Glory

"Thank you for your hard work, Fourth Uncle. After I finish tasting these Dark Teas, there will be additional rewards. However, there's no need for you to make the trip this time—I'll have Tang Song handle it."

"If there's anything you need from me, just say the word. I'm not afraid of hard work," Ye Hongrong quickly responded.

"Good," Ye Yaming said with a smile.

After Ye Hongrong left, she began tasting the Dark Teas one by one.

Although Huizhou and Minzhou couldn't produce tea in large quantities, the tea gardens she had purchased were originally capable of producing teas like Huangshan Maofeng, Liu'an Guapian, Tunlu, Qimen Black Tea, as well as Wuyi Rock Tea and Zhengshan Xiaozhong.

But these teas couldn't be introduced all at once. Doing so would affect the market for Dragon Well and Tieguanyin, pitting their own products against each other, which would hinder their development and attract too much attention.

Ye Yaming's plan was to introduce one new tea every five years. Over her lifetime, she would unveil the famous teas of Huizhou and Minzhou, making her transmigration worthwhile.

Thus, she restrained her restless ambitions.

In these regions, aside from some medium- and large-leaf tea varieties in Minzhou, she had instructed the tea-making masters to process all Pre-Qingming and Pre-Rain Tea into Dragon Well Tea.

The classification of tea isn't determined by the type of tea plant but by the processing method.

In other words, fresh leaves plucked from the same tea plant can be made into non-fermented green tea, semi-fermented oolong tea, fully fermented black tea, or post-fermented dark tea, depending on the processing technique.

However, tea plants have suitability for specific types of tea. Different tea plant varieties and their growing environments make them more suitable for producing certain teas.

In her previous life, Ye Yaming had tasted Dragon Well Tea produced in Huangshan, which was actually quite good. But since it didn't come from the shores of West Lake, it was considered "inauthentic," and even if it tasted good, it couldn't command a high price.

The value of "brand" in the tea industry is immense. That's why, while selling tea formulas, Ye Yaming did everything possible to maintain the superiority of Ye Family's Dragon Well Tea. This year, she even unveiled the unique skill of stir-frying tea in a silver pot.

The Dragon Well tea-making masters sent to Huizhou and Minzhou were all highly experienced veterans. This year, the Pre-Qingming and Pre-Rain Dragon Well Teas they produced tasted quite good to Ye Yaming—at least they didn't tarnish the reputation of Ye Family's Dragon Well.

These teas weren't shipped to the capital or Lin'an but were sold locally and in surrounding provinces at slightly lower prices than Lin'an's Dragon Well Tea.

After producing Pre-Qingming and Pre-Rain Dragon Well Tea in these two regions, they mass-produced Dark Tea.

Although Ye Yaming had sent her best Dark Tea masters and top tea tasters, she still wasn't entirely confident and insisted on inspecting the teas personally.

Since the Dark Tea was produced in batches, it took Ye Yaming several days to complete the tasting.

She wrote down the tea evaluation results, summoned Tang Song, and handed him the reward plan: "Please make a trip to Huizhou and deliver these rewards."

Among the seven tea-making masters producing Dark Tea in Huizhou, she designated one first prize, one second prize, and one third prize, awarding them 200 taels, 100 taels, and 50 taels respectively, along with an exquisitely crafted certificate of honor for each.

Without competition, there is no progress. Establishing a sound reward mechanism is crucial.

Tang Song acknowledged the instruction and asked, "Has the eldest young master not returned from Minzhou yet?""That place is far, probably still ten days away. You can't handle both ends alone, I'll send someone else there," Ye Yaming said.

Thanks to Ma Yun, the dispute between Tao Shi and Ye Hongchang still reached Ye Yaming's ears.

Since Tao Shi had expressed dissatisfaction with her only using Ye Hongrong for errands, Ye Yaming decided to put Ye Jiaxing to work as well. The uncle and nephew would take turns—one going to Huizhou, the other to Minzhou—ensuring fairness and impartiality.

As a result, Tao Shi began to fret over her son again.

However, she didn’t bring it up to Ye Yaming, who pretended not to know. Even though Ye Jiaxing complained incessantly, Ye Yaming didn’t let him off the hook.

"Miss, the young master has sent gifts again," Bai Rui came in to report.

Ye Yaming showed a helpless expression.

Turning her head, she said, "Bring them here." Though Lu Guanyi was stationed at the border, his heart remained with his beloved wife. With his private guards at his disposal, he sent gifts every half month or month—sometimes local specialties from the frontier, sometimes small trinkets he had purchased.

In Lu Guanyi’s view, perhaps the gift itself wasn’t important; it was the sentiment that mattered.

Ye Yaming still felt quite touched whenever she received his presents.

A letter always accompanied the gifts.

Ye Yaming first examined the gift Lu Guanyi had sent this time.

It was a somewhat crudely crafted necklace, rugged in style, clearly made by Lu Guanyi himself. It was adorned with two wolf fangs, likely from a wolf he had killed himself—otherwise, he wouldn’t have given such a thing to Ye Yaming.

Looking at the gift, Ye Yaming quickly tore open the letter, eager to find out if Lu Guanyi had been injured.

After reading a few lines, she abruptly sat up straight, startling Ziyuan, who was waiting on her: "Miss, please take it easy."

She then asked, "Is the young master alright?"

Ye Yaming waved her hand: "He’s fine." Her gaze never left the letter.

In his letter, Lu Guanyi mentioned that some time ago, several tribes of the Great Jin had been in turmoil, leading to minor clashes with the Great Jin army. While leading his troops into battle, he was surrounded by a pack of wolves. Fortunately, he emerged unscathed and even managed to kill the alpha wolf with his own hands.

The wolf fangs on the necklace he sent were from that very wolf.

However, Lu Guanyu, who had just returned to the border, was not as fortunate in this conflict. He sustained severe injuries while fighting the Great Jin soldiers. Although his subordinates managed to rescue him and bring him back to the camp, he had suffered brain damage and was now mentally impaired.

Ye Yaming: "..."

Ye Yaming knew that although the border was said to be peaceful, it only meant there were no large-scale wars; minor skirmishes along the frontier were still frequent.

But this particular clash had involved both sons of General Lu—one besieged by wolves, the other injured in a fight with the Great Jin, and now mentally impaired, of all things.

She couldn’t help but feel that the whole situation reeked of conspiracy.

And this conflict, without a doubt, was surely Lu Guanyu’s doing. After burying his mother, he must have been filled with resentment, suspecting that Lu Guanyi was responsible for her death, and thus sought to harm him.

Lu Guanyi had waited so long without taking action against Shi Shi and Lu Guanyu because he wanted to maintain the moral high ground. After all, he, his wife, and their children still had to live in this world, and in the mortal realm, one must consider their reputation.

He had been waiting for Shi Shi or Lu Guanyu to make the first move.

Now, it seemed Lu Guanyu had tried to ambush Lu Guanyi, only to be countered and struck back by him.

Lu Guanyu hadn’t died but was left mentally impaired—an outcome that Lu Zhongyong, as a father, could probably accept.After all, Lu Guanyu had fallen from great heights into the mud, filling him with hatred for this world. He was like a ticking time bomb, capable at any moment of committing crimes severe enough to implicate nine generations of his clan or causing catastrophic trouble.

Now that he had preserved his life and would no longer stir up trouble, nothing could be more convenient. Perhaps living as a fool would be easier and happier than living in this world consumed by hatred.

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