The reason the Ye family “happened to meet” Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji here today was that Lu Guanyi was interested in the Ye family’s tea and intended to enter the tea business. Having heard that Ye Chongming had sent a visiting card, he wanted to meet him here, which led to today’s “chance encounter.”

Since Ye Chongming had never before encountered “important people” here and didn’t know that Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji would be visiting, it seemed unlikely that he had brought his granddaughter today to meet “important people” to marry her off to someone of noble status.

Ye Chongming had noticed Master Zhineng’s glance.

At first, he didn’t understand, but once he grasped the deeper meaning of Master Zhineng’s look, he immediately broke into a cold sweat. He also understood why Ye Yaming, who had agreed to brew tea, now declined to do so.

Master Zhineng was one or two years older than him. If Ye Yaming were to brew tea for him, it could be seen as showing respect to an elder. But brewing tea in front of two noble young men like Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji would be inappropriate, suggesting a kind of self-abasement, making people suspect that the Ye family was trying to curry favor with the powerful. To put it crudely, it might even be seen as self-recommendation for the bedchamber.

Goodness gracious, he had no such intention at all.

Not to mention that Ye Yaming’s engagement hadn’t even been broken off yet. Even if it had been, he had no thoughts of offering his girl to the powerful elite to gain social advancement. Forget about becoming a concubine; even for marriage, he would have to carefully consider it again and again.

After all, unequal matches created problems. If their status wasn’t high enough and they forced themselves upward, the girl who married into such a family might face countless hardships.

He secretly wiped away his cold sweat, once again grateful for Ye Yaming’s intelligence.

Meanwhile, Ye Yaming was observing the tea set that the young novice Jingchen had arranged and his tea brewing technique. She noticed that his method was identical to Madam Yu’s. However, his sense of taste might be more sensitive than Madam Yu’s, his measurement of tea quantity and timing more precise, making his tea likely taste better than Madam Yu’s.

As hot water poured into the pot, the fragrance of osmanthus tea quickly spread through the air.

Master Zhineng, catching this scent, couldn’t help but praise it. When Jingchen brought the tea before him, seeing the clear, slightly yellow tea liquor, his eyes reflected increasing anticipation.

Everyone present received a cup of tea.

Jingchen had prepared the utensils based on the number of people in the room, using a large pot. When pouring the tea, he used a continuous circular motion, ensuring that the tea served to each person was of appropriate strength.

Ye Yaming took a sip and found that Jingchen’s tea brewing skills were indeed excellent. Without the assistance of many specialized tea utensils from later generations or the brewing methods researched by tea masters throughout history, he still produced tea of an extremely high standard.

Indeed, to serve by tea enthusiast Master Zhineng’s side, one’s tea brewing skills had to be outstanding. The competition was intense.

Master Zhineng carefully savored the tea in his cup. After a while, he nodded and said, “It has the taste of loose tea and the fragrance of osmanthus. Although the osmanthus fragrance is rich, it doesn’t overpower the clear aroma of the tea. Instead, they complement each other perfectly, enhancing one another. Marvelous, truly marvelous!”

Unlike cake tea, where the fragrance of spices covers the tea’s aroma and their flavor overwhelms the tea’s essential taste, thus losing the tea’s original essence.

“This tea…” he looked up at Ye Yaming, his gaze rather complex, “will surely become the favorite of tea lovers.”

Since becoming a monk, apart from chanting sutras and meditation, he had little else to do. He had been passionate about tea his entire life and had spent his whole life researching how to make better tea.

The reason he gave face to Ye Chongming and associated with him was because he had received guidance from him on tea making. The Ye family had built their fortune on tea, naturally possessing their secret methods of tea production. Moreover, Ye Hongsheng, the second son of the Ye family, had developed these secret methods further, making them even better.

Therefore, Master Zhineng had benefited greatly from the Ye family in tea making, which was why he extended some favor to the Ye family.

But perhaps due to insufficient talent, despite researching for a lifetime, he had never been able to produce tea better than the Ye family’s.

Traditional tea-making methods were already so advanced; he hadn’t expected that Ye Yaming, at such a young age and being female, could surpass her predecessors and create such a new type of tea. How could Master Zhineng not be moved?

“This tea will surely bring great prosperity to your Ye family,” he added, looking at Ye Chongming. “Take good care of this granddaughter of yours.”

“Yes,” Ye Chongming stood up and bowed in acknowledgment.

Having shared tea with Master Zhineng for several decades, Ye Chongming knew well that a single word of praise from Master Zhineng could increase a tea’s value a hundredfold, let alone such high commendation.

He was elated. After acknowledging, he cupped his hands toward Master Zhineng and said with a hearty laugh, “Thank you for your praise, Master Zhineng.”

Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, sitting on the other side of Master Zhineng, were also completely amazed by this tea.

Had it not been for the fact that this was Master Zhineng’s meditation chamber, that Master Zhineng was known for his love of tranquility, and that his status and position commanded respect, the lively Qi Ji would have burst into continuous praise.

Even Lu Guanyi, who usually maintained a calm demeanor and rarely displayed his emotions, now had flickering eyes, suggesting he had some thoughts.

Ye Chongming had always been tactful. He had come today simply to deliver tea. Now, seeing Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji present, and concerned they might have matters to discuss, he prepared to take his leave after finishing this cup of tea.

But Master Zhineng said, “No rush, it’s still early. Stay a while longer before leaving.” As he spoke, he called for Jingchen to brew another pot of fresh tea.

Ye Chongming was surprised but expressed his thanks and sat down again, drinking tea while listening to Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi converse.

As he listened, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

After leaving Chongshan Temple, boarding the carriage, and departing from the temple grounds, he asked Ye Yaming, “What do you think of Master Zhineng’s words?”

In the past, Ye Chongming might have tested Ye Jiaxing first, waiting for his grandson to finish before asking Ye Yaming. But now he truly had no patience to instruct his grandson. During the conversation between Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi, they revealed some of the court’s movements and some of Lu Guanyi’s situation.

In the Capital, the Crown Prince, now twenty-five years old, was born to the former Empress and was the Emperor’s legitimate eldest son; the Fourth Prince, twenty years old, was born to the current Empress.

Regarding tea policy, the court was divided into two factions led by these two princes. The Crown Prince’s faction advocated for normal tea-horse trade with the northern nomadic Jin people, while the Fourth Prince’s faction argued that, with the recent rampant private tea, the tea-horse market should be closed to investigate illegal tea. The two factions had been arguing endlessly in court over this.

As for Lu Guanyi, he was the legitimate eldest son of the Marquis of Xuanwu, who guarded the border. His late mother and the late Empress were cousins. From the information revealed during the conversation between Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi, it seemed that Lu Guanyi was currently working for the Crown Prince.

Originally, Lin’an City was at some distance from the Capital, and the Ye family was just an ordinary merchant family. These court disputes had little to do with the Ye family. Ye Chongming would normally not need to pay attention to the topics discussed by Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi.

But he felt that, having known Master Zhineng for many years and visiting him once or twice annually, in all these years he had never “coincidentally” met officials or nobles at Master Zhineng’s, nor had he ever heard news about the court or the Capital from Master Zhineng’s lips.

Today, not only did he meet Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji here, but Master Zhineng also deliberately kept him behind and discussed these matters in his presence. He couldn’t help feeling that Master Zhineng had some underlying intent.