Now that the Second Branch was rising, earning money with their tea formula through their abilities, and since this money would remain within the Ye family for their descendants to benefit from, Ye Chongming didn’t feel there was any real difference. The only change was that the money was going to the Second Branch instead of the Main Branch.

This was simply due to the Second Branch’s capabilities. They weren’t taking advantage of anyone; they were merely preventing the Main Branch from taking advantage of them. Even the people from the Main Branch couldn’t say anything shameless about it.

Therefore, on the carriage ride over, he had clarified these points to Ye Hongchang in Ye Yaming’s presence.

He didn’t know what Ye Hongchang was truly thinking. At least on the surface, Ye Hongchang appeared completely unconcerned and even offered Ye Yaming a few words of encouragement.

Seeing that Ye Chongming had mentioned her, Ye Yaming finally spoke up, addressing Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji: “I am a member of the Ye family, and it’s our honor to cooperate with you two young masters. So please rest assured, even if we charge for the tea-making formula, the price won’t be expensive. After all, we’re practically our people now.”

“For example, for teas similar to the osmanthus tea, I would only ask my family for five thousand taels. Once the osmanthus tea entered the market, its profitability, as you two young masters surely understand, meant that five thousand taels could be earned back effortlessly.”

After a pause, she continued, “If I were to spread word that such a tea formula was for sale elsewhere, I wouldn’t say fifty thousand taels, but thirty to forty thousand taels would certainly be achievable.”

To cooperate with the Ye family, Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji naturally had to pay attention to them. They had been amazed by the Ye family’s osmanthus tea that day at Chongshan Temple. As for its sales performance, even if they hadn’t sent people to inquire, they had witnessed the bustling scene at Jihong Pavilion when they arrived earlier.

They had also inquired about the selling price of osmanthus tea and knew the cost of raw tea leaves—they needed this information to engage in the tea business. After calculating, they realized that the Ye family’s osmanthus tea could bring in huge profits if sold in large quantities.

This wasn’t just a one-time deal, but would continue year after year, becoming an intangible wealth that could be passed down to future generations. One could say that a single formula could sustain a family for generations.

It was precisely for this reason that they had offered the Ye family extremely favorable cooperation terms, willing to take a smaller share than the Ye family and to be subordinate to them, just to cooperate with the Ye family.

Hearing Ye Yaming’s words now, Qi Ji felt pleased. Just as he was about to express some modesty, he heard Lu Guanyi ask with interest: “The way Miss Ye speaks, could it be that you already have a new tea formula similar to the osmanthus tea?”

Ye Yaming nodded: “Yes, I plan to make jasmine tea, with a method similar to osmanthus tea. However, the jasmine season hasn’t arrived yet. My idea is to wait until the flowers bloom next summer to try it and see if it can be successfully made.”

“Jasmine?” Lu Guanyi thought about the fragrance of jasmine flowers and nodded in approval.

He then curiously asked: “You just tell us like this? Aren’t you afraid we won’t cooperate with you and instead find someone to try making it ourselves? After all, we haven’t signed a contract yet.”

Ye Yaming smiled confidently: “First, I believe that you two young masters wouldn’t abandon your principles for such petty gains. Your vision isn’t so limited.”

Qi Ji’s eyes brightened immediately upon hearing these words.

Ye Yaming continued: “Second, I also believe that our Ye family’s tea has a certain value, and I trust that with my father’s and my tea-making abilities, we can continuously create new teas. You two are so intelligent—how could you abandon an entire forest for a single tree?”

“Well said!” Qi Ji’s eyes were practically sparkling with admiration as he forcefully clapped his fan against his palm. “That was exceptionally well said!”

Qi Ji hadn’t grown up beside Governor Qi, but had lived in the Capital since childhood with his grandparents, only coming to Lin’an last year. Because of this, his relationship with Lu Guanyi was extremely close.

In the Capital, he had met many young ladies from prestigious families and renowned talented women. But he had never before encountered someone like Ye Yaming, who appeared delicate yet spoke with such confidence and wisdom.

Of course, he would never admit that his lavish praise was because Ye Yaming had spoken well of him and Lu Guanyi, in a manner that wasn’t at all fawning but instead showed great sophistication.

Although Lu Guanyi didn’t say anything, his eyes also revealed some appreciation.

He said: “There’s no problem with what Miss Ye says. As long as the taste and fragrance of the jasmine tea can rival the osmanthus tea, we’ll pay thirty thousand taels to buy its exclusive production rights from Miss Ye.”

Seeing how efficiently he conducted business, without any intention of taking advantage of her tea-making skills just because she was from the Ye family, Ye Yaming felt happy and said: “I’ve created some tea utensils and researched a special tea brewing method that improves the flavor of loose tea. To show our sincerity in cooperation, I can give these utensils and the brewing method to you directly.”

She had merely had the kiln produce a fair cup, tea strainer, and water vessel, and wasn’t reluctant to give them to everyone. Once people accepted these new tea utensils, she would then introduce the gaiwan and purple clay teapot. Of course, for the latter two, she would charge for the creativity.

Lu Guanyi’s eyes brightened slightly as he asked: “Did Miss Ye bring these tea utensils with her? May we see them?”

Ye Yaming nodded and gestured to Bai Rui, who opened the bamboo chest and took out the three tea utensils placed on top, bringing them to the tea table in front of Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji.

Lu Guanyi picked up the three utensils and examined them, but didn’t ask Ye Yaming about their usage. Instead, he turned to Ye Chongming and said: “Didn’t Elder Ye want to invite Master Zhineng to mediate? I’ve already sent someone to ask about the Master’s intentions, and he’s quite willing to serve as mediator.”

After saying this, he turned to Ye Yaming and said: “Since Miss Ye has new tea utensils and brewing methods to demonstrate, why don’t we go to Chongshan Temple now, so Master Zhineng can also taste the tea brewed by Miss Ye? How does that sound?”

“Very good, very good,” Ye Chongming agreed repeatedly.

This young Master Lu was indeed worthy of his upbringing in a noble family, acting both considerate and generous.

If Lu Guanyi had Ye Yaming make tea now, although there would be nothing wrong with it, especially since Ye Yaming had voluntarily mentioned her tea brewing skills, it would nevertheless make the Ye family somewhat uncomfortable.

It would be like visiting someone’s home and, upon hearing that the host’s daughter was skilled at dancing, asking her to dance for you—extremely discourteous and disrespectful.

What would that make of the host’s daughter?

Perhaps the situation wasn’t that severe, but the nature was the same.

Having Ye Yaming make tea for Master Zhineng was different. Ye Chongming and Master Zhineng were of the same generation and had known each other for most of their lives, making Ye Yaming Master Zhineng’s junior.

It was perfectly appropriate for a junior to make tea for an elder. As for Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, they were merely getting to enjoy a cup of tea, which couldn’t be considered disrespectful to the Ye family’s young lady.

So the group went downstairs, got into carriages, and headed for Chongshan Temple.