"But if you didn't want to go to Nie's house, why did you agree to participate in the competition?" Ye Yuqi asked again.

  Ye Zhuo smiled wryly: "What else can we do? Where are we now? This is Nanshan Town, the territory of the Nie family. Here, the Nie family can decide who lives and who dies. If I had refused their offer directly, it would have provoked them, and even my stepfather's official position would not be guaranteed, let alone protecting us. So, at that time, I could only use a delaying tactic to stall for time, hoping to think of a good solution that wouldn't offend the Nie family while also keeping myself safe."

  Ye Yuqi furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, and let out a long sigh: "Kid, it's tough! If you didn't show such exceptional talent, you could still live a peaceful life. But now that they know about your abilities, the Nie family will never let someone like you go. They'll definitely try to recruit you into their household before they can rest easy. Just look at what they've done over the years - they've scooped up all the talented individuals with slightly better innate abilities."

  "So, I'm really regretful that I didn't hold back a bit during the trial today. However, at that time, I couldn't help it. My mind was all about carving techniques, and after seeing Nie Boyi's carvings, I just wanted to express everything I felt on that jade plaque. Where would I have had the space to think about gains and losses, and what to take or leave?"

  "This can't be blamed on you. You have a talent for this, and it's something that can't be hidden. Unless you never carve again in your life, you'll eventually be discovered." Ye Yuqi said.

  Although these are comforting words, they are also true. To let someone who has an unparalleled love for jade carving, due to some benefits and drawbacks, conceal their level and intentionally carve their favorite high-quality jade into an ugly shape, is more unbearable than killing her. In comparison, becoming a chess piece in the Nie family is still somewhat easier to accept.

  "By the way, what's going on with that Master Gu? What does she have to do with this matter? As a Northern Sect Master Gu, I suppose she wouldn't want the Southern Sect to grow stronger and take you in as a disciple of the Nie family. Can we use her to stop this from happening?"

  "How can I stop her? She will be back in the capital in a few days. Even if she orders the Nie family not to bother me, do you think it would work? Unless... she takes me as her apprentice."

  Ye Yuqi's eyes lit up: "To worship Yu Fei as a teacher?" However, once he said this, he knew it was inappropriate. Worshiping Gu Cen as a teacher is no different from worshiping Nie Zhongkun as a teacher, it's just that the identity is more noble.

  But thinking that there is an imperial concubine as her granddaughter's teacher, Ye Yuxi still feels excited. With this one bow, Ye Zhuo's status immediately became different, which would be very beneficial for her future marriage. For a girl, isn't the biggest thing in life to marry a good husband? With a higher status, the range of choices also broadened. Why not directly choose a young master from a scholarly family, wouldn't that be better than finding a rough and smelly man who carves stones in this town?

  Yè Zhuó didn't know what Yè Yǔ Qī was thinking. She came from the capital city, and now she would never go back to the capital again. There was nothing in that place that made her nostalgic. And during this period of time in Nán Shān Town, although there were also disputes and troubles, overall it was still quite simple and happy. She didn't want to go back to her old life again.

  She shook her head, dispelling Ye Yu's idea: "Grandfather, you can forget it. Don't say that Master Gu doesn't have the intention of accepting an apprentice. Even if she did, I couldn't possibly ask her to be my master."

  "Why?"

  Ye Zhuang's voice softened: "As I guessed, Master Gu came to Nan Shan Town, probably related to the struggle for the throne between the two princes. Now that the crown prince has not been established in the imperial court, the emperor seems to be watching from the sidelines, waiting to see who is stronger between the first and second princes, and then letting him become the crown prince. The Southern School Nie family is the maternal family of the first prince, and they have always controlled the jade mine in the south. As the founder of the Northern School, Yu Fei Niang Niang came here for what? A concubine. Without the emperor's permission, how could she come here? I suspect this is a signal, meaning the emperor's balance is starting to tilt towards the second prince, letting the Northern School compete with the Southern School Nie family for territory. But no matter how they fight, the first prince will always be the first prince, even if he can't become the crown prince, he is still the emperor's own son. So the Nie family won't fall, at most their power will be weakened. You tell me, these two schools are fighting over interests and face. I was born in Nan Shan Town, but I went to worship Master Gu of the Northern School as my teacher, which is no less than slapping Master Nie in the face. Does Master Nie hate me or not? Even if he's considerate of Master Gu and doesn't want to deal with me, it's just a matter of one sentence to deal with you. Unless we move our whole family north and never come back. But you've been stuck here for a lifetime, and now that you're old, leaving your hometown is really hard to bear! Is it necessary?"

  Ye Yiqi's mouth was agape for half a day, unable to utter a word. Ye Zhuo's words made him break out in a cold sweat.

  It took him a long time to say, "Jade, you can't think about being free either. Just listen to your grandfather and go into the Nie family. Grandfather heard what you said and thought it through. The two factions are at odds, and you want to be like the grass on the wall, surviving in the cracks, it's not easy! If you're not careful, it's a disaster. So, it's better to make Nie Daoshi your master. As long as you have skills, let Nie Daoshi appreciate you, he won't force you to do things you don't want to do."

  "Grandfather, I want to be like Du Gongzi." Ye Zhuo raised his head. "You see, isn't Du Gongzi someone who doesn't rely on anyone, yet no one dares to offend him, and is free and easy? Even if it's Master Gu, he wouldn't intentionally make things difficult for Du Gongzi, right? After all, any jade carver needs jade material, and in order to have jade material, they need to have a gambler like me."

  Ye Yuqi raised an eyebrow in surprise: "You want to go learn about gambling?"

  "No." Ye Zhuo smiled and lifted her clean chin, "I want to be a designer."

  "Designer?" Ye Yuqi stared at Ye Zhuo for a moment with wide eyes.

  "Right, let's open a workshop and specialize in design work. No matter which workshop, no matter whether it's Southern or Northern style, as long as they pay me, I can design their jade materials for them. We can also take on apprentices, choose those with quick minds, teach them to paint, and then teach them design. As long as they have some natural talent, once they're familiar with it, designing jade materials isn't difficult."

  "The designer..." Ye Yuxi furrowed his brow and fell into thought. In the past, when carving jade, it was always the jade carver himself who designed and carved it. Except for the time Ye Yuzhang had asked Ye Zhuo to draw a few design sketches, he had never asked someone else to design something for him to carve in jade. What Ye Zhuo said was a new profession. Whether this new profession was feasible or not, what its advantages and disadvantages were, still needed careful consideration.

  "Grandfather, it's all right, this matter is not urgent, you can think about it slowly. I'll go back to my room first." Ye Zhuo stood up.

  At that time, she was reborn and struggled to survive, trying every means to be adopted by the main house. After arriving at the main house, she devoted herself to learning jade carving, wanting to master a skill, so that she could support herself without relying on others. Moreover, at that time, her social status was low, and all the problems she needed to think about were how to make more money, not be bullied by others, and make her ordinary life as a commoner better. So she never thought deeply about the path she would take in the future. Today, when Nie Bowen asked her to worship Nie Zhongkun as her master, she began to worry about her own future, feeling that worshiping Master Nie was not a suitable path for her. So she didn't agree. Then, sitting in the carriage, thinking about all aspects, she finally knew what she wanted and what was suitable for her to take - a path like Du Haoran's. Relying on her own abilities, standing tall and proud. Even with great power like the Nie family and Yu Fei, they wouldn't dare to bully him, but instead needed to curry favor with him. This is the most suitable path for someone from an ordinary background who has a lot of pride.

  As a designer, she may not have the same status as a gambler. A family like Nie's must have gathered some talented designers. Many jade materials are only used for decorations and don't require design. And she herself may not be able to come up with designs that satisfy everyone. But this is also a different path, isn't it? How can she know if it won't work without trying? After all, in Nanshan Town, many small workshops still need designers, and she only needs to charge a certain percentage of the jade material's value as her fee. And if this doesn't work out, with her special ability, even if she can't gamble for mines, she can still be a master at gambling for stones! Du Haoran hasn't gambled out a mine in so long, isn't he always doing stone-gambling for the Nie family?

  After lunch, Ye Zhuo carefully thought through the things he needed to deal with next, and after getting a clear idea in his mind, he used his pen to record the insights he had gained that morning at the Gu's residence.

  Just as she finished writing, Autumn Moon knocked on the door: "Miss, Master Gu has sent Sakura to pick you up."

  "Ah?" Ye Zhuo furrowed his brow and stood up, saying "Get me a change of clothes."

  Gu Dun had said to take her for a stroll in Nanshan Town, but Ye Zhuo thought Gu Dun was tired from the whole morning and wouldn't go out again until tomorrow. But unexpectedly, someone came to pick them up at this moment.

  Ye Zhuo changed his clothes and bid farewell to Ye Yuqi and Guan Shi, then went out. He didn't come back until the evening.

  "How was it? Nothing happened, right?" Ye Youqi came forward as soon as Ye Zhuo entered the door. After experiencing so many big things today, he heard Ye Zhuo's analysis and still had a lingering fear in his heart, afraid that Ye Zhuo would accidentally offend the nobleman and bring about a disaster that would destroy their family. But apart from Ye Zhuo, not even Guan Shi could be told. He could only anxiously wait at home for Ye Zhuo to return.

  "Master Gu said he wants to take me as his apprentice," Ye Zhuo said after taking a few sips of tea.

  "What?" If this sentence were spoken before noon, Ye Yuxi would have jumped up excitedly. But now it feels a bit thrilling, "How did you answer?"

  Thanks to He Xi and Kang Xiao for the peace talisman reward!

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