Ye Chongming felt a chill in his heart and nodded, “I will advise your Uncle and the others to be careful in everything.”

He further cautioned, “Yaming, you must be careful too. Take more people with you when you go out.”

Ye Yaming nodded, “Yes.”

The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, but on holidays, teahouses and tea pavilions always did better business than usual. Ye Chongming didn’t have the habit of taking days off, so he followed his daily routine and took Ye Jiaxing to the tea pavilion.

The tea pavilion was normally managed by its supervisors, and Ye Chongming went there merely to handle his affairs on the third floor. If there were matters at the tea factory, tea shop, or tea guild that required his attention, people would know where to find him.

When he had nothing to do, he would also go downstairs to drink tea with friends.

Therefore, he usually went there leisurely around the hour of Si (9-11 AM), not in any hurry.

By this time, many who enjoyed listening to storytellers had already arrived at the tea pavilion and finished a pot of tea.

Keeping in mind what Ye Yaming had said, Ye Chongming didn’t use his private staircase but entered through the main entrance of the tea pavilion and took the stairs used by the tea customers.

Ye Jiaxing followed behind him. The young master, who usually minded his status and maintained a dignified appearance, although outwardly the same as before, betrayed his inner unease with his eyes darting around.

If they didn’t hear any news during their ascent, he planned to have an attendant inquire about any rumors among the tea customers.

But as they were just walking from the first floor toward the second floor, they saw someone coming down from the second floor and encountered them at the staircase.

The person looked surprised to see the two of them and exclaimed loudly, “My goodness, Old Master Ye, how is it that you’ve come to the tea pavilion today?” His voice was quite loud.

Ye Chongming glanced at him and recognized him as a tea merchant surnamed Chen from the tea guild. Because his business was not substantial, he was usually like an invisible person in the guild and never came before Ye Chongming’s eyes, so Ye Chongming didn’t know this person’s full name.

However, this person was quite good at currying favor with the Yang family and often followed behind Yang Hong, so Ye Chongming had some impression of him.

“Why shouldn’t I come to the tea pavilion?” he stopped and asked.

“Isn’t the First Master Ye severely injured? And wasn’t the tea money he brought back from the capital robbed by bandits? Why aren’t you asking the officials to investigate the stolen silver? How do you still have the mood to come to the tea pavilion for tea?” Master Chen bellowed, his voice so loud that tea customers both upstairs and downstairs could hear.

“What? The tea silver was robbed? And the First Master Ye was severely injured? That’s terrible!” Some tea customers, whether genuinely concerned or gloating, gathered around to inquire.

Ye Chongming gave that tea merchant surnamed Chen a deep look, with a half-smile, “Master Chen seems to have quite current information. Could it be that you have connections with those bandits? Otherwise, how do you know so clearly when I neither reported to officials nor made it widely known?”

“Heh, Old Master Ye, that’s not a fair thing to say. That day when your family’s guard came urgently on horseback, covered in blood, who didn’t know? Besides, with people coming and going at the medical hall, how could anyone not know that your First Master was severely injured and the escorts who protected him nearly lost their lives?” Master Chen said.

Although Ye Chongming had anticipated this situation, he kept up the act, putting on an angry face and darkening his expression, “What business is it of yours?”

“So you’re admitting it?” Master Chen immediately broke into a smile.

The tea pavilion was always a place for gossiping, frequented by idle people who loved to join in on any excitement.

Master Chen’s voice was loud, and he was discussing the affairs of the Jixiang Pavilion’s owner. His conversation with Ye Chongming revealed too much information. Not just those who had already heard the rumors, but even those who hadn’t, gathered around.

Ye Chongming and Master Chen were still standing on the stairs leading from the first to the second floor, making it very convenient for customers on both floors to observe. In an instant, people crowded at both the top and bottom of the stairs.

The tea pavilion had a constant flow of people, and being their establishment, when the Ye family built it, they had made the stairway entrance extremely wide, able to accommodate four people walking side by side, so the stairway entrance was not small.

But now not only were both sides of the entrance blocked, but some people who couldn’t squeeze in were also craning their necks to look toward the stairway entrance.

Ye Chongming was extremely kind to others and had always maintained good connections. Among the tea pavilion customers were many tea merchants and patrons who had good relationships with him.

Master Chen’s demeanor was disagreeable not just to Ye Chongming but to others as well.

Someone retorted to Master Chen, “Whether he admits it or not, what business is it of yours? Could it be, as Old Master Ye suggested, that you stole the tea silver? Otherwise, why are you so concerned?”

Master Chen wasn’t angered but replied with a smile, “I’m merely curious. Usually, the Ye family monopolizes the best garden households on the tea mountain, and we small tea merchants are like beggars, picking up leftovers every year.”

“Now that the Ye family’s tea silver has been robbed, they can’t handle all the garden households, so shouldn’t some be released for us? If anyone here claims they’re not interested in those good garden households, then I would have to request some from Old Master Ye.”

With these words, even those who had found him offensive now became interested.

Because the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching and spring tea pre-orders were about to begin, many in the tea pavilion were tea merchants, some even coming from other regions. The Ye family’s Jixiang Pavilion was the largest tea pavilion in Lin’an City, and since Ye Chongming was the guild head, everyone had gathered at the tea pavilion to drink tea, chat, and exchange information.

The Ye family had operated in Lin’an for decades or even a century. Because they were honest and offered good prices for tea, the garden households with good quality tea were willing to cooperate with the Ye family. Whenever the garden households faced difficulties, the Ye family would help as much as they could, making their relationship extremely stable.

Even if other local or outside tea merchants offered higher prices, they couldn’t lure away these garden households. Everyone couldn’t help but envy the Ye family.

Usually, since Ye Chongming treated people well, no one would harbor ill intentions. But now that the Ye family had encountered problems and didn’t have enough silver to pre-order spring tea, would they be able to snatch some of the garden households that the Ye family couldn’t handle?

Moreover, if they captured them this year, then next year and beyond, these garden households might belong to them. This was a long-term benefit, and they couldn’t afford not to compete for it. In the face of profit, there could be no yielding.

Ye Chongming swept his gaze around and saw that some people were tempted, some showed sympathy toward him, and some, probably knowing that even if the Ye family released some garden households, they wouldn’t be able to compete with others, wore expressions of anticipation for the show.

In short, it was a display of all aspects of human nature.

He ignored Master Chen and cupped his hands toward several tea customers and merchants who genuinely cared about the Ye family, saying, “Thank you all for your concern. Hongchang is not seriously injured, just lightly wounded. He’ll be fine after some rest. As for the robbery, I will report it to the officials so they can investigate.”

“Regarding the garden households, I’m sorry to disappoint everyone, but even if the Ye family is short of funds, we still have our foundation. Moreover, the garden households trust this old man, so how could I let them down? Even if I have to sell family assets, I will trade with them as in normal years, not breaking faith with anyone.”