Glory

"Right, right, right." Fan Yu also came to his senses. "Let's have some tea."

He asked Ye Yaming, "What good tea do you have today?"

Ye Yaming replied, "Besides Tieguanyin, there's Dark Tea."

"Dark Tea?" Fan Yu's eyes immediately lit up. "Master Zhineng wrote to me recently, boasting that he had tasted an exceptionally fine tea. I've long heard of Dark Tea's reputation. I never thought I'd have the fortune to taste it today. Wonderful."

It was no secret in court circles that the imperial court had collaborated with Ye Jia in negotiations with the Great Jin, having Ye Jia supply Dark Tea to them.

Those present all had connections holding high positions in the court. Naturally, they had heard of Dark Tea, and everyone was intensely curious about it.

Of course, there had been rumors circulating that Dark Tea was made from the poorest quality leaves and stems, considered the lowest grade of tea, even worse than coarse tea. Yet Chen Zhen, who had tasted this tea, highly praised it, claiming it was better than Dragon Well.

This inevitably sparked special curiosity about this tea.

Upon hearing they could taste Dark Tea now, everyone suggested, "Why don't we have tea first, and stroll around leisurely afterward?"

"Excellent, excellent."

Tan Xuan, concerned about his favorite private room, first asked Ye Yaming, "Where shall we have tea?"

"In the main hall of the front courtyard," Ye Yaming said with a smile. "I'll brew tea for everyone and also share how to brew both Tieguanyin and Dark Tea."

Hearing they would get to taste tea brewed by Ye Yaming herself, Fan Yu and the others were overjoyed. "Wonderful."

Thus, the group moved to the main hall in the front courtyard. After some polite jostling to arrange seating, they settled down.

Ye Yaming stepped onto the platform, first bowed to everyone and offered a polite apology before taking her seat.

This platform had been specially designed under Ye Yaming's direction, using mirrors to reflect a beam of light from above onto the center of the stage, creating a theatrical lighting effect.

As it was still her newlywed period, she wore a red dress today. Ancient dresses had trimmings and embroidery on the collar and cuffs. Her red dress was half a shade darker than bright red, which not only didn't make her stand out excessively but instead accentuated the three-dimensionality of her facial features and the depth of her eyes. It harmonized perfectly with the mahogany-dominated display platform.

It was now exactly mid-morning. The autumn sunlight, reflected through the roof, shone upon her. Sitting upright, her features picturesque, the steam from the handled pot on the small red-clay stove beside her diffused into the air. On the platform, she seemed enveloped in an ethereal mist. The hushed discussions below faded away, all eyes fixed on her.

Ye Yaming remained composed and at ease.

As the guzheng music gradually rose from behind the screen, she placed her hands overlapping on the tea table and performed a tea ceremony bow to the audience. Then, picking up the tea needle, she elegantly twirled it over the lidded bowl, used the needle to flip each lid open one by one, lifted the handled pot to pour water into each, flipped the lids back with the tea needle, then picked up the lidded bowl, gently swirling it before pouring the water into the waste-water container.

The entire sequence flowed seamlessly, graceful and elegant.

Opening the tea caddy, she measured the tea leaves and added them to the pot. Pouring water from a height, the tea fragrance spread through the air with the steam from the boiling water.

Despite the music, everyone felt a profound stillness in the room. All attention was focused on Ye Yaming and her pair of fair, slender hands. Everyone was captivated by her.

Yet Ye Yaming remained as calm and composed as ever, much like the cup of tea she was brewing—refined, expansive, and overflowing with fragrance.Staring at Ye Yaming on the stage, the last trace of unwillingness in An Jingning's heart completely dissipated. She suddenly found herself ridiculous.

What did she have that could compare to the woman on stage? Was it her appearance, talent, temperament, or poise? The only thing she might surpass her in was social status.

But status was the most unreliable thing. Though young, she had witnessed people building towering mansions only to see them collapse—the rise and fall of fortunes took merely a few years. The glory and prosperity of Duke Wei's estate seemed like yesterday, yet now the grass on the Shi family's graves stood several feet high.

Meanwhile, Princess Pingyang gazed intently at Ye Yaming on stage, her eyes shining so brightly they seemed to emit light.

She tightly gripped An Jingning's arm, holding her breath until Ye Yaming raised her hand and a maid dressed in identical attire took the tea tray to serve the crowd below. Only then did she exhale deeply and say to An Jingning, "Jingning, I like her."

An Jingning: "..."

Pursing her lips tightly, she finally replied after a long pause, "Weren't you the one who said she was a fraud?"

"Ah, that was before I saw her and didn't know how remarkable she is! Now I believe she wrote those three books—it must have been her." Princess Pingyang clenched her fist, speaking with unwavering conviction.

She was completely captivated by the radiant brilliance Ye Yaming displayed on stage.

Even as a princess with a father who was a prince, she could never present herself with such elegance and composure under the public eye. A person's innate temperament and poise couldn't be faked. One needed extraordinary talent and depth to possess such temperament; one needed immense confidence and inner strength to exhibit such poise.

On stage, Ye Yaming was unaware that a young girl had changed her opinion of her simply from watching her demonstrate the Oolong tea ceremony.

Lifting the aroma-appreciation cup to her nose, she inhaled gently and said, "Tieguanyin's fragrance resembles orchids, which is why we created the aroma-appreciation cup. Everyone can use it to carefully appreciate its high-temperature aroma, medium-temperature aroma, and cool aroma."

The crowd below followed her example, bringing the aroma-appreciation cups to their noses—a subtle fragrance permeated their senses. Then, mimicking her, they moved the cups away, shaking them beside their bodies to rapidly cool them and experience the medium-temperature and cool aromas.

Setting down the aroma-appreciation cup, Ye Yaming picked up the tasting cup and taught everyone how to properly savor a cup of tea.

"I've brewed this Tieguanyin countless times since it arrived, yet I never knew it should be prepared this way. Madam Lu's tea is infinitely superior to mine. Indeed, tea artistry is crucial—the taste varies dramatically depending on how well the tea is brewed," Fan Yu remarked with emotion.

Others nodded in agreement.

"Madam Lu, what about us? We don't have any tea," someone seated further back called out, noticing that several distinguished guests had been served while they had not.

Ye Yaming smiled apologetically. "Each brewing only yields eight cups. Originally, the tea masters could brew together to serve everyone simultaneously. But since you've all come today to support Ye Jia, I felt I must personally brew tea for you to express my gratitude. Please wait a moment—I'll continue brewing for everyone now."

As she spoke, the tea set she had used was cleared away by attendants and replaced with a new one. The small stove also received a fresh pot of boiling water."Perfect timing. I was so captivated by Yaming's grace earlier that I didn't clearly see how she brewed the tea. Watching twice more now might allow me to learn a thing or two," Princess Yu Ning said.

Her words resonated with everyone.

"Absolutely, absolutely," Tan Xuan chimed in.

Ye Yaming smiled faintly, bowed, and began brewing tea once more.

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