Chapter 1 How Will Ye Tao Deal With Such An Opponent?

How would Ye Tao deal with such an opponent? After seeing the delicate and small jade dragonfly, which was unremarkable in terms of size and momentum, everyone's confidence in Ye Tao unknowingly decreased. What kind of thing would Ye Tao have to make to overwhelm the jade dragonfly? What's more, Ye Tao only had three days.

Ye Tao didn't seem to feel any pressure. He generously praised the exquisite beauty of the jade dragonfly, and the faint smile on his face never disappeared, and he didn't even look the least bit forced. As for Tan Weishi, who had been praising the jade dragonfly's beauty and cuteness while questioning whether Ye Tao could make something as fun, Ye Tao even had the energy to talk back. Tan Weishi's tone, which was half teasing and half coquettish, and her unreserved content, made those, old and young, who were no strangers to Tan Weishi's status, break out in cold sweats. And Ye Tao's remarks, such as "little girl doesn't understand," if said by someone else, would probably be resented to death by Tan Weishi, leading to endless pranks. But Tan Weishi merely pouted and said, very dissatisfied, that she would go back and complain to her older sister... Speculation about the relationship between Ye Tao and the Dongping royal family became even richer.

Of course, these outsiders would naturally not know that in these few days, from the moment Ye Tao called Tan Weixin "Xin'er" and was unfortunately heard by Tan Weishi, the two of them had been arguing almost non-stop. Tan Weishi threatened to reveal the "brother-in-law" title for Ye Tao in front of her father and mother, and to make Ye Tao make more fun things for her. And Ye Tao had been too busy lately to pay attention to Tan Weishi, and his tone was also very impolite. Tan Weixin, on the other hand, reminded Tan Weishi several times not to mess with Ye Tao recently, so the two sides often bickered like this.

Tan Weixin didn't really care whether Tan Weishi would complain to her father and mother or not. The guards and servants around her were completely loyal to her, so there was no need to worry. But the few around Tan Weishi were all trusted by her father and mother, and Tan Weishi's words had probably reached her parents' ears long ago. It was just that her father and mother were busy with affairs, or simply hadn't figured out how to deal with such a thing, so they hadn't talked to her about it yet.

Tan Weishi followed Ye Tao back to the temporarily established workshop. Ye Tao still didn't show any nervousness or worry in his own territory, which made the little girl feel very sullen, and she also felt a little strange. Could it be that Ye Tao was really confident that he could make something in three days that could overwhelm the jade dragonfly?

After all, the little girl had a unique love for beautiful things and didn't understand that what Ye Tao was thinking about at the moment was not a problem of craftsmanship but a problem of creativity. Ye Tao had tried, trained, and done pre-research in the Ye family workshop, and had technical reserves in terms of materials and tools, which Shang Baotang probably couldn't even imagine. But since Shang Baotang had taken the lead with such a creative way of presenting this small thing, which wasn't too difficult from a technical point of view, Ye Tao had no reason not to fight back in the same way.

The jade dragonfly was nothing more than carving the dragonfly's body out of green jade, using crystal flakes for the wings, putting enough work into the connecting parts, and slightly introducing some micro-carving techniques. There was no mature optical magnification equipment yet, and magnifying glasses were an incredibly luxurious item, which made the jade dragonfly seem so unique and outstanding. In the era he came from, as long as the equipment was well-prepared and the craftsmanship was decent, almost any middle school student could operate something of this level under a magnifying glass. For Ye Tao, it was really not a difficulty.

After spending a few hours drawing the design drawings, drawing the component diagrams, and making detailed annotations on the production techniques, and then getting a good night's sleep, Ye Tao leisurely gathered the apprentices and workers of the Ye family workshop who had been waiting somewhat fearfully and began to assign tasks. For this first project, Ye Tao not only didn't plan to do it himself, but he didn't even allow Suo Yong to participate in the work. He handed it all over to the apprentices and workers to make according to the design drawings. As for himself, he pulled Suo Yong to chat and play chess...

These actions, since Ye Tao didn't plan to hide them from the beginning, immediately spread throughout the city. Some said Ye Tao was arrogant, some said he was confident, and many more guessed that Ye Tao had already given up the competition and was preparing to muddle through. But in any case, gamblers were waiting for the moment when the dice cup was opened. Only when the victory or defeat was finally completely clear could they finally give up.

Ye Tao didn't wait for the full three days. By noon on the third day, there were still six full hours left before he could use his time. Although he only had someone from Princess Zhaohua Tan Weixin's mansion responsible for notifying the relevant people an hour in advance, all parties who had been anxiously waiting arrived very promptly. They didn't need to know that the reason for choosing the time at noon was because after working all night to complete the task yesterday, the apprentices and workers had been sleeping all morning, and Ye Tao had been playing with the little thing he had made in his own garden all morning. However, everyone did feel that Ye Tao was probably not deliberately mystifying or preparing to fool people because he couldn't come up with anything, because the place he chose was really flavorful. Ye Tao actually chose Mingyu Tower, the place where Luo Qin and Song Yu often held parties. Since Ye Tao made a big scene last time, this party could be said to be completely unable to continue, and the number and level of people attending the party had shown a straight downward trend. And now, Ye Tao had chosen Mingyu Tower...

In the middle of the second floor of Mingyu Tower, which was full of distinguished guests, a space was specially cleared out, with a table covered with deep brown brocade placed on it. On top of the table was a wooden box, one foot square, with the surface entirely made using the Ye family workshop's unique black mirror paint technique. Looking at the elegant and delicate leaf-shaped patterns inlaid with silver foil in the lacquer color of the wooden box, everyone felt that the box itself was a exquisite and gorgeous work of art. What would be stored inside?

Ye Tao didn't have Lou Qingxi's strong social skills, nor did he have the urge to say a few words first. When the time came, he ordered Lu Dan to open the box.

The entire lid was lifted, and in the center of the table was a delicate, one-legged lamp stand densely covered with lotus and cloud patterns. But in the position of the lamp wick, there was no oil lamp or wick socket, but a round, smooth, light yellow jade stone that emitted a warm luster. What was incomprehensible was that a gap had been artificially chiseled in the center of the jade stone, breaking the appearance of this valuable jade stone.

Well, everyone could indeed see that the silver lamp stand was exquisitely crafted, but was this enough to overwhelm Shang Baotang's jade dragonfly?

Everyone looked at Ye Tao in confusion, while Ye Tao looked at Lu Dan with the same confusion. Lu Dan scratched his head as if he didn't understand, walked closer with the box lid, carefully examined the lamp stand, and then looked at Ye Tao helplessly...

What kind of drama was this?

Just as Lou Qingxi was about to say something, with a snap, a small, black thing slipped from the box lid to the ground, and a series of extremely light footsteps were completely drowned out by the buzzing whispers of the crowd.

"Ah!" Huang Wan screamed, "Snake, lizard."

A lizard fell out of the box lid? How did this thing get into the box?

"Where? Where?" Lu Dan asked Huang Wan cautiously, while Huang Wan didn't dare to move.

"On... on the back of my foot..." Huang Wan's voice was so soft that only a few people around her could hear it.

"It's okay, I'll do it." Lu Dan comforted her, casually unhooking the thick-backed sword that he still habitually wore on his waist even though he was no longer a guard, and gently extended it towards the back of Huang Wan's foot along with the scabbard.

Huang Wan blushed and gently lifted her skirt about two inches. It was one thing for a lady like her to go out riding and having fun, but when wearing a formal dress, being seen her feet was a very shy and private matter.

Lu Dan quickly knocked the small, black mass to the ground, and then wanted to use the scabbard to smash the gecko.

Before the scabbard touched the gecko, the gecko jumped up on its own and steadily clung to Lu Dan's scabbard.

At this moment, Ye Tao smiled and said to Lou Qingxi, "Boss Lou, please comment, is this little gecko more fun than your jade dragonfly?"

"What?" Everyone was in an uproar. Could it be that this agile gecko was actually made? Looking closer, it was indeed. The black gecko shell was made of magnetic meteorite iron, and it was shiny to the touch. When a metal rod was brought close to it, it would immediately make movements similar to shaking its head and sticking out its tongue. When the weight of the approaching metal object was sufficient to generate enough suction, it would suddenly jump up.

"You deliberately scared me?" Amidst the crowd's exclamations of admiration, Huang Wan was the only one who was very dissatisfied. She twisted Lu Dan's arm fiercely and said angrily.

Lu Dan quickly smiled apologetically and said, "I'm following my young master's instructions. Besides, who knew which way this gecko would run?"

Huang Wan snorted and then asked, "But I don't have any metal on me. Why did the gecko run towards me? It shouldn't have had any suction."

Lu Dan said awkwardly, "I don't know. You ask my young master."

For the people of this era, this might be very magical, but in the era Ye Tao came from, this kind of thing was everywhere in toys for children. It was just that a small, gyroscope-like device was installed inside, which converted gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy and output it in a very short time. The structure was very simple. But in this era, this thing was too intimidating.

Holding the iron gecko in his hand and carefully examining it for a long time, Lou Qingxi solemnly returned the iron gecko to Lu Dan. Lu Dan then carefully placed the iron gecko in the gap in the jade stone on the lamp stand. Only then did everyone realize that this was the gecko's "nest".

Lou Qingxi cupped his fist and said, "This round, Shang Baotang admits defeat... This iron gecko is really too magical."

He had to admit defeat. The jade dragonfly could only move its wings by borrowing the force of the wind and the fluctuations of the sound waves, but this iron gecko could have such agile dynamics. The combination of scales on the surface that seemed real, and the extremely delicate face and claws, all made him have the illusion that this was a real living thing. And he had been immersed in jewelry and gadget manufacturing for decades, but he couldn't see how this iron gecko could move. He could only see that it was made of magnetic meteorite iron. He had lost convincingly.

"Please move to Shang Baotang again in seven days to comment on the second treasure." Lou Qingxi's tone was not so confident anymore. The treasures of Shang Baotang had all been prepared a long time ago, and now there was really no other way than to compare them one by one. Although those master craftsmen were technically skilled, they couldn't come up with any tricks in a short period of time. Lou Qingxi was now very unsure about whether he could surpass Ye Tao.

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Some people left messages asking about the update time. My updates are very stable now, right?

Two updates a day, one in the morning and one in the evening, almost always at that time~