Ye Yaming laughed: “Alright, go ahead. When you return from your escort mission and feel like joining me again, come back. You’re always welcome here.”
Although Guan Ting loved gossip, she was a good person. And after Bai Rui’s guidance that day, she understood and no longer inquired about the Ye family’s private matters.
Ye Yaming didn’t personally make the jasmine tea but instead guided four people carefully selected by Sun An in the tea-making process.
Currently, the jasmine flowers aren’t yet in full bloom. She would first teach these four people, who would then become teachers themselves, each training four more people. Once those sixteen had learned, and the jasmine flowers bloomed in greater quantities, they could be divided into more than ten groups, making tea simultaneously, with the original four supervising several small groups each to maintain quality control.
…
“How was it? How was it?” Lu Bin’s wife, Madam Liu, asked repeatedly as soon as her son and daughter-in-law returned. “What is Miss Ye like?”
Lu Guanyi had insisted on this engagement, refusing to listen to their advice. Although Lu Bin had sent his son to propose as requested, he remained concerned and decided to have his daughter-in-law accompany his son.
After all, when Lu Qingsheng went to Lin’an, as a man, he might not be able to meet Ye Yaming. But with Madam Peng present, the Ye family women would have to come out to entertain her, and Ye Yaming couldn’t avoid paying her respects.
“She’s quite good,” Madam Peng smiled. “Yi’er’s taste is truly impeccable. Miss Ye speaks and acts with grace and propriety, knows when to advance and retreat, and is extremely capable. The Dragon Well tea and osmanthus tea are said to be made by the Ye family’s Second Master, but they’re made by her. She’s now going to make jasmine tea. And that tea set business that Yi’er and Young Master Qi were working on was also Miss Ye’s idea. She also wrote ‘The Tea Ceremony,’ the book you treasure so much.”
Lu Guanyi had sent one jin each of the osmanthus tea and Dragon Well tea produced by the Ye family to Lu Bin, as well as the pressed and loose teas he had initially purchased from the Ye family teahouse.
Lu Bin was a tea enthusiast.
Besides sending tea, Lu Guanyi had also had “The Tea Classic” and “The Tea Ceremony” delivered to Lu Bin.
“In my view, although Miss Ye comes from a merchant family, she is superior to many young ladies from aristocratic families in the capital. Yi’er has excellent judgment; you needn’t worry,” Madam Peng added.
How formidable a person was Ye Yaming in her previous life? Whenever she wanted, there was no merchant she couldn’t charm.
Madam Peng, coming from a middle-class family, didn’t have the habit of looking down on others. She was pure-hearted and kind. With Ye Yaming’s intentional efforts to befriend her, it took just one day for Madam Peng to sing her praises.
Upon returning to the Lu family, Madam Peng naturally advocated enthusiastically, continuously speaking well of Ye Yaming.
Lu Qingsheng nodded in agreement beside her: “The Ye family’s Old Master and Second Master are also very good people. Their family has an excellent reputation in Lin’an, with everyone praising them as ‘a family with a benevolent heart and accumulated virtue.'”
During his son and daughter-in-law’s visit to Lin’an, Lu Bin hadn’t been idle. He had been visiting Jixiang Pavilion in the capital daily, closely observing the conduct of Ye Hongchang, the Ye family’s eldest master. He had even spent money to hire some troublemakers to create minor incidents that wouldn’t affect the teahouse’s reputation, wanting to see how Ye Hongchang would handle them.
But Ye Hongchang had been trained by Ye Chongming himself, and his approach to matters was consistent with his father’s. He also knew that a good reputation was why the Ye family had managed to grow their business so large and for so long.
Therefore, his handling of matters greatly satisfied Lu Bin.
Because of the tea ceremony, tea sets, and Dragon Well tea, Jixiang Pavilion was highly favored by scholars and refined individuals, giving it a very positive reputation.
Lu Bin was generally satisfied with this marriage arrangement. His only dissatisfaction was that their social status was too low to match the Xuanwu Marquis’s household.
Now, seeing both his son and daughter-in-law’s positive evaluations, and learning that Ye Meng, the author of his favorite book “The Tea Ceremony,” was the Ye family’s Third Miss—whose cultural cultivation and depth of thought revealed in every line demonstrated the author’s extraordinary nature—his concern about social status completely dissipated.
He smiled: “If that’s the case, I’m reassured. You’ve both worked hard, go rest well.”
After Lu Qingsheng rested for a night, when he went to have breakfast with his parents the next day, he asked: “Father, what’s happened with the Meng family?”
Lu Bin said: “Heh, those victims had always wanted justice but could only endure because they lacked backing. Once we mobilized and Meng Chengwei was imprisoned again, the victims immediately filed complaints with the authorities. When the news reached Duke Ying’s ears, not even the favor of Noble Consort Min or the Third Princess could help. He had just returned from exile, and now, with multiple crimes accumulated, there’s no way for him to leave prison alive. Just the day before yesterday, the Meng family’s imperial merchant status was revoked.”
At this point, he sighed: “For the Ye family, Yi’er has used many connections and gone to great lengths.”
“His actions benefit himself as well. Otherwise, Madam Shi would have arranged a marriage for him at some point. Now that he’s engaged, he can focus on his career at the border without worry.”
“That’s true.”
What Lu Bin and his son didn’t know was that Lu Guanyi had done far more than just this.
Before departing for the border, he had requested two things from the Crown Prince: one regarding the betrothal and the other concerning tribute tea and imperial merchant status.
Of course, the matter of tribute tea and imperial merchant status also benefited the Crown Prince himself. When Lu Guanyi went to Jiangnan to find partners for the tea business, he had done so with the Crown Prince’s blessing.
Tea might seem insignificant, but it is related to the border’s peace, and the tea business was indeed highly profitable. Although the Crown Prince did not compete with the court or the common people for profit, he wanted to maintain control over part of this trade, especially merchants with tea production secrets. With tea-making methods, obtaining good tea in any quantity became easy.
Now the Ye family excelled at tea production, repeatedly creating excellent teas. The Crown Prince also attached great importance to the Ye family.
Therefore, by the time Ye Yaming finished producing jasmine tea, the imperial court had already sent people to investigate the Ye family, their tea gardens’ size and location, and to inspect the tea factory. They also had Ye Hongsheng and Ye Yaming demonstrate tea processing to confirm that the Ye family could provide a stable supply of high-quality Dragon Well tea annually before returning to the capital.
When it was time to produce osmanthus tea, the imperial court issued an edict, declaring the Ye family’s Dragon Well tea as tribute tea.
“Pop, pop, crack!” Firecrackers exploded simultaneously at the Ye family’s main gate and in front of Jixiang Pavilion.
As the sound of firecrackers subsided, a crowd of onlookers rushed forward, scrambling for the copper coins that the steward scattered on the ground.
“Wonderful, wonderful,” Ye Chongming said, his voice choking with emotion.
He had worked hard his entire life, always hoping for the Ye family to prosper further. Now, the Ye family’s tea had finally become imperial tribute tea during his lifetime.
He looked up at the sky, palms pressed together: “Our ancestors have blessed us.”
“It’s also because our Yaming is capable,” Old Madam Ye added from beside him.