Ye Yaming thought for a moment and immediately brightened: “That would work! I’ll send someone to tell my mother.”

They had now moved to a separate residence, much closer to the Ye family home. Unlike before, when they were separated by nearly half the city.

The next day, they went to a hunting ground on the outskirts of the capital, specially designated for noble families and officials.

Upon arrival, people would choose locations at some distance from other tents to set up their own, allowing for both visiting each other and maintaining relative safety.

In essence, this was a place that combined socializing and recreation. Building tents rather than permanent structures was meant to eliminate formalities and facilitate casual visits between parties.

Shortly after Ye Yaming’s group arrived, a group of officials with their families came over. Everyone naturally exchanged pleasantries before separating to choose locations for their tents.

The servants had just finished setting up the tent, and Ye Yaming and Lu Guanyi were sitting in front drinking tea, when they noticed an official in his thirties seemingly passing by casually.

“Oh my, isn’t this Lord Lu? What a pleasure!” The man then looked toward Ye Yaming, “And this must be Lady Lu? Hehe, are you two also out for some recreation?”

“Is Lord Liu here with his family as well?”

“No, no, I came with two friends.”

“Why doesn’t Lord Liu sit down and join us for tea?”

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony and will trouble you for a while.” Lord Liu sat down cheerfully.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Liu lowered his voice and said to Lu Guanyi: “My uncle says that the matter you entrusted has been arranged. Besides the fifth-rank Imperial Merchant title, His Majesty also intends to bestow upon your wife the first-rank title of ‘Lady of Tea Administration.'”

Ye Yaming looked at Lu Guanyi in surprise.

Lu Guanyi returned her gaze, then turned to Lord Liu with repeated thanks.

After Lord Liu left, he explained to Ye Yaming: “I’ve been mindful of what’s been concerning you lately. Lord Liu’s uncle is Minister Liu of the Ministry of Personnel. I’ve had dealings with Lord Liu before, and he owed me a favor, so I asked him to inquire about this matter.”

At this point, he smiled: “I didn’t expect His Majesty to be so generous, giving you a first-rank honor.”

Ye Yaming gave him a deep look, touched: “Thank you.”

The black tea had been delivered to Chen Zhen in Lin’an, and this transaction with the court seemed complete, but it wasn’t. They still had to wait for Chen Zhen to complete the trade with the Jin, selling at a high price and earning substantial profits for the court before the transaction could be considered successful.

This was why she had been concerned about the matter.

Although the tea was of high quality and Jin was in need of tea—with smuggled tea unable to meet Jin’s demand due to strict government crackdowns, and at higher prices—Chen Zhen’s black tea shipment would not only sell easily but fetch a high price.

But until things were finalized, one couldn’t help but feel anxious.

Moreover, even if the tea trade was successful, how the Ministry of Finance would rank the Ye family involved many human factors. Once classified as middle or lower rank, it would be difficult to rise later.

Although Ye Yaming wasn’t involved in officialdom, she had her methods to make the Ye family a top-tier Imperial Merchant: lady’s diplomacy was a shortcut.

But she was unwilling to beg for this and become the subject of gossip. Lu Guanyi was already attracting enough attention for holding a third-rank position at such a young age. If she were to lobby for the Ye family, someone would likely impeach Lu Guanyi the next day, affecting his career.

If the court were truly unfair to the Ye family due to human factors, she would show them her mettle—if the court didn’t provide appropriate treatment, they would only receive 150,000 catties of tea annually, not a single catty more.

So despite her concerns, she didn’t try to find a solution herself, nor did she ask Lu Guanyi to do so.

She hadn’t expected Lu Guanyi to have privately arranged this matter.

She asked: “Did it cost you a big favor? I didn’t pursue this because I felt it wasn’t necessary.”

Lu Guanyi shook his head: “It didn’t cost much.”

Seeing Ye Yaming’s skeptical look, he explained: “Think about it—my prospects are visible to all. Even without asking, people are willing to do me favors. Furthermore, your family’s tea is high quality and irreplaceable, and you can produce new teas every year that have never been seen before. Many people are willing to curry favor with you.”

He gestured in the direction Lord Liu had disappeared: “This lord approached me at a banquet, and after chatting for a while, he brought up the matter. When I learned his uncle was the Minister of Personnel, I naturally asked for his help, and then…”

He smiled: “The matter was taken care of.”

Even without Liu Shu’s nephew coming to tell him, he already knew about the conversation between the Emperor and his ministers that day.

He was the Crown Prince’s man, and the Crown Prince had his informants in the palace. Moreover, the matter of the Ye family’s tea and Ye Yaming wasn’t a secret, having been discussed in front of palace servants.

Since it concerned Lu Guanyi, there were palace servants who sold their loyalty to the Crown Prince, reporting this to him. Upon learning of it, the Crown Prince then sold the favor to Lu Guanyi.

Presumably, that old fox Yuan Zhengwei knew this, which is why he was more active than Liu Shu in promoting this matter.

That was truly selling favors discreetly, killing two birds with one stone. Just by saying a few words before the Emperor, he sold a favor to both the Crown Prince and Lu Guanyi.

“I already knew that Chancellor Yuan and Minister Liu had spoken up for us. But until news came from Chen Zhen, nothing could be finalized. Talking about it would have been pointless, so I didn’t mention it to you. I didn’t expect Liu Heng to be so impatient, finding an opportunity to curry favor with us.”

Ye Yaming smiled: “That’s good. It shows they think highly of you.”

“No, they think highly of both you and me,” Lu Guanyi said seriously. “In His Majesty’s eyes, you might be much more important than me. I can be replaced, but you cannot.”

Ye Yaming shook her head: “Without you, I wouldn’t dare step onto the stage.”

Lu Guanyi laughed: “Alright, we achieve success together.”

He took Ye Yaming’s hand and sighed: “With such a wife, what more could a husband ask for?”

Ye Yaming gave him a sideways glance: “Then you’d better treat me well. And don’t offend me.”

She pretended to look fierce: “Otherwise, you’ll be sorry!”

Lu Guanyi burst into laughter.

In a tent not far away, an official in purple robes heard the laughter from a distance and saw the couple sitting there drinking tea, feeling quite envious.

He said to his friend: “Lord Lu is truly fortunate. He has a good father and harmony with his wife. The only pity is that his wife comes from a somewhat humble background.”

His friend gave him a sideways glance: “If he had married a daughter from an aristocratic family, would he still hold this third-rank position?”

The purple-robed official thought for a moment, then nodded: “That’s true.”

If Lu Guanyi had married a woman from an aristocratic family, forget about Lu Guanyi himself—even Lu Zhongyong wouldn’t be able to remain in his current position.

The Emperor was most wary of aristocratic families.

His friend continued: “Besides, although his wife comes from a merchant background, her tea-making skills are first-class. Opening a teahouse has helped him build so many connections. Now she’s doing major business with the court, with her tea being sold to the Jin. Due to her background, there’s no way to reward her directly, so these merits will likely be attributed to Lord Lu in the future. Isn’t such a woman better than an aristocratic lady?”

The purple-robed official sighed: “Ah, the more you say, the more I envy Lord Lu’s good fortune.”