Glory

At the sound of "Meng Chengwei," Ding Jian's face instantly turned pale.

Ye Chongming's heart tightened as he stared incredulously at Ye Yaming. "Are you saying... all of this was Meng Chengwei's doing?"

"Correct." Ye Yaming gave him a faint smile before turning an icy glare toward Ding Jian. "If you don't speak the truth now, we'll immediately send you to the magistrate's office."

Ding Jian's lips trembled before he fell to his knees with a thud before Ye Chongming. "Young Master Meng claimed he orchestrated this to build a connection with you—he never intended to harm the Ye family. I only agreed because I believed he meant no ill will, especially since the tea customers he selected were all honest and decent people. That's why I went along with Fourth Master's wishes in this transaction. Old Master, I beg you—considering two generations of my family have served the Ye family—please don't send me to the magistrate's office."

So it was true after all?

Ye Chongming closed his eyes tightly.

Ding Jian was Old Shopkeeper Ding's son. Given the longstanding relationship between the Ye and Ding families, he had never imagined Ding Jian would betray the Ye family. That was why he had hardly suspected Ding Jian earlier and had believed his initial explanation.

Never had he expected the truth to be like this.

"Tell me everything you know. If you can redeem yourself through merit, I might consider sparing you from the magistrate's office," Ye Chongming said coldly as he opened his eyes.

"Yes, I'll talk." Knowing that hiding the truth would do him no good, Ding Jian immediately confessed how Ye Hongrong had ordered him, how he had initially intended to dissuade him, but then Meng Chengwei had approached him with substantial bribes. Convinced that Meng Chengwei bore no ill intent toward the Ye family, he had succumbed to temptation and allowed Ye Hongrong to act recklessly.

As for how much of his account was true and how much was fabricated—only he knew.

Ye Chongming would naturally verify these details later. For now, the most urgent matter was obtaining the customer list.

"Who did you sell the tea to? Which customers are most likely to cause trouble? Speak quickly. Let me make this clear—if the Ye family falls, not a single member of your household will escape unscathed," Ye Chongming said coldly.

"There's Master Liu from East Street, Master Wu from Sweet Spring Lane..." Ding Jian began listing names.

Ye Chongming frowned, about to tell Ding Jian to pause so he could have Ye Yaming fetch paper and brush to record the names. But when he turned, he saw Ye Yaming had already produced a sheet of paper from somewhere, a small wooden stick in her hand.

She cut Ding Jian off sharply, "Stop. Don't just say 'Master Liu' or 'Master Wu'—give their full names."

Not only were there people with the same surname on a single street, but even within the same household, there could be multiple "Old Liu" and "Young Liu." If they had to inquire door-to-door, the matter would spread throughout the city long before any customer could cause trouble.

Ding Jian's face stiffened, and he forced an awkward smile. "I'm so used to addressing them that way, I didn't think about it."

He quickly provided the full names he had omitted earlier.

Ye Chongming shot Ding Jian a heavy glance before shifting his gaze to Ye Yaming.

It seemed Ye Yaming had already recorded the list from Liu Chunxin and was now cross-referencing the names with those Ding Jian provided. Occasionally, she interrupted him to ask a question, her wooden stick occasionally scratching across the paper as she jotted down a character or two.

Ye Chongming's expression softened, his satisfaction with his granddaughter's performance reaching its peak.

Perceptive, calm, intelligent, articulate, and thorough in her work. What a pity she was born a girl.

By then, Ye Yaming had already finished verifying the list.This time, Ding Jian dared not play any tricks. The names he provided matched those given by Liu Chunxin, and he answered every question willingly, showing full cooperation.

The only issue was that he deliberately avoided mentioning the person who required special attention.

Ye Yaming's eyes turned cold. Just as she lifted her head to speak, Ye Hongsheng's voice came from outside the door: "Father, Ming'er."

At Ye Chongming's signal, Bai Rui hurried to open the door.

"How did it go?" Ye Chongming asked.

"At first, he refused to say anything no matter how we questioned him. Fortunately, Ming'er sent Li Fu over. As soon as Li Fu uttered the name 'Meng Chengwei,' Tian Pengyi confessed everything." Ye Hongsheng waved the paper in his hand. "I've written down all the names."

He then looked curiously at Ye Chongming. "Who is Meng Chengwei?"

Ye Chongming's face darkened instantly as he recalled their first meeting on the mountain, when he had mistaken that young man for a decent person. Little did he expect that Meng Chengwei would set traps for the Ye family while pretending to be kind. It was quite possible that Ye Jiaxing's injury had been his doing.

While the two were talking, Ye Yaming stood up and summoned Ye Chongming and Ye Hongsheng's attendants. Pointing at Ding Jian, she said, "Take him away and lock him up. If he escapes, you will be held accountable for all the losses he causes the Ye family." She then turned to Li Fu. "Steward Li, please keep an eye on him as well."

Li Fu and the others responded with "Yes," but their eyes remained fixed on Ye Chongming.

Ye Yaming had issued orders over his head, yet Ye Chongming felt no displeasure. Instead, his admiration for her grew.

He had been about to discuss with his son and granddaughter how to handle the matter. Ding Jian's case would have to wait until all the customers were appeased. His granddaughter had done exactly what he intended to do, saving him the trouble of explaining.

Regardless of Ye Yaming being a girl or her young age, having someone in the Ye family who was decisive, capable of taking charge, and handled matters in the same way he did was a blessing. This old man would no longer have to stretch himself thin and exhaust his energy.

"Do as the Third Young Lady says," Ye Chongming instructed. "Song Dequan, you stay."

Li Fu and the others immediately sprang into action, swiftly escorting Ding Jian out.

Only then did Ye Chongming speak to Ye Hongsheng. "On the list just now, most are our regular tea customers, with only three exceptions."

He picked up the paper Ye Yaming had left on the table and glanced at the small wooden stick beside it. Noticing that the stick was made of two halves glued together with a piece of charcoal sandwiched in between, he tried writing on the paper and found it quite effective, producing clear characters.

He marked some of the names on the list.

"Those marked, I will visit myself. The rest, you handle. I've already asked Song Dequan to prepare the gifts. Since each of them bought ten to several dozen tea cakes, we will compensate them with silk worth twice the value of the tea, plus a box of assorted pastries for each household."

The Ye family did have tea. Compensating with tea would be the most cost-effective option. If only the cost of the tea was considered, the compensation value wouldn't seem too high. Moreover, the Ye family was short on cash, so using tea for compensation would avoid the need to spend additional silver on gifts.

However, to raise enough silver for the autumn tea pre-orders, the Ye family had been striving to sell off their tea before the Mid-Autumn Festival. Now, the tea stocks in the tea house and tea shops were nearly depleted.Moreover, the tea currently left in the tea house consists only of summer and autumn harvests. These teas cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the meticulously crafted, expensive, and prestigious pressed tea. Offering them as compensation would not be an apology but an insult to the recipient.

Furthermore, these teas were acquired at great cost, requiring extensive connections to obtain the tea import permits. It would be best to keep them in the tea houses and shops to be sold gradually. Ye Jia's tea houses and shops need to operate normally and cannot risk closure due to compensating this single transaction.

Therefore, Ye Jia had no choice but to pay in silver to purchase silk fabric as compensation.