Nie Zhongkun was afraid that the Ye family would not understand his intention, thinking that he would only take Ye Zhuo back home to rest for a while and then return. So he said: "In Nanshan Town, Yujie Street, our Nie family has more than a dozen shops. At that time, I will let the steward choose a good one and send the house deed to your hand as compensation from the Nie family. Although the reason is quite complicated and it's not clear who was wrong, Miss Ye did suffer in the Nie family after all. Sending a shop can make me feel more at ease."

  Ye Yiqi had been straightforward all his life, how would he want the Nie family's compensation? He said calmly: "We appreciate Mr. Nie's kindness, but we can't have this shop."

  Nie Zhongkun didn't speak immediately, only staring at the Ye family with his eyes. Seeing that the Ye family was not intimidated by his fierce gaze, and didn't show any fear, even Guan Shi and Zheng Manwen, these two women, were like this, his mood became even worse. The Ye family was so stubborn, and Guan Shi and Ye Zhuo were also unbridled in their speech, not knowing what to say or not to say, if the events of this period were spread out by them, the reputation accumulated by the Nie family over the years would be ruined. The current situation of the Nie family was already bad enough, if their reputation became even more notorious, the family would decline at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  He's not Nai Weiyue, naively thinking that with the power of the Nai family, he can kill people at will. Yang Jianxiu is an official appointed by the imperial court, and if he goes missing in the Nai family, even with Nai Guifei in the palace and the Crown Prince in the government, they won't be able to cover it up; not to mention that even without Yang Jianxiu, the disappearance of the four members of the Ye family is already a difficult thing to conceal. You know, now the second prince's people are waiting for them to make a mistake with their eyes wide open. Handing over such a handle, what else can the second prince be polite about? Even if he doesn't destroy the Nai family, he can still deal a heavy blow to the Crown Prince and knock him down.

  So for Ye Jia and his family, he can now only use soft tactics, not hard ones.

  He withdrew his gaze, turned around and sat down on the chair, took a deep breath and said: "If Ye Niang were to bow under my name, according to the rules of our family's direct disciples, every month she can directly choose 50 pieces of raw stone from the An family's warehouse. But so many things have happened, Ye Niang is no longer suitable to stay in our house, this shop will be my compensation to Ye Niang, why do you need to decline, Old Master Ye? Your family has already opened a workshop, with this shop, business can also be done bigger, right? Even if Ye Niang cannot bow under my name, but can enter the An estate once. It's just the fate of our two families. Not only this shop, but also on the raw stone, we will definitely take care of more places. In a while, I'll call Zhou Ji to send you out, and you can discuss specific requirements with him." He said here, he swept his eyes over the Ye family members, "There's just one thing, I hope that what happened in these few days won't be heard outside, not even a word. Whoever speaks nonsense and affects the reputation of the An family, our An family will never forgive!"

  He finished speaking and didn't wait for Ye Yuxiu to respond. He stood up, his face gloomy as he glanced at everyone, saying lightly: "It's settled then. I still have things to attend to, so I won't see you all out. In a bit, Zhou Ji will come over, please wait for a moment." With that, he turned and strode out.

  The Ye family stared at each other in shock.

  Ye Yuqi looked at Ye Zhuo and asked: "What to do?"

  He naturally asked what to do with this shop. With the temperament of Ye's family, they would never want anything from Nie's family. Especially such things that come with humiliation and are exchanged for Ye Zhi's physical harm and loss of innocence, even more so unwilling to accept. However, Ye's family was weak and not enough to contend with Nie's family. He worried that refusing this shop and the original stone would make Nie Zhongkun furious and secretly set up a trap for Ye's family.

  Ye Zhuo was calm and composed, saying: "In a moment, you can tell Zhou Guanshi that the Ye family will never speak of what happened in the past few days. Please rest assured, Master Nie. With this promise, whether or not to take over the deed to the shop, and whether or not to return the original stone, are no longer major issues for Master Nie."

  It turned out that Ye Zhuo's insight was sometimes even better than Yang Jianxiu, and Ye Yuqi was extremely convinced by her words. With this sentence, he put his heart at ease and waited quietly.

  It won't be long before they arrive at Yingfeng Academy, and Zhou Ji has received Nie Zhongkun's orders, so even if he has something on hand, he will rush over quickly. So soon after their voices fell, Zhou Ji entered the door, followed by the two maids who went to clean up the things. Autumn Moon came forward to check everything, and found that nothing was missing, but instead, many more things were added - all of which were the medicinal materials, supplements and clothing fabrics that Nie's wife had taken away to help Ye Zhuo recover from his illness.

  Ye Zhuo looked at him, but didn't say a word. After Ye Yuqi finished speaking to Zhou Ji and refused the deed, she said: "Zhou Guan Shi, my body is no longer in great discomfort. As a country girl, I couldn't wear these fine fabrics even if I wanted to. Please help me return all of these things to Madame. Thank you for your trouble, Zhou Guan Shi." After finishing speaking, she bowed slightly to Zhou Guan Shi.

  Zhou Ji had a very good impression of Ye Zhen, and he sighed for her experience. The Ye family didn't want these things, which made him even more respectful. Most importantly, he clearly knew that the Nie family didn't care about these things, but only cared about what the Ye family said. So, it was his duty to advise them a few words, seeing the Ye family still insisted, he smiled and said: "Please rest assured, Mr. and Mrs. Ye, I will pass on your words to my master and mistress."

  The leaves were expected to see the autumn moon, took everything well, and stood up: "It's not early, we still have to hurry back to Nanshan Town, so I'll say goodbye." Chao Zhou nodded his hands and went out first. Zhou Ji naturally did his best to send off the Ye family members at the gate, watching them get on the horse cart before returning to the government office to report.

  "Girl, we can finally go home." Autumn Moon gazed at the increasingly distant Nie Mansion, letting out a long sigh. In her few days at the Nie's, she felt it was the most unbearable period of her life.

  Ye Zhuo gazed at the peach blossoms by the roadside that were almost completely withered and the willow branches full of leaves, and smiled slightly.

  Her mood was completely different from that of Autumn Moon. In Autumn Moon's view, going home meant that life had returned to its usual tranquility, as long as the Ye family workshop didn't collapse and they didn't go hungry or freeze, they could live a comfortable life. The biggest worry was just choosing what kind of husband to marry, what kind of family to marry into, nothing more. But Ye Zhuo knew that life was a constantly flowing river, the water would forever push you forward, it wasn't something you could stop just because you wanted to, or calm down just because you wanted to. If you relaxed even slightly, you might be swallowed up by the whirlpool. Only by making your own abilities stronger and riding on top of the current could you leisurely float on the surface of the water, admiring the blue sky and white clouds.

  So, going home doesn't mean enjoying blessings, but means striving. She needs to think carefully about how to gain more benefits in the struggle between the North and South factions next, so that the Ye family's main house can be further elevated in status. To the point where one day, they will become strong enough to sit on an equal footing with the Nie family, no longer fearing their power.

  Although she knew it was very difficult to achieve this goal. If she were a man, she could still make a name for herself through the imperial examination and squeeze into the imperial court to become a high-ranking official, just like that Minister of Personnel Feng, who could rival the Nie family in power and influence. But as a woman, if she didn't take the route of marriage alliance, it was basically impossible to change her status and position.

  But in this life, one must have some pursuit, right? Although the goal is far away, it requires many coincidences, but she doesn't fear, effort is all. At first, when she learned jade carving, didn't she think that she could enter the eyes of a master-level figure, become an object of contention between the northern and southern schools, and have the ability to challenge the most outstanding disciple of the Nie family?

  If you don't work hard, there is no hope; if you work hard, there is a possibility of success.

  Ye Zhuo's body was fine, but after the diarrhea two days ago and today's ordeal, she was extremely exhausted. Sitting in the carriage leaning on a soft cushion prepared by Zheng Manwen for her, she fell fast asleep unknowingly.

  "Huh, Master Du." A loud cry from Guan's family startled her awake. She opened her eyes and saw through the open car window that Du Haoran was sitting on a horse passing by the side of the carriage. Hearing the cry, he turned his head to look over here, and the two people's lines of sight met in mid-air.

  At this time, Ye Zhuo had just woken up from her dream, with a drowsy and hazy look in her eyes, lazily half-reclining on the pillow, with a faint blush still on her cheeks. She looked so languid, charming, and lovely to the extreme, completely different from her usual cold and elegant beauty, making people unable to resist the urge to reach out and gently stroke her plump cheeks.

  Du Haoran saw Ye Zhuo like this and couldn't help but stare blankly for a moment, reluctant to move his eyes away.

  "Du Gongzi, are you also heading to Nanshan Town?" A voice that was out of place came from another horse carriage, it was Ye Yuke's voice.

  Guan's eyes involuntarily shot a fierce glare in Ye Xie's direction.

  Du Haoran hastily withdrew his gaze, and it was unclear what he had thought of, but a suspicious blush actually appeared on his face. He coughed lightly and rode forward to the front of the carriage, responding: "Yes, I'm going to Nanshan Town." After finishing, he explained, "I still have unfinished business in the south, and I don't want to stay in Yun City, so I thought of staying in Nanshan Town for a while."

  As soon as he said this, everyone suddenly understood.

  In Nanyun City, there was a Nie family. He didn't want to stay in the Nie family anymore, and it wasn't good for him to live in Nanyun City either. In that case, he could only go to Nanshan Town to live. Nanshan Town is not far from Nanyun City, with convenient transportation, and it's also a gathering place for jade carving craftsmanship. Living there would be better than other places.

  Yang Jianxiu stuck his head out of the car window and said to Du Haoran, "Today when we arrive at Nanshan Town, I'm afraid it will be late. If Master Du doesn't have a place to stay, you can come live with me. My house is a two-story courtyard, just my son, four male servants, and I live there, there are plenty of empty rooms. If Master Du doesn't mind, he can stay as long as he wants."

  Thank you Xide Liese and Gu Han Gong Zhu for the peace charm reward, thank you Dou Fu for the pink vote.