Glory

She had been paying attention to the commotion outside all along.

Now, hearing the conversation between Yin Shi and Bai Momo, she opened the door and said to Yin Shi, "Mother, I believe that if you want others to respect you, you must have skills of your own. Look at me—I have tea-making skills. Besides Fourth Aunt, who can't read the situation, who else dares to bully me now? Father is the same. He has tea-making skills..."

She pointed in the direction of Da Bo's residence and lowered her voice, "Look at Da Bo's wife—hasn't she always been trying to win over our branch of the family? Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt rely on Grandmother's favoritism, so Da Bo and his wife have to yield to them for now. But what about the future?"

She shook her head and didn't continue, instead turning her gaze to Ye Yayin.

These words were mainly meant for Ye Yayin. Yin Shi's life was already set, but Ye Yayin was still young and highly adaptable. Seizing the opportunity, she wanted to instill in her the idea of self-reliance and independence.

Sure enough, upon hearing Ye Yaming's words, Ye Yayin blinked her large eyes thoughtfully, then leaned closer to Ye Yaming and whispered, "Sister, I want to learn tea-making too."

Ye Yayin was not yet thirteen, with big eyes and a chubby, innocent face. Ye Yaming genuinely liked this younger sister.

Without hesitation, she reached out and pinched Ye Yayin's smooth cheek, laughing, "If you like it, you can learn tea-making with Father and me. If not, you can pursue something else. The important thing is that you enjoy it."

"I like embroidery," Ye Yayin said. "Mr. Yin has praised my embroidered flowers many times."

Mr. Yin, whose name was Yin Xiu, was originally an embroiderer in a workshop. Now that she was older and her eyesight was failing, she had taken on a few apprentices. The Ye family had specially invited her to teach the girls embroidery, and everyone in the Ye family respectfully addressed her as Mr. Yin.

"Then study hard. If you master all of Mr. Yin's skills, we'll find you an even better teacher," Ye Yaming said. "Mr. Yin can support her entire family through embroidery. Even if you don't need to provide for the family, having a skill will earn you respect. Look at Mr. Yin—when she goes out, people call her a 'master.'"

No one had ever said such things to Ye Yayin before.

Because the Ye family was wealthy, everyone told her that if she liked embroidery, she could learn it casually without taking it too seriously. After all, the family didn't rely on her skills for a living, and there were embroiderers to make their clothes. At home, she lacked for nothing, and even after marriage, her husband's family would be well-off. Besides, she had a generous dowry.

She nodded firmly, "Then I'll study hard with Mr. Yin."

"If you do well, I'll reward you," Ye Yaming said, patting her head.

Yin Shi did not approve of her younger daughter becoming too absorbed in embroidery. Learning embroidery strained the eyes, and she feared her daughter would develop poor eyesight at a young age. Even if girls were expected to learn needlework, she believed it was enough to learn it casually.

However, since these words came from her elder daughter, she couldn't bring herself to oppose them, even if she disagreed.

"Speaking of embroidery, I should ask you—how are your Mid-Autumn Festival gifts coming along? The festival is in a few days. If you haven't prepared them yet, you should hurry," she asked Ye Yaming.

Ye Yaming was taken aback, suddenly remembering that on holidays, the original host would prepare gifts for the Song family mother and son. In addition to various dried fruits and pastries, she would personally make several sets of clothes for them.

The original host's monthly allowance was hardly spent on herself—almost all of it went to the Song family mother and son.Her eyes turned slightly cold as she said, "I haven't prepared any. With such troubles at home, we're too busy making tea to even think about sewing clothes for the Song family. I make plenty of clothes for them every year, and our family sends them two hundred taels annually. If they're truly short on clothing, Song Taitai can make some herself."

Not wanting to dwell on the topic, she tossed out, "I'm going inside to make tea," and entered the house.

Watching her daughter's retreating figure, Yin Shi felt something was amiss.

Ever since her eldest daughter became engaged to Song Yifeng, he had been the sole focus of her heart and eyes. While other girls spent their monthly allowances on flowers, powders, or saving up for clothes and jewelry,

only Ye Yaming

poured all her silver into the Song family. Were it not for the two seasonal outfits provided by the household for everyone, she wouldn't even have decent clothes to wear when receiving guests.

But now, not only had Ye Yaming not made clothes for the Song mother and son, she spoke of them with evident indifference. Could she have had a falling out with Song Yifeng?

It seemed she would need to find time to ask Bai Rui.

Inside the house, Ye Yaming's thoughts were not occupied with the Song family. Recalling Yin Shi's mention that the Mid-Autumn Festival was just days away, and knowing how seriously ancient people took such celebrations, she knew Ye Hongchang would surely rush home within the next couple of days.

Ye Chongming had heeded her words two days ago and sent someone from Lin'an City. Lin'an was quite a distance from the capital—four or five days at a gallop.

Calculating the timing, the two parties should have met on the road. She just didn't know whether Ye Hongchang had encountered Meng Chengwei's men during their meeting, and whether events would still follow their original course.

Overthinking was futile. Ye Yaming pushed aside her distractions and approached the tea pile to assess its temperature.

In ancient times, there were no thermometers; tea makers relied entirely on their tactile sense to gauge the temperature of the tea pile. Without experience, even knowing the method for scenting tea with flowers wouldn't yield good floral tea.

"It's ready. Sift out the flowers and take them outside for roasting," Ye Yaming instructed.

The maids and older women sprang into action.

While Ye Yaming busied herself with tea making, Ye Chongming was occupied with purchasing loose tea, collecting osmanthus flowers, and keeping tabs on Meng Chengwei's movements.

He loathed this man so much he wished he could have him ambushed, beaten half to death, and tossed in a sack.

But "the longer one treads the rivers and lakes, the more cautious one becomes." At sixty years old, having spent a lifetime in business, Ye Chongming knew there were some people one simply couldn't afford to provoke. Especially for merchants like them, who had neither power nor influence—others could move against them, but they couldn't retaliate.

Thus, these past days, he could only have Meng Chengwei watched, hoping to uncover the man's background.

Meanwhile, Meng Chengwei had arrived in Lin'an City when Ye Chongming returned from the mountains, renting a small courtyard in the best inn. Every day, he would take his cousin and servants to the Ye family's Gathering Fragrance Pavilion to drink tea and listen to storytelling. In casual conversations, he divulged plenty about himself.

How his father was the head of the Meng family, Imperial merchants; how his paternal aunt was Min Fei; how he had frequented the palace since childhood...

These were the same stories he had shared with the innkeeper in Baiteng County, so they weren't particularly new. But they were enough to make Ye Chongming wary.

As for the Ye family being targeted and framed—since it involved illicit tea, he truly couldn't speak of it to anyone.

With his eldest son away from home, and his grandson, who had once seemed reliable, now appearing incompetent in comparison to Ye Yaming, he felt the weight of his solitude.Ye Chongming had no choice but to bring this matter up with his elderly wife, sighing with emotion: "Even though we know this person is framing us, we dare not take action against him. It's truly frustrating."