Glory

Finally, Ye Yaming concluded, "So this marriage is not the best choice for either me or him."

Upon hearing that Lu Guanyi had such a formidable stepmother, Ye Hongrong immediately abandoned the idea of matchmaking the two.

Being someone who idled away his life, he thought it would be perfectly fine for Ye Yaming, who lacked neither food nor clothing, to marry a groom who lives with the bride's family and live a carefree life at home. Why should she suffer such hardships in the Lu family?

"Alright then. Since you put it that way, I know what to do. Let's pretend we know nothing about this matter. If he really comes to talk to you and you find it difficult to refuse, just push it onto me. I'll handle it," he said, patting his chest.

"Good, I'll be counting on Fourth Uncle then," Ye Yaming said with a smile.

...

Xin'an City was much smaller than Lin'an, far less prosperous, and had limited spending power. While Lin'an had twenty to thirty teahouses of various sizes, Xin'an only had about ten, with only two on the scale of Pin Ya Xuan and Wangjiang Lou.

Thus, after Fang Xing had paid a local ruffian for directions in the morning, Ye Yaming and Ye Hongrong had already visited all the slightly larger teahouses. By the afternoon, they found themselves with little to do.

Thinking about the travel they would have to endure again the next day, Ye Yaming decided to stay in the inn for the afternoon and rest.

Unexpectedly, not long after Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji next door had gone out, the Page guarding the gate came to report that Master Wu from Pin Ya Xuan had come to visit.

"Is he here to scheme for our secret tea-making recipe again?" Ye Hongrong said.

Ye Yaming first said to the Page, "Invite him in."

The Page went out, and Fang Xing followed to prepare for receiving the guest.

For this trip, Fang Xing held the title of Housekeeper of the Ye family. When Ye Yaming went out to discuss business, it was Fang Xing who drafted the contracts after negotiations, dealt with the teahouse managers, and handled the comings and goings.

Originally, Ye Chongming had been worried that Ye Yaming, being a junior, wouldn't be able to manage Ye Hongrong, and also concerned that Fang Xing was too young and inexperienced, which would still leave Ye Yaming to handle matters. He had considered sending Zhou Xiang along.

But Ye Yaming refused.

This trip was also an opportunity for her to personally train Fang Xing. After returning from this journey, she planned to have Fang Xing take charge independently. In the future, any newcomers would be trained by Fang Xing, with her only offering occasional guidance.

If Zhou Xiang were here, how could she properly train Fang Xing? Moreover, Fang Xing and Zhou Xiang wouldn't get along well.

As for Ye Hongrong, he wasn't as unruly as Ye Chongming imagined. If he acted out, she had her own ways to deal with him.

After Fang Xing went out, Ye Yaming said to Ye Hongrong, "He definitely still wants the recipe, but he might try a softer approach this time instead of being forceful."

Soon, Master Wu followed Fang Xing inside, and Ye Hongrong stood under the corridor to greet him.

Ye Hongrong had a poor impression of this Master Wu and had little patience for exchanging pleasantries with him.

As soon as Master Wu took his seat, Ye Hongrong spoke up, "May I ask the purpose of Master Wu's visit?"

Ever since his granddaughter married the Assistant Prefect and successfully became pregnant, Master Wu had become rather full of himself. In Xin'an City, even the Housekeepers of the Prefect's residence treated him with courtesy, let alone others. It had been a long time since he encountered someone so impolite toward him.

He had originally intended to be more tactful and probe the other party's thoughts. But provoked by Ye Hongrong's question, his face darkened, and the words slipped out: "I wonder what you two have thought about what I said yesterday?"Seeing him dare to bring up the same old topic, Ye Hongrong was stunned for a moment before letting out a cold laugh. "Is Old Master Wu not fully awake yet? Haven’t you looked into who we are? Let me tell you, this empire doesn’t belong to your grandson-in-law yet. Above, there’s the emperor; below, there are hundreds of officials. There are plenty of people in this world you can’t afford to offend. Do you think you can use your influence to bully others and seize things by force? Have you grown tired of living?"

He dared to say this because he was feeling emboldened.

In the past, no matter how wealthy the Ye family was, they had to keep a low profile. Even a minor clerk or a low-ranking official in the local government could cause the Ye family significant trouble.

But now, with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji as their backers, and Lu Guanyi even having feelings for his niece, whether or not a marriage alliance was formed, if the Ye family were bullied, Lu Guanyi would definitely not stand by idly. That was why Ye Hongrong dared to speak so boldly.

Old Master Wu was indeed intimidated. Furious and resentful, yet afraid to vent his anger, his aged face flushed bright red.

The shopkeeper Zheng, who had come with him, quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Haha, Master Ye, you’ve misunderstood. Our master didn’t mean it that way. He wanted to ask you, if he wished to buy that tea-making recipe, how much silver would it cost, or what would you require in exchange? Aren’t you looking to buy tea plantations? Our master happens to own many excellent ones."

"After all, we’re not in the same province, and our prefectural cities are far apart. Even if you exchanged the tea-making recipe for tea plantations, it wouldn’t affect your business, right? Trading a tea-making recipe for a few hundred mu of tea plantations—why not take the opportunity?"

Ye Hongrong laughed in exasperation. "A few hundred mu of tea plantations in exchange for a tea-making recipe? Do you really think we’re fools?"

In places like Lin’an, the best farmland near the city cost only twelve taels of silver per mu, while the poorest land went for eight taels. Xin’an was nowhere near comparable to Lin’an, and land prices were much lower—at most ten taels per mu for the best land, and that was only for plots close to the city. In the outer suburbs, the price dropped by another one or two taels.

As for mountainous land, it cost at most half the price of the poorest farmland. Even if tea plantations were slightly more expensive than ordinary mountainous land, they wouldn’t exceed six taels per mu.

Did Old Master Wu really think he could buy their secret tea-making recipe for a few hundred or a thousand taels of silver? And he still claimed he wasn’t trying to seize it by force?

"No need. We won’t trade, no matter how many tea plantations you offer," Ye Yaming cut off Shopkeeper Zheng before he could say more.

This wasn’t a matter of haggling—they simply weren’t interested.

She had no intention of holding onto the secret tea-making recipe forever. A commoner’s only crime is possessing a treasure. The Ye family had no power or influence, yet they held several secret tea-making recipes. That would undoubtedly invite disaster. So, when the right buyer came along, she would sell—and not just to one buyer.

But she wouldn’t trade for tea plantations.

During this era, tea was cultivated using the most primitive methods: planting tea seeds and allowing the tea trees to grow freely into trees or small trees.

Tea trees grown this way had unstable characteristics, produced few buds, yielded very low quantities, and were extremely difficult to harvest.

In later generations, cuttings were used for cultivation, ensuring stable tea characteristics that largely preserved the superior qualities of the parent plant. Additionally, through pruning and dwarfing during growth, tea trees were transformed into shrubs about half a person’s height, producing abundant buds that were easy to harvest.

She hadn’t mentioned this to Ye Chongming earlier because tea trees took three years to grow before they could be harvested in large quantities. If she were to suggest cutting down the tea trees on Baiteng Mountain and replanting them, the Ye family’s losses would be immeasurable. That was why she had kept silent on the matter.But now that she was buying tea mountains again, she hoped to acquire a plot of land that had not yet been cultivated. She would redesign and plan it from scratch, selecting the highest quality tea trees as mother plants, using cutting propagation methods, and having the Estate Holder perform timely and appropriate pruning.