The expressions on Ye Chongming and the Old Madam Ye’s faces became extremely unpleasant.

Had Ye Yaming said these words a few days ago, they would have dismissed them, thinking she couldn’t judge people properly and was overthinking, or that she had a dark mindset that assumed the worst in people.

Song Yifeng was such a humble and polite good child—how could he be as Ye Yaming described?

But now, Ye Yaming had demonstrated her shockingly impressive abilities. Her depth of thought, farsightedness, and sharp insight made Ye Chongming—who had lived for decades and done business his entire life—feel inferior.

Don’t forget that she had immediately recognized Meng Chengwei’s improper intentions.

As Song Yifeng’s fiancée, she naturally paid more attention to him than anyone else and understood him better than anyone. If she said Song Yifeng was unsuitable, then he truly was unsuitable.

Thinking of Meng Chengwei, Ding Jian, and Song Yifeng, Ye Chongming suddenly felt fear and deep self-doubt arise from the depths of his heart.

His judgment of people was truly poor. The Ye family had almost fallen by his hand.

He wanted to pick up his teacup and take a sip to calm himself, but his trembling hands nearly spilled the tea.

He quickly put the teacup down, withdrew his hand, and took several deep breaths.

“Then what do you think about this engagement…” he looked at Ye Yaming.

“He is not a good match. I want to break it off,” Ye Yaming said. “However, breaking it now would easily give others something to use against us. Since we’ve waited so many years, and he said he wants to become a jinshi before marriage, there’s no rush. Let’s deal with Meng Chengwei first and then address this matter.”

Even if she were to break the engagement, she wanted to see Song Yifeng disgraced and forced to return the money the Ye family had given him.

In Great Jin, although women were treated somewhat better than in the historical Ming and Qing dynasties, society was still harsh toward women. Based on her understanding of Song Yifeng, he would certainly manufacture public opinion to nail her and the Ye family to a pillar of shame, while portraying himself as an innocent white lotus. If the engagement were broken, people wouldn’t criticize Song Yifeng; they would only point fingers at her and the Ye family.

It wouldn’t do for Song Yifeng to take the Ye family’s money for years of study and achieve scholarly success, only to have the engagement broken, leaving him unburdened while she bore the disgrace of a broken engagement and the Ye family’s years of support were criticized.

She needed to nail him to the pillar of shame first, which required careful planning.

“Yes, yes,” Ye Chongming, hearing that the matter wasn’t urgent, immediately returned his thoughts to the family’s pressing issues.

“While I was still on the mountain, your Uncle Tao came up to inform me about Meng Chengwei’s situation. He’s an imperial merchant from the capital, and supposedly has an aunt who is a consort in the palace. But this is just what he told others, so we don’t know if it’s true.”

Mentioning Meng Chengwei gave him a headache.

Over the years, the Ye family had conducted business with benevolence and integrity, never resorting to underhanded tactics. Thanks to ancestral shade and family foundations, the Ye family had some standing in Linan. Ye Chongming had never encountered an opponent who would try to destroy someone without any grievance.

Ye Chongming was genuinely afraid of people like Meng Chengwei. The Ye family’s foundations were shallow, while Meng Chengwei had significant backing and used ruthless methods without honor. Against him, the Ye family could only passively endure.

Thinking of this, Ye Chongming couldn’t help but consider Ye Yaming’s suggestion about finding a partnership.

“Yaming, tomorrow take a jar of osmanthus tea and accompany me to Chongshan Temple,” he said.

Ye Yaming searched the original owner’s memories but had no understanding of Chongshan Temple. The Old Madam Ye liked to take the female family members to Jingde Nunnery to burn incense.

She couldn’t help but ask, “What are we going to Chongshan Temple for? Are we meeting someone?” She didn’t believe Ye Chongming was taking her to the temple just to burn incense at this time.

Ye Chongming nodded. “Master Zhineng at Chongshan Temple is very fond of tea. Although Chongshan Temple also grows and produces tea, he still likes the loose tea your father makes and purchases some every year. I have some slight connection with him. He is kind-hearted, of noble status, and has many powerful acquaintances. I want to take you there to brew some osmanthus tea for him to taste.”

Ye Yaming thought for a moment and tactfully suggested, “Grandfather, I think we should sell the osmanthus tea first. After it’s on the market, you can then send some to Master Zhineng, saying that our family has developed a new tea and we’re sending it for him to taste. Let’s not mention other aspects for now.”

Ye Chongming’s pupils contracted, and he nodded firmly. “You’re right.”

He had been confused by concern.

With the Ye family facing a crisis, having decided to seek a partner, he immediately thought of Master Zhineng and wanted to deliver the new tea to him right away.

As soon as Ye Yaming spoke, he realized his thinking was incorrect.

Yes, presenting the new tea and brewing method to Master Zhineng would certainly make him take notice, and they might even find a good partner through him.

But by actively approaching him, the Ye family would lose the opportunity to select their partner and would passively be chosen instead. In the end, what kind of person would be interested in the Ye family and their new tea would depend entirely on luck.

Of course, he trusted Master Zhineng’s character. But what if? Master Zhineng had no obligation to screen potential partners for the Ye family.

Seeing that Ye Chongming was receptive, Ye Yaming continued, “We should now purchase large quantities of osmanthus flowers, under the pretext of making osmanthus honey or brewing osmanthus wine. Then I’ll lead the maids and servants to produce osmanthus tea at home. If we don’t have enough loose tea, we can have people buy some from other tea houses.”

“Once the osmanthus blooming season is over, we’ll sell this osmanthus tea. By then, with no osmanthus flowers available, even if others want to research the method for making osmanthus tea, they’ll have no means to do so.”

“This approach both buys us time to produce osmanthus tea for next year and allows us to leisurely select partners.”

“Yes, yes, doing it this way will maximize our benefits,” Ye Chongming nodded firmly.

He also understood Ye Yaming’s intention in telling him to buy tea from other tea houses.

The Tea Revenue Bureau had crude tea made from summer and autumn tea leaves. Even after paying full taxes, it was cheaper than other tea houses, as the bureau needed to leave some profit margin for tea merchants.

But buying from the Tea Revenue Bureau presented two problems: first, it was crude tea that required processing, and with osmanthus flowers not waiting, they had no time to process the crude tea; second, if they bought large quantities of tea from the bureau while also purchasing large amounts of osmanthus flowers in the city, people might connect the dots and easily guess that the Ye family was making osmanthus tea.

Therefore, they could only send servants to purchase small batches of loose tea from other tea houses in their names, rather than buying in bulk from the Tea Revenue Bureau.

As for the higher price of buying loose tea individually, there was no need to worry about that now. Compared to keeping the osmanthus tea production method secret and the future profits it would bring, the higher price of loose tea was insignificant.

The Old Madam Ye looked at her granddaughter, then at her husband, and suddenly an absurd thought crossed her mind.

Why did she feel that Ye Yaming was like a stabilizing sea needle, the one making decisions for the family, while her usually clever, steady, and strategic husband had become a subordinate following orders? Most absurd of all, he seemed completely convinced and satisfied with this arrangement.