She had only entered the main courtyard briefly earlier, without exchanging many words, when Ye Jiaxing and his party returned, so she hadn’t yet understood what trouble the Fourth Uncle had gotten into. Now she took the opportunity to find out together with everyone, to prevent the second branch from overthinking.

The Second Master might be honest and uninvolved in affairs, but he was still the legitimate Second Master of the Ye family, and all the family’s tea had to pass through his hands. Moreover, the second branch had a son-in-law who was a provincial examination graduate, which was not to be underestimated.

Madam Zhang probably knew this as well. She twisted her handkerchief, not daring to delay further, and said in a low voice, “The other day, Fourth Master saw a batch of compressed tea that seemed good quality and was especially cheap, so he decided to buy it.”

She tidied her hair, her expression unnatural: “When inspecting the goods after receiving the tea, it looked fine, so he paid for it and took it to the teahouse to sell. But then customers who bought it came back to make trouble, and we discovered that only the few dozen cakes on top were good—the compressed tea beneath looked fine on the surface, but inside was moldy.”

Hearing this, everyone’s faces immediately darkened.

Madam Tao now understood why Old Madam, who usually doted on her youngest son, was so angry with Ye Hongrong.

Gritting her teeth, she asked coldly, “The authorities are investigating strictly, and Old Master has repeatedly ordered not to buy or sell private tea. How dare Fourth Master do such a thing?”

Madam Zhang stammered, “It’s because… because he was afraid the money for purchasing official tea wouldn’t be enough, and wanted to earn more. I heard Fourth Master say that others were competing intensely for it. Otherwise, he certainly would have come back to discuss it with Father and Elder Brother.”

Madam Tao was so angry she didn’t know what to say.

The imperial court implemented a tea monopoly system. The regulations stipulated that garden households producing tea leaves first received “capital” from the mountain fields. After harvesting and processing, apart from paying rent, taxes, and returning the capital in tea leaves, the remaining amount was also entirely sold to the mountain fields. When merchants bought tea, they first paid gold and silk to the monopoly office, then received tea leaves from the monopoly office or designated mountain fields with a certificate.

In other words, tea was officially bought and sold, and private transactions between individuals were not allowed. Even though the Ye family were a garden owner with a hundred mu of tea plantations, their tea factory, teahouses, and tea distribution channels, the tea produced in their gardens couldn’t simply be sold in their teahouses—it had to be first submitted to the monopoly office. Only after obtaining a certain number of tea licenses could they buy some back to sell in their teahouses.

In this process of selling and buying back, the government took the lion’s share of the profit.

But where there are high profits, there are gamblers, and in recent years, the government hadn’t been strict in enforcement, so many people risked buying and selling tea privately.

Old Master Ye had built such a large business because he was exceptionally shrewd and wise.

He knew that while others might engage in this trade, the Ye family, despite their wealth, had no backing in official circles and couldn’t afford the slightest mistake. Therefore, he had repeatedly and strictly ordered his descendants not to touch private tea.

Now the Fourth Master had fallen into someone’s trap, secretly trading in private tea, and causing trouble. If this matter weren’t handled properly, the Ye family might quickly decline.

Thinking of this, Madam Tao wanted nothing more than to strangle Ye Hongrong.

The second and third branches had no sons; the Ye family property belonged to the first and fourth branches, with the first branch holding seventy percent. Now Ye Hongrong was effectively ruining the first branch’s home—how could she not be furious?

She must have been extremely angry, for her usual courteous and amiable manner disappeared as she said hatefully, “Such a major matter, and you still dare to conceal it—truly ignorant of life and death.”

With that, she turned and left.

Ye Yaqing was momentarily stunned, then hurriedly followed.

Seeing Madam Tao leave, Madam Zhang changed her previously submissive demeanor. She raised her head and glared at Madam Tao’s back, then without even greeting Madam Yin, held her head high and also turned to leave.

Seeing this, Madam Yin’s chest heaved with anger. She turned to the Ye Yaming sisters and said, “Let’s go,” striding toward the second branch’s quarters. As she walked, her eyes reddened.

The mother-in-law didn’t value the second branch, and both the eldest sister-in-law and fourth sister-in-law disregarded her—wasn’t it all because the second branch had no sons?

Thinking of this grievance, tears couldn’t help but fall from her eyes.

With many people around, Ye Yaming couldn’t say much.

She pulled Madam Yin toward the second branch’s quarters. After entering the courtyard and dismissing the servants, she finally consoled Madam Yin: “I suspect Grandmother wanted to cover for Fourth Uncle. But she also knows this matter is grave—if handled poorly, the entire Ye family could be ruined. That’s why she summoned Elder Aunt to discuss how to handle it. Elder Brother just happened to return at that moment, and since Elder Aunt knew about it, Elder Brother naturally couldn’t be kept in the dark. That’s why Grandmother simply kept Elder Brother and sent Elder Aunt away. She didn’t intentionally keep only our second branch in the dark.”

Madam Yin had now calmed down, her concern for the Ye family overcoming her sense of grievance.

She anxiously asked, “Will the family be alright? This matter is beyond Jiaxing’s ability to handle—someone should inform your Grandfather.”

“Rest assured, Elder Aunt is more concerned about family trouble than anyone. By now, her messenger has probably already set out.”

Madam Yin realized this was true and immediately calmed down.

When the sky falls, the tallest will hold it up. The Old Master was still alive, and the first branch was at the forefront. Their second branch had no sons, so there was no need to be too anxious.

But Ye Yaming’s next words made her uneasy again: “Grandfather will certainly need to apologize to those people, buy back the moldy tea cakes, and offer gifts. This matter needs to be handled quickly, and he can’t do it alone. Grand Uncle isn’t home, Elder Brother is injured, so the only one who can help him now is Father. Father isn’t good with words, so I’ll accompany him.”

“No!” Madam Yin instinctively objected.

The Great Jin Dynasty didn’t have as many restrictions on women, but they still existed. Men handling external affairs and women internal affairs was an established custom. In the family business, even Old Madam and First Madam weren’t allowed to intervene by Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang.

Not to mention Ye Yaming, a girl living in seclusion.

Moreover, if female family members needed to appear, there were still Old Madam, Madam Tao, and herself. Even Ye Yaqing, as the second elder sister, would have precedence—it was by no means Ye Yaming’s place to involve herself in this matter.

“Mother, I want everyone to know that I’m no worse than a son. At least I want Grandfather to know that I’m better than Fourth Uncle.”

“Ming’er…” Madam Yin’s eyes reddened again.

“Besides, after I marry, I’ll need to manage my dowry. If I don’t learn these things, I won’t even know if my dowry is being depleted. Learning more is never wrong.”

Madam Yin had no response to this.

Her eldest daughter’s fiancé had once been her father’s student and had been sponsored by the Ye family for his studies and examinations. But Song Yifeng was too outstanding. Hadn’t Madam Song changed her formerly flattering manner and started putting on airs since he passed the provincial examination? She feared her daughter would have a difficult life after marrying into the Song family.

Learning more now would certainly be beneficial.

“Should we send someone to call your father back?” Madam Yin now clearly regarded Ye Yaming as the pillar of support.

“No need,” Ye Yaming said. “When Grandfather returns tomorrow, he will send for him. If we act on our initiative, we might displease Grandfather and Grandmother—there’s no need for that.”