"Uh? How did you say that?" Ye Yuqi asked nervously.

  "I said I would move to the main house, just to take care of you two elders in your old age. Now that you two are getting older and don't want to leave your hometown, I have to stay by your side and can't go with her to Beijing, please forgive me."

  "Then she..."

  Ye Zhuo smiled: "Those who come out of those big houses are used to speaking like this, one sentence goes around several bends. I said this, how can she not understand my meaning? She then followed the words to praise me for being filial, and wished good fortune to you and your grandmother, before changing the subject."

  "Let's just keep a low profile and live our lives quietly. These nobles are not to be trifled with, one wrong word and it's a matter of life and death. We common folk should just stick to our humble ways."

  He then asked: "Do I still have to accompany Master Gu tomorrow?"

  "Uh-huh." Ye Zhuo nodded and smiled again, "Grandfather, don't worry, I'll be careful with my words and won't cause trouble for the family, you can rest assured."

  Ye Yuqi was relieved about this. Ye Zhuo had been following him for so long, and he hadn't seen her do anything that would worry him; she spoke and acted more cautiously than he did. Still, he reminded her: "It's better to say less rather than more, the more you say, the more mistakes you'll make."

  "Yes." Ye Zhuo replied respectfully.

  Nie's house in Nanshan Town, Nie Bowen was walking back and forth in the house. His servant, Nie Yun, rushed in from outside the yard, dusty and winded, still holding a horse whip, and as soon as he entered the house, he saluted: "Young master, I heard the lady say that the day you left, the old master received a letter saying that there was a problem with the goods that Dongling Chengguo wanted, and the old master went to Dongling. This time, it will take at least ten days or half a month to come back."

  Nie Bao Wen had already stopped in his tracks, listening to Nie Yun's report. At this time, hearing these words, he plopped down into the chair. He picked up the cold tea cup on the table and drank it all in one gulp, irritably saying: "It didn't happen early, it didn't happen late, but it had to happen at this time. Is that Zhen Guo Hou not in cahoots with Princess Yu?"

  Nie Yun naturally knew that the young master's words were a monologue and not a question for him, so he quietly lowered his head and didn't speak.

  "Alright, you can go now." Nie Bowen waved his hand. He lifted his head and looked out the window. He saw Du Haoran sitting under a tree, reading a book with a carefree expression. He let out a long sigh, steadied himself, and walked slowly out the door. His servant, Nie Feng, seeing this, quickly moved a chair to follow behind him. When he stopped beside Du Haoran, Nie Feng placed the chair behind him, then picked up the teapot from the table and poured a cup of tea for Nie Bowen.

  Nie Bowen lifted his robe and sat down. He glanced at the book Du Haoran was reading. He picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and looked at the willow tree with green buds by the pond in front of him, saying: "Haoran, what do you think? Yu Fei has never set foot in the south for so many years, but now she's come here. What does she want to do? Is she following the emperor's orders to take away our jade mining rights?"

  Du Haoran ignored him and stared intently at the book in his hand.

  Nie Bowen was annoyed and reached out to grab Du Haoran's book, but Du Haoran seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. As soon as Nie Bowen moved, his hand grasped at nothing.

  "Hao Ran, just tell me. Those capable people under my command can only manage things in Nan Yun City, but once it involves things in the capital, they're all like fools, knowing nothing."

  Du Haoran glanced at him with the corner of his eye and then shifted his gaze back to the book: "I'm also an idiot, not even as good as those who are in charge."

  Nie Bowen knew that Du Haoran would no longer discuss this matter with him, and sulkily muttered: "I knew it, you don't consider me as a brother."

  Du Haoran remained indifferent and continued reading his own book.

  Nie Bowen had no choice but to pick up the teapot on the table, pour himself a cup of tea, and drink it all in one gulp. He then poured another cup, as if he hadn't drunk water for several years.

  "Gongzi." A man in black appeared beside the pond at some point and gave Nie Bowen a salute.

  "How is it?" Nie Bowen immediately straightened his body.

  The man in black looked at Du Haoran for a moment without saying a word.

  Nie Bowen waved his hand: "Nothing, you speak."

  "Yes." The man in black said, "This afternoon, Yu Fei went to see the big banyan tree at Zhenxi Head first, and then went to the ferry on the east bank of Chunjiang River. She stood there for a while, staring blankly as the ferry boat departed. On her way back, when she was about to get into the carriage, she told Ye that she wanted to take her as an apprentice."

  Nie Bowen furrowed his brow: "What did Miss Ye say?"

  The man in black lowered his head: "After Princess Yu Fei finished speaking, she got on the carriage and left. Ye's daughter also followed her. As for what they said on the carriage, I couldn't get close to it, so I'm not clear about that. However, after they parted ways, I followed Ye's daughter back to the Ye residence and overheard her conversation with Old Master Ye. She told Princess Yu Fei that her grandparents were old and needed her to take care of them until their passing, and politely declined Princess Yu Fei's invitation to go to the capital."

  Nie Bowen seemed to let out a sigh of relief, humming in his nose: "This is more like it, finally some brains." After finishing, he gritted his teeth and slapped the table, causing the teapot and tea cups on the table to jump up, splashing water everywhere. "Brazenly running into my Southern faction's territory to poach people, this is simply outrageous, how dare you!" Then he stood up with a "whoosh", waving his hand at Du Haoran, "Let's go, to Ye's house." He strode towards the door, but halfway there, seeing Du Haoran not moving, he looked up at the sky again and stopped in his tracks. He walked back and plopped down into the chair, picking up the teacup to drink, only to see that more than half of the tea had spilled out. With a "clatter", he slammed it onto the table, telling Nie Feng, "Pour some more tea."

  That exquisite ceramic teapot and tea cup are of good quality, even though he was rough with them, taking pictures and knocking them around, they didn't break.

  The maid quickly came forward to clear the table, Nie Feng also personally went to change a new teapot and tea cups, poured a cup of tea, before retreating.

  Du Haoran pretended as if nothing had happened and continued reading his book with rapt attention.

  Nie Bowen was furious, and he went over to whisper in his ear with some malice: "Hey, aren't you fond of Ye girl? Otherwise, I'll let the matchmaker come tomorrow. You can marry her as your wife or take her as a concubine, whichever you like."

  With a "slap", Du Haoran's book was thrown onto Nie Bowen's desk, causing the newly replaced teapot and tea cups to clatter again. One of the cups was even knocked to the ground by the book and shattered into two pieces. Du Haoran stood up, his face cold and stern as he glared at Nie Bowen: "Why should I marry for the benefit of your Nie family? Who I marry or take as a concubine is none of your business!" He turned around and walked away.

  "I was just joking, do you have to get so angry?" Nie Bowen shouted at Du Haoran's back. But Du Haoran didn't stop in his tracks, and his figure soon disappeared among the green trees and red flowers, turning a corner and vanishing from sight.

  "Go and see what Master Du has to say, if there's anything urgent come back and report." Nie Bao Wen said to Nie Feng. At this time when the enemy was invading from outside, if because of his joke Du Hao Ran would leave in a huff, his father would kill him when he came back.

  Nie Feng hastily followed in the direction Du Haoran had gone, and after a while, someone came to report that Du Haoran had returned to his room, read for a bit, washed up, and gone to sleep, without any intention of packing up and leaving. Only then did Nie Bao Wen breathe a sigh of relief.

  That night, Ye Zhuo had a new way to practice her eyesight and reaction. She waited until it was dark, then lit a candle in the courtyard. The red flame quickly attracted countless moths and unknown flying insects. Slowly, she raised her knife, her wrist moved, and the vegetable knife flew out. "Clang" sounded as the knife hit the ground, and an insect also fell to the ground along with it.

  Ye Yiqi stood under the eaves, watching Ye Zhuo waving a kitchen knife in the dark night and the wax light surrounded by flying insects. He stood for a long time before sighing softly and returning to the house. That night, Ye Zhuo, who was exhausted from practice, was still carried back to the house by Guan Shi and Qiu Yue, Qiu Ju. After changing into clean clothes with great effort, he fell fast asleep.

  The next morning, Ye Yuqi went to the Jade Workshop after breakfast, while Ye Zhuo waited at home for Sakura to pick her up. As soon as Ye Yuqi left the house, someone knocked on the gate. Autumn Chrysanthemum went to open it, and just as she opened the door, it was pushed open with great force, causing her to stumble backward, but fortunately, she managed to steady herself and didn't fall down.

  "Who is so rude?" Qiu Ju angrily lifted her head, but saw a woman wearing a deep brown coarse cloth dress rushing in. She quickly ran up and grabbed the person's arm, shouting: "Who are you looking for? What do you want to do?"

  Ye Zhuo heard someone knocking on the door and thought it was Sakura coming, so she came out of the house to greet her. But when she saw this scene, she stopped in her tracks and sized up the woman. Before she could recognize who the woman was, the woman broke free from Qiuju's grasp and rushed towards Ye Zhuo, scratching her face with one hand while shouting: "I'll kill you, you slut! I curse you to a miserable death, you're a scourge on society, when you die you'll be sent to hell to fry in oil, never able to turn over for thousands of years..."

  "Stop her quickly!" Guan's voice rang out as she pointed at the woman and rushed over.

  Ye Zhuo, due to his knife skills training, had superior reaction and action abilities compared to ordinary people. Where would he let this person get the better of him? With a quick turn of his foot, he dodged her hand, then stretched out both hands to firmly grasp the woman's wrists. Frowning, he asked: "Who are you, why did you come to my home to cause trouble? Did you mistake me for someone else?"

  "Damn it, I admit that no one can admit their mistake, you cheap woman, Leaf Chou, you scoundrel, despicable and shameless stinky bitch, return my father to me, return my son to me..." The woman cursed while struggling with all her might, hoping to break free from Leaf Chou's grip and scratch her face. But unfortunately, Leaf Chou's strength was now greater than Qiujie's, and the woman's hands were held as if by iron pincers, unable to move at all.

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