Ye Yaming’s engagement turned out not to be a fabrication, but real—she was indeed betrothed to Lu Guanyi. Now, Lu Guanyi had even moved the Emperor to bestow marriage upon them.

Beyond her shock, Madam Zhang felt only joy and admiration. Beyond her shock, Madam Tao felt intense admiration and jealousy.

How could Ye Yaming be so fortunate as to marry someone like Lu Guanyi, the son of a noble family? Moreover, Lu Guanyi was so capable, already a fifth-rank official; he was also so handsome and tall, and well-matched with Ye Yaming in both age and appearance. This was truly a marriage that the Ye family wouldn’t have dared to dream of, yet Ye Yaming had obtained it so easily.

Originally, since Ye Yaqing had married into the Xie family, and considering Ye Yaming’s supposedly fabricated engagement, Madam Tao had secretly delighted in imagining that Ye Yaming would later have to marry someone under the stigma of a second broken engagement.

Ye Yaming had taken the position of family head from her husband and son, acting with authority in the Ye family, but in Madam Tao’s mind, no matter how capable a woman was, without a happy family, everything was meaningless. In old age, who knew how miserable she might become.

But this imperial decree had utterly shattered the last bit of satisfaction in Madam Tao’s heart.

Ye Yaming had secured a husband ten times better than Ye Yaqing’s. Lu Guanyi’s status was much higher than Xie Guizhou’s, his prospects much brighter, and even his appearance was much better.

Back when the Yin family had matched Ye Yaming with Song Yifeng, to ensure her daughter’s marriage was better than Ye Yaming’s, Madam Tao had stubbornly refused to arrange an engagement for her daughter even at sixteen. She had always believed that as the eldest legitimate daughter of the main branch, Ye Yaqing’s marriage must be better than Ye Yaming’s.

But after all her picking and choosing, she ended up completely defeated.

“Mother.” Madam Guan, seeing that everyone had risen while her mother-in-law still knelt there motionless, quickly went to help her up.

She was well aware of her mother-in-law’s petty thoughts.

Ever since the position of the next family head had gone to Ye Yaming, Madam Tao had been resentful, but surprisingly, she could only express her inner discontent to Madam Guan and her own natal family. Even Ye Hongchang and Ye Jiaxing, the parties directly involved, would advise her when they heard her complaints, saying that the position of family head should rightfully go to Ye Yaming and so on.

So when Madam Tao felt miserable, she would corner her daughter-in-law as a dumping ground for her frustrations, viciously criticizing the hypocrisy of the second branch and finding fault with Ye Yaming.

Now, Ye Yaming had been imperially matched with the heir of the Xuanwu Marquis, the fourth-rank Brilliant Valor General Lu Guanyi, which was nothing short of a thunderbolt from a clear sky for her mother-in-law.

On the other side, Chen Zhen, the official from the Ministry of Revenue, seeing that Ye Yaming had received the imperial decree, smiled and asked, “I heard that the black tea was made by Third Miss Ye?”

“In response to Official Chen, the black tea was developed by my father and me together,” Ye Yaming replied.

It wasn’t that she wanted to give credit to Ye Hongsheng, but rather a consideration of interests.

If the black tea had been developed by her alone, now that she was becoming Lu Guanyi’s wife, the honor might have nothing to do with the Ye family. In that case, the court might simply bestow some title on Lu Guanyi as a reward for her, which would be a great loss for her.

In the eyes of outsiders, husband and wife were one, and a wife’s status rose with her husband’s glory. But how could the independent Ye Yaming be willing to attribute her achievements to Lu Guanyi, tying her future honor and disgrace to this man?

Saying that the black tea was developed jointly by her and Ye Hongsheng meant that the court could not bypass the Ye family. Then, to appease the Ye family, the court would have to bestow the title of Imperial Merchant on them.

Imperial Merchants were quite different from ordinary merchants. In the future, when she went out for social engagements in the Capital, others would not look down on or ridicule her for her merchant background.

Hearing her response, Chen Zhen’s eyes flashed with disappointment.

He turned to Ye Chongming and said, “Very well. We’re all tired from traveling today, so let’s rest for half a day. Tomorrow, Old Master Ye can come to the post station, and we’ll discuss the matter of black tea.”

“Thank you, Official Chen. This old man will certainly come to trouble you tomorrow,” Ye Chongming hurriedly replied.

Chen Zhen and the others then took their leave, but Lu Guanyi stayed behind.

The marriage bestowal had shocked everyone, and they had many questions, but seeing that Lu Guanyi appeared to have something to discuss with Ye Chongming, they could only exchange greetings with him and leave at Ye Chongming’s indication.

Only Ye Chongming, Ye Yaming, Lu Guanyi, and their servants remained in the front courtyard.

The three entered Ye Chongming’s study and sat down.

Ye Yaming finally had the opportunity to examine Lu Guanyi.

If two years ago, Lu Guanyi’s demeanor was mature but his appearance still carried a trace of youthful innocence, then now, Lu Guanyi had completely become a mature young man.

His fair skin had turned tan, his face had become slightly thinner, and his features more defined. He was already tall before, but now he was even taller, visibly about 1.8 or nearly 1.9 meters. His previously somewhat slender frame had now become very robust. In summer’s thin clothing, one could seemingly see the muscles in his arms with every movement.

His voice, compared to the clear tone of his youth, had also become increasingly rich and deep.

Ye Yaming studied Lu Guanyi, while Lu Guanyi, seemingly observing propriety, did not look directly at Ye Yaming, but was watching her from the corner of his eye.

In Ye Yaming’s eyes, Lu Guanyi had changed greatly, and how could she not appear changed in Lu Guanyi’s eyes as well?

When she first transmigrated, Ye Yaming had still been mindful of the original owner’s character and behavioral habits, aligning her temperament, words, actions, and attire with the original, but gradually she had let go and returned to being herself. Additionally, she had deliberately trained her body, completely sweeping away the original’s frail disposition.

The current Ye Yaming was radiant, magnanimous, confident, and unrestrained. Her way of doing things and her bearing somewhat resembled Princess Imperial Yuning, who had gained increasing confidence and ease after growing up in a high position and marrying the willful and uninhibited Fan Yu.

Ye Yaming spoke first: “How is the matter of black tea? What’s the court’s attitude?”

Lu Guanyi collected his thoughts and said, “The Great Jin Emperor likes it very much and wants to purchase it in large quantities. I wonder how much black tea we can provide each year. If the supply is substantial, the court will reward us.”

Hearing there would be a reward, Ye Chongming’s face immediately filled with expectation. If the court could bestow the title of Imperial Merchant on the Ye family, that would be excellent.

But since the Ye family was now doing business with the court, the title of Imperial Merchant should be assured, right?

Ye Yaming considered what she knew about Great Jin’s population and economic situation, then said, “Once the tea from Huizhou and Minzhou grows, we can stably provide 200,000 catties annually. That is to say, to achieve this output, we must count from the year after next.”

Although Ye Chongming already knew that black tea was made from old leaves and stems, and had roughly estimated the output based on the area of the tea mountains that Ye Yaming had mentioned after returning from Huizhou and Minzhou, he was still greatly surprised when he heard the number Ye Yaming gave.

“Yaming, isn’t this number reported a bit high? What if we can’t deliver so much tea? Wouldn’t we be punished? It’s better to report a lower number, and if we have extra, we can sell it here.”

“This is already a relatively low number,” Ye Yaming said.