Liu Zongguan and the young lady were both stunned. Liu Zongguan asked, "What's the reasoning behind that? Does the Ye family go to the capital to rob people?"

The young lady shook her head and said, "The shops in the capital aren't owned by the Ye family."

Upon hearing this, the shopkeeper suddenly understood and said, "This humble one understands now. The items from the Ye Family Workshop aren't directly lacquered. After the furniture blanks are made, customers examine them and choose the lacquer color according to their preferences. Although the base materials and workmanship are the same, the prices vary greatly depending on the lacquer color. Take that low table for example. The cheapest is black lacquer, which only costs 2.5 taels of silver. But besides black lacquer, there's also pine lacquer, tung lacquer, red lacquer, and it's also divided by whether to apply veneer, whether the lacquer should be glossy, whether the furniture needs carvings, and whether the carvings need gold or silver foil. Sir, what you described might be a set with full carvings and silver-foiled mirror lacquer. The polishing of that mirror lacquer alone is quite expensive. Calculated like that, even selling it for 5 taels of gold would be considered somewhat reasonable in the capital. The Ye family doesn't handle the transportation themselves, but rather merchants order here and then transport it over there. If it were local, it might not even cost 2 taels of gold. The profit margin is truly..."

Liu Zongguan was taken aback. "Transporting furniture to the capital can yield more than double the profit? That's almost as good as robbing people."

The shopkeeper laughed. "Isn't that right? Later, this humble one will certainly tell your words to my young master so he can inform the Ye family's young master. If the Ye Family Workshop opened a shop in the capital, its business would surely be good. Many thanks to both of you for informing this humble one of this matter."

The young lady asked in surprise, "Is the Ye Family Workshop managed by the Ye family's young master? How old is that young master?"

The shopkeeper said, "The Ye family's young master is only a little over fourteen years old, I believe. But he's an extraordinary figure. A few years ago, the best carpenter in Yicheng was Ye Lao Geng, who is also the father of the Ye family's young master. But now, not only carpentry, but also carving, lacquer work, and even gold and jade work, as well as garden landscaping, the Ye family's young master is the top name in Yicheng. The Ye family has prospered greatly in recent years, all thanks to this Ye family's young master."

Liu Zongguan still didn't believe it and said, "A fourteen-year-old boy, possessing such abilities?"

The shopkeeper seemed to have anticipated Liu Zongguan's attitude and said, "The Ye family's young master's given name is Tao, courtesy name Canghuai. Surely, there are people in the capital who collect window frame wood carvings signed Canghuai?"

"Are you saying that this Canghuai is actually just a fourteen-year-old boy?" Liu Zongguan almost shouted out in surprise.

The window frame wood carvings engraved in the corner with "Canghuai's Idle Work" had extremely skillful knife work. The content differed from auspicious patterns like mythical creatures and auspicious clouds, and included mythological legends, flowers, birds, insects, fish, and even humanistic landscapes. In particular, a set of six "Ten Li Misty Waves" vividly depicted a vibrant harbor humanistic landscape, with auspicious clouds lingering in the sky and a flock of migratory birds flying through the clouds. There were boats sailing on the river, reeds on the shore, a stone-built harbor, merchant ships lowering their sails, barefoot porters, and merchants traveling back and forth, integrating natural landscapes and humanistic environments. This set of wood carvings was collected by Huang Xuping, the current Situ, who was unwilling to use them as window frames and even hung them in his study like paintings. Huang Xuping, who was also a famous painter and calligrapher, even depicted the artistic conception in the wood carvings and created a ten-foot-long scroll of the Ten Li Misty Waves. Huang Xuping once said that Canghuai's talent for carving was unparalleled and he regretted not being able to meet him. However, the number of wood carvings signed Canghuai that circulated to the capital was extremely small, and the source seemed to be unclear, so it was never discovered whose work it was. If Situ-daren were to learn that Canghuai was just a fourteen-year-old boy, one wonders what he would think.

"Those things that circulated were all stolen from the construction site by thieves. That whole set of wood carvings was just a pattern for the stone carvings to be used in the Qi family's old master's new residence, Zhenhai Pavilion. My young master returned from the capital last month and only then learned that they had actually ended up there. In Yicheng, Canghuai is the nickname for the Ye family's young master, but it's not exactly a secret. I'm happy to let you two esteemed guests know."

The young lady took a sip of tea and said, "That talent is indeed astonishing, but shopkeeper, how can you say that the Ye family's business relies on this young master?"

The shopkeeper bowed and said, "This humble one doesn't know much about the business side of things. But five or six years ago, although the Ye family was already the best carpentry workshop in Yicheng, it was nowhere near as famous as it is now with the Ye Family Workshop, and there were no veneers or so many types of lacquer work. The apprentices in the Ye family's workshop were also never as strictly selected as they are today, and the Ye family didn't seem to have much interaction with the wealthy sea merchants of Yicheng. All of this seems to have happened in recent years, and all of this is related to the Ye family's young master, isn't it?"

The young lady smiled slightly, her bright radiance making her pale face bloom like a flower trembling in the wind. "It seems that I must meet the Ye family's young master this time. Ye Tao, Ye Canghuai, what an interesting character."

Liu Zongguan nodded in understanding and asked the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, it seems we'll be staying in Yicheng for some time. Does Yicheng have any better places to stay?"

The shopkeeper frowned, then relaxed, and said, "Everyone here is of noble status. Although Linjiang Tower has guest rooms, they are not suitable for people of your status, so I dare not offer you any such thing. Yicheng has many wealthy merchants, and there are many unique gardens, but most of them are owned by sea merchants and are not lent out even if they are empty all year round. There are not many refined courtyards that are willing to be lent out. Would the esteemed guests be willing to stay a little longer in my shop? I'll have someone find my young master right away. At this time of year, my master's Xunfeng Pavilion is a good place."

"Xunfeng Pavilion? That's a good name. But what's so good about it?" the young lady asked with interest.

"Xunfeng Pavilion is a four-story building, especially the top floor, with wind coming from all directions, which is extremely comfortable now that the weather is getting warmer. The lotus pond below, although not yet in full bloom, should still be pleasing to the eye with its lotus leaves," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "If it were autumn or winter, this place would be very cold, but at this time of year, there's no place in the city more comfortable than Xunfeng Pavilion. The Ye family's young master built this Xunfeng Pavilion last spring, originally intending to use it himself for summer heat, but my young master spent ten thousand taels of gold to forcefully take it over. He also spent a lot of money in the autumn to decorate it in detail. However, my master has gone to the mountain villa to the north, and the young master is busy with business and has no time to live in it. This Xunfeng Pavilion will be empty this summer. If you are willing to go, my young master will definitely welcome you with open arms."

This shopkeeper really knew how to talk and how to build relationships for his master. This young lady and Zongguan are definitely not ordinary people. Although the Du family of Yicheng occupies half of the restaurants and inns, it's always good to know some powerful people.

"This Ye family's young master is involved in so many things, okay. Then I'll have to trouble the shopkeeper," the young lady replied with a smile. With the current construction technology, building a pavilion to more than four stories is not very easy, especially in Yicheng near the sea, where the problem of summer typhoons has to be considered. Thinking about it this way, the young lady became even more interested in this Xunfeng Pavilion.

The shopkeeper instructed a waiter to invite the young master, and he himself remained by their side to talk. He said with a smile, "The Ye family's young master has built five gardens in two years, but he still has to huddle in the Ye family's old house in Qingyun Lane. This is one of the great joys of Yicheng."