Ye Yaming gave a light laugh.

So that was it.

She had wondered, even if Wang Kuan had money and the Zhennan Prince’s Estate was eager to cause her trouble, they wouldn’t be willing to spend so much money buying tea masters or cooperating with a villain like Wang Kuan when there was no chance of winning.

The key was here.

However, it was strange that people like the Chu siblings would act so indirectly rather than launching a direct attack.

“Don’t worry,” Ye Yaming said calmly. “I’ve made thorough preparations for these tea-making secrets that were sold. If they didn’t cause trouble, I’d be disappointed. Now it’s perfect—it will let everyone in Great Jin know that only the Ye family’s Longjing is authentic.”

She looked at Ye Hongsheng, “Father, are things packed? If they are, we’ll go up the mountain first thing tomorrow morning.”

Although Ye Yaming said this, Ye Hongsheng still felt uneasy. He thought his daughter was so confident because she hadn’t seen Qin Sixiang’s talent. That man’s precise control of heat had reached an astonishing level. Even the tea his daughter made herself might not be better than Qin Sixiang’s.

Moreover, with his daughter being pregnant, she couldn’t exhaust herself, so he would have to fry the Longjing tribute tea himself.

He had no confidence at all that he could defeat the other side.

When Ye Yaming said she had made thorough preparations, unless she had already prepared tea masters more formidable than Qin Sixiang, everything else would be useless.

“Can your body handle it?” he asked.

Originally, he had intended to persuade his daughter to stay at home while he went up the mountain to make tea. But now the matter was crucial. If his daughter’s body could handle it, it would be better for her to go up the mountain.

“No problem,” Ye Yaming said. “The reason for going up the mountain early is also for my health. After reaching the mountain, I’ll rest for two days before making tea.”

It would also catch the other side off guard.

She didn’t know if Chu Yuehua would be crazy enough to send people to intercept her. Going up the mountain early to avoid confrontation would be wise.

She turned to instruct Ma Yun, “Send someone to the capital to inquire if anything has happened at the Zhennan Prince’s Estate.”

Given the Chu siblings’ arrogant nature, they would target Lu Guanyi first, not her. After all, if Lu Guanyi lost a wife, he could take another. Even if Lu Guanyi had feelings for her, he would only be sad temporarily, without affecting his foundations. And because of the court’s emphasis on black tea, targeting her would cause the Emperor to have a very negative opinion of the Zhennan Prince’s Estate.

Even if they did target her, given their nature, they would send people to ambush and kill her, not engage in such schemes and plots.

She had already prepared to set a trap for them, guaranteeing they would have no return.

Now with this indirect approach, the most likely possibility was that something had happened at the Zhennan Prince’s Estate, and the Chu siblings, constrained by the court’s emphasis on black tea, wanted to first damage her reputation with Longjing tea before taking action against her.

Regardless, caution never hurts. Ye Yaming made various preparations, and the next day, slowly ascended the mountain by carriage with Ye Hongsheng.

The journey was uneventful, and they safely reached the tea garden on the mountain.

Yi Wu dismounted first and thoroughly checked inside and outside the tea garden, then reported, “Madam, everything has been checked. There’s nothing unusual in the tea garden.”

Only then did Ye Yaming feel at ease to enter and stay.

Yi Wu led the guards to surround and protect the small courtyard in the tea garden.

At this time, the tea in the garden had not yet sprouted buds. Ye Yaming rested well for several days on the mountain.

One day, Ye Hongsheng returned from the tea garden and said to Ye Yaming, “The weather is getting warmer, and the tea buds have grown almost enough. We can start making tea tomorrow.”

“Yaming, let your father handle this. In business, things can’t always go smoothly. Occasionally encountering some setbacks is normal. Your health is important, you shouldn’t exhaust yourself. Considering the black tea, even if Wang Kuan’s side makes tea that tastes better than ours, the court won’t remove our tribute tea status.”

For these three years, since Ye Yaming had taken over the Ye family business, everything had gone smoothly and successfully. She had never suffered any setbacks. Ye Hongsheng worried that his daughter couldn’t handle a setback, especially during her pregnancy.

Ye Yaming smiled, “Don’t worry, Father. I’ll act within my capabilities. As long as we have the mountain, we won’t worry about firewood—I understand this principle.”

Only then did Ye Hongsheng feel slightly reassured.

The next day, the estate servants and hired garden workers went up the mountain early to pick tea. Before long, baskets of fresh tea leaves were brought down the mountain, personally inspected by Xu Zan and Tang Song before being delivered to the small courtyard.

Bai Rui and Lu’E directed a group of maids to spread out the leaves for wilting.

“Zi Yuan, you and Qing Zhi bring that chest over,” Ye Yaming instructed.

Zi Yuan and Qing Zhi knew without asking which chest Ye Yaming was referring to.

When Ye Yaming went up the mountain, she couldn’t lack for food, clothing, or daily necessities, so they had brought several chests containing her clothes and usual daily items.

Additionally, Jia Chun and Jia Qiu’s kitchen utensils, and the rice, flour, and vegetables specifically for Ye Yaming’s consumption, were all packed in chests and brought up.

After staying for several days, the chests moved to Ye Yaming’s room had all been opened, and the items inside taken out for use. Only one chest remained locked, with the key in Ye Yaming’s possession, its contents unknown.

Now, at Ye Yaming’s instruction, they quickly brought that chest over.

Ye Yaming took out the key and opened the chest.

Zi Yuan and Qing Zhi curiously peered in for a look and saw something shining silver inside… a pot?

“Take it out,” Ye Yaming said. “Take two of them.”

Zi Yuan quickly lifted the silver pot and discovered there were three more underneath. These pots were stacked together, and from the outside, no one could tell there were four pots inside.

No wonder the chest was quite heavy.

After taking out two pots, Ye Yaming closed the lid, locked it again, and had the two of them return the chest.

Ye Hongsheng had just finished checking the withering tea leaves and was about to tell Ye Yaming they could start frying, when his gaze was caught by these two gleaming silver pots.

“This… this is…” he asked in astonishment.

“This is my secret method,” Ye Yaming smiled. “Tea fried in silver pots tastes better than in iron pots. Even if Qin Sixiang’s tea-making skill is no worse than yours, how can he compare to tea made in silver pots? Father, if you don’t believe me, try it and you’ll see.”

This was also a secret technique discovered by the great monk Fang when he invented pan-fried green tea.

In her previous life, Ye Yaming had been curious about historical records and specifically made silver pots for tea frying, discovering that using silver pots indeed enhanced the flavor of the tea.

Perhaps it was because using silver pots to fry tea would produce a large number of silver ions, and the effect of silver ions could well preserve the delicate freshness of the tea leaves and had a certain sterilizing effect, ultimately improving the quality of the tea.

However, silver was precious, and making silver pots required a considerable amount of silver. A tea garden would need at least several tea masters frying simultaneously—who would use silver pots for that slight difference? That’s why it hadn’t been passed down in later generations.

If the Ye family’s Longjing hadn’t become tribute tea, and if she weren’t worried about other families’ tea tasting better than theirs, Ye Yaming wouldn’t have bothered to make these silver pots.