Glory

The reason the Ye family happened to "coincidentally" encounter Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji here today was because Lu Guanyi had taken an interest in Ye family's tea and intended to engage in the tea trade. Hearing that Ye Chongming had sent a request for a meeting, he arranged to meet here, leading to today's "coincidental" encounter.

Since Ye Chongming had never before encountered "noble guests" here and was unaware of Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji's visit, it seemed unlikely that he had brought his granddaughter today with the intention of meeting "noble guests" to marry her off to one of them.

Ye Chongming noticed the meaningful glance Master Zhineng gave him.

At first, he didn't grasp its significance, but once he understood the deeper meaning behind Master Zhineng's look, he broke out in a cold sweat. He then realized why Ye Yaming, who had agreed to brew tea, was now refraining from appearing.

Master Zhineng was a year or two older than him, so Ye Yaming brewing tea for him could be seen as showing respect to an elder. However, brewing tea in front of esteemed young men like Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji would be highly inappropriate, giving the impression of self-degradation and leading others to suspect that the Ye family was trying to climb the social ladder. To put it bluntly, it might even be misconstrued as offering herself.

Good heavens, he had absolutely no such intention.

For one thing, Ye Yaming was still engaged. Even if the engagement were broken, he had no desire to send his granddaughter to powerful families to seek favor. Whether as a concubine or even as a wife, he would have to think twice.

After all, an unequal match is ill-advised. If their status didn't match and they forced their way in, the girl married off would likely lead a difficult life.

He discreetly wiped the cold sweat from his brow, once again grateful for Ye Yaming's wisdom.

Meanwhile, Ye Yaming observed the tea set arranged by the young novice Jingchen and his tea-brewing technique, noting that it was identical to Granny Yu's. However, perhaps due to his more sensitive palate, his measurements of tea leaves and timing for steeping were more precise, suggesting the tea he brewed would taste better than Granny Yu's.

As hot water was poured into the teapot, the aroma of Osmanthus Tea quickly filled the air.

Master Zhineng couldn't help but praise the scent upon smelling it. When Jingchen served him the tea and he saw the clear, pale yellow liquor, his eyes shone with even greater anticipation.

Everyone present was served a cup of tea.

Jingchen had prepared the tea set according to the number of people in the room, using a large teapot. While pouring, he employed a circular pouring technique, ensuring each person received tea of consistent strength and flavor.

Ye Yaming took a sip and found that Jingchen's tea-brewing skills were indeed exceptional. Without the aid of modern tea utensils or the brewing methods developed by tea masters over generations, he still managed to brew tea of remarkably high quality.

It was no wonder that serving a tea connoisseur like Master Zhineng required such mastery in tea brewing. The competition was fierce.

Master Zhineng savored the tea in his cup slowly, then nodded after a while and said, "It has the flavor of Loose Tea and the fragrance of osmanthus. Though the osmanthus aroma is rich, it doesn't overpower the tea's delicate scent. Instead, they complement each other, enhancing one another. Wonderful, truly wonderful!"

Unlike Pressed Tea, where the spice's aroma masks the tea's fragrance and its flavor overshadows the tea's true essence, this tea retained its original character.

"This tea..." He looked up at Ye Yaming, his expression somewhat complex. "It will surely become a favorite among tea lovers."

Since becoming a monk, aside from chanting scriptures and meditating, he had little else to do. His lifelong passion had been tea, and he had devoted his life to studying how to produce better tea.The reason he could give Ye Chongming face and associate with him was due to receiving his guidance in tea-making. Since the Ye family had built their foundation on tea, they naturally possessed secret techniques in tea processing. Moreover, Ye Hongsheng, the second son of the Ye family, had further refined and enhanced these secret methods.

Thus, Master Zhineng had greatly benefited from the Ye family in tea-making and, in return, showed them some favor.

However, perhaps due to insufficient innate talent, despite a lifetime of research, he never managed to produce tea superior to the Ye family's.

Given that the original tea-making methods were already so advanced, he never expected that Ye Yaming, despite her youth and being a woman, could surpass her predecessors and create such a new category of tea. How could Master Zhineng not be deeply moved?

"This tea will surely bring great prosperity to your Ye family," he added, looking at Ye Chongming. "Treat your granddaughter well."

"Yes," Ye Chongming replied, standing up and bowing.

Having shared tea with Master Zhineng for decades, Ye Chongming knew well that a single word of praise from the master could instantly multiply the tea's value a hundredfold, let alone such high acclaim.

Overjoyed, after responding, he cupped his hands toward Master Zhineng and said with a hearty laugh, "Thank you for your praise, Master Zhineng."

Meanwhile, Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, seated on the other side of Master Zhineng, were also thoroughly impressed by the tea.

If not for the fact that they were in Master Zhineng's meditation room, where the master valued tranquility, and considering his status and position, the lively Qi Ji would have already burst into continuous praise.

Even Lu Guanyi, who was usually composed and rarely showed emotion, now had a flicker in his eyes, as if contemplating something.

Ye Chongming was always perceptive. His purpose today was simply to deliver the tea. Noticing that Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji were present, and fearing they might have matters to discuss, he prepared to take his leave after finishing his cup of tea.

But Master Zhineng said, "No hurry. It's still early; stay a while longer." With that, he called for Jingchen to brew a fresh pot of tea.

Surprised, Ye Chongming expressed his thanks and sat down again, sipping tea while listening to the conversation between Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi.

As he listened, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

After leaving Chongshan Temple and boarding the carriage, once they had driven away from the temple, he asked Ye Yaming, "What are your thoughts on Master Zhineng's words?"

In the past, Ye Chongming might have first tested Ye Jiaxing, waiting for him to speak before asking Ye Yaming. But now, he had no mood to instruct his grandson. During the conversation between Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi, some court developments and details about Lu Guanyi himself had been revealed.

In the capital, the Crown Prince was twenty-five years old, still the eldest son born to the late empress; the Fourth Prince was twenty, born to the current empress.

In Tea Administration, the court was divided into two factions led by these two princes. The Crown Prince's faction advocated for normal tea-horse trade with the northern nomadic tribe, the Great Jin; while the Fourth Prince's faction argued that illicit tea had become rampant recently and called for the closure of the Tea-Horse Trade Market to investigate illicit tea. The two factions were locked in constant dispute over this in court.

Lu Guanyi was the eldest son of the Marquis Xuanwu stationed at the border. His late mother and the late empress were cousins. From the conversation between Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi, it seemed that Lu Guanyi was currently working for the Crown Prince.

Originally, Lin'an City was some distance from the capital, and the Ye family was merely an ordinary merchant household. These court disputes had little to do with the Ye family. Ye Chongming initially saw no need to pay attention to the topics discussed by Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi.But he felt that he had known Master Zhineng for many years and visited him once or twice annually. Throughout all these years, he had never encountered any high-ranking officials or nobles by chance at Master Zhineng’s place, nor had he ever heard news about the imperial court or even the capital from Master Zhineng’s lips.

Today, not only did he meet Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji here, but Master Zhineng also deliberately kept him back and spoke of these matters in his presence. He couldn’t help feeling that Master Zhineng was implying something.