After seeing Ye Yu Zhang and Jiang off, Ye Zhuo did not return to Biyu Residence but instead took Qiuyue directly from the corner gate to the main house.

  In the courtyard of Da Fang's house, Ye Yuqi was sitting on a reclining couch, facing the vegetable garden, fiddling with the white jade; opposite him not far away, Guan Shi squatted in the vegetable field, chatting with Ye Yuqi in a desultory manner while quickly pulling out weeds. The vegetable field was filled with green and oily rape, several bees hovering over the flowers, buzzing occasionally. On the left side of the open window sill, Zhao Shi sat sideways at the window, her needle and thread flying up and down.

  Ye Zhuo stood at the door, gazing at this peaceful and serene scene, motionless for a long time.

  "What's wrong, Yu'er is here, why don't you come in?" Guan Shi inadvertently raised her head to see Ye Zhuo standing at the door and stood up.

  "Great-grandfather, great-grandmother." Ye Zhuo walked in and greeted them. However, she didn't intend to chat, and walked up to Ye Yuqi's face, saying: "Great-grandfather, I want you to take a look at the characters I wrote."

  Her words, naturally, have not yet reached the level that Ye Yuqi requires, but because of what happened today, Ye Zhuo feels that she can no longer stay in the Ye Manor. This time, Gong Shi lost because of Ye Zhuo, and she even exposed Gong Shi's trump card. Gong Shi now hates her to the bone and will definitely take revenge on her. And Gong Shi's method of revenge, the most ruthless move, is to interfere with her marriage.

  Although Gong Shuban is not a big shot, he has been in the official circle for a long time and knows countless people who want to curry favor with him. As long as Gong finds an old man in his sixties with many wives and concubines, and offers him a concubine position, it would be enough to disgust Ye Zhuo. And with Ye Yuzhang's self-interested nature, he will certainly be very happy to agree to this marriage. In this way, not only can Gong Shuban take revenge on Ye Zhuo, but also use this marriage to exchange some benefits from Ye Yuzhang, and even let Gong Shuban gain benefits in the official circle through this marriage. It's a win-win situation.

  So, even if Ye Zhuo endured the humiliation and let Gong's family beat her with more than a dozen slaps today, this advantageous marriage for both the Gong and Ye families would still be unavoidable for her.

  And by transferring herself to the main house, she would be leaving Ye Yuzhang and others' control. After witnessing a series of storms in the main house and feeling Ye Yuzhi's integrity and Gu Shi's kindness, Ye Zhuo was searching for an outlet for her own future in her heart. She had always wanted to let things develop naturally, but today's events had accelerated her plans. Today, she must get a promise from Ye Yuzhang's mouth. Only then could she set up a layout in the Ye Mansion and push things in the direction she had predetermined, thus smoothly transferring from the second house to the main house.

  Ye Yiqi didn't expect that after more than 20 days, Ye Zhuo would say such a thing. He raised his eyebrows in surprise and stared at Ye Zhuo for a while before standing up: "Come on, follow me into the house."

  He went into the room, spread out the paper, handed a pen to Ye Zhuo, and personally ground the ink for her. At this time, Ye Zhuo had already asked Qiuyue to tie a stone to her wrist. The stone was not the one that Ye Yuxi had given her at first, but a slightly smaller one.

  Ye Zhuo dipped the pen tip in ink and held it steadily, starting to write on the paper.

  The words were written slowly, and the strokes weren't quite right, but they won out in stability, one stroke at a time, with each stroke steady and unhurried. After writing seven characters, Ye Zhuo's hand began to tremble slightly, and she finally put down her brush, picked up the stone, lifted her head, and said to Ye Yuqi: "At first, I practiced with stones smaller than this one; afterwards, I gradually increased the weight of the stones, and the strokes of the characters became more and more numerous. Now, this stone is only slightly smaller than the one you gave me. I think that if I just have a little more time, I will definitely be able to write words with the stone you gave me, and the number of words will become more and more."

  Ye Yuqi looked at Ye Zhuo, remaining silent for a long time.

  Although Ye Zhuo's understanding of jade was the first person he had ever seen, on that day he gave her the stone just to dispel her idea of learning jade carving. Because, in fact, jade carving is not suitable for girls to learn, especially Ye Zhuo, who comes from a wealthy family and will never need to carve jade to make a living, no matter what kind of marriage Ye Yuzhang arranges for her.

  He had studied jade carving, and like this, he practiced calligraphy with his wrist suspended. He knew how hard it was. When you practice to your limit, every extra bit of effort makes your arm ache as if you're being tormented in hell, making time feel like an eternity. And if you can't hold on at the limit, your level will forever stay there and won't improve. So, every day is a challenge to one's limits, with time stretching out longer and longer. This kind of torment isn't something that someone without strong determination can endure. Many apprentices fall at this first hurdle.

  But unexpectedly, this little girl who looks soft and weak has managed to hold on to it, even when she didn't need to. Moreover, in just over 20 days, she was able to steadily bear such a huge weight, which shows that this little girl not only has a strong will but also has an astonishing talent and extraordinary strength!

  Ye Zhuo saw Ye Yuqi just staring at him without saying a word, and for the first time, he felt uncertain in his heart. He called out softly: "Great-grandfather?"

  Ye Yiqi walked to the side of the chair and sat down, then pointed to the chair beside him and said: "Sit." After Ye Zhuo sat down, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "Zhuo'er, you can achieve this in just twenty days, which surprises me greatly. Such progress, even if it's a male apprentice with great strength, can't be easily achieved."

  Ye Zhuo felt relieved after hearing this. As long as Ye Yuqi maintained a positive attitude towards her, things would be easier to handle.

  "You tell me, why do you want to learn jade carving? Is it just because you like it?"

  Ye Zhuo stood up, walked in front of him, and knelt down: "Great-grandfather, please let me be adopted by you, and I will regard you as my own grandfather!"

  "What?" Ye Yu Xi thought she was going to ask him to take her as his apprentice, but instead heard such a sentence, and was shocked to stand up suddenly.

  Ye Zhuo raised her head and looked at Ye Yuqi: "Grandfather, I want to be adopted by you as your own granddaughter. Although I am a girl, please rest assured that in the future, Zhuo will not marry out, but will invite a husband to move in and take care of the three elders until they are old."

  "You... why are you doing this?" Ye Yuqi's expression turned cold. His first reaction was that his brother, who regarded a single piece of silver as if it were worth the entire sky, was again plotting something to swindle him out of the several hundred taels of silver in compensation from the Jiang family.

  Ye Zhuo naturally knew what Ye Yuqi was thinking in her heart right now, and she knew that if she didn't make things clear, Ye Yuqi would not agree to the adoption. After telling him about today's events, she continued: "Madam will definitely not let me off, and will surely find a terrible marriage for me. As long as it benefits the Ye family, Grandfather and Grandmother won't disagree. In that case, Zhuo has no choice but to take this one path. So, Great-Grandfather, please let Zhuo be adopted by you, and I'll take care of you and Great-Grandmother." After finishing speaking, tears couldn't help but flow out.

  Although, even if she didn't move into the main house, she could still use her means to prevent Gong Shi and Ye Yu Zhang from controlling her marriage. However, she really didn't want to spend every day fighting with people, she wanted a warm home, she wanted to live a peaceful life.

  "No, I won't agree with you." Ye Yuqi's response was like a basin of cold water, instantly cooling her heart.

  "Why?" She raised her head and looked at Ye Yuqi.

  Ye Yiqi didn't respond. He stood up and was about to walk out the door, but unexpectedly Zhao rushed in, knelt down in front of Ye Yiqi, and tearfully said: "Father, you must agree with Zhuo'er! The incense of the main house of the Ye family cannot be cut off because of me, your daughter-in-law. I will leave the Ye family immediately and never harm Zhuo'er again, so please agree to Zhuo'er's request!"

  Ye Yuqi didn't respond to her request, just because he was worried that she would be defeated by Zhao? Ye Zhuo suddenly sat up straight and looked at Ye Yuqi. She was a person who had died once and come back to life, if anyone's fate was harder than hers, then who could it be? A person who couldn't even die, what was she afraid of Zhao for?

  Thank you stillia, Muhua Rong and Qin Mu Jin for the peace talismans, thank you jykuan4569 for the perfect evaluation votes!