Zhou Xiang followed Ye Yaming and her two servants as they walked out, with his heart strung tight, not knowing how the Third Miss would retaliate against him for offending her.

If she spoke ill of him to the old master, the old master would undoubtedly dismiss him without a second thought. As a confidant who knew many of the Ye family’s affairs, the old master would not let him become just an ordinary servant or simply sell him off.

What fate would befall him was truly hard to say.

It was currently the afternoon, the hour of Shen. If there were no matters at the teahouse, Ye Chongming would return at this time; if there were issues, he would return later.

Ye Yaming was in no hurry. She walked slowly to the main courtyard.

She asked the elderly woman guarding the door: “Has the old master returned?”

“He just came back, Third Miss,” the doorkeeper replied with great warmth. “He has probably just changed his clothes and sat down for tea. You’ve come at just the right time, Third Miss.”

Ye Yaming nodded and walked in. Sure enough, she saw Ye Chongming sitting in the hall drinking tea, with Old Madam Ye seated in a chair beside him.

She greeted them with proper etiquette and exchanged a few pleasantries.

When asked about the teahouse’s situation, Ye Chongming was very pleased: “Business at the teahouse is excellent. No one believes that the Yang family is innocent in Meng Chengwei’s conspiracy to collude with bandits against our Ye family. After all, if something happened to me, Yang Hong would be the most likely to become the guild leader.”

“So the tea merchants who were previously friendly with him are all worried, fearing that he might target them and secretly harm them. Customers also despise his character and don’t go to the Yang family teahouse anymore, turning instead to Jixiang Pavilion. I sent people to check, and now Yang’s Teahouse is practically deserted.”

Ye Yaming was also pleased to hear this.

With Meng Chengwei’s arrest, Old Madam Ye had put her mind at ease. Now, her greatest concern was the matter of Ye Yaming breaking off her engagement.

During this period, since Ye Yaming had taken over handling this matter personally, Old Madam Ye didn’t feel it appropriate to ask Zhou Xiang for details, which caused her considerable distress.

Now seeing Ye Yaming come over, she quickly asked: “How is the matter of breaking off your engagement progressing?”

Ye Yaming smiled at her: “I came here precisely to discuss this with Grandfather.”

“Oh?” Ye Chongming said. “If you have any concerns, just tell me. Grandfather will do everything in his power to help.”

“I don’t just want to break off the engagement; I want him to spit out everything he’s swallowed over these years,” Ye Yaming said. “Simply making an issue of his dalliances with women is far from enough, so I plan to attack his character.”

“What do you intend to do?”

Not only Ye Chongming, but also Old Madam Ye and the troubled Zhou Xiang who had followed them in, all perked up with interest.

“I want to have someone hint to him about the private tea matter,” Ye Yaming said slowly.

“What?” Ye Chongming was startled, his first reaction being to shake his head. “No, no, that won’t do.”

Ye Yaming maintained the smile on her face from before and said nothing.

Old Madam Ye gave her husband a sideways glance and smiled at Ye Yaming: “Your grandfather is anxious out of concern. Don’t blame him.”

She then said to Ye Chongming: “Don’t be so quick to reject the idea. Listen to what Yaming has to say. She isn’t someone who doesn’t know the weight of matters. If she suggests this, she must have her reasons.”

As soon as Ye Chongming rejected the idea, he knew he had misspoken. With Ye Yaming’s intelligence, how could she possibly put the Ye family in danger?

He apologetically said to Ye Yaming: “Yes, yes, Grandfather was confused. I was so focused on keeping this matter hidden that I rejected the idea without even thinking. Your grandmother is right; you wouldn’t harm our family.”

Only then did Ye Yaming say: “If Meng Chengwei hadn’t been sentenced to exile and sent away from Lin’an, I naturally wouldn’t suggest this. After all, if Meng Chengwei decided he had nothing to lose and turned against us, our family would face serious trouble.”

“Now, Meng Chengwei has been sent to the south, and Ding Jian and the attendants involved in this matter have been sent west to work in the mines. The only ones who know about this are Magistrate Qi, Secretary Wu, and Manager Song, our trusted confidants. As long as Secretary Wu or even Magistrate Qi helps us clarify this matter, it will be resolved.”

Magistrate Qi, wanting to deal with Meng Chengwei and fearing unexpected complications or interference from the capital, had already notified the Provincial Surveillance Office before making the arrests. Therefore, as soon as the case was tried, he submitted the files the next day. On the third day, after the Provincial Surveillance Office approved the files, he immediately had people escort Meng Chengwei out of Lin’an city, not willing to wait even one more night.

So by now, Meng Chengwei had already been away from Lin’an for two days.

Ye Yaming had postponed breaking off the engagement until after resolving the Meng Chengwei situation precisely because she wanted to use the private tea matter as bait to tempt Song Yifeng.

“But I’ve always been worried about keeping this matter hidden, fearing it might cause problems later. After all, a magistrate’s term lasts only three years. If Magistrate Qi leaves his post and the Meng family, seeking revenge, bribes the new magistrate to use this against us—it’s easy to throw mud, but hard to prove innocence, especially when it’s true.”

“It’s better to bring it up now than to have someone dig it up later. With a buffer of one or two years, even if someone brings it up, the impact won’t be significant. After all, we were passively caught in Meng Chengwei’s trap, not actively engaged in private tea trading,” Ye Yaming continued.

“Moreover, we have only signed a contract with Young Master Lu, without truly collaborating yet. The intermediary is still Master Zhineng. I don’t know if Magistrate Qi has told Master Zhineng and Young Master Lu about the private tea matter. If he hasn’t, and they find out later, it will ultimately affect our cooperation. Rather than waiting until after we’ve started working together, we should lay everything out in the open while we only have a paper contract and haven’t done anything yet. If they mind, the cooperation ends here; if they show no concern, it means they don’t care, and we can work with Young Master Lu and Young Master Qi with peace of mind.”

With these reasons given, Ye Chongming was instantly convinced, repeatedly nodding: “You’re right, absolutely right.”

To be honest, although the private tea matter wasn’t his doing, it was his son’s. This was the only stain on him and the Ye family.

He already felt guilty about concealing it from Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi. And the possibility of someone finding out and spreading the news, affecting the Ye family’s reputation, hung over Ye Chongming like the sword of Damocles, preventing him from sleeping soundly.

It would be better, as Ye Yaming suggested, to clear this matter while their cooperation hadn’t yet begun and while Qi Zhipei was still the magistrate. This way, they wouldn’t have to worry about someone using it against them in the future.

“Whatever you want to do, however you want to do it, go ahead,” Ye Chongming said. “Grandfather trusts you.”

He then looked at Zhou Xiang: “You are to listen to the Third Miss in everything. Do not disobey or act on your initiative.”

“Yes,” Zhou Xiang bowed respectfully, his feelings extremely complex.

He had misjudged the Third Miss.

The Third Miss was indeed exceptionally intelligent and wholeheartedly devoted to the Ye family’s welfare. How could she harm the Ye family or the old master? He had been judging a noble person by the standards of a petty man, missing an opportunity to pledge allegiance to the future head of the Ye family.

When Ye Chongming mentioned Zhou Xiang, Ye Yaming recounted what had happened earlier and said with a smile: “Grandfather, Zhou Xiang is truly very loyal to you.”