Glory

During this time, many people continued arriving at the tea house to pass the time, chat, and listen to storytelling. Those who hadn't been paying attention to the staircase suddenly noticed three men being noisily escorted downstairs by the staff, shoved out the door. The leader among them wore silk brocade and looked vaguely familiar at first glance. Everyone grew excited, rising to watch the spectacle.

No matter how thrilling the storyteller's tales might be, they couldn't compare to real-life drama.

Someone recognized Yang Hong and exclaimed, "Good heavens, isn't that Master Yang, the proprietor of Taifeng Tea House? What's happened to him?"

Lin Zhensheng knew this would inevitably cause a stir. Lin'an was prosperous and full of idle people. News of any household burglary or marital affair would spread throughout the city within half a day, let alone an incident occurring right in the tea house.

Rather than letting people speculate and spread distorted rumors, it was better to clarify matters upfront.

He immediately recounted everything in detail.

While he couldn't mention Fourth Master falling into a trap involving illicit tea, he could openly discuss how Eldest Master had returned from the capital, been robbed, and injured—this wouldn't harm the Ye family's reputation in the slightest.

As for the tea currency matter, it needed even more publicity to benefit Baofeng Bank. With so many people present now, this was the perfect opportunity to speak about it.

Thus, he addressed these matters openly and without any concealment.

Even without embellishment, Yang Hong's smug and despicable demeanor became fully apparent to everyone. The crowd's gazes held not only surprise but also profound contempt.

The contempt was for his character, while the surprise was directed at his intelligence.

If the Ye family were truly collapsing and everyone was kicking them while they were down, people might understand the Yang family taking a few jabs. But the Ye family remained perfectly stable, with Ye Chongming still serving as guild leader. A few words from him in the tea trade circles would be enough to squeeze Yang Hong out of business in all of Lin'an.

Just how stupid must he be to do such a thing?

Yang Hong had wished he could disappear into a crack in the floor the moment he was dragged downstairs.

He had been too impatient. Upon learning that Meng Chengwei was an Imperial merchant seeking tea business partners, he became single-mindedly determined to establish connections with him.

Frustrated that Meng Chengwei looked down on him—preferring to wait daily at Gathered Fragrance Tea House for Ye Chongming to extend an olive branch rather than acknowledge his own proactive efforts—Yang Hong grew deeply resentful.

When Meng Chengwei finally expressed willingness to cooperate and hinted that he should undermine Ye Chongming's dignity and tarnish his reputation, Yang Hong naturally wanted to perform well, hence his hasty arrival.

In his view, Ye Chongming always prided himself on being benevolent and kind-tempered, not one to hold grudges. Even if he made some sarcastic remarks, Ye Chongming shouldn't take offense, let less publicly confront him.

Even if confronted, it would only amount to a few angry words—harmless and inconsequential.

He never expected this shop manager to be so bold as to have him forcibly escorted outside, making him lose face so spectacularly while adding fabricated accusations.

They were nothing but a bunch of bandits! How utterly unreasonable!

Although arguing with the Ye family's manager in public compromised his dignity, he couldn't care less now. If he didn't deny the accusations, his disgrace would spread throughout Jiangnan by tomorrow."Nonsense. I merely asked Old Master Ye a few questions and spoke a few honest words. Surely you can't be so domineering as to forbid people from speaking the truth?" he argued. "Is this the family tradition of the Ye family? Usually pretending to be saints, yet flying into a rage and distorting the truth when someone speaks honestly. I just want to ask, is there any place in this world where reason still prevails?" he declared with sharp words and a stern expression.

"So many people are listening. Do you still want to distort the truth in front of all these witnesses?" Lin Zhensheng said, not bothering to argue further. Seeing the shop assistants had already dragged Yang Hong outside, he turned and went back into the teahouse.

Arguing too much would only make the Ye family teahouse appear aggressive.

After all, with so many people watching, there would be no shortage of idlers eager to embellish and spread the news of Yang Hong's earlier performance. The world is never short of people who enjoy watching a spectacle and stirring up trouble.

Once inside the teahouse, he asked the shop assistants, "Did anyone get hurt?"

"Not at all. Manager, we all know our limits," the shop assistants replied cheerfully.

Since arriving in Lin'an City, Meng Chengwei had reserved a private booth on the second floor of the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion, right next to the staircase, for a month. His intention was to attract the attention of the Ye family, encounter them by chance, and develop a friendly relationship.

After being repeatedly rejected and with the Ye family already aware of his attempts to poach Estate Holders—effectively tearing up any pretense of civility—he had no intention of visiting teahouses under the Ye family's name anymore.

However, the Yang family's teahouse was some distance from the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion. To witness Ye Chongming's humiliation and soothe his own anger, he still came to the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion early in the morning.

When Yang Hong caused the disturbance, Meng Chengwei was sitting in his second-floor booth, listening to the commotion outside.

At first, hearing Yang Hong confront Ye Chongming, Meng Chengwei was quite pleased. But the outcome left him scowling.

"Useless," he cursed, deeply regretting his collaboration with the Yang family.

Meng Liang, who had received many favors from Yang Hong, naturally felt compelled to speak up for him: "It's the Ye family who are being unreasonable. As members of the same guild, the Yang family's business is no smaller than the Ye family's. How dare they act so disrespectfully? For this matter, I'll hire some Loafers to spread negative rumors about the Ye family."

Meng Chengwei initially wanted to ignore him, but after a moment's thought, he nodded and said, "Fine, go ahead."

As Meng Liang stood up, Meng Chengwei, feeling uneasy about this clansman, cautioned him, "Be careful. Make sure it's done indirectly, so no one traces it back to us."

"Yes."

After a pause, Meng Chengwei added, "Have these rumors spread to the Estate Holders in the mountains."

The Estate Holders might have been skeptical when they first heard the rumors spread by Liu Qilin and others. But now, with the entire city buzzing about the Ye family's decline, they would surely panic and choose to redeem their tea notes as quickly as possible to avoid any unforeseen losses.

Once redemption became widespread, the news would spread further. Those who had deposited silver at Baofeng Bank would grow restless, fearing their funds had been used to pay off the Estate Holders. Worried that the bank might not have enough silver when they needed to withdraw, they would likely rush to retrieve their deposits as well.

When Baofeng Bank collapsed under the pressure, he refused to believe Ye Chongming would fare well.

In short, anyone who dared disrespect Meng Chengwei would not get off lightly."Yes." Meng Liang quickly flattered his clansman, "Sir, that's a brilliant move."