.

  Mrs. Nie put down her teacup and looked Ye Zhuo up and down. She saw that Ye Zhuo was wearing a light green silk embroidered long dress with a silver-white carved silk gray mouse cloak on the outside, and only wore two hairpins made of jade material on her head, with earrings made of the same piece of jade hanging from her ears. Although she was dressed very simply and not luxuriously, her eyebrows and eyes were like paintings, and she was elegant and extraordinary, with a refined temperament.

  "Are you Ye Zhuo?" Mrs. Nie's face showed a look of surprise.

  Before competing with Nie Bao Yi, Ye Zhuo was just a woman with some talent in jade carving in Nie Bao Wen's eyes. The only special thing is that Du Hao Ran, who had never been interested in women before, tried to help Ye Zhuo three or four times. So he didn't mention Ye Zhuo to his mother until now. Today, he sent someone to report and just said that Ye Zhuo's jade carving skills are extremely high, Gu Chen wants to take her as a disciple, so he took her as an apprentice on behalf of his father to avoid losing face for the Nan Shan Sect.

  Carving jade is a physically demanding task. Therefore, in Nie's wife's impression, Ye Zhuo must be sturdy and strong, with broad shoulders and a round waist, but unexpectedly she was an elegant and refined woman like an orchid or a lotus, and also extremely beautiful and charming.

  "It's indeed Xiao Rou who is Ye Zhuo." Ye Zhuo replied with a lowered gaze.

  "A girl like you should be at home learning embroidery and finding a good marriage, why would you want to learn jade carving?" asked Mrs. Nie with a smile.

  Ye Zhuo smiled lightly: "My grandfather had no son or grandson, I was adopted from the second house to my grandfather's, so I shouldered the responsibility of carrying on the family line and was raised as a boy."

  "Alas, a delicate beauty like you, your grandfather is indeed willing to part with." Madam Nie sighed.

  "Grandfather didn't actually expect Ye Zhuo to do these chores to support the family, but since Ye Zhuo genuinely liked jade carving, he reluctantly agreed."

  "It's like that." Mrs. Nie nodded and stopped asking about the topic, smiling, "You've come at an inconvenient time, the master has just gone out of town and won't be back for over ten days. You can stay here first, get familiar with the environment, and meet your fellow disciples."

  Gu Dun arrived at Nanshan Town, but Nie Zhongkun did not appear. Ye Zhuo guessed that he was not at home, so he readily agreed to let Nie Bowen come to the Nie's house. At this time, it was confirmed by Mrs. Nie's mouth, and she secretly rejoiced in her heart, responding with a "yes".

  Mrs. Nie turned her head and instructed Zhu: "Call Zhang Zi Qing and Zhao Song to come and meet their junior sister." Zhu went after responding, and she turned her head to smile at Ye Zhen: "In the past, when Master took in apprentices, he had never taken a female apprentice before. All your senior brothers live in the front courtyard. Now that you've arrived, it's quite troublesome for me to arrange your living quarters. As a woman, living in the front courtyard with those men isn't suitable either, but living in the back courtyard would make it inconvenient for you to learn from your senior brothers. After some careful consideration, I found a small courtyard near the second gate in the back courtyard that's just right for you."

  "Thank you for your trouble, madam." Ye Zhuo bowed and paid his respects.

  Madam Nie waved her hand: "Although you brought a maid, she is not familiar with the situation. I will assign another maid to you, and whatever tasks you have, just let her do them. If there's anything lacking, just send her to me to ask for it. You'll be living here for a long time from now on, as the saying goes 'one day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father', since you are Master's apprentice, you can also consider yourself my daughter, so treat this place like your own home and don't be polite, just speak up if there's anything you want."

  "Yes." Ye Zhuo bowed again, "Thank you, madam, for your trouble in arranging this."

  Mrs. Nie saw that Ye Zhuo was very polite and had a good impression of her. She called over a maid named Zi He, introduced her to Ye Zhuo, and asked her how old she was, who was in her family, why she wanted to be adopted into the main house, and so on.

  Just as they were chatting, two people walked in from outside. The one who looked like a maid stood to the side, while the one wearing a red shirt was none other than Nie Wei Yue, whom Ye Zhuo had met at the Nie family's building. As soon as she came in, she said: "Mother, I heard that Auntie has sent some fabrics for me from the capital again, where are they?"

  Madam Nie's face, which had been smiling politely, suddenly transformed into a warm and loving expression. She affectionately tapped Nian Wei Yue's head with her hand: "You're always so impatient. I have to tell your aunt that you don't have a steady temperament, she insists on assigning a palace nanny to teach you etiquette."

  "Mother, please spare me. Eating, walking, talking are all like wearing a cangue, how can I live like this!" Nie Wei Yue shook Nie's wife's arm and coquettishly said.

  "Alright, alright, I'm all sore and aching all over, one more shake and I'll fall apart." Madam Nie said with a smile. Just as she was about to call the maid to show Nian Wei Yue the fabric sent by Concubine Nie, she caught sight of Ye Zhuo, and only then remembered there were outsiders present. Hurriedly, she said: "Come, Moonchild, this Miss Ye is your father's new disciple. She's two months younger than you, so in the future, be sure to get along well and don't bully her."

  Nǐ Wēi Yuè finally turned her face, glanced at Ye Zhuo twice, then nodded casually and replied: "Oh, I know." Then she turned around again, asking Mrs. Nǐ to let her look at the fabric.

  "Alright, alright, go take a look." Mrs. Nie, having been bothered to the point of exasperation, turned her head and called out to the servant, "Zhou Jijia, take the young lady inside to look at the fabrics."

  "Yes." The middle-aged woman in a light gray and purple embroidered jacket responded with a smile, leading Nie Weiyue into the house.

  At this time, the green moss at the door came to report: "Madam, Zhang Gongzi and Zhao Gongzi have arrived."

  "Let them in," said Mrs. Nie.

  Lu Ping responded with a sound, and soon led in two young men. The tall and thin one in front wore a lake blue brocade robe, with a relatively clear face; the slightly shorter one behind him wore a dark green shirt, with an extremely ordinary appearance. As soon as they entered the door, they hurriedly took two steps forward, bowed to Nie's wife, and said in unison: "Greetings to Master's wife."

  "Get up." Mrs. Nie smiled and pointed at Ye Zhuo, "This girl is called Ye Zhuo, Bo Wen accepted her as a disciple on behalf of your master, from now on she will be your junior sister." After finishing, she pointed at the tall and thin figure in lake blue clothes to Ye Zhuo, "This is Zhang Zi Qing, your eleventh senior brother." Then she pointed at another one, "This is Zhao Song, your twelfth senior brother."

  "Ye Zhuo pays respects to the eleventh and twelfth Shixiong." Ye Zhuo bowed to them.

  Zhang Zi Qing and Zhao Song Busily returned a courtesy.

  "I've arranged for your junior sister to stay in the Wind Welcome Courtyard next to the West Corner Gate. You can take her there now. During this time when your master is away, please take good care of her." Madam Nie said with a wave of her hand, "I have other matters to attend to, you may withdraw."

  "Yes." Zhang Zi Qing and Zhao Song responded respectfully in unison, then retreated with Ye Zhuo.

  For many years, as Nie's family has more and more excellent jade carvers who can accept apprentices, the conditions for Nie Zhongkun to accept apprentices have also become stricter. Those who are not exceptionally talented and young will not be accepted at all. Moreover, those who can be accepted as his direct disciples must go through layers of examination, which can last from one month to half a year, even if they did not rank high in the competition. As for Ye Zhen's visit this time, Zhang Zi Qing and Zhao Song had not heard any news about it beforehand. Moreover, she was accepted by Nie Boren when Nie Zhongkun was not at home, which made them extremely curious. Just now, in front of Mrs. Nie, they did not dare to ask, but now Zhang Zi Qing could not help asking Ye Zhen: "Sister Ye, how were you accepted as a disciple by Brother Nie? Did Master know about it?"

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