"From now on, you can come over whenever you want. Grandma's place is always open to you."

  "Yes." Ye Zhuo bowed again respectfully and then took Akatsuki with him as they left.

  After entering the corner gate of Ye's mansion, Ye Zhuo did not return to Biyu Residence but went straight to the main courtyard. Since Old Master and Old Mistress had let her out of the mansion, she should report back to them when she returned.

  It so happened that Ye Yuzhang did not go to the workshop today, but was at home discussing matters with Jiangshi. After seeing Ye Zhuo come in, she calmly asked about Ye Yuqi's physical condition and then let her withdraw.

  But this situation did not let the two maids put their minds at ease. Autumn Chrysanthemum was straightforward and quick-witted, following Ye Zhuo walking in the corridor, seeing that there was no one around, worriedly said: "Miss, why do you do everything and say everything without hiding it from Chunyu? If she were to speak randomly in front of the old master and mistress, what would happen?"

  Ye Zhuo didn't answer and instead asked back: "Qiu Ju, I'm asking you, why did Old Master send Chun Yu to follow us?"

  The chubby autumn chrysanthemum tilted its head and thought for a moment, saying: "It's monitoring us!"

  "That's it." Ye Zhuo smiled and said, "Chun Yu has taken on the task, she must monitor our every move, otherwise she won't be able to complete her mission. If she can't complete her mission, either she'll make up false news out of anger and tell Old Master, making him angry with us; or Old Master will send someone else to monitor us again. Zhou Mama is busy helping Old Mistress prepare the betrothal gifts, Mute Servant Girl can't speak, Spring Grass can't get out of bed, so the only ones who can be sent are either Wang Niang or one of Ye Lin's personal servants. Wouldn't that be even worse?"

  "That's right. Now that we're not hiding anything from her, she'll go back and report to the old master, and when he sees that we don't have any deceitful intentions, he'll gradually lower his guard. Later on, he won't be on his guard against us anymore." Qiuju suddenly had an idea and excitedly said.

  "Autumn Chrysanthemum is getting smarter and smarter." Ye Zhuo praised.

  She did this, and naturally there was another layer of meaning. To know that Zheng's coercion and the official's daughter's threat, Ye Yuzhang didn't let her leave this house easily. So, whether she was smart or stupid, it was extremely difficult for her to leave here. Since that's the case, then she might as well let Ye Yuzhang know that not only did she look good, but also had a clever mind and spoke and acted with great discretion. With such recognition, Ye Yuzhang would think that she was a rare treasure, wanting to use her to seek greater benefits. But these benefits were not so easy to come by, and after careful selection, the time spent would be longer. In this way, she would have more time to plan for her own future.

  As for how to do it, she already had a vague plan in her mind. If she could learn jade carving and rely on her own ability to support a family, the plan would be even more perfect.

  But these words, even if they are as close as autumn moon and autumn chrysanthemum, cannot be spoken.

  Upon hearing this, Autumn Moon's furrowed brow did not relax, and she asked: "What about learning jade carving? Won't Old Master have any ideas about it?"

  Ye Chou smiled: "He knew, but thought it was just a child's prank. Such a big stone, hanging on the wrist and still writing words, the difficulty is imaginable. I couldn't do it either, which is normal."

  She didn't want Ye Yuzhang to know about her studying jade carving either. But today, one word led to another and she couldn't avoid it even if she wanted to escape from the spring rain.

  Qiu Yue nodded, but looking at Ye Zhuo walking in front of her, she felt that things might not be as simple as Old Master thought, and it was just the young lady's temporary nonsense. Since waking up after falling into the water, the young lady had become more and more determined and resolute. Even when leaving the mansion, something that would normally make her cry, hadn't brought a single tear to her eyes. If it were in the past, she might have cried a whole bucket of tears.

  Back in the room, Ye Zhuo had Qiuyue wash the stone clean, then tie it to her wrist with a thin rope, and pick up a brush dipped in ink, ready to write with her arm suspended.

  However, when she shook her hand and lifted her arm with great effort, she barely touched the brush tip to the rice paper, but "hugged" and her hand couldn't hold on, the pen tip was stuck to the paper like a broom, scattered in all directions, ink splashing everywhere, getting the rice paper and desktop all over with ink.

  Qiu Yue hastily went forward to check and saw that Ye Zhuo's skirt did not have any ink splatters, so she let out a sigh of relief. She took a cloth to wipe the table clean and advised: "Miss, why do you want to learn jade carving? It's very tiring work, even men can't bear it. Besides, you don't need to learn this, do you?"

  Ye Zhuo smiled silently, changed to the cheapest rough paper, replaced a worn-out brush, wrapped another piece of cloth around her skirt, picked up the brush and continued to try. However, after several attempts, they all ended in failure.

  Come to think of it, she just turned fifteen, tall and slender, her body not yet fully developed, delicate and weak, with wrists as thin as bamboo. Now, if she can even lift half a catty of heavy stones, that's already quite something, let alone hold a pen to write?

  But Ye Zhuo was not one to give up easily, she sat there, furrowing her brow as she stared at the stone hanging from her wrist for a while, before suddenly standing up and walking out.

  "Miss, where are you going?" Qiu Ju hastily asked.

  "I'll go find another stone, you don't need to follow me." Ye Zhuo said. Before long, she came in from outside with a smaller stone in her hand, washed it clean herself, and then had Qiu Yue replace the original one with this smaller one for her. Then she picked up her brush and started writing again.

  This time, although it was also very difficult, she could barely move the tip of her pen. She gritted her teeth and supported herself, trying to lift her right hand high enough, then laboriously held the brush and wrote a stroke on the paper. Just as she was about to write another stroke, her hand couldn't support itself anymore, and with a "thud" sound, the stone followed her arm and fell onto the table, making a dull noise.

  Looking at the scribble on the paper, Ye Zhuo smiled wryly and picked up his pen again. However, perhaps because he had used too much force earlier, this time his arm shook even more violently, and the stroke only reached halfway before his hand could no longer support it and fell down.

  Upon seeing Ye Zhuo pick up the brush again, Qiu Yue couldn't help but persuade her once more: "Miss, why must you do this? In the future, even if the husband's family that Old Master chooses for you is not good, they won't be so poor that you can't even eat. You really don't need to suffer like this. Besides, even if you do suffer, it's not certain that you'll be able to do well. I've heard that this requires not only strength but also steady hands. To write characters freely with a brush loaded with ink, the strokes must be bold or fine as needed, and circles must be drawn perfectly - that's the only way. Even big and strong men can't pass this test, let alone you with your small frame. How can you possibly do it? In my opinion, why not really learn embroidery from Madame Bo as you said? That's a proper pursuit."

  Ye Zhuo gritted his teeth again, enduring the soreness in his arm, and lifted his wrist to write a horizontal stroke with a trembling hand. Only then did he put down his wrist and say: "If I don't try, how will I know it can't be done? However, what you said also makes sense. Not only do I need steady hands, but I also need strength. My body is too weak, so just practicing arm strength won't work. I also need to make my body stronger. From now on, as soon as I wake up in the morning, I'll go for a brisk walk in the garden, embroider during the day, practice calligraphy after dinner, and then take another walk in the garden before bathing and going to bed. After resting for a night, my hand should be less sore, and it won't delay my embroidery either. After doing this for a while, once I slowly get used to it, it'll be fine."

  Qiu Yue opened her mouth, wanting to argue that she didn't mean it that way. But in the end, she just sighed and closed her mouth. The young lady was only 15 years old and had never suffered any hardships. If she were to go through two days of torture like she said, she wouldn't be able to bear the suffering and would naturally give up.

  Ye Zhuo persisted in practicing for half a time, and only then did she stop, letting Qiu Yue untie the stone. As a result of doing so, her hands could no longer be lifted, and embroidery was simply impossible to do. It's estimated that by dinner time, even holding chopsticks would be unstable.

  "You go to the main house and say that my headache has relapsed, then I won't have to go for dinner tonight." Yezhuo said. At mealtime, if you can't hold your chopsticks steady, you'll have to make excuses again. It's better not to go at all.

  "She had just gone out of the door and was still claiming to be ill, but she didn't know what unpleasant words the old lady would say next." Qiu Yue muttered to herself and walked out with a swish of her sleeves.

  "This girl is getting more and more bossy." Ye Zhuo scolded with a smile, letting Qiuju clean up the things on the table, while he himself went out the door to hurry to the garden.