Glory

Ye Yaming nodded: "Definitely."

Otherwise, why would he be so arrogant? Moreover, he dared to threaten her before even understanding her background—his official connections must be quite substantial.

When she voiced this thought, Ye Hongrong scoffed: "No matter how powerful, could he possibly surpass Young Master Lu and Qi Gongzi's backgrounds?"

Qi Ji was the son of the prefect, and the prefect was the highest-ranking official in the commandery. Since Lu Guanyi could make Qi Ji follow him like an attendant, his status must be above Qi Ji's.

Lin'an was a prosperous major city, and Ye Hongrong viewed his hometown through rose-tinted glasses. Thus, in his eyes, this backwater Xin'an couldn't even compare to half of Lin'an.

Consequently, aside from the prefect himself, no one could hold a higher status than Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji here.

"That's not necessarily true," Ye Yaming said. "A powerful dragon cannot suppress a local snake. Though Young Master Lu and Qi Gongzi hold high status, their influence might not be effective here. Even if they know officials in Huizhou, there are several layers of separation. Judging by Master Wu's demeanor, he likely has kinship or cooperative relationships with these officials."

"Then what should we do?" Ye Hongrong frowned.

Before coming, he had heard Ye Yaming discuss matters with his father and elder brother, stating that once they decided to purchase tea plantations in Huizhou, they would open a teahouse in Xin'an.

Besides facilitating connections and managing the tea plantations, opening a teahouse would allow them to directly sell some tea locally—killing multiple birds with one stone.

But now, Ye Yaming had offended the local bully, the Wu family, right after arriving. Purchasing tea plantations and opening a teahouse here would likely be difficult.

"We were bound to offend them eventually. Once our teahouse opens, both Pinyaxuan and Wangjiang Tower will become competitors. Let's first see how things develop with Young Master Lu and Qi Gongzi, then investigate Master Wu's background further," Ye Yaming said indifferently.

Connections could sometimes be cultivated.

She turned to Fang Xing: "Go investigate immediately."

Fang Xing had just returned to report and hadn't left right away. Hearing this, he promptly acknowledged and hurried off.

He didn't return until after Ye Yaming and Ye Hongrong had finished their evening meal.

He reported: "Assistant Prefect Liao of Huizhou is forty without a son. Master Wu sent his granddaughter to be his concubine the year before last, and it's said she's now pregnant."

Ye Yaming and Ye Hongrong exchanged glances.

No wonder he was so arrogant—he had such backing.

"Wangjiang Tower was originally Xin'an's largest teahouse. Only after Master Wu sent his granddaughter to Assistant Prefect Liao did Pinyaxuan surpass it," Fang Xing added.

"Who is the head of Xin'an's tea guild?" Ye Yaming asked.

"An elderly gentleman named Song. Although Huizhou produces tea, it lacks renown and trade isn't frequent. Thus, the tea guild here holds little influence. Old Master Song is advanced in years and quite amiable—he was recommended when the guild was established years ago and has remained in position since."

Ye Yaming nodded.

The Wu family lacked such backing back then; otherwise, given Master Wu's behavior, the guild head position wouldn't have gone to an outsider.

Just then, voices came from outside—likely Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji returning.

Sure enough, a servant soon announced their arrival.

"Please show them in," Ye Hongrong said, rising to welcome them.

After sitting down, Lu Guanyi spoke first: "My side didn't go smoothly. Assistant Prefect Liao advised against buying tea plantations after hearing my intention, saying Huizhou's tea isn't as good as Lin'an's.""My side is alright. At least Lord Zhao gave me some introduction to the tea mountains in Huizhou," Qi Ji said.

Ye Yaming knew why Lu Guanyi had encountered obstacles and proceeded to explain the matter involving Old Master Wu.

Upon hearing that Old Master Wu had threatened Ye Yaming, and that he was the grandfather of Magistrate Liao Zhi’s concubine—who was also carrying Liao’s only child—both Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji frowned.

"We also went to Wangjiang Tower. According to the owner and manager there, this area is indeed suitable for growing tea. I tasted their tea as well. Although the processing methods are somewhat lacking, the tea itself is good, no worse than that from the tea mountains in Baiteng County," Ye Yaming added. "Leave this matter to us," Lu Guanyi said. "Since we’ve both confirmed that this place is suitable for tea cultivation, we’ll proceed as originally planned the day after tomorrow."

Ye Yaming nodded.

Even without Lu Guanyi’s assurance, she had no intention of giving up on Huizhou—such a promising location.

Liao Zhi was merely a vice-prefect, and above him was the prefect. Moreover, the Tea Monopoly Bureau operated under a separate system, independent of local administration. She refused to believe that the prefect and the Tea Monopoly Bureau would have no objections to Liao Zhi’s actions.

Taking the daughter of a local wealthy merchant as a concubine was a move to align with the locals and use their wealth to pave his way—a challenge to the prefect’s authority. Meanwhile, marrying the daughter of a tea merchant and obstructing outsiders like them from purchasing tea mountains and establishing tea houses amounted to meddling in the affairs of the Tea Monopoly Bureau and blocking their financial opportunities.

How could there be no objections to such actions?

Therefore, even if Liao Zhi fully supported his so-called grandfather-in-law, she believed she could carve out her own path in Huizhou by leveraging the influence of the prefect and the Tea Monopoly Bureau.

However, with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji around, she didn’t need to worry about this. She could simply leave it to them.

Since Lu Guanyi had earned the Crown Prince’s favor, his abilities were undoubtedly exceptional.

"If you plan to open a tea house here, why are you also considering selling Osmanthus Tea to other tea houses? Wouldn’t it be better to keep it exclusive to build your own reputation?" Qi Ji asked curiously.

Opening a tea house was the Ye family’s own venture, outside the scope of their collaboration. Qi Ji’s question was purely out of curiosity.

"Even if other tea houses sell Osmanthus Tea, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s produced by the Ye family. If every tea house in the city offers Osmanthus Tea, where do you think people will go to buy it after tasting it elsewhere—our Ye family tea house or another?"

Qi Ji suddenly understood: "Naturally, they’d go to the Ye family tea house." That’s where the authentic product would be.

As for other tea houses, who could guarantee they weren’t selling counterfeits?

"And by selling tea to Wangjiang Tower now, aren’t we gaining an ally? Isn’t that better than having all the established tea houses in Xin’an gang up against a newcomer?"

Qi Ji couldn’t help but give a thumbs-up: "Brilliant."

Ye Yaming smiled and added, "Besides, we’ll have other new teas in the future. We can use those for exclusive deals to build our reputation. Sacrificing Osmanthus Tea and Chrysanthemum Tea to pave the way will make our path smoother."

Qi Ji clapped his hands in admiration and asked curiously, "Who taught you all this, Miss Ye? Could it be that Old Master Ye has been training you since childhood?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Hongrong raised an eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Lu Guanyi frowned and glanced at Qi Ji.

How was she supposed to answer such a question?"That's not it," Ye Yaming said. "My grandfather is too busy cultivating my brothers to bother with me. It's probably because I'm somewhat clever, so our ancestors took notice of me and thus enlightened my mind."

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