As soon as Ye Yaming entered the door, she was met with a pair of bright, sparkling eyes.

Princess Imperial Yuning couldn’t help but smile and said, “This is Princess Pingyang, and this is Miss An, the fourth daughter of the Zhenbei Marquis Manor.”

Then pointing at Ye Yaming, she said, “I believe Madam Lu needs no introduction from me.”

The three exchanged greetings, and Ye Yaming smiled, “It’s my great honor that Princess Pingyang and Miss An have graced our teahouse with their presence.”

At that moment, there was suddenly a commotion outside the door, followed by the entrance of Princess Imperial Yuning’s maid.

She reported, “Madam Chen, Madam Yuan, and Miss Wan have arrived. They said if Madam Lu hadn’t come, they wouldn’t disturb the Princess Imperial and Princess’s private conversation; but now that Madam Lu is here, there’s no reason for the Princess Imperial and Princess to monopolize her. They also want to come in and drink tea together.”

Madam Chen, Madam Yuan, and Miss Wan were regular companions of Princess Imperial Yuning’s social circle. Madam Chen was skilled in fine-brush painting, her depictions of birds, beasts, insects, and fish vivid and lifelike; Madam Yuan was a master of poetry; and Miss Wan, though still unmarried, was already thirty years old and had vowed to remain faithful to her late fiancé, never to marry. She had achieved certain accomplishments in calligraphy.

All three came from prestigious families and had known Princess Imperial Yuning before they were married. They became good friends due to shared interests and had been socializing together for years. So they were all quite casual with each other.

Upon hearing this, Princess Imperial Yuning laughed and chided, “They certainly have sharp ears. Yaming has just walked in, and they’ve already caught wind of it.” She waved her hand, “Alright, alright, let them in.”

So Madam Chen and her group entered, and everyone exchanged greetings again.

Princess Imperial Yuning said, “Enough, enough, we’re all acquainted here. Who doesn’t know who? Stop putting on airs and find a place to sit quickly.”

Everyone sat down, and the tea master hurriedly brought tea.

At Jixiang Hall, female tea masters served the women’s teahouse, while naturally male tea masters served the men’s teahouse; the front hall’s mixed teahouse was also served by men.

Madam Chen, being older, around forty, took the tea and said, “You all chat, we’ll just listen. We’re very tactful, we’ve brought only our ears and won’t disturb you.”

Princess Imperial Yuning scolded her jokingly, then said to Princess Pingyang, “Ignore them. Didn’t you just say you had something to tell Yaming? Go ahead.”

Princess Pingyang had attended banquets organized by Princess Imperial Yuning before and was familiar with Madam Chen and the others. She knew their personalities—all were the type who disliked following conventions.

She smiled at Madam Chen and the others, then turned to ask Ye Yaming, “With so many people just now, how were you not afraid at all?”

Having been raised as precious jade and gold since childhood, surrounded by servants as she grew up, she would attend family banquets at year’s end or important court events, appearing at imperial feasts. She had seen countless grand occasions, yet whenever she had to play the leading role and be the center of attention, she would still feel nervous and afraid.

Yet Ye Yaming, whose background was humbler than anyone present, could be neither servile nor overbearing, composed and at ease, even able to speak eloquently, earning admiring looks from those highly talented scholars. How could Princess Pingyang not admire her?

Ye Yaming, in her previous life, had met all kinds of people and knew exactly what to say in any situation.

If at this moment she were to say something like “self-strengthening and self-reliance, feeling no worse than others,” it would certainly displease those present.

These people appeared very friendly toward her, but deep down they still felt their noble birth made them superior to her, a merchant’s daughter—she didn’t know that Princess Imperial Yuning considered her a celestial maiden who had descended to the mortal world.

She said, “Perhaps I’ve always been a bit foolishly brave.”

“Pfft!”

“Pfft!”

Everyone present burst into laughter.

Princess Imperial Yuning affectionately tapped Ye Yaming’s arm lightly and chided, “Child, how can you talk about yourself like that?”

Ye Yaming wore an expression of helplessness and charm: “I’m just stating facts. How is it that one can’t even speak the truth?”

Her words made everyone laugh again.

An Jingning looked at Ye Yaming with a very complicated gaze.

This kind of interesting character was also something she couldn’t compare to.

“Let me ask you, how do you know so much? You’re not very old, are you?” Princess Pingyang asked curiously.

Ye Yaming scratched her cheek: “You might not believe me, Princess, but all those tea-making methods came to me in dreams.”

“Really? How did you dream about them? Tell me quickly.” Not only was Princess Pingyang curious, but everyone else was curious as well.

Princess Pingyang waved her hand and said, “Don’t be so formal with the ‘Princess’ talk. We’re about the same age, like sisters. Let’s just address each other as ‘you’ and ‘I’.”

“Alright, Princess.” Ye Yaming went with the flow, then told everyone her fabricated story.

When she first told these lies, she felt somewhat ashamed. But after repeating the lie a hundred times, she almost believed it, and she told it with such fluency and vividness.

Princess Imperial Yuning had heard this story from Master Zhineng before, and also directly from Ye Yaming when in Lin’an. Now she couldn’t help but ask, “Yaming, haven’t you ever wondered about your origin?”

“Huh?” Ye Yaming wore a face of pure innocence, her beautiful large eyes looking toward Princess Imperial Yuning, “What origin?”

“Like being a tea-tending immortal official or fairy under the Jade Emperor or Queen Mother of the West.”

“Uh…” Ye Yaming hadn’t expected Princess Imperial Yuning to have such an active imagination and didn’t know what to say for a moment.

“Yes, yes, I think so too,” Princess Pingyang clapped her hands, “That must be it. How else would someone teach you these things in your dreams? It’s clear you’ve descended to the mortal world to experience tribulations.”

“Wouldn’t that mean I have to endure eighty-one hardships?” Ye Yaming joked, “No, absolutely not, I won’t allow it. I don’t want to go through tribulations.”

Her firm, resolute tone of avoidance made everyone laugh again.

Princess Imperial Yuning spoke as if coaxing a child, “Alright, alright, that’s not it. We won’t talk about tribulations.”

Princess Imperial Yuning was thirty years old. She was playful, with a youthful mindset, able to play with young girls in a group, but sometimes she was like a mother hen protecting her chicks, making people feel very warm-hearted.

So the matter of her origin was set aside, and Princess Pingyang asked, “Now that you’re married, will you still make tea in the future?”

“Of course I will,” Ye Yaming said, “To be honest with you, I’m still the next head of the Ye family.”

“What?” Even Princess Imperial Yuning was surprised by this statement.

Especially Miss Wan. Earlier, while listening to Ye Yaming and Princess Pingyang talk, she had been smiling, but her emotions seemed unchanged. Now her gaze became intense, her eyes suddenly brightening.

She couldn’t help but speak up: “You’re already married, yet you can still be the head of your natal family? Besides, isn’t the family head usually a man?”

“Who says so?” Ye Yaming smiled at her, “My grandfather said that the Ye family head should be the most capable person. I know how to make tea and can continuously produce many fine teas. If the Ye family were to cast me aside like water…”

She mischievously winked: “What do you think would happen?”