Chapter 86

Cui Zui is not the Cui Zui in the original story. He did not experience those plots and had little contact with the Eldest Princess, so he naturally did not know much about her. Therefore, he would not be like Xue Jin'an, who would have a conditioned reflex upon hearing the Eldest Princess's name and think that she must be plotting something again.

On the other hand, although Cui Zui wasn't so quick to overthink every little thing, ever since he witnessed the farce of fratricide at the palace banquet, he had become much more wary of the fake princesses in the palace. He knew very well that although these people were young and not necessarily smart, their methods were truly ruthless.

If anyone gets in the way or blocks the way, even if they are a fellow countryman, I will take action without hesitation or ambiguity.

The value of the concept of "father's kindness, son's filial piety, brotherly love, and fraternal respect" in the Heavenly Family has increased immeasurably.

In short, Cui Zui did not completely believe the Third Princess's words, and he was also skeptical about why she was there.

However, this person was just picking some wildflowers and weeds outside Zhaoyang Palace and did not take any substantial action. The Imperial Guards did not jump out to drive him away. In terms of his status and position, there was really no need for him to overreact and make the scene ugly.

So Cui Zui said "Oh" and bowed, preparing to leave, but unexpectedly he was stopped.

The third princess looked extremely uneasy, her fingers clutching the hem of her clothes, her voice trembling with fear, "I...did I do something wrong? Shouldn't I be here? I...I..."

She shrugged, stammering "I" for a long time without being able to form a coherent sentence, her eyes reddening with anxiety. Finally, she managed to stammer, "I'll go apologize to Seventh Brother, please don't be angry with him."

Cui Zui found her words rather inexplicable, and leisurely sized her up before directly refusing, "What you do outside is none of anyone else's business. The Seventh Prince doesn't care about these things, so naturally he won't be angry. Please do as you please."

The third princess paused slightly, then stammered, "But Ninth Brother said Seventh Brother is very fierce..."

Upon hearing that someone had tarnished his master's reputation, Cui Zui's expression immediately turned unfriendly. "What else did he say?"

The Third Princess cautiously revealed the Ninth Prince's words that had ruined Xue Jin'an's reputation.

As mentioned before, someone is deliberately vilifying the Seventh Prince, portraying him as a prince who brings misfortune to his family, intending to trap him in the palace until he dies. Even if he doesn't die, they can still make others wary and afraid to associate with him.

Before Helian Cheng's memorial of apology reached the capital, the discussion in the court about the Seventh Prince's "fate" remained heated, accounting for the entire quarterly KPI of the Censorate. The Right Censor-in-Chief's attention to the Seventh Prince even caught the attention of the shrewd censor, the Left Censor-in-Chief.

The two seemed to have argued and disagreed about it. Xue Jin'an could tell at a glance that every time the Right Censor-in-Chief returned to the group after impeaching someone, the Left Censor-in-Chief would distance himself from the two and make an expression that said, "I don't want to talk to you," his disdain was obvious.

Xue Jin'an had been watching them label him remotely every day for the past few days, and it wasn't for nothing. He had already observed the positions of some court officials. For example, this Right Censor-in-Chief was 83% likely to be on the side of the Second Prince, but those who followed him in the commotion were not necessarily all on the Second Prince's side.

The Second Prince, backed by the Jiang family, which boasts "three dukes and marquises and two grand secretaries," is at the pinnacle of nobility. The positions of powerful families and nobles will naturally lean towards him, since they are in the same interest group. Speaking up for him is tantamount to protecting themselves.

The Crown Prince is now being questioned about his bloodline, which has caused some unease among the court officials. Even those who firmly support him will keep a low profile. Moreover, the Crown Prince is good at disguising himself and being patient. Based on the character model, his current attitude towards Xue Jin'an is mainly to win him over.

However, there are techniques to winning people over. For example, now that the Second Prince's people are sticking to him like glue, they can secretly push things along, creating a situation where Xue Jin'an is isolated and helpless amidst turbulent waves. Then, at the right time, they can bestow favors and win him over, making it a natural and successful outcome.

Xue Jin'an's only comment was: "You guys were still too full."

They do nothing productive all day but daydream.

Regardless of who those guys who jumped out were working for, Xue Jin'an had already made a note of them and decided to "kill" them all after the confinement ended, by confiscating their property and exterminating their entire clan.

Helian Cheng is now the new leading figure in the court. There are countless people who want to take this opportunity to attack him, and they can find a new angle every day. This time, the Right Censor-in-Chief was quiet, but the Left Censor-in-Chief jumped out. After a fierce battle, it was finally decided that Helian Cheng would escort the envoy of the Russian Empire to the capital and then return to the capital to apologize.

By this time, more than half of January had passed, and envoys from most countries had already entered the capital. Even the Rong and Di envoys, who were the most obvious enemies of Daqi, had crossed the Qizhou Pass a few days ago and entered Daqi territory, and were expected to arrive in the capital around the end of January or the beginning of February.

The envoys from the Russian Empire are nowhere to be seen yet. If it weren't for the communication between the emperor and the monarch of the great empire confirming that the ambassadors had already set off, everyone would have thought they weren't coming.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be the last to arrive, likely before the Emperor's birthday celebrations. This is the arrogance unique to powerful empires of comparable strength; smaller nations cannot emulate it, nor do they dare to.

On another note, Xue Jin'an hadn't expected that the Second Prince and the First Prince would exert their efforts to ruin his reputation in the court, while the Ninth Prince in the harem would spread rumors.

They say things like, "The Seventh Prince is a vicious demon who doesn't allow anyone to disobey him. If he hears someone speaking ill of him, he will kill them and cut off pieces of their flesh to eat with his wine. He also gets irritated by noise and will poison anyone who makes a fuss to make them mute," and "The Seventh Prince is not human; he is a demon who crawled out of hell"... and so on.

It's said that the Seventh Prince is almost able to stop children from crying at night.

These rumors were so exaggerated that they sounded more like a legend about a seventh prince than a rumor. Because they were so outrageous, almost no one believed them. However, it seemed to be generally accepted that the seventh prince was even more difficult to serve than the third prince.

Xue Jin'an didn't think anything of it, but Cui Zui got angry and couldn't help but raise his voice, "Nonsense!"

The third princess trembled in fright, her eyes immediately welling up with tears, and she dared not utter another word.

That wretched Ninth Prince! It wasn't enough that he caused trouble for his master at the palace banquet; now he's spreading these rumors. He'll get a beating sooner or later! Cui Zui ground his teeth, already thinking about how to put a sack over the Ninth Prince's neck.

"These are just rumors spread by others, you don't need to care. The Seventh Prince has a very good temper and won't get angry." Cui Zui thought that his master was really too good-tempered not to kill his brothers directly.

The third princess cautiously reached out and tugged at his sleeve, "Don't, don't be angry."

“I’m not angry, I’m just a little hot!” Cui Zui emphasized.

"Oh, is that so? Then let me fan you." The Third Princess reached out and fanned him, then suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, whispering, "Actually, regardless of whether Seventh Brother has a good temper or not, we sisters are all very grateful to him. If it weren't for him dealing with Ninth Brother, Fourth Sister and I wouldn't have had an easy time."

It turns out that the Ninth Prince was arrogant and domineering, a tyrant in the palace. However, he only bullied those he could bully, such as the Third Princess and the Fourth Princess.

The third princess was born into a difficult labor and lost her mother. She was not favored by the emperor. The concubine Wen Zhaoyi who adopted her was a palace maid brought into the palace by the former Imperial Noble Consort Min. Although she was called a palace maid, she was actually a dowry maid. This was a custom in both royal and noble families. When the mistress was pregnant or in other necessary situations, the dowry maid was used to help secure the emperor's favor and keep her in the palace.

Consort Wen was presented to the emperor when Consort Min was pregnant with the eldest princess. However, she was quiet and reserved and was not favored by the emperor. She was only given the title of Noble Lady a few times and was forgotten in the deep palace until the birth of the third princess.

The emperor at the time was only in his teens or twenties, very young, and the concubines in the palace were even younger, all at an age where they were more beautiful than flowers and more ambitious than the sky, believing that their future was limitless, so naturally they had no intention of adopting a burden. Consort Wen had some connections with the birth mother of the third princess, and in the end, she couldn't bear to see the child suffer, so she took in the child. Unexpectedly, she gained the emperor's favor by chance, and after two consecutive years of being ignored by the emperor, she was promoted to the rank of Zhaoyi.

However, even as a Zhaoyi, she was a Zhaoyi without a title. As long as she was not favored, she would not be valued and would have a hard time in the palace. She often had to make knots and embroider to earn money to live on. Over the years, her eyes had become quite worn out.

Therefore, although Consort Wen treated the Third Princess very well, the Third Princess still showed timidity. She was sensible and knew that even if she was bullied and spoke out, no one would care. It would only make Consort Wen feel heartbroken and sad. So she simply kept it all a secret.

As for the Fourth Princess, although she is the Ninth Prince's older sister, only a year and a half younger, she has been neglected since childhood and has become accustomed to being bullied by the Ninth Prince. She has even stopped crying altogether.

Xiao Shu clearly had three children, but she only cared about the Ninth Prince. Whether the Ninth Prince spoke rudely to the Fifth Prince and drove him away, or beat, scolded, bullied, and hurled insults at the Fourth Princess, she never cared. The only thing she repeatedly instructed was for the Ninth Prince to act obediently in front of the Emperor to win his favor and gain his affection, so that he has never been known for being domineering or arrogant.

"Fourth Sister is doing very well with Consort Zhuang; she's become much more cheerful." The Third Princess said this with a look of excitement on her face, tugging at Cui Zui's sleeve and talking non-stop.

The main point is that when the Ninth Prince and the Fourth Princess arrived at Consort Zhuang's place, their positions were completely reversed. Consort Zhuang preferred the Fourth Princess and disliked the Ninth Prince. After returning from the palace banquet, the Ninth Prince was strictly supervised and educated by Consort Zhuang. Every time he went out, she would send her martial arts-skilled maid Qingye to watch over him. If he did anything wrong, Qingye would forcefully demand that he correct it.

"Will he change?" Cui Zui himself had experienced bullying, and he knew all too well that those wicked people wouldn't change just by being scolded and educated a few times. In fact, they might seize an opportunity to bully people even more severely.

The Third Princess shook her head and then nodded, looked around, leaned closer to Cui Zui, and whispered, "I heard from Fourth Sister that Aunt Qingye remembers every mistake Ninth Brother makes and reports it to Consort Zhuang in great detail. If it's an insult, Consort Zhuang will have someone press his acupoints to silence him for an hour without giving him a drop of water. If it's a physical attack, she'll make him assume a hitting posture, press his acupoints, and punish him by making him stand for an hour for each hit..."

Cui Zui was astonished. "Consort Zhuang has quite the methods."

"Hehe~" The Third Princess also had a proud expression.

Cui Zui's eyes darted around, and a wicked idea began to pop into his head. He had a way to deal with the Ninth Prince, but he wasn't in a hurry to tell her. Instead, he mocked the Third Princess, saying, "Even if the Ninth Prince is really disciplined, it won't mean he knows he's wrong. He'll just be scared. You'll have been bullied for nothing."

The third princess was unhappy and retorted in a low voice, "Consort Zhuang avenged us."

“This is her teaching as an elder, not revenge. Do you think this can make up for the scolding and beatings you suffered before? The Ninth Prince was treated like this, and you are willing to forgive him so easily?” Cui Zui easily grasped her psychology and shook his head, saying, “If that’s the case, then you don’t need to complain to me about the Ninth Prince’s faults anymore. After all, you have already let it go. Why bother about things that have been let go? Such gloating is not something a good child should do.”

"I..." The Third Princess was caught up in his words and for a moment forgot that she hadn't come to complain to Cui Zui about the Ninth Prince. She could only follow Cui Zui's words and think about it, but found that she couldn't bring herself to say the word "forgive".

She bit her lip and asked hesitantly, "Then... what can I do?"

“You should return all the pain and sorrow he inflicted on you,” Cui Zui said matter-of-factly.

Cui Zui himself didn't realize that he had been assimilated by Xue Jin'an.

The Cui Zui of the past was stubborn and unruly, enduring the ridicule of the Cui family with the thought of making a name for himself and slapping them in the face, achieving a spiritual victory; the Cui Zui of the present, however, will directly slap anyone who ridicules him, literally slap them in the face, and he will slap both sides evenly. The louder the slap, the better he feels. Any trouble that follows can be resolved by improving his strength and status.

"But..." the Third Princess hesitated.

"There are no 'buts'." Cui Zui said impatiently, looking at her hesitant appearance. "If you've figured it out, come find me. I go to the palace almost every day."

After he finished speaking, he tried to leave again, but was stopped by the Third Princess once more.

"I... I want to see my seventh brother and thank him properly in person." The third princess probably sensed that Cui Zui's patience had run out, and this time she spoke without stammering.

Cui Zui wasn't really stupid. By now, he couldn't possibly not have noticed something was amiss. The Third Princess had dragged him here and said so many things, using three different excuses, all because she wanted to see the Seventh Prince.

"Your Highness, I'm very sorry, but I do not have the right to bring people into Zhaoyang Palace without permission." Cui Zui refused directly, her tone cold and hard, completely lacking the affability and amiability she had displayed earlier.

The third princess was stunned, whether from fright or something else, and remained speechless for a long time.

Cui Zui wanted to find out who was behind the Third Princess and her purpose, but he didn't expect that although the Third Princess was young, she spoke timidly and was surprisingly tight-lipped.

The two exchanged a few words, but the Third Princess stubbornly refused to reveal anything she shouldn't have.

Cui Zui realized he couldn't extract any more useful information and felt there was no point in continuing the conversation.

Xue Jin'an felt the same way. He brought his attention back to the present, and Lingzhi, who had been waiting nearby, stepped forward and asked softly, "Should we bring the person in to see them?"

Lingzhi possessed profound internal strength and exceptional hearing. She had been severely shocked by Xue Jin'an's boisterous instrumental music late at night, so the next day she took the initiative to kneel down and apologize, asking Xue Jin'an to switch back to the previous Buddhist scripture playlist.

"May the Buddha be merciful, deliver all from suffering and relieve the pain of all beings." Lingzhi recited "Amitabha Buddha" in her heart with trepidation, her faith at this moment was exceptionally devout.

In fact, even if Lingzhi hadn't come to ask for it, Xue Jin'an had planned to turn it off anyway. When he was in hibernation, he would turn on the Do Not Disturb mode, which would allow his consciousness to sink completely into darkness and not be awakened unless an emergency was triggered. However, his body was still a mortal. When he woke up in the morning, as soon as he reconnected to his body, he felt a buzzing in his ears.

Xue Jin'an initially thought there was an electrical leak somewhere, but after searching his entire body, he couldn't find the source. He then used a health app to scan his ears and was diagnosed with tinnitus.

Lingzhi also developed tinnitus; she was partially deaf for two days before her hearing fully returned to normal.

Unlike Xue Jin'an, who could discern the situation from subtle vibrations in the wind, she still possessed remarkable hearing, managing to catch a significant portion of the conversation between the two outside.

When Lingzhi asked if she should bring people in, she was actually asking Xue Jin'an if she wanted to use a sting operation.

Since we can't get anything out of her by simply trying to get information out of her, we might as well let her have her way.

“The Third Princess’s cultivation level can’t be higher than the Eldest Princess’s. In order to achieve her purpose here, she might reveal some flaws.” Lingzhi was very alert. She noticed that Xue Jin’an only listened more carefully when the Third Princess mentioned the “Eldest Princess”, and guessed that this matter must be related to the Eldest Princess.

Xue Jin'an said, "There's a 69% chance that her purpose is to see me."

Both the Eldest Princess and the Fifth Prince are natural schemers. The difference is that the Fifth Prince is used to sowing discord with words, hiding his true intentions in half-truths; while the Eldest Princess never tells anyone her true thoughts. Everyone is just a pawn in her game. The pawns only need to follow her wishes and fall where they should. As for other things, that's for her, the player, to think about.

This is what Xue Jin'an analyzed from the Prince An's son, who was beaten so badly by the Third Prince that he is still bedridden.

Yes, Xue Jin'an was basically certain that the Crown Prince of An was a pawn arranged by the Eldest Princess. Her purpose, besides warning the Crown Prince of An, was to stir up trouble in this situation—and perhaps also to give the Second Prince a warning.

After all, the Prince An's heir was the only noble son who was on good terms with the eldest prince but not so good with the second prince. He often clashed with the second prince, making him an easy target for framing. The second prince was too pampered and complacent by his subordinates, making it easy for them to seize upon his mistakes.

Unfortunately, the second prince was too impatient. He lost his composure when Xue Jin'an pressed him slightly, revealing the first prince's true parentage. In the end, both of them were confined to their quarters.

Lingzhi frowned slightly, her vigilance towards the princess reaching its peak, and said, "Then I'll go and send her away."

“No need, let her in.” Xue Jin’an nodded in agreement with Lingzhi’s previous suggestion and affirmed it, “Only by letting her achieve her goal can we expose more flaws.”

Lingzhi responded and prepared to open the palace gate and call the two in, but when she got to the door, she suddenly thought that this might be a bit deliberate. In order to lower the Third Princess's guard, she casually picked up a basket, covered it with a white cloth, and climbed over the wall.

She landed silently, startling the guard standing watch by the wall, who almost lunged at her with his spear: "Miss Lingzhi?"

Why climb over the wall when there's a perfectly good door? Nobody's stopping you from leaving!

Lingzhi was so used to coming and going in Zhaoyang Palace that she had forgotten about the guards. She immediately gave an awkward but polite smile: "I just wanted to experience what it's like to be a Poria cocos, and I accidentally turned over."

Fuling and Lingzhi were the only two people in Zhaoyang Palace who were not restricted in their comings and goings. Lingzhi stayed by the side of the Seventh Prince and was in charge of all the things that needed to be done outside every day, while Fuling spent her days either sitting on the wall or on the roof, only coming down when it was time to change shifts for meals.

The guard glanced at the bamboo basket slung over her arm, then hesitated to speak.

"I'm going back now." Lingzhi recovered from the initial awkwardness and ignored the guards' gazes. Pretending to be returning from outside, she carried a bamboo basket and walked towards the gate of Zhaoyang Palace.

Cui Zui heard some faint sounds, but he was thinking about getting rid of the Third Princess and didn't pay much attention until Lingzhi approached, at which point he turned around to look.

The third princess was quick-witted; sensing something was wrong, she immediately hid behind him.

Cui Zui and Lingzhi exchanged a glance without making a sound.

"Young Master Cui, you've arrived. Why don't you go inside?" Lingzhi asked with a smile.

Cui Zui was not at all surprised that his master was aware of the outside situation. He thought that his master had not made any move for so long because he did not intend to see the Third Princess, which was why he had gone to great lengths to get rid of her. Now it seemed that this was not the case.

Cui Zui feigned helplessness, turned to the side to reveal the Third Princess behind him, explained the situation, and, together with Lingzhi, staged a play to successfully lead the Third Princess into Zhaoyang Palace.

It was clearly the Third Princess who wanted to enter Zhaoyang Palace, but once she was actually given permission, she inexplicably became somewhat timid, and the fingers gripping Cui Zui's sleeve tightened involuntarily.

It's hard to believe, but this is the first time the Third Princess has met Xue Jin'an. It's true, they are half-siblings who live together in this huge palace, yet they've only just met today.

Initially, it was because she lost her mother at birth and was considered unlucky. Consort Zhen was the most favored concubine in the harem, and now that she had given birth to a prince, she was a thorn in the side of many people, who wished they could get rid of her as soon as possible.

Consort Wen was an old hand in the harem, well aware of how ruthless the concubines could be. Fearing that someone might use her, Consort Zhen and the Seventh Prince might not be in danger, but a mere Third Princess would certainly not survive. So she simply confined her to her room and announced to the public that she was ill. From the Seventh Prince's full moon celebration to every birthday he celebrated when he turned five, she was "ill."

Later, as she grew up and the Seventh Prince became more established, Consort Wen's eyesight gradually deteriorated and her health declined. She worried that if she were to die, Consort Wen would have no one to protect her and would have an even harder time living in the palace. So she decided to let her out to experience the coldness and warmth of human relationships in the palace. However, soon after, Consort Zhen had an accident, and the Seventh Prince was sent to the Prince's Palace.

As the years went by, the Third Princess heard many stories about the Seventh Prince, and she couldn't help but become curious. After bowing respectfully, she carefully examined his appearance.

All the labels in my mind, such as "son of a favored concubine," "the emperor's most beloved prince," and "a vicious and cruel butcher," disappeared, leaving only two words: Beautiful!

Zhou Yuting was able to become a favored concubine without any family background, so her appearance must have been outstanding. The original owner of the body inherited her mother's genes very well, and her peach blossom eyes were especially beautiful. She ate and slept well in Zhaoyang Palace, and her cheeks gradually became fuller, which immediately highlighted the exquisite features of her face, making her truly a masterpiece.

The Third Princess, who had initially been merely observing, began to meticulously sketch the details, her fingers moving like a pen around her as she subconsciously outlined unseen lines.

Not to mention Xue Jin'an, even Cui Zui could tell, "You study painting?"

"Ah, yes..." The Third Princess snapped back to reality, awkwardly curling her provocative fingers. Under Xue Jin'an's unreadable, dark eyes, she felt utterly exposed. The word "yes" circled on her lips, but ultimately became, "No..."

"So, is it or isn't it?" Cui Zui pressed, tilting his head in confusion.

Cui Zui made the action subconsciously and didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but it attracted the attention of Lingzhi and Fulu, who were present. They looked at the person who always made this action and couldn't help but laugh.

Feeling the gaze upon him, Xue Jin'an blinked in confusion, not understanding why they were looking at him, but it didn't matter, so he quickly ignored it.

"...I've learned a little." The Third Princess lowered her head, unaware of the subtle situation. Her cheeks flushed red, as if she found the words difficult to say. She spoke softly, "I... I sculpt clay figures. My elder sister saw that I liked it, so she had me learn some painting from Consort Shu..."

The Third Princess had few playmates. There were already few princesses in the palace, and her status was too low. She was also not favored, so she often had to stay in the courtyard in a daze. Before she knew it, she had taken to playing in the mud. Her wet nurse thought it was too dirty and that it was not respectable for someone her age to like this. She even gossiped to Consort Wen. However, Consort Wen was not angry when she found out. Instead, she sent the wet nurse away and chose a young palace maid of similar age to be her playmate.

Although Consort Wen did not blame her, the Third Princess kept the wet nurse's words in mind. After that, she would play in the mud secretly, avoiding people, and clean up after herself so that no one could see her. However, by sheer coincidence, the Ninth Prince saw her doing this and made a lot of fun of teasing her.

It was one thing to make fun of her, but Consort Rong even used this incident to attack Consort Min, trying to take away her power to manage the six palaces. Consort Min didn't make things difficult for her, and even gave Consort Wen some gifts. However, the palace was used to flattering the powerful and belittling the weak. Even if she didn't retaliate, there were plenty of people who would do things to please her. Those days were indeed a bit difficult.

This incident caused a lot of turmoil and rifts in the Third Princess's heart. She felt that her preferences were wrong, shameful, and would bring disaster to others. She hated herself and took out all the clay figures she had made, smashing them one by one and burning them with fire, wanting to end it all.

Then she met the eldest princess.

The princess didn't make fun of it. She just glanced at the broken clay figure on the ground and said, "It's a bit ugly, but it's okay to smash it. Just make it look better next time."

The Third Princess didn't know why, but when she smashed things or burned things, she didn't cry. However, when she heard the Eldest Princess's words, she couldn't hold back her tears and they burst forth.

She sobbed, "But I can't do it well. This is the best I've ever done."

"If you can't do it well, just learn. Why are you crying?" The princess said in a gentle yet firm voice. "Go and learn to paint. Once you learn how to paint people, you'll be able to sculpt even better clay figures."

Then the eldest princess took her to see Consort Shu. The high-ranking ladies in the palace were all carefully cultivated by their families. They all had their own special skills, such as housekeeping, dancing, playing the zither, etc. Consort Shu, who was known as a talented woman, was the most skilled in elegant things such as poetry, songs, music, calligraphy and painting.

The Third Princess has been learning painting from Consort Shu for several years now, and her painting skills have become quite proficient, but she rarely sculpts clay figures anymore.

Generally speaking, she always told others that she was studying painting, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to admit it when faced with the Seventh Prince's dark gaze.

The Third Princess heard Cui Zui's sudden "Oh," and quietly awaited the mockery that was about to be heard, but instead heard only a question, "So, how's your cooking?"

The third princess looked up in surprise, and under Cui Zui's sincere questioning gaze, she nodded hesitantly, "It should be alright..."

Cui Zui: "Talk is cheap. Do you have any works to show me?"

"No, no..." After learning to paint, the Third Princess had sculpted clay figures, but having learned from her past mistakes, she dared not show it to outsiders. Naturally, she would not keep those clay figures to avoid giving others a handle to use against her.

Ever since Cui Zui heard Xue Jin'an talk about exchanging membership points for figurines, he has been looking for artisans these days. He has searched for all kinds of shops in the capital that deal in pottery figurines, porcelain, carvings, etc., and then eliminated them one by one.

The first thing to rule out was terracotta figurines. There was no way around it, since they were mostly used in tombs. Although the terracotta figurine makers were skilled, they were unwilling to change professions. Ancient people valued their afterlife, and the burial industry was lucrative, with the families paying generously. Moreover, once the goods were delivered, there would be no disputes. They were unwilling to give up this lucrative and easy job, so Cui Zui had no choice but to reluctantly give it up.

Porcelain is too precious, and there aren't many masters who are good at sculpting people. However, there are quite a few masters who are good at carving figures, and they are not picky about materials. Wood and jade can be carved. However, they waste materials and are difficult to modify. The biggest problem is that the labor cost is too high.

After much deliberation, Cui Zui finally chose the clay figurines made on the streets of Beijing. They were economical, durable, and perfectly suited the requirements for a collectible figure.

To generate buzz, Cui Zui chose the most intricate and eye-catching character card and had a clay figurine master make a life-sized one, which was then placed in the lobby of the card room. Not only did the members like it, but passersby couldn't help but come in and ask about it. The previously stable revenue jumped significantly, all thanks to the efforts of customers who placed orders.

Those without membership are becoming members, and those with membership are recruiting others to accumulate points for redemption. Some have already boasted that they will collect the entire set.

Cui Zuixin thought: There are too many character cards. The dough figurine masters are working tirelessly day and night, but I haven't even managed to sculpt a complete set yet.

In short, Cui Zui is currently in dire need of master dough sculptors, and having finally found a new one today, he is naturally not going to let him go.

"Here, just sculpt one and let me see." Cui Zui said, ignoring the Third Princess's reaction, and ran off to dig in the dirt.

"I won't—" The Third Princess was about to refuse when Cui Zui, who had run halfway, suddenly turned around and said, "By the way, Master, I didn't bring any money. Could you pay for the craftsmanship fee for me?"

Xue Jin'an took out a piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it to the Third Princess.

The third princess stared intently at the silver, her words revealing her own thoughts: "No, not so much."