After Ye Yaming returned to her courtyard, Ye Chongming remained restless. Although Ye Hongchang had been ambushed once before, there was a vast difference between having no knowledge of an attack and being able to anticipate one.

Because of this, Ye Chongming hadn’t dared tell his wife about the matter.

He endured two anxious hours in his outer study until he finally heard the sound of servants running in the courtyard. He sprang to his feet, accidentally knocking over the teacup on his table, blurring the Buddhist scripture he had been copying to calm his nerves.

“How did it go?” he asked Zhou Xiang, who came running in, breathless.

“Smoothly… smoothly,” Zhou Xiang panted, struggling to catch his breath. “Very smoothly. The First Master and the others have sent those people to the magistrate’s office.”

He covered his chest and took several deep breaths before continuing, “And the Meng and Yang families have gotten themselves into serious trouble this time.”

“Oh? How so?” Ye Chongming asked expectantly.

“After the First Master left the city, he encountered Young Master Lu, who said he wanted to go up the mountain together and boarded the First Master’s carriage.”

Zhou Xiang finally caught his breath and continued, “He said he knew martial arts and wasn’t afraid; he also said he wanted to strike a fatal blow to both the Meng and Yang families. The First Master couldn’t dissuade him and had to let him have his way.”

Ye Chongming drew in a sharp breath, “So those people attacked Young Master Lu as well?”

“Yes.”

“Were Young Master Lu and the First Master injured?”

“No.”

“Were all those people captured?”

“Yes,” Zhou Xiang replied. “All were captured and sent to the magistrate’s office. Meng Ji followed Miss Ye’s instructions and provided the magistrate with an address, which led to the arrest of the Meng family’s Gu Jie and Manager Jin.”

Ye Chongming finally relaxed and asked about the details: “Did they dare to make their move even after seeing Young Master Lu board the carriage?”

At this, Zhou Xiang smiled, “Young Master Lu was deliberately helping us, so naturally he didn’t draw attention to himself. He purposely wore a dirty, gray outer robe, as did his servant.”

“He boarded the rear mule cart meant for servants. Those people assumed he and his servant were tea garden workers who happened to be waiting there for a ride back to the tea garden. So they paid them no attention.”

Ye Chongming’s heart completely settled down, and he slapped the table, “That Gu Jie was the one who signed the cooperation contract with the Yang family on behalf of the Meng family. Add to that the manager sent by the Meng family, and now the Meng family can’t escape, while the Yang family’s crimes are compounded.”

Ambushing a merchant was quite different from ambushing the son of a noble family. Meng Chengwei, who was about to be released, would not find it so easy to escape punishment this time. Even if this incident wasn’t attributed to Meng Chengwei, the Meng family would surely suffer severe damage—the forces behind Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji would not let them off easily.

Without these sewer rats watching them, they could finally do business with peace of mind, and Ye Chongming would also feel at ease when Ye Yaming went out.

When Qi Ji learned that Lu Guanyi had risked himself, he was terrified and rushed to the Lu residence to question him: “Did you need to personally get involved? If something had happened to you, how would my father explain it to His Highness?”

“You know I have martial arts skills.” Lu Guanyi was too lazy to humor him.

Concerned that something might happen to him, his grandfather had hired a skilled master to teach him martial arts since he was five years old. Lu Guanyi’s skills were even somewhat superior to Guan Canghai’s.

“Miss Ye is thorough in her planning. She had someone test the martial abilities of the Meng family’s men and confirmed that Chief Guan and his people could defeat them before setting this trap. So my going posed absolutely no danger.”

Qi Ji was simply anxious out of concern.

He knew Lu Guanyi was skilled in martial arts, and Lu Guanyi’s servant An Tai, despite his plump appearance, also possessed fighting skills. Against the two of them together, unless imperial palace experts came, they couldn’t threaten Lu Guanyi’s life.

“Regardless, you should have told me so I could accompany you. Brothers face hardships together,” he complained.

Lu Guanyi gave him a sidelong glance: “Do you know martial arts? Are you sure you would have helped rather than hindered?”

Qi Ji: “…”

…

With Lu Guanyi involved in the ambush case, plus the fact that the case was completely straightforward—Gu Jie and Manager Jin didn’t know that the Ye family had been setting a trap and thought they had been under Lu Guanyi’s surveillance, which exposed their whereabouts—they became fearful. After Qi Zhipei applied some torture, they confessed everything.

Of course, the Meng family was unwilling to let Meng Chengwei take the blame and had instructed Gu Jie and Manager Jin to push all responsibility onto Meng Liang.

But the Crown Prince’s faction wasn’t so easily appeased. In the end, the Meng family sacrificed their imperial merchant status to protect Meng Chengwei from having his sentence increased.

Meng Liang was beaten with a rod and exiled, while the Yang family’s crimes were compounded.

After this incident, the Meng family became aware of Lu Guanyi’s protection of the Ye family and no longer dared to extend their reach into Lin’an. The name Meng Chengwei was finally put to rest in Ye Yaming’s mind.

On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, Ye Chongming, Ye Hongchang, and Ye Yaming brought generous gifts to Lu Guanyi’s residence to thank him.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ye Yaming confirmed with Lu Guanyi the departure date for Huizhou.

They would set off on the twentieth day of the first lunar month, two days hence.

Qi Ji, who had heard them discuss this before, couldn’t contain his eagerness and asked, “May I join you?”

Before everyone could turn to look at him, he explained, “In Xinping, I directly purchased a porcelain workshop and a pottery studio. The craftsmen there have become quite skilled at making our tea sets. As long as we provide the designs, they can produce the tea sets we need. My manager can handle the handover with them without any issues.”

During the New Year, when the Ye family was short-handed for their cooperative projects, Ye Chongming had felt quite guilty.

Now hearing Qi Ji’s explanation, he smiled, “That shouldn’t be a problem. Jiaxing is still here. He made several trips with Young Master Qi before the New Year and is quite familiar with the process. Entrusting this to him and Young Master Qi’s manager should not cause any issues.”

Lu Guanyi nodded, “That works.”

Earlier, Ye Yaming had mentioned they would depart on the twentieth at the latest. Now, following the original plan, everyone had prepared their luggage. Qi Ji had originally planned to go to Xinping, so his servants had already prepared his luggage.

Thus, on the twenty-first day of the first lunar month, the four of them, accompanied by seven carriages, left Lin’an for Huizhou.

Although Qi Ji had his carriage, he preferred to stay in Lu Guanyi’s carriage. The two could chat and drink tea together, making the time pass more pleasantly.

Seeing the line of carriages following behind and the two unfamiliar faces ahead, he smiled and said, “It’s certainly different when a girl travels—so many people and things to bring along.”

After the incident with the Yang and Meng families, he genuinely admired Ye Yaming and meant no disrespect with his comment.

Lu Guanyi gave him a sideways glance: “You arrived late and missed Miss Ye’s explanation.”

He pointed to the two men in front: “The escorts from the security bureau frequently travel on escort duties and are familiar with the roads. Miss Ye had them prepare an itinerary beforehand—when to set out in the morning, where to stop for lunch, where to stay for the night—she discussed it with them several times before finalizing it. Our journey will follow this itinerary.”