Good tea masters were indeed hard to find, but if they were unscrupulous or unwilling to stay with the Ye family, they had little value. Such people could cause trouble after learning the craft.

Soon, Ma Yun arrived and reported: “Qin Sixiang is obsessed with tea and doesn’t care about anything else besides tea making. Since he came with his entire family, and we’ve arranged good accommodations for them, he has no worries and has been making tea the whole time.”

“Two months ago, he asked through someone if he could learn to make osmanthus tea and black tea. The Old Master and Master didn’t want to trouble you with such a small matter, so they put it off, saying they would discuss it after you gave birth and completed your confinement period.”

Logically, someone like Qin Sixiang would be exactly to Ye Hongsheng’s liking. He could have decided on such a small matter himself, or Ye Chongming could have simply given instructions.

But after experiencing several incidents, Ye Chongming had become very insecure about his judgment of people, and Ye Hongsheng was even more afraid of misjudging someone and causing great harm to the Ye family. After all, the tea-making secrets were the foundation of the Ye family’s livelihood.

So without Ye Yaming’s approval, neither of them dared to make a decision. But at that time, Ye Yaming was heavily pregnant, finding it difficult even to sit or lie down, and was about to give birth. Both father and son were unwilling to trouble her with such trivial matters and cause her to worry.

“How are the character and conduct of his family members?” she asked.

Qin Sixiang’s wife had originally worked in the Wang family’s laundry, while his eldest daughter-in-law had been a kitchen helper. His two sons were tea apprentices, learning tea making from him. The younger son was not yet married.

After coming to the Ye family, Ye Yaming had originally left their placement to Ye Chongming. But Ye Chongming said that this family had been won by Ye Yaming, so he suggested treating them as her attendants.

For such a talented individual, Ye Yaming also felt more at ease keeping him under her watchful eye, to prevent him from being neglected or bullied, or from having second thoughts and stealing the Ye family’s tea-making secrets for his former master. So she accepted Ye Chongming’s arrangement.

She had Xu Zan arrange for the family of five according to their positions in the Wang household. Qin’s eldest daughter-in-law went to work in the main kitchen of the Lu Manor, cooking for the servants.

“They’re all honest people,” Ma Yun said. “They do their work diligently without any devious thoughts.”

Ye Yaming was relieved. “Call him over, I’ll talk with him.”

For someone like Qin Sixiang, who was completely immersed in tea making, the best way to win him over would naturally be to teach him more tea-making methods.

After talking with Qin Sixiang and painting grand prospects for him that made the honest and simple man’s eyes shine with excitement, Ye Yaming got up and returned to the inner courtyard.

Lu Guanyi was in the nursery playing with their two children.

By now, the two children had lost their reddish skin and become fair and delicate, like carved jade. When awake, they would hold their little feet and suck on them, their black grape-like eyes rolling around, appearing very lively.

Although there were many servants to take care of the children, Ye Yaming didn’t want Lu Guanyi to become a hands-off father. Whenever possible, she would drag him to the nursery to accompany the children and even had him change their diapers.

“This is parent-child time,” she insisted. “Come spend time with the children whenever you have time. The more you accompany them, the closer they’ll be to you.”

In Lu Guanyi’s memory, he had never seen his birth mother; his father spent all year at the border, and even when he finally returned home, he would only ask with a stern face, “Have you done your homework?” and remind him to “be filial to your grandfather and grandmother.”

Although he knew his father cared for and loved him, he had never experienced the warmth of a father-son relationship.

What he had missed and could never get in his lifetime, he was willing to give to his children in the form of compensation.

So he fully agreed with Ye Yaming’s view.

Every day when the children woke up, he would go to accompany them, transforming from a clueless novice to a skilled father who could change diapers, burp the babies, and lull them to sleep with ease.

Ye Yaming changed her clothes and washed her face and hands, then entered the nursery and sat on the edge of the bed, picking up one of the children, who immediately nuzzled against her bosom.

The clothes Ye Yaming wore were specially made, modeled after a nursing outfit designed to prevent exposure, made by Madam Xia.

Originally, Old Lady Ye had prepared several wet nurses for the children, so they were not lacking in breast milk. Moreover, ladies of ancient noble families rarely nursed their children themselves.

But Ye Yaming knew that colostrum was the best. The two wet nurses who had been selected had children who were four and five months old, so they were long past producing colostrum. Besides, breastfeeding was also beneficial for her physical recovery. So she insisted on nursing the children herself, and only after they had had their fill would they drink from the wet nurses.

She planned to wean them after three months. After all, the wet nurses took care of them at night, and during the day when she was busy, so it wasn’t very tiring and she wasn’t too tied down.

“You’ll be going to the Capital in ten days. What are your plans for us, mother and children?” Ye Yaming asked Lu Guanyi.

Lu Guanyi saw that their daughter was drinking milk, while their son was kicking vigorously, also wanting milk.

He quickly picked up his son and said to Ye Yaming, “I don’t want to be alone, thinking about returning to an empty house makes me uncomfortable. But the weather is getting cold, the children are still so young, and your body hasn’t fully recovered. The journey to the Capital would be very uncomfortable. You should stay in Lin’an. When spring comes next year…”

Here he paused.

He had wanted to say that Ye Yaming could bring the children to the Capital when the weather warmed up in spring.

But in spring, Ye Yaming would be busy. By the time she finished her work, it would be autumn again.

He lowered his eyes and gazed at his chubby son in his arms, his eyes filled with melancholy.

Ye Yaming deliberately teased him, pretending not to notice the expression on his face and acting as if she knew nothing, turning her head to ask in surprise, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Lu Guanyi replied.

He sighed inwardly and said, “Your health and the children’s is the priority. Stay in Lin’an. Next spring, you’ll be busy making tea and won’t be able to leave. I’ll come back to see all three of you when I have time.”

That’s what he said, but the court only granted a few days off during the New Year and one rest day every ten days. A single rest day wasn’t enough for him to make the round trip. If Ye Yaming stayed in Lin’an with the children, he would barely see his wife and children a few times a year.

Ye Yaming thought for a moment and said, “In that case, you won’t have anyone to take care of you. Why don’t… I find you a concubine?”

Lu Guanyi turned to glare at her. “What nonsense are you talking?”

His voice was a bit loud and stern, startling the chubby boy in his arms, who opened his mouth and suddenly burst into tears with a “Wah!”

The content An’an, who had been happily nursing at her mother’s breast, paused for a moment, turned to look at her brother, thought for a moment, and then also burst into tears with a “Wah!”

This little scene made Ye Yaming burst into laughter.

She glared at Lu Guanyi. “Why are you shouting so loudly? Look, you’ve scared the children.”

Lu Guanyi looked embarrassed as he skillfully patted his son’s back, comforting the child while saying, “Who told you to talk such nonsense?”