Yang Hong couldn’t let him continue speaking. He rushed down the stairs, taking three steps at once, and shouted at the man: “Silence!”

Everyone turned to look at him.

Someone exclaimed in surprise: “Master Yang?”

Yang Hong had no time to respond to them. He addressed the person who was speaking ill of Meng Chengwei: “Who are you? Who sent you here? Young Master Meng comes from a prestigious family. Since childhood, his upbringing has been extremely strict, and his conduct is beyond reproach…”

Suddenly, a familiar voice sharply interrupted him: “Beyond reproach? Yang Hong, you may be blind to yourself, and it’s one thing to collude with Meng Chengwei, but to mislead others as well? Do you have a grudge against everyone here?”

As the person spoke, he came up from the stairway entrance.

Everyone saw that it was none other than Ye Chongming, the owner of Jixiang Pavilion.

Behind him followed his grandson Ye Jiaxing, along with Lin Zhensheng, the manager of Jixiang Pavilion, and several attendants and guards.

Many of the customers at Yang’s Teahouse had previously visited Jixiang Pavilion for tea, some were even regular patrons. They were only at Yang’s today because of the discount being offered.

Upon seeing Ye Chongming, some of them looked embarrassed.

But most people’s faces showed excitement.

The confrontation was on!

They had long heard rumors that Yang Hong, the owner of Yang’s Teahouse, was at odds with Old Master Ye, often verbally sparring in the tea guild, trying to pull Old Master Ye down from his position as the guild leader to take the position himself.

But these were just rumors; they had never witnessed it firsthand.

Now, seeing the two men directly opposing each other, tempers flaring, everyone was eager for drama, hoping they would come to blows.

However, what surprised everyone was that when Ye Chongming reached the second floor, he didn’t approach Yang Hong. Instead, he walked past him and stood directly in front of a young gentleman dressed in sapphire blue silk who was behind Yang Hong.

Ye Chongming’s usually cloudy eyes were now incredibly sharp. His voice contained ice shards: “Meng Chengwei, my Ye family has no past grievances or present enmity with you. Until recently, I didn’t even know who you were. I’ve been puzzled, wondering why you repeatedly tried to harm my family. So it turns out you’re helping Yang Hong bring me down, to let him take my position as the guild leader?”

He suddenly turned his head, his eyes fixed on Yang Hong like an eagle, his face revealing a cold smile: “Master Yang certainly has great influence, getting a merchant favored by the Imperial Court to be your vanguard, using despicable means to clear away all obstacles. I’m curious, what benefit did you offer Meng Chengwei?”

These words contained too much information. All the tea customers present widened their eyes, their eyeballs following Ye Chongming’s movements, their nostrils slightly flaring, each one’s face flushed with excitement.

“You’re talking nonsense,” Yang Hong naturally wouldn’t admit it. He had only just connected with Meng Chengwei. Although he had intentions, he hadn’t had time to do anything yet, and he wasn’t going to take this false accusation.

Just as he was about to speak, Ye Jiaxing charged forward and grabbed Meng Chengwei’s collar, moving so quickly that Meng Liang, Gu Jie, and Meng’s guards had no time to react—everyone’s attention was focused on the argument between Ye Chongming and Yang Hong.

“Meng Chengwei, why did you collude with bandits to injure my father and rob our tea money? When one scheme failed, you even sent your steward to seize our garden workers. How can you be so despicable? So what if you’re the nephew of Imperial Consort Min and a merchant favored by the court? Pah!”

With that, Ye Jiaxing spat in Meng Chengwei’s face.

Originally, he had wanted to land a few punches on Meng Chengwei to vent his anger, but his grandfather had told him that if he hit him, their family would be in the wrong. If Meng Chengwei then turned the tables on them, he would end up in jail alongside Meng Chengwei, and Magistrate Qi wouldn’t be able to use the previous incidents against Meng.

After much thought, Ye Jiaxing settled for spitting in Meng Chengwei’s face.

It was just spitting—no hitting, no injuries—even if Meng Chengwei pursued the matter, Ye Jiaxing would only need to verbally apologize. Better to satisfy his anger first.

Meng Chengwei was so furious that his entire body trembled.

In all his life, not even his parents had beaten or scolded him. As he grew older and revealed his ruthless, dark methods, his family didn’t dare to say a harsh word to him. Today, caught off guard, he was grabbed by the collar and spat on—this was an absolute humiliation.

By now, Meng Liang, Gu Jie, and the others had reacted and hurried over to rescue their master.

Ye Jiaxing, having been warned and being quite quick-witted himself, understood the principle of avoiding immediate disadvantage. He had already released his grip and stepped back two paces by the time Meng Liang and Gu Jie lunged forward. The Ye family guards also moved in time to block Meng’s guards and attendants.

Meanwhile, Yang Hong was stunned by the information in Ye Jiaxing’s words.

Stunned along with him were all the customers present.

Earlier, when the storyteller was excitedly speaking, a circle of tea customers had already gathered at the stairway entrance. When Ye Chongming appeared and came upstairs, even those on the first floor who had initially shown no interest couldn’t resist coming to watch the excitement. Those already gathered at the stairway followed him up to the second floor, and the teahouse attendants couldn’t stop them.

By now, the second floor was packed so tightly that not even water could flow through. Even the empty private rooms near the stairway were filled with people, all craning their necks to see outside.

At this moment, if someone were to look around, they would see a sea of shocked faces.

“What nonsense are you spouting? We don’t even know you. Who are you to make such false accusations and implicate others?” Meng Liang shouted.

He had been quite displeased since Gu Jie appeared to sign the contract with Yang Hong on behalf of Meng Chengwei. After all, he was the one who had established the connection with the Yang family. Yet Gu Jie had taken the credit and was even going to stay in Lin’an to manage affairs, leaving Meng Liang with a burning resentment that had nowhere to go.

Now that the Ye family was causing trouble, it allowed him to vent his anger and show his worth.

See? In critical moments, it was still him, the cousin, who charged to the front.

“Is this the character of you, Lin’an people? Barging into someone’s teahouse and spouting nonsense—have you lost your minds?” he fired another sweeping insult.

Now some of the tea customers grew annoyed, but their annoyance wasn’t directed at Meng Liang. Their gazes all turned toward Ye Chongming.

Although Ye Chongming had always been praised for his conduct, did he have any basis for these claims? Colluding with bandits to rob tea money? How could that Meng Young Master, being both a court-favored merchant and the nephew of an Imperial Consort, be so foolish as to do something like this?

To help Yang Hong become the head of the tea guild? Don’t be ridiculous! Was Yang Hong’s influence really that significant?

In the carriage on the way here, Ye Jiaxing had received instructions from Ye Chongming that he must take the lead today.

He was young, prone to anger and impulsiveness, and somewhat lacking in understanding. Even if his words and actions were a bit impulsive and excessive, everyone would understand. After all, it was his father who had been injured—as a son, wouldn’t he naturally seek justice for his father?

Ye Chongming, on the other hand, was advanced in age and his status was well-established. Anything he said would be easily taken to extremes by others. So today, they had to rely on Ye Jiaxing to take action.

Ye Jiaxing was also very quick with his words.

As soon as Meng Liang’s voice fell, he countered: “Please, don’t say all Lin’an people are like this. You’re from the capital city—have I said that everyone from the capital is like your master, morally corrupt, full of debauchery, and ruthlessly vicious? Don’t drag others down with you!”