Madam Yin and Madam Zhang were very surprised.
“Really? Then it seems good days are coming soon,” Madam Zhang said.
After the initial surprise, Madam Yin felt reluctant to part: “Does that mean you’ll be moving to the Capital City after you get married?”
Madam Tao immediately perked up.
If Ye Yaming went to the Capital City and then had children, wouldn’t she be too far away to manage the Ye family business? If she didn’t oversee things for two or three years, that wouldn’t be a problem, but if she stayed away for eight or ten years, she couldn’t possibly remain as the family head, right? By then, perhaps her husband and son would become the family heads instead.
Ye Yaming said: “Zi Mo still needs to go to the border regions, and I can’t possibly abandon the family affairs. Once he goes to the border, I’ll return to Lin’an. But by then I won’t be living at home anymore. Zi Mo has a residence near the government office, and he wants me to live there.”
Now Madam Yin was truly delighted.
Her daughter wouldn’t be far away after marriage and would live not far from home. If she wanted, she could even have lunch and dinner at home. It would be almost the same as if she hadn’t married out.
Additionally, Ye Yaming had been off the mountain for less than half a day, and they had just received the imperial decree, yet Lu Guanyi had already found time to discuss these matters with her, even arranging their post-marriage living situation. This showed how highly he regarded her.
It seemed that Ye Yaming’s wedding date was just around the corner.
Madam Tao inappropriately interjected: “If you come back to Lin’an, will your father-in-law and mother-in-law agree?”
Originally, she had thought Ye Yaming’s marriage was merely a fabrication and hadn’t connected Ye Yaming’s fiancé to Lu Guanyi, so she hadn’t inquired about the Lu family’s situation. The complex political dynamics of the Capital City were beyond what a provincial woman from the inner chambers could know.
Ye Yaming replied: “I don’t have a mother-in-law, and my father-in-law is stationed at the border year-round. Zi Mo is the eldest legitimate son, so after we marry, our living arrangements are for us to decide. As long as Zi Mo doesn’t object, I could even live at home if I wanted.”
Seeing Madam Tao’s discomfiture, Madam Zhang couldn’t help but let out a “pfft” of laughter.
This woman, Madam Tao, had originally tried to curry favor with Ye Yaming because she was marrying into a powerful family, but her inner resentment caused her words to be filled with barbs. Madam Zhang thought that Madam Tao was becoming increasingly foolish.
Madam Zhang said to Madam Yin: “I’m truly happy for Ming’er. Second Sister-in-law, Ming’er is truly blessed to marry into such a good family.”
…
With Ye Yaming’s mental preparation and having offered the lowest price, on the second day of negotiations, Ye Chongming withstood Chen Zhen’s threats, inducements, and pressure from all sides.
But finally, Chen Zhen threw out the temptation of becoming “Imperial Merchants”: “Although your third granddaughter has been granted a marriage, her status is still low. When she goes to the Capital City in the future, those noble ladies might bully her. Don’t you want to elevate your family’s status?”
“Despite my unworthiness, I can still speak before the Emperor. If you show more sincerity regarding the price of the black tea, I will submit a memorial suggesting that your family be included among the ‘Imperial Merchants.’ Elder Ye, this is a matter that will benefit your descendants for generations to come. It’s not something that can be bought with a few hundred thousand taels of silver. Don’t be foolish.”
If Ye Yaming hadn’t analyzed the situation for Ye Chongming, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to resist at this moment.
As people age, they become cunning, and Ye Chongming was quite the actor.
First, he showed an expression of surprise and desire, then his face fell, and with a bitter old expression, he sighed with fatigue: “Imperial Merchant status is the dream of many merchants. If the Ye family could become Imperial Merchants, I could face our ancestors underground with pride.”
He shook his head and sighed: “But I cannot force my descendants onto a path of no return for this empty title. What I’ve offered you is the cost price. If we go any lower, we’ll lose tens of thousands of taels every year. Even the thickest family fortune couldn’t withstand that for more than a few years. When people can no longer survive, what use is an empty title? I don’t want to be cursed by my descendants.”
As he spoke, he turned the tables on Chen Zhen: “The emperors throughout history have all been wise. The Great Jin Dynasty is wealthy, and its people are strong. I believe the court won’t haggle over these few coins of difference, right? A few coins’ difference means nothing to the court, but it’s a matter of life and death for our Ye family. Lord Chen, with your great talent and vision, surely you wouldn’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?”
Chen Zhen was at a loss with Ye Chongming and couldn’t help but look toward Ye Yaming, who was sitting behind Ye Chongming.
Since he had come to negotiate this deal with the Ye family, he had naturally investigated them thoroughly.
When Lu Guanyi had presented the black tea, and after tasting it and seeing how the high-ranking officials and nobles of the Great Jin were amazed by it, unable to put it down and constantly asking how they could buy it, they had decided to use this tea as the main export product in the trade between Great Jin and Great Jin.
Immediately, they sent people to investigate the Ye family.
This investigation had shocked them.
The Ye family had changed the next family head from the eldest legitimate son to the third granddaughter. Dragon Well tea, black tea, osmanthus tea, jasmine tea, and even the recently produced and stunning Iron Goddess tea, as well as books like “The Classic of Tea,” “Tea Setting,” and the recently popular “Tea Art” and “Tea Ceremony” in the Capital City, all came from the hands of this young lady, Ye Yaming. And this young lady’s ability was said to have come from being enlightened by an immortal in a dream.
Since Ye Yaming had been enlightened by the immortal, the Ye family had not only introduced many famous teas and made Dragon Well tea a tribute tea but had also expanded everywhere, buying large amounts of tea mountains in Huizhou and Minzhou.
If they hadn’t discovered this final point and learned that the Ye family could provide the court with hundreds of thousands of catties of black tea annually, no matter how good the black tea tasted, Chen Zhen wouldn’t have come here to negotiate the price, let alone have the Emperor grant a marriage between Ye Yaming and Lu Guanyi.
Knowing all this, he was deeply impressed and felt that this young man, Lu Guanyi, having grown up alongside the Crown Prince, truly had a discerning eye.
As soon as Lu Guanyi arrived in Lin’an, he discovered Ye Yaming, this dust-covered gem, and quickly drew her into his embrace, making her his fiancée.
Tea was a high-profit item and a crucial tool for the court’s tax revenue, vital both domestically and internationally.
With Ye Yaming’s formidable tea-making skills, with a clever touch, she could turn worthless leaves into beverages that everyone competed to buy. The black tea she produced could even affect the peace at the border. How could the daughters of aristocratic families in the Capital City’s inner chambers compare?
Therefore, while Ye Yaming thought she was just an ordinary girl in Chen Zhen’s eyes, and thus had come today but remained silent, serving merely as a backdrop, Chen Zhen had long known her importance.
Chen Zhen spoke up: “Third Miss Ye, you made this black tea, right? Although you haven’t married Lu Zi Mo yet, you’ve been granted the marriage, so you are undoubtedly a fourth-rank lady. As the wife of a court official, you should also contribute a little to the court, shouldn’t you? Could you improve the production process of this black tea to lower its cost? You should know that the court faces difficulties. Maintaining soldiers at the border, building defenses, repairing cities, and constructing embankments locally—which of these doesn’t require money?”