"Ah, it's so beautiful." Ye Zhuo took over the stone, her eyes shining brightly.

  All that can be seen is that the original stone, which was about the size of a chicken egg, has been carved into a small chicken. The little chicken crouches on the ground, tilting its head as if curiously examining this world. What's most remarkable is that the red color originally present on the stone has been used for the chicken's beak; and the yellowish spots on the stone skin have been completely preserved and designed onto the small chicken's wings. These two colors instantly make the rough, inferior stone chicken come alive with interest.

  Seeing the radiant smile on Ye Zhuo's face, like a dazzling sunrise, and the sparkling eyes like polished jade, Zheng Fangjing couldn't help but blush and turn his gaze aside, saying: "What a pity it's not made of jade material, otherwise I would have given it to my cousin."

  "Really? Well, in that case, I'll give it to you." Ye Zhuo completely ignored the previous sentence and only heard the word "give", so he grasped the stone tightly in his palm and pulled it back to his chest, as if afraid someone would snatch it away.

  "But it's just a stone..." Zheng Fangjing looked embarrassed and scratched his head.

  "If it were a piece of jade, could you afford to give it?" Liu suddenly walked out of the kitchen and glared at Zheng Fangjing, "Don't pretend to be rich when you're not. What doesn't your cousin's family have that they'd care about a piece of jade from you?"

  Zheng Fangjing was so reprimanded by his mother that he looked at Ye Zhuo with embarrassment, his face turned extremely awkward, and he stuttered: "Since my cousin doesn't mind, then take it away."

  "Then thank you very much." Ye Zhuo smiled and was about to bid farewell, but before he could open his mouth, Liu Shi glared at the Zheng brothers again: "Aren't you hungry? Why don't you hurry up and eat? You still have work this afternoon." And then she smiled at Ye Zhuo, "Zhuo, aren't you going to eat a bit more?"

  "No, I should go too." Ye Zhuo smiled and bowed to Liu Shi, "My mother's place, because of the wound on her neck, she lost a lot of blood, so please take care of her more. Also, please help my mother with the medicine, brewing it for her to drink at the right time. And please tell my mother that I will find another chance to come out and see her." After finishing speaking, he let Qiuju hand over the medicine again and repeated the method of brewing the medicine.

  "Alright, I'll put the medicine here and make sure to brew it for your mother on time. Don't worry!" Liu said with a smile, seeing that there was enough medicine for four or five days.

  Ye Chou finished speaking and turned around again, looking at the room where Zheng's wife lived. Autumn Moon saw this and came forward to say: "Miss, don't worry, I just sneaked a peek earlier, Madam is already asleep."

  Ye Zhuo finally put his mind at ease, bowed to the two brothers and bid farewell.

  As soon as they got on the carriage, Autumn Moon saw Ye Zhuo take out that stone and looked at it repeatedly, even stroking it with her hand. Her expression was a bit dazed, which made Autumn Moon worry, so she called out softly: "Miss..." but stopped herself from saying more.

  "What's wrong?" Ye Zhuo raised her eyes and looked at Qiu Yue.

  "Master Ye's craftsmanship is nothing special in our town..." Autumn Moon said hesitantly. After saying this, she saw Ye Zhuo looking at her with a confused expression, seemingly not understanding what she meant to say. She couldn't help but become anxious and bit her lip again, saying: "In our Nanshan Town, there are many skilled jade carvers who are even younger than Master Ye..."

  Ye Chou was taken aback, then burst out laughing and glanced at Qiu Yue: "You silly girl, what were you thinking?!" He explained, "I just think this carving skill is quite amazing: a ordinary stone can be carved into a beautiful ornament with just a few strokes, so I took another look."

  Qiu Yue only then realized she had thought too much, her face turned red, and just as she was about to apologize, her eyes fell on Ye Zhuo, but she froze for a moment. The young lady had become extremely cold and detached since falling into the water, although she still smiled and spoke normally, but those eyes always seemed to have a layer of frost, making people's hearts skip a beat for no reason. And at this time, this unintentional smile and frown, with her eyes shining and sparkling, actually revealed a charming and beautiful demeanor that was captivating.

  Ye Zhuo put the stone into his sleeve, lifted the curtain and took a look outside, seeing a vendor selling roasted flatbread not far away. He said to Qiu Ju: "Tell the coachman to stop, you go buy some roasted flatbreads."

  Chrysanthemum was plump and only interested in eating, with no care for anything else. Today, she didn't get to eat lunch at the mansion, and when Auntie Zheng invited her over, she was rejected by the young lady. Although she knew the young lady was right, she still felt extremely regretful - after all, her stomach was growling loudly. At this moment, upon hearing these words, her eyes lit up, and her expression suddenly became lively. She called out, "Uncle Zhang, stop the car." Before the car even came to a complete stop, she jumped down from it.

  Looking at Qiu Ju like this, Ye Zhuo and Qiu Yue both burst out laughing. Qiu Yue returned to normal and advised, "This autumn is dry, miss shouldn't eat such roasted things, lest she gets a sore throat again."

  Ye Chou shook his head, grasped her hand and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "In a while, Old Lady will send someone to look for us. If we don't eat our fill, how can we have the energy to argue with others?"

  "Miss, are you saying that the old lady will find out about us?"

  Ye Zhuo nodded and said in a low voice, "She can't find the mole, so she'll have to take action against us. I reckon she'll call you guys in for questioning. But don't be afraid, I've got everything under control, I won't let them take you away for interrogation."

  "Miss..." Autumn Moon was moved. Although Miss had been very good before, she became even more intelligent and responsible after waking up from falling into the water - always standing in front of things, taking care of them; usually also considerate of everything, warming people's hearts. Being able to follow such a master is her blessing.

  She raised her eyes and looked at Ye Zhuo: "Miss, the lady is not in the mansion now, you should be more tolerant. Anyway, I can explain clearly where I went today, even if the old lady takes me to ask questions, it's nothing."

  Ye Chou shook her head: "You don't understand. It's precisely because my mother is not in the mansion that I need to toughen up. People are all about bullying the weak and fearing the strong, if you keep retreating step by step, others will think you're easy to bully, so who else would they bully? Besides, swallowing one's anger and humiliation has never been your family's daughter's style. Don't worry, I have my own measure."

  At this time, footsteps sounded outside the car. Then, Qiujie, holding a large paper package, got on the car panting and said to Yezhuang: "Miss, I think I just saw Old Master."

  "Oh, where is it?" Ye Zhuo raised her eyes.

  "At the gate of the old man's house."

  Yue Zhuo lifted the curtain of the car and looked forward, and indeed saw that not far in front of him, Yue Yu Zhang was bidding farewell to an old man with his hands clasped together. The old man was over sixty years old and looked seven or eight out of ten similar to Yue Yu Zhang. He wore a worn-out old robe that had been washed white - this was Yue Yu Zhang's older brother, the eldest master of the Ye family, Ye Yu Qi.

  Qiu Yue stuck her head out and looked around, puzzled, asking: "How did Old Master end up at Big Old Master's place?"

  It's no wonder she asked that, everyone in Ye Fu knows that the eldest master Ye Yiqi and the second master Ye Yuzhang are biological brothers, but after Ye Yuzhang separated from the family, he relied on his wife Jiang Shi's dowry to open a jade carving workshop, and then became rich step by step through his careful calculations. As a result, the second house is wealthy while the main house is poor. However, Ye Yuzhang is stingy and afraid that the main house will come to ask for help; whereas Ye Yiqi is honest and upright, and looks down on his brother's behavior. Therefore, there has been little contact between the two houses in general.

  Ye Zhuo put down the curtain and said lightly, "When a Ye family daughter gets married, Old Master Ye should be informed. After all, he is the eldest male member of the Ye family and an honest person. If they welcome the new bride in a few days, there's no need to worry about Old Master Ye coming over to reason with him."

  A moment of silence in the carriage.

  Ye Zhuo's expression didn't change much, taking half a roasted bun from Qiu Ju's hand and saying: "Hurry up and eat, we'll arrive at the mansion soon."

  Qiu Yue and Qiu Ju exchanged a glance, each took a pancake and ate in silence.

  Before long, the carriage came to a stop. Ye Zhuo got down from the carriage and had Qiu Ju give the remaining pastries to Zhang Shu, who was driving the carriage, then took them back to Biyu Residence.

  As expected, they had just sat down in the Biyu Residence when the old lady's people arrived. However, unexpectedly, it was not one of the old lady's maids from the courtyard, but rather Wang Yiniang.

  Thank you Xie Qiao and Xiao Yuan Xinliang for your reward. Special thanks to Qin Mu Jin for his second reward, thank you!