Ye Yaming was unaware of Madam Tao’s little grievance.

After Ye Hongrong and the others had left, she said to Ye Chongming, “Grandfather, we sold the tea-making methods last year. Although Longjing has now become a tribute tea and our family’s situation is much different than before, there are still some people who want to step on us to elevate themselves.”

Ye Chongming’s heart immediately tensed, “What do you have in mind?”

“I want to have several silver pots made. This matter shouldn’t be known to others. Can you find suitable silversmiths?”

Ye Chongming immediately understood.

Making silver pots—what else could pots be used for? Naturally, for frying tea.

Ye Chongming didn’t know what the reason was for using silver pots to fry tea, but he knew Ye Yaming must be right.

He only asked, “Are there any requirements for these pots?”

Ye Yaming shook her head, “No, as long as they can be made into a pot shape, that’s fine. They don’t need to be too elaborate.”

“That’s easy,” Ye Chongming said. “I’ll ask your Great-Uncle to lend us a silversmith apprentice.”

The Mei family ran a bank, so naturally, they dealt in exchange services. Sometimes when they received silver of poor quality, they would need to refine it or mint silver ingots for people. They also owned a jewelry store where they processed gold and silver into jewelry for sale, as an extension of their business.

Therefore, they employed a group of silversmiths. These silversmiths were household servants, passing down their craft from generation to generation, with their indenture papers held by the Mei family.

If Ye Yaming’s requirements were high, it would be somewhat difficult. After all, good silversmiths were limited in number, and the Mei family might not be willing to provide one. But with her requirements being so low, casually transferring a silversmith apprentice would be sufficient.

“It would be best if we could buy a silversmith apprentice. If that’s not possible, we can have them make a few pots, as long as they don’t tell others that we commissioned them.”

Ye Chongming nodded, “Leave this matter to me, rest assured.”

Ye Yaming stood up, “I can’t neglect the Lu Estate. I’ll take some people over there shortly and stay there tonight. Tomorrow I need to visit Madam Qi.”

“Go ahead,” Old Lady Ye approved of her plan.

Mainly because Ye Yaming’s pregnancy had shown few symptoms—she ate well and slept well. Her only reactions were some dry heaving in the morning and a bit of drowsiness. Otherwise, Old Lady Ye wouldn’t have been comfortable with her staying elsewhere.

When Ye Yaming married, she had taken a group of servants to the capital, and now she had brought them back. She lacked neither attendants nor cooks. Even staying at the Lu Estate, there would be no inconvenience.

“You’re Madam Lu now. If you come back and don’t even stay one night there, the servants there won’t even recognize you as their mistress. If you need anything or anyone, just say so, and I’ll have someone send it over.”

“I should have everything I need,” Ye Yaming said.

When the furniture was made, a set had been made for that residence as well, so everything was complete.

“I’ll have people bring over some rice, flour, vegetables, and other foods. Even if they have those things there, they won’t be fresh,” Old Lady Ye said.

Ye Yaming didn’t object to this.

She immediately led her people out and headed toward the Lu Estate.

Bai Rui took a carriage to the Qi Estate to deliver Ye Yaming’s visiting card to Madam Qi.

As a junior, now that Ye Yaming had returned to Lin’an, she needed to visit this aunt. Madam Qi had taken much trouble for her wedding. But it would be impolite to visit without notice, so she would send a card first and visit tomorrow.

The gatekeepers were still Old Song’s family. Seeing Ye Yaming return, the whole family was somewhat nervous.

Ye Yaming introduced Xu Zan, Bai Rui, Zi Yuan, and the kitchen staff she had brought back to both parties.

She said to Old Song, “Continue doing whatever you’ve been doing. Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll assign two young men to take turns guarding the gate with you.”

“Also, sometimes I’ll stay at the Ye Family. Whether I come back to stay or not, I’ll have a servant inform you. When I’m not here, just make sure to guard the house well.”

Old Song repeatedly agreed.

His wife, Madam Li, hearing that Ye Yaming would stay at the Ye family, glanced up at her and then lowered her head again, not daring to speak.

That night, Ye Yaming stayed at the Lu Estate. The next day, she got up and went to visit Madam Qi at the Qi Estate.

Madam Qi was very happy to see her. She asked about their situation in the capital and about Lu Guanyi, kept her for lunch, and then let Ye Yaming leave.

Ye Yaming didn’t tell Madam Qi about her pregnancy.

If Madam Qi knew, she would certainly stop her from going up the mountain to make spring tea. Ye Yaming didn’t want to create unpleasantness with Madam Qi over this matter.

Moreover, there was a common saying that pregnancy shouldn’t be announced before three months. Even if Madam Qi found out later, she couldn’t say that what Ye Yaming did was wrong.

For the next month, Ye Yaming truly rested. As long as there were no major issues in the capital or Lin’an, Ye Chongming didn’t have people inform Ye Yaming. Though Ye Yaming knew about this arrangement, she didn’t interfere.

When it was nearly time to produce Ming Qian tea, Ma Yun brought news: “Wang Kuan has partnered with the Zhennan Prince’s Estate and also plans to produce Longjing tea this year. I don’t know what they’re plotting. They’re being very cautious, so we couldn’t find out the specific situation.”

Ye Yaming was startled, “Wang Kuan? The one from Lin’an city? How did he get connected with the Zhennan Prince’s Estate? Didn’t Wang Kuan buy the tea-making secret method? How would he make Longjing tea?”

If she remembered correctly, this Wang Kuan had been excluded from buying the tea-making method when the Ye family was selling it because he had repeatedly used underhanded methods to try to steal the Longjing tea-making secret from the Ye family.

“It should be that the Zhennan Prince’s Estate wants to go against you, so they sent people to Lin’an to inquire. In the end, they found out about Wang Kuan’s conflict with us, so they took the initiative to cooperate with him. As for how Wang Kuan obtained the tea-making secret, I’ll have people investigate further.”

He had hurried to report as soon as he heard that Wang Kuan had connected with the Zhennan Prince’s Estate, without having time to investigate the specific situation.

“Investigate those who bought the tea-making secret but don’t have much strength, and have been in frequent contact with Wang Kuan recently,” Ye Yaming said.

Those with strength certainly wouldn’t sell the tea method, as one more competitor meant earning less money. Only those without strength would want to resell the tea-making method to recoup their losses.

“Yes,” Ma Yun agreed and immediately went to investigate.

With suspected targets, the investigation became easier. The next day, he came to tell Ye Yaming, “We found out. It was Zhou Qingsong. Wang Kuan paid sixty thousand taels of silver, and Zhou Qingsong sold him four masters who know how to make Longjing tea. They were sold shortly after the Zhennan Prince’s Estate approached Wang Kuan.”

As he spoke, he reported the names of the four tea masters.

Ye Yaming turned to Qing Zhi and said, “Go and ask Second Master to come here for a moment.”

For matters requiring inquiry, she should have gone to him. But if she did that, Ye Hongsheng and Madam Yin would certainly nag her, so she simply had Ye Hongsheng come over.

She was staying at the Ye family, and the second branch’s courtyard was adjacent, so Ye Hongsheng arrived quickly.

Ye Yaming told him about the situation, and Ye Hongsheng frowned, “I remember these four people. Among them, a man called Qin Sixiang has exceptional talent for tea making. Toward the end of his training, the tea he fried was no worse than mine. I wanted to keep him then, but Zhou Qingsong wouldn’t let him go.”