After their discussion, on the following day, Ye Chongming wrote a letter and had a servant deliver it to Lu Guanyi’s residence. The letter stated that he was willing to cooperate with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, though the specific details would need further discussion. Additionally, he hoped to request Master Zhineng to serve as a mediator.

He had sent the letter in the morning, and the attendant returned shortly after, bringing back Lu Guanyi’s reply, which stated that he would visit Ye Chongming at Jixiang Building that afternoon to discuss the cooperation details.

Ye Chongming immediately sent someone to notify Ye Yaming.

“Bring me that wicker box for tea utensils,” Ye Yaming instructed Bai Rui.

After Bai Rui brought it, Ye Yaming inspected all the tea utensils and then added some other items she needed.

In her previous life, she had owned such a wicker box containing her frequently used tea utensils, which was convenient to carry.

After returning from the mountain following her transmigration, she had drawn several sketches and had Madam Xia find a porcelain kiln to make some tea utensils.

She had Madam Xia explain to the kiln owner that her young lady had a sudden fancy to make some porcelain items for amusement.

The kiln owner had likely received many such orders from wealthy young ladies who wanted to create small trinkets on a whim. He didn’t ask many questions and accepted the business.

However, since it was a small order, the kiln owner needed to fill an entire kiln with porcelain, which made the process take longer.

Before their trip to Chongshan Temple, Ye Yaming had sent Madam Xia to urge the kiln owner to add a bit more money, and finally received the tea utensils she wanted.

Since she didn’t lack money, she had found the best kiln, and these tea utensils met her standards.

However, as she hadn’t made tea the last time, these utensils had not yet been shown to others.

Since Ye Yaming was to participate in the negotiations, Ye Chongming brought Ye Jiaxing home for lunch. In the afternoon, the three generations went to Jixiang Building together.

“Old Master Ye.”

“Brother Ye…”

In the short time from dismounting the carriage to going upstairs, they encountered two groups of people who greeted Ye Chongming warmly.

Because of the osmanthus tea, Jixiang Building was now packed with customers. With this new tea suddenly appearing at the Ye family tea house, all tea enthusiasts in Lin’an city wanted to come and taste it.

Moreover, the supply of osmanthus tea was limited and might be sold out in a few days, which prompted those who had been hesitating to come as well.

The Ye family had paid the silver as scheduled to pre-order next year’s spring tea, and the subsequent launch of osmanthus tea caused quite a sensation, bringing in substantial profits. The rumors circulating in the city over the past few days naturally collapsed on their own.

Now Ye Chongming was once again the respected Old Master Ye. And for the young lady following behind him, the tea customers also maintained a polite attitude.

After going up to the third floor and waiting for a while, Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji arrived.

Seeing Ye Yaming was also present, both men’s eyes flashed with surprise.

After the parties exchanged greetings and sat down, exchanging a few pleasantries, Qi Ji opened the conversation: “Regarding the cooperation, I wonder how you have considered it, Old Master Ye?”

Ye Chongming nodded: “I wish to use half of the Ye family’s contracted tea growers’ tea leaves, along with our existing tea recipes and sixty thousand taels of silver, to cooperate with you two gentlemen, taking a fifty percent share.”

When Qi Ji heard that only half of the tea leaves would be used, he felt somewhat disappointed.

He knew Lu Guanyi’s situation—though he was the legitimate eldest son of a marquis, he stood in the way of his stepmother’s biological son, making his position at home extremely difficult.

Fortunately, he had been close to the Crown Prince since childhood. Their similar circumstances created a bond of mutual sympathy. If he were to die under suspicious circumstances, the Crown Prince would certainly investigate. Because of this, his stepmother didn’t dare to harm his life.

However, feeling stifled at home, Lu Guanyi also wanted to build a career to help the Crown Prince ascend to the throne, which would give him a way out. Hence, he came to Jiangnan to do business in a private capacity.

The reason for choosing tea was, firstly, because it was highly profitable; secondly, it was related to border trade and security.

The tea from Jiangnan had been famous since ancient times and was eagerly sought after by the nobility in the capital. With Jiangnan tea being renowned, combined with the Ye family’s leading position and their golden reputation for tea processing methods, partnering with the Ye family was their first choice.

But now that the Ye family was only willing to contribute half of their tea, the profits would be significantly reduced. And buying tea from other regions—who knew what the situation would be like?

It would be difficult for Lu Guanyi to achieve significant success in a short time.

Thinking about this, he felt somewhat discontented and asked, “If you were to contribute all of your Jiangnan tea leaves as investment, taking a sixty-five percent share…”

“Ahem, ahem…” Lu Guanyi suddenly coughed twice, successfully interrupting Qi Ji.

Qi Ji looked toward him.

Lu Guanyi addressed Ye Chongming: “That’s fine. Let’s do as you suggested.”

He further asked: “When you say ‘existing,’ do you mean that future tea recipes won’t be included?”

Qi Ji probably hadn’t noticed this wording before. Upon hearing it now, he frowned again.

Merchants held a low social status; otherwise, Song Yifeng, merely a successful examination candidate, wouldn’t have gone so far in disdaining a marriage alliance with the Ye family. Therefore, facing Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, Ye Chongming was quite anxious, fearing that if they became displeased, they would, like Meng Chengwei, point a finger and destroy the Ye family.

Fortunately, being elderly, he had a stable mindset and could maintain his composure externally.

He nodded: “Yes. How difficult it is to innovate new teas, I believe both gentlemen know; how much profit a newly created tea can bring to tea merchants, both of you should also be aware. The newly launched Osmanthusx tea is my granddaughter’s contribution to the Ye family, and also represents the Ye family’s sincerity toward our partners. But we men cannot continuously take advantage of a young girl.”

“So for any new tea recipes Yaming creates in the future, I suggest we jointly pay her to purchase them. As for how much silver, it would depend on the value of the tea recipe and whether it’s an exclusive authorization.”

This proposal was thought up by Ye Chongming the previous night after Ye Yaming left, recalling her mention of receiving blessings from deities or ancestors to obtain tea recipes.

The term “exclusive authorization” was something Ye Yaming had just mentioned in the carriage.

Why would the deities or Ye family ancestors not guide his sons or grandsons, but instead guide Ye Yaming? Besides this child’s intelligence, it must also be because she had deep blessings.

Such a child should naturally be kept in the family. And to keep her in the family, certain benefits must be provided. You can’t expect the horse to run without letting it eat grass. If the first branch took most of the benefits, how could that be acceptable?

Since Ye Yaming had expressed her dissatisfaction with the distribution of family property, if the Ye family couldn’t satisfy her, with her intelligence and astuteness, she could certainly choose to marry a man with no parents, no brothers, and take control.

As long as she could dominate that man, she could be the mistress of the household, and all the money earned would be hers. Why would she need to stick with the large Ye family?

So sufficient benefits must be provided for Ye Yaming to willingly stay with the Ye family and work for its interests.

Actually, in Ye Chongming’s eyes, the first and second branches were the same—all were his descendants. Originally, his eldest son was capable, and his eldest grandson was also good, while the other branches couldn’t compare, which was why he favored the first branch. And according to national laws and conventions, the first branch would inherit seventy percent of the family property, so he had never thought about favoring the second branch.