Ye Chongming advised her: “Regardless, being cautious never hurts. Since there’s a possibility, you should stay at home and avoid going out. Also, have the servants be vigilant about household security.”
“Alright, I understand. Please explain the situation to Grandmother and my mother for me when you return.”
“If anything happens, be sure to send someone to inform us.”
Ye Chongming had thought about asking Madam Ye and Madam Yin to keep Ye Yaming company, but then he realized that if something happened, they might only hinder matters. Besides, the guards at the Lu residence were retired soldiers, which was more reassuring.
After giving a few more words of advice, he left, still very concerned.
Afterward, Ye Yaming dutifully remained at home, sampling the tea that Ye Hongrong had sent over.
The Longjing tea brand had been established, and it would be a great loss not to seize the opportunity to make money.
Last spring, because the tea-making method needed to be kept confidential, the Ye family only produced Longjing tea in their tea garden in Baifeng County and didn’t send tea masters to the tea mountains that had signed contracts with them.
But before the snow fell last winter, the Ye family had sent people to purchase residential land and build compounds at various tea mountains as tea-making bases; and before this spring, they had renewed contracts with the garden owners of major tea mountains.
Previously, the garden owners had to pick tea and process it into crude tea, working tirelessly from spring until autumn. Now they only needed to pick tea and deliver the fresh leaves to the tea-making base. Yet the Ye family was not paying them any less than before.
Naturally, the garden owners had no reason to refuse the Ye family’s requirements. Therefore, when Ye Yaming went up the mountain earlier, batches of tea masters, accompanied by their apprentices, traveled to various mountain peaks to stay at the tea-making bases and produce Longjing tea in large quantities.
Although the tea evaluation system had been perfected, this was the first year, and Ye Yaming wasn’t at ease. She had Ye Hongrong draw samples for her to evaluate once more.
Pregnancy limited her tea consumption, so Ye Yaming would swirl the tea in her mouth and then spit it out; after rinsing with plain boiled water, she would taste the next one.
“Haha, you don’t know, those tea merchants saw us making tea in large quantities, and their eyes turned as red as rabbits’. They couldn’t stop with their sour remarks,” Ye Hongrong felt particularly satisfied just thinking about those tea merchants’ expressions.
Ye Yaming wrote down her evaluation notes and smiled, “They could also produce tea in large quantities next year.”
“Tsk, how could it be the same? We’re eating the meat, while they can only drink a bit of the soup.”
Although the formula for Longjing tea had been sold, Ye Yaming had timed the sale for last autumn.
Even though the six tea masters had learned how to make Longjing tea, the season had passed, and winter quickly arrived with no fresh leaves available. The tea merchants, wanting to maximize their profits, couldn’t even get these tea masters to quickly train a batch of apprentices.
So this spring, they could only have those few masters rush to produce as much Longjing tea as possible. Training apprentices would have to wait until after the pre-rain tea season or even the post-rain tea season.
By the time they cultivated a large number of tea masters next year, the Ye family would have already seized the Longjing tea market this year and successfully established their brand.
The tea produced from the formula that those merchants had bought at a high price was destined not to “eat the meat” but only to “drink the soup” behind the Ye family.
Meanwhile, the Ye family not only earned a substantial sum but also ensured their safety, avoiding becoming a common enemy because of the tea formula.
Just thinking about this made Ye Hongrong admire Ye Yaming profoundly.
Mentioning this, Ye Yaming couldn’t help but pause her writing to think about the Chu siblings and Wang Kuan.
Now that the Chu siblings had been accused of killing Madam Shi, they wouldn’t have time to cause trouble for her, right?
Would the Prince of Zhennan protect them? Would the Imperial Clan Court protect them or handle the matter according to the law? Since Lu Guanyi had already done so much, would he add fuel to the fire and not easily let the Chu siblings off? There was also the Princess of Zhennan who was eager for revenge.
She finished writing her tea evaluation results, compared them with those of the other tea evaluators, pointed out issues with several evaluators, and had Ye Hongrong handle them.
After Ye Hongrong left, Ye Yaming summoned Yi Wu and asked, “Is there any news from the capital? How is the Prince of Zhennan’s household recently?”
“The old woman’s son has been found and has come forward to testify against the three Chu siblings. Now, Chu Zonghua and his siblings have been detained in the Imperial Clan Court. The Prince of Zhennan fell ill with a cold while trying to help the three siblings. The evidence is conclusive with no possibility of overturning the case, but considering Madam Shi’s status, the Imperial Clan Court is still deliberating on how to sentence the three.”
At this point, Yi Wu’s face showed a mocking expression: “I hear the three Chu siblings are implicating each other in the Imperial Clan Court, each trying to shift the blame onto others to save themselves, but in the process, they’ve revealed quite a few things.”
Ye Yaming slightly furrowed her brow: “Regarding Madam Shi’s status, hasn’t the Marquis shown any reaction?”
Madam Shi was a remnant of the Duke of Wei’s family, and the court had wanted to behead her early on to eliminate future troubles. But the Great Jin law included a provision that “misfortune does not extend to married daughters,” and Madam Shi was Lu Zhongying’s wife. That’s why she was allowed to live.
Now that Madam Shi was dead, it aligned with the court’s wishes. Perhaps Madam Shi’s death was premeditated. Whether it was the imperial family, the court, Lu Guanyi, or even those who had grudges against Madam Shi in the past, they all wanted her life. Her death was the result of multiple parties working together.
Now that she was dead, with the killers being descendants of the imperial family and the Duke of Wei’s household, the court wouldn’t seek justice for her.
The hesitation was solely out of consideration for Lu Zhongying.
A day as husband and wife, a hundred days of affection. If Lu Zhongying had any feelings for his former wife, then giving a light sentence to the three Chu siblings would dishearten him. This was something the Emperor and court officials wouldn’t want to see.
But if Lu Zhongying expressed his stance, it would be different.
Yi Wu said, “I’ve just learned of this news. It takes time for messages to travel from the capital to the border and then to get feedback from the border. It will take at least ten to fifteen days to get a result.”
Ye Yaming couldn’t help but shake her head.
Such were the limitations of backward communication.
Who knew how long the Princess of Zhennan could keep the Prince of Zhennan ill?
But she didn’t need to worry about these matters. Lu Guanyi would surely handle them well.
After Yi Wu left, Ye Yaming summoned Ma Yun and asked, “What’s happening with Wang Kuan?”
Ma Yun replied with confusion, “I don’t know what happened in the capital, but the person from the Prince of Zhennan’s household who had been in contact with Wang Kuan has disappeared. Wang Kuan sent someone to the capital but couldn’t gain entry. He’s now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.”
Ye Yaming told him about Madam Shi’s death and the Chu siblings’ detention.
Ma Yun realized, “So that’s what happened.”
He continued, “But there is one thing. Zhou Qingsong, who sold the tea master to Wang Kuan, along with Shi Guilin and Li Sheng, who bought our family’s tea formula, visited Wang Kuan’s residence yesterday. As for what they did there, I haven’t found out yet.”
Ye Yaming nodded, “Keep an eye on them and report any developments promptly.”