After resolving the issue with Madam Yin and having breakfast, Ye Hongsheng instructed a servant to gather information: “Find out what the Old Master and Third Miss are doing.”

The servant replied, “The Third Miss and the Old Master just came by. From their conversation, it seems they’re waiting for the First Master, Fourth Master, and the Young Master to go to the teahouse together to discuss business with Young Master Qi.”

Ye Hongsheng quickly stood up and patted Madam Yin’s hand. “I’ll go listen to what they’re discussing. You should return to the rear courtyard.”

Madam Yin, now placated by her husband, nodded obediently and returned to the rear courtyard with a pleased expression.

Ye Hongsheng went to Ye Chongming’s study.

As soon as he entered, Ye Chongming laughed and said to Ye Yaming, “What did I tell you? My guess wasn’t wrong, was it?”

Ye Yaming smiled at Ye Hongsheng and said, “Grandfather guessed that you would come.”

With Ye Yaqing’s wedding, everyone in the family had been busy these past few days. After returning from Minzhou, Ye Yaming had rested for two nights before becoming occupied with accompanying Ye Yaqing and helping her pack her belongings. Even though Ye Hongsheng was eager to ask about the production of Tieguanyin tea, he hadn’t had the opportunity.

Now that he had some free time, he couldn’t resist coming.

Ye Chongming had guessed correctly.

Ye Chongming said, “Even if you hadn’t come, I would have sent someone to call for you. It was Ming’er who suggested last night that we take advantage of everyone being in Lin’an to meet and update each other on our respective situations.”

At this moment, Ye Hongchang and Ye Jiaxing also entered, greeting everyone present.

“Let’s go to the teahouse,” Ye Chongming said as he stood up. “I’ve invited Young Master Qi and the steward from the Lu family.”

The group proceeded to the teahouse.

After they were seated at the teahouse, Ye Hongsheng couldn’t help but exclaim, “Ming’er, brew some Tieguanyin tea for us to drink.”

When Ye Yaming had returned from Minzhou, she had immediately presented the Tieguanyin tea she had made to Ye Hongsheng, with instructions to Ruonu on how to brew it properly.

But Ye Hongsheng always felt that Ruonu’s brewing wasn’t authentic. Now, having finally found an opportunity, he asked Ye Yaming to brew the tea.

Ye Hongrong also joined in: “Yes, yes. You sent this tea to my place, but I don’t know how to brew it properly.”

Since they were waiting for Qi Ji anyway, Ye Yaming agreed with a smile, “Alright, alright.”

Everyone present was her close family, except for Ye Jiaxing; the others were all her elders. It was proper for her to brew tea for them.

“Bai Rui, take out the tea set and arrange it,” she instructed.

For today’s meeting, one of her topics was to introduce the brewing method for oolong tea. She had come prepared.

Bai Rui laid out the tea set, while Ye Jiaxing personally brought in boiling water.

Ye Yaming warmed the teapot and cups and began brewing the tea.

Just as she was brewing, Qi Ji and the Lu family’s steward Zheng Gang arrived.

Lu Guanyi had invested as a partner in the business. But he had suddenly gone to the frontier and had no time to personally manage the business, so he had appointed some capable stewards to act on his behalf.

Zheng Gang was one of them. He had accompanied Ye Yaming and Qi Ji to Minzhou. Today, he represented the Lu family at this meeting. Besides him, another steward from the Lu family named Wang Jinzhi also attended.

Qi Ji had stepped away from the teaware business, and it was Wang Jinzhi who had been working with Ye Jiaxing to manage that aspect of the business.

A few days ago, when Ye Yaming had just returned, she had met with Qi Ji at the teahouse to inquire about changes in the imperial court. Only the two of them and Ye Chongming had been present.

Today’s meeting was different. It was considered a shareholders’ meeting, where everyone would report on the status of their respective projects and determine future development directions.

In the modern era, Ye Yaming was accustomed to holding meetings. Shareholders’ meetings were held regularly, as were meetings with subordinates.

But in this ancient era, after all this time, she had never seen Ye Chongming hold any formal meetings. When matters arose, he would summon her to discuss them, sometimes also calling in the family members or stewards managing that particular business.

Initially, she had no say, and later, even after being designated by Ye Chongming as the future head of the family, she didn’t want to assert herself too forcefully and make Ye Chongming feel that his authority was being challenged. She had always accommodated Ye Chongming’s management style.

Now that Ye Yaqing is married and everyone is gathered in Lin’an, she could hardly restrain herself from holding a meeting, which led to her suggestion last night.

However, since everyone wasn’t yet accustomed to this practice, there was no need to be overly formal. Therefore, when Qi Ji arrived with the stewards, Ye Yaming didn’t stop brewing tea; she merely smiled and nodded slightly as a greeting.

The men of the Ye family were already quite familiar with Qi Ji, so they didn’t stand on ceremony. They exchanged brief greetings, and Qi Ji sat down with the stewards.

The attention of the Ye Hongchang and Ye Hongsheng brothers was entirely focused on Ye Yaming.

After Ye Hongsheng returned to Lin’an from the capital, Ye Hongchang took over the management of all affairs in the capital.

Previously, he had only been involved in selling tea, but after seeing how Ye Hongsheng had forged friendships with the powerful and wealthy through his expertise in tea-making and brewing, he had a sudden realization and began to study tea production and tea ceremonies.

Now, watching Ye Yaming pour the tea into a tall, narrow cup, he found it strange and couldn’t help asking, “How can one drink tea from such a tall and narrow cup?”

Ye Yaming didn’t speak, but merely smiled at him. She picked up a matching teacup, placed it over the tall, narrow cup, and with a graceful half-arc motion of her hand, flipped the position of the two cups. Now the drinking cup was at the bottom, and the tall, narrow cup was on top, covering the teacup.

Most amazingly, during this flipping process, not a single drop of tea spilled out.

After Ye Yaming had flipped all four cups and placed them on the cup coasters, Bai Rui used a tray to serve them one by one to everyone.

Seeing the narrow cup still inverted on top of the wide cup, Ye Chongming couldn’t help but ask, “How do we drink this?”

Ye Yaming gently lifted the narrow cup, allowing the tea drops on the rim to drain completely, and brought it to her nose, saying, “This type of cup is called a scent cup, specifically used for smelling the aroma of the tea.”

Everyone followed her example, lifting the scent cup and taking a deep inhale. Indeed, a rich orchid fragrance filled their lungs.

“It smells wonderful,” Ye Hongchang praised.

Ye Hongsheng inquired further, “Ming’er, is this tea similar to osmanthus tea or jasmine tea, scented with orchid fragrance?”

“No, this is the tea’s natural aroma.”

“It’s natural aroma?” Ye Hongsheng was astonished. “How can tea leaves themselves have such a scent?”

Ye Yaming explained in terms everyone could understand: “This tea is unique to Minzhou. Its tea trees contain more aromatic substances than other tea trees. Additionally, during the tea-making process, there’s a step called ‘shaking the green,’ which activates these aromatic substances, giving the tea its distinctive fragrance.”

The aromatic compounds in tea leaves are primarily composed of polyphenols, aromatic substances, sugar pectins, and amino acids. The fragrance of Tieguanyin comes from both its geographical origin and the processing technique.

“Are the tea trees different from those here? Did you bring back any seedlings? Can they grow in our region?”