The old man rolled his eyes at Lord Xue: "What kind of eyes do you have? No wonder the Ministry of Works has been declining under your leadership. Do you think he has no foundation?"

Lord Xue didn't show any anger when he was scolded like this in front of a little eunuch; he just shook his head helplessly.

An Ning couldn't help but think that Lord Xue's temper was really explosive.

Time passed second by second, and the wooden horse in Anning's hand gradually returned to its original state, becoming more secure and easier to operate.

Lord Xue never expected that the little eunuch who had just followed along would be so unassuming, so much so that even the notoriously picky Old Man Yan couldn't resist taking him as his apprentice.

"Wait here, I will go and ask the emperor to grant you to me as my disciple."

The old man danced with excitement, stroking his white beard as he took a step, then suddenly turned back and shouted, "By the way, what's your name?"

An Ning was momentarily taken aback, but when someone asked her name, she instinctively answered, "An Ning."

The old man rolled up his trousers and ran off, shouting, "You wait, from now on you'll be my personal disciple!"

An Ning stood there stunned for several minutes. When she looked at Lord Xue, he simply smiled and congratulated her.

No one knows what kind of tantrums or jokes the old man used to get the emperor to agree. I heard that the emperor almost got into a fight with the old man. Anyway, Anning no longer works in front of the emperor. She just quietly follows the white-bearded old man to learn his craft.

~~

The Third Prince's Residence.

Mu Ange's hand, which was writing, suddenly stopped: "What? Xiao Ning was taken away from the emperor by Old Master Yan?"

Chen Xun looked at Mu Ange's shocked expression, then nodded blankly: "Yes."

Mu Ange stood up and walked to the window, seemingly thinking: "Yan Laosan is a craftsman, and he never treats the apprentices in the Ministry of Works well. He has a very strange temper and often beats and scolds them. He also doesn't feed them if they don't finish their work. How can Xiao Ning stand it?"

Chen Xun nodded and said, "Yes, yes, Old Yan is obsessed with architectural skills and devotes all his energy to the techniques. Xiao Ningzi is so thin and weak. If he is not fed, he may not be able to hold on."

At this point, Mu Ange turned and walked towards the door: "No, I must go to the palace to see her."

Chen Xun shook his head as he looked at his master's extremely worried expression: What's the point of going to the palace? No one in this world has ever managed to snatch someone away from Elder Yan.

The Imperial Palace, southwest corner, the headquarters of the Ministry of Works.

Anning is helping Old Yan build a wooden bridge. It is said that it is to be placed at the confluence of the city moat and the suburban waterway. Right now, the blueprints have been drawn up and a model has been made. Any unreasonable parts will be modified slowly.

In the vast courtyard of the Ministry of Works, various models were displayed. An Ning sat on the ground, diligently doing her work. Occasionally, a splinter would get stuck in her skin, but she would simply pull it out with a blank expression and continue working.

Old Man Yan watched her from a distance, his face full of satisfaction: Not bad, not bad at all! Look at her posture, look at her seriousness, look at her spirit of not being afraid of hardship. She is already better than many people in the yard.

A few workers were hammering wooden stakes not far away, glancing towards Anning as they did so.

"Why should he become Master Yan's apprentice the moment he arrives? What about all the years of learning from him?"

"Exactly! Look at how skinny and weak he is, and he still dares to steal our jobs!"

"I don't think he can hold on for long. In a few days, he'll be crying and begging to leave!"

"Do you think he might have some powerful backer, and that Old Yan only took him in because he couldn't break free from the situation?"

"Who knows? Judging by his appearance, he might be a gigolo!"

"Hahahaha, I think so too."