A few days later, Ma Yun gathered some intelligence and reported to Ye Yaming: “They’re trying to instigate those who bought the Longjing tea formula to hold a tea-tasting competition, and those people seem quite interested. Even those who didn’t buy the formula are stirring things up.”

Ye Yaming’s hand paused, and she couldn’t help but smile.

She handed the fruit plate to Zi Yuan and accepted the wet towel from Qing Zhi to wipe her hands, saying with a smile, “It seems Wang Kuan has heard about the Prince of Zhennan’s household situation. With that path blocked, he must have felt it would be a waste of Qin Sixiang’s tea-making skills, so he’s trying a different approach with a tea-tasting competition.”

She said to Zi Yuan, “Send someone to ask at home if the elder master knows about this news.”

If Lin’an tea merchants wanted to hold a tea-tasting competition, they naturally couldn’t bypass Ye Chongming, the association head. But this matter was quite embarrassing for the Ye family. These people were probably planning to approach Ye Chongming together, using the principle of safety in numbers.

Zi Yuan was just about to leave when the doorkeeper came to report that the elder master had arrived.

“It’s probably about this matter,” Ye Yaming smiled, standing up to go to the front courtyard.

As soon as he saw Ye Yaming, Ye Chongming angrily said, “Do you know? That bunch of scoundrels from the tea business wants to hold a tea-tasting competition. They bought our Longjing tea formula and now want to compete with us. They truly don’t take our Ye family seriously anymore.”

Ye Yaming personally poured him a cup of tea and smiled, “Isn’t this a good thing? If they hadn’t made this move, all the tea I painstakingly made would have been wasted.”

This was the truth.

If Wang Kuan and the Prince of Zhennan’s household hadn’t tried to create obstacles for her, she would never have revealed the silver pot technique, her ultimate skill.

After all, even the Imperial Household Department’s people wouldn’t dare present the best items to the Emperor. They worried that if the Emperor liked something and wanted more, but they couldn’t find anything as good again, they would fail to deliver and lose their heads.

Compared to the previous ball tea that caused dizziness and chest tightness when consumed, her Longjing tea was far superior. Even casually roasted in an iron pot, it could earn the Emperor’s praise.

Now that she had used a silver pot for tea roasting, they would have to use silver pots every year from now on.

Since she had revealed her ultimate skill, she naturally wanted to reap the benefits and gain reputation; otherwise, it would be too much of a loss.

She said, “A competition would be good, so they won’t be unconvinced and keep trying to cause trouble. After this competition, our reputation will grow even stronger, and they will give up their schemes.”

Ye Chongming thought this was reasonable and immediately turned from anger to joy: “That’s true.”

“But let’s not use the tea I roasted. This year, whether for the competition with Wang Kuan or for sending to the palace, let’s use the tea my father roasted,” Ye Yaming added.

The tea roasted by Ye Yaming and Ye Hongsheng was stored separately. After it was sent down from the mountain, Ye Chongming had tasted it and found that, as always, Ye Yaming’s tea tasted better than Ye Hongsheng’s by a notch.

Ye Chongming, who had just come around to this way of thinking and was hoping for a stunning revelation that would shock his entire family, now hesitated upon hearing Ye Yaming say they shouldn’t send the best tea to the competition.

“But can your father’s roasting compete with Qin Sixiang’s?”

“Rest assured, it’s streets ahead of his,” Ye Yaming smiled.

This wasn’t blind confidence.

Wang Kuan’s household was similar to the Ye family in the past—just ordinary wealthy merchants who hadn’t made any mortal enemies. Living comfortably, their household security wasn’t particularly tight.

With Yi Wu’s people and Ma Yun’s group of petty thieves at her disposal, Ye Yaming had mentioned to both of them that she wondered if they could obtain some of Qin Sixiang’s roasted tea.

Within two days, both had brought her tea.

Ma Yun was modest, bringing a small amount wrapped in oiled paper, enough for about four or five servings.

Yi Wu was more extravagant, presenting her with a porcelain jar containing about half a jin of tea.

Ye Yaming was particularly curious and asked Yi Wu how he had obtained so much tea.

Yi Wu replied, “Wang’s tea garden is open on all sides. Only the villa has a wall around it. Qin Sixiang and the other tea masters roast tea there. The finished tea is locked in two separate rooms—Qin Sixiang’s in one room by itself—and there’s no one guarding it at night.”

Yesterday I went up the mountain and waited on the villa’s roof until dark. I saw Qin Sixiang’s tea being placed in a large jar after roasting and locked in a room by Wang Kuan’s son. After midnight, when they were all sound asleep, I removed some roof tiles, jumped in, and took out a jar of tea leaves.”

He pointed to the jar: “Don’t worry, I watched Qin Sixiang roast this tea, and I saw Wang Kuan’s son put it in the room from my position on the roof. There’s no mistake.”

Ye Yaming didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at these words.

But it was understandable. For one thing, the Wang family wasn’t very vigilant; for another, who else had an expert like Yi Wu?

The Ye family’s guards were just servants who were slightly more robust than average people. If they were sent to steal from Wang Kuan’s house, they would certainly be caught one by one. A wall and a lock at Wang’s villa were sufficient.

She tasted the tea brought by both Yi Wu and Ma Yun and found the flavors identical, clearly made by the same person. Ma Yun had obtained his tea by bribing servants at Wang’s villa.

This Qin Sixiang, whom Ye Hongsheng considered a major rival, truly had talent. If Ye Hongsheng were using an iron pot to roast tea, Qin Sixiang could indeed match him, making the outcome of a competition uncertain. Even a draw would be a loss for the Ye family.

However, with Ye Hongsheng using the silver pot as his secret weapon, his tea was much better than Qin Sixiang’s.

Hearing Ye Yaming’s confident tone and seeing her calm expression, Ye Chongming had a thought and asked, “Could it be that you’ve tasted Qin Sixiang’s tea?”

Ye Yaming said to Zi Yuan, “Go bring tea jars numbers two and seven from beside my bed.”

Zi Yuan left and soon returned with two tea jars and a pot of boiling water.

Qing Zhi, now skilled at brewing tea, deftly prepared two cups of tea in a gaiwan for Ye Chongming.

Ye Hongsheng’s tea had been tasted by Ye Chongming as soon as it was produced. The silver pot had been commissioned by him, so he naturally knew why Ye Hongsheng’s tea was better than last year’s.

After tasting the first cup, he said, “This is your father’s.”

Then he tasted Qin Sixiang’s cup and, after careful consideration, said, “It’s about the same as what your father made last year.”

Ye Chongming was elderly, and his sense of taste had deteriorated; he preferred stronger flavors now when eating. But having dealt with tea all his life, he could still discern the quality of tea.

“Are you reassured now?” Ye Yaming asked with a smile.

Ye Chongming nodded, curious about how Ye Yaming had obtained Qin Sixiang’s tea.

But he didn’t ask.

“Good, I understand now. I should play hard to get first and make them put up some stakes,” he said cheerfully.

“Never mind the rest, I’m only interested in Qin Sixiang himself. You should make a bet with Wang Kuan. If we lose, we’ll give Wei Zheng’s family to Wang Kuan; if Wang Kuan loses, he’ll give Qin Sixiang’s family to us.”