Lu Guanyi was very young, yet already a third-rank official. How could those old men who had spent their entire lives in the Ministry of War, only to reach the fourth or fifth rank, tolerate this?

Lu Guanyi said, “I’m not worried. I was promoted based on military merit, and my father is still at the border. No matter how much they dislike me, they wouldn’t dare to sabotage me. Those who give me the cold shoulder or speak sarcastically are those who can no longer see a future for themselves and aren’t very intelligent.”

The intelligent ones knew that Lu Guanyi had unlimited prospects and could only focus on building good relationships with him. Taking advantage of his recent arrival to do him favors and establish personal connections was what smart people would do.

Ye Yaming nodded.

Lu Guanyi had both emotional and intellectual intelligence; his situation in the Ministry of War truly didn’t require her to worry much.

“Besides, today they deliberately discussed military tactics, trying to intimidate me. They thought I was young and had merely established military merit through my father’s arrangements, or by chance. I immediately discussed strategies from the Thirty-Six Stratagems, stunning them into silence. By now, someone has probably already reported this to the Emperor.”

…

In the Imperial Palace, Emperor Chu Chang was listening to reports from the Ministry of War officials. He chuckled lightly, “It seems that this Lu Guanyi truly has genuine talent and learning.”

Grand Chancellor Yuan Zhengwei and Cabinet Ministers Liu Shu and Zhao Kun had been invited by the Emperor to discuss state affairs over a meal, and were now sitting nearby drinking tea.

Yuan Zhengwei put down his teacup, stroked his beard, and smiled, “A brave father begets no cowardly son. Lu Guanyi originally established merit under the Northern Garrison General, showing both courage and wisdom. Now he’s gone to Lu Zhongyong’s military camp, used strategy, and risked his life, nearly dying to achieve military merit. We can’t doubt his abilities just because he’s Lu Zhongyong’s son.”

Yuan Zhengwei, Liu Shu, and Zhao Kun were all senior officials, and Emperor Chu Chang was a ruler who treated his officials well, so everyone was quite at ease in the Emperor’s presence.

Now, drinking tea after the meal, they were just chatting casually.

Hearing these words, the Minister of Personnel Liu Shu’s eyes flickered.

He smiled and said, “Speaking of which, Princess Imperial Yü’an’s marriage arrangements, and the tea and horse trade at the border, are both related to Lu Guanyi. That fellow has good fortune.”

Everyone realized this was indeed true.

Mentioning Yü’an, Emperor Chu Chang called Chief Eunuch An over and asked him, “How is Yü’an’s matter progressing? Has the Ministry of Rites concluded?”

“They’re still discussing it,” Chief Eunuch An said. “Princess Imperial Yü’an is extremely close with the wife of the Heir of Marquis Xuanwu. She wants to live in the Xuanwu Marquis Mansion, so they can look after each other and she can play with the children.”

“Upon hearing this, the wife of the Heir of Marquis Xuanwu came up with a proposal to renovate the residence and separate the rear quarters. This way, Lord Lu’s comings and goings won’t disturb the Princess Imperial, yet allows the Princess and the Heir’s wife to interact easily.”

Whether officials from the Ministry of Rites or close attendants like Chief Eunuch An, they all knew how to speak appropriately. Although Lu Zhongyong’s opinion had been sought in this matter, as long as Princess Imperial Yü’an had made up her mind, there was no need to mention Lu Zhongyong before the Emperor, to avoid complications.

Moreover, it was the Ministry of Rites that had to ask for Lu Zhongyong’s opinion, not something he had proposed himself. This couldn’t be attributed to Lu Zhongyong, as angering the sovereign or offending Lu Zhongyong would ultimately be proven the Ministry’s fault upon investigation.

So when Chief Eunuch An inquired about the situation from the Ministry of Rites, they only mentioned it as Princess Imperial Yü’an’s idea.

Emperor Chu Chang nodded, “This is a good idea.”

Women all lived in the rear quarters. If Yü’an and Lu Guanyi’s wife were to live in the rear courtyard, they couldn’t ask the young couple to live separately in the front and rear courtyards just to have Lu Guanyi avoid Princess Imperial Yü’an, could they?

However, it would be highly improper for Princess Imperial Yü’an and Lu Guanyi to live together in the rear courtyard. The arrangement proposed by the wife of the Heir of Marquis Xuanwu was very appropriate.

He said, “Once everything is properly arranged, have the Ministry of Rites submit a memorial. I’ll approve it so construction can begin sooner.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Chief Eunuch An withdrew.

Emperor Chu Chang then asked Zhao Kun, “Has Official Chen arrived at the border with the tea? I wonder how the price negotiations are going.”

Because they needed to complete the tea trade before the severe cold set in at the border, Chen Zhen had taken the tea directly to the border without returning to the capital. The officials responsible for this border trade would join them along the way.

It took about twenty days to travel from Lin’an to the border. Having departed from Lin’an on the fifth day of the tenth month, and it now being early in the eleventh month, they should have already arrived at the border.

“They should have arrived,” said Zhao Kun.

As Minister of Finance, he was responsible for tea trading.

Yuan Zhengwei said, “Tea smuggling was frequent before, and became even more rampant after the tea-horse trade was suspended. Now the Ye family has delivered 150,000 catties of tea at once, with a taste far superior to border tea. The market for private tea trading has disappeared.”

“Indeed,” Emperor Chu Chang sighed, thinking of the time when the Duke Wai’s household had been in power.

Back then, Duke Wai’s household had strongly advocated stopping the tea-horse trade, claiming to crack down on private tea, but in reality, they were colluding with outsiders, conspiring to usurp the throne. After Duke Wai’s household fell, the tea-horse trade reopened, but because profits were substantial and demand exceeded supply, the handsome profits still led some to risk beheading to smuggle tea.

This severely infringed upon national interests.

Now, with the Ye family’s high-quality tea being transported to the border, the Jin market had suddenly become saturated. Those smuggled teas, transported with tremendous difficulty, could no longer fetch high prices.

As a result, the court gained significantly, and the border became much more peaceful.

Liu Shu stood up and bowed to Emperor Chu Chang: “Congratulations, Your Majesty. This subject has heard that Lu Guanyi’s wife learned to produce so much tea from immortals. Now her tea has brought peace to the border, clearly a heavenly blessing. It is precisely because Your Majesty governs diligently and conscientiously, creating a prosperous era, that such an auspicious sign has appeared.”

Flattery never fails, and Emperor Chu Chang was delighted to hear this: “Is this true?”

Those rumors about Ye Yaming had never reached his ears.

“This subject has heard of it, too. That Lady Lu is only in her teens or early twenties, yet she has produced not only Longjing tea and black tea, but also osmanthus tea, jasmine tea, and Tieguanyin. If not divinely imparted, it’s hard to explain. And this subject has heard that this story originated from Master Zhineng,” Yuan Zhengwei said.

Liu Shu dared to bring up this topic before the Emperor because he had thoroughly investigated Ye Yaming’s situation, and his wife had personally asked Ye Yaming about it at Ji Xiang House.

He said, “This Lady Lu comes from a merchant family and only learned to read from a female teacher since childhood. She neither comes from a scholarly family nor is she well-read. Yet this humble subject has read her works ‘Tea Ceremony,’ ‘Tea Art,’ and ‘The Way of Tea,’ and they contain knowledge and Buddhist and Taoist philosophy that ordinary people wouldn’t possess. This subject specifically had his wife inquire with Lady Lu, who personally said that everything she knows came to her in dreams.”

Emperor Chu Chang was very pleased: “So that’s how it is. It truly is a heavenly blessing.”

After thinking for a moment, he asked Zhao Kun, “The Ye family is doing business with the court. By rights, shouldn’t they be given the title of Imperial Merchant?”