Glory

The day after the discussion, Ye Chongming wrote a letter and had a servant deliver it to Lu Guanyi's residence. The letter expressed willingness to cooperate with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, though specific details required further discussion; additionally, he hoped to invite Master Zhineng to act as an agent.

He sent the letter in the morning. Shortly after the attendant departed, they returned with Lu Guanyi's reply, stating that he would visit Ye Chongming at the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion in the afternoon to discuss the collaboration in detail.

Ye Chongming immediately sent word to inform Ye Yaming.

"Bring me that rattan box containing the tea set," Ye Yaming instructed Bai Rui.

After Bai Rui brought it, Ye Yaming inspected the tea set and added some items she needed.

In her previous life, she had owned such a rattan box to store her commonly used tea utensils, making it convenient to carry around.

After transmigrating and returning from the mountain, she had drawn several sketches and asked Xia Momo to find a porcelain kiln to produce some tea utensils.

She had Xia Momo explain to the kiln owner that the young lady of the household had a sudden whim to make some porcelain pieces for amusement.

The kiln owner was likely accustomed to receiving such small orders from wealthy young ladies wanting to create trinkets. Without asking too many questions, he accepted the job.

However, due to the small scale of the order, the kiln owner needed to wait until he had enough pieces to fill a kiln, which delayed the process.

Before their previous trip to Chongshan Temple, Ye Yaming had sent Xia Momo to urge the kiln owner and paid a little extra, finally retrieving the tea set she wanted.

Since money was not an issue and she had sought out the best kiln, the tea utensils met her standards reasonably well.

However, she had not brewed tea during the last outing, so these utensils had yet to be unveiled.

As Ye Yaming was to participate in the negotiations, Ye Chongming returned home for lunch with Ye Jiaxing at noon. In the afternoon, the three generations went together to the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion.

"Old Master Ye."

"Brother Ye…"

In the short span from alighting the carriage to going upstairs, they encountered two groups of people, all warmly greeting Ye Chongming.

Thanks to the Osmanthus Tea, the Gathering Fragrance Pavilion was now packed to capacity. The sudden appearance of this new tea at the Ye family's teahouse had drawn tea enthusiasts from all over Lin'an City, eager to sample it.

With the limited quantity of Osmanthus Tea likely to sell out in a few days, even those who had been hesitant were now flocking to try it.

The Ye family had paid the silver as scheduled to reserve next year's Spring Tea. Subsequently, the launch of Osmanthus Tea caused a significant stir, bringing in substantial daily profits. The rumors circulating in the city a couple of days earlier naturally dissipated without a fight.

Once again, Ye Chongming was the respected Old Master Ye. As for the young girl following him, the tea patrons maintained polite courtesy.

Upon reaching the third floor, they waited briefly before Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji arrived.

Noticing Ye Yaming among those present, a flicker of surprise crossed both their eyes.

After exchanging greetings and sitting down, they exchanged a few pleasantries before Qi Ji spoke up, "Regarding the collaboration, may I ask how Old Master Ye and your family have considered it?"

Ye Chongming nodded, "I propose contributing half of the tea leaves produced by the Ye family's estate holders, along with our existing tea-making recipes and sixty thousand taels of silver, in exchange for a fifty percent stake in the partnership."

Upon hearing that only half of the tea leaves were included, Qi Ji felt somewhat disappointed.

He was aware of Lu Guanyi's situation: though the legitimate eldest son of the marquis household, he stood in the way of his stepmother's biological son, making his position at home extremely precarious.

Fortunately, he had been close to the Crown Prince since childhood. Their circumstances were similar, bonding over shared hardships. If Lu Guanyi were to meet an unnatural death, the Crown Prince would undoubtedly investigate the cause. It was for this reason that his stepmother dared not attempt to take his life.Staying at home was stifling, and Lu Guanyi wanted to achieve something to help the Crown Prince ascend the throne, as that was his only way out. Therefore, he came to Jiangnan in a private capacity to engage in business.

He chose tea for two reasons: first, it was highly profitable; second, it was related to border trade and security.

Tea from Jiangnan had been famous since ancient times and was highly sought after by the nobility in the capital. Given the reputation of Jiangnan tea, Ye Jia's leading position in the industry, and the golden reputation of their tea-making methods, partnering with Ye Jia was their first choice.

But now, Ye Jia was only willing to offer half of their tea for profit, which significantly reduced the benefits. As for buying tea from other regions, who knew what the situation would be like?

It would be difficult for Lu Guanyi to achieve significant success in a short time.

Feeling somewhat unwilling, he asked, "If you contribute all the Jiangnan tea as shares and take a sixty-five percent stake..."

"Ahem..." Lu Guanyi suddenly coughed twice, successfully interrupting Qi Ji.

Qi Ji looked at him.

Lu Guanyi turned to Ye Chongming and said, "Fine. We'll do as you say."

He then asked, "You mentioned 'existing'—does that mean future tea formulas are not included?"

Qi Ji seemed not to have noticed this wording earlier. Hearing it now, he frowned again.

Merchants had low status; otherwise, a mere Recommended man like Song Yifeng would not have looked down on the marriage with Ye Jia to such an extent. Facing Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, Ye Chongming was inwardly anxious, fearing that if they were displeased, they might crush Ye Jia with a single finger, just like Meng Chengwei.

Fortunately, he was old and steady, and he managed to maintain his composure outwardly.

He nodded, "Yes. You both know how difficult it is to innovate new teas, and you should also understand the immense benefits a new tea can bring to a tea merchant. The newly developed Osmanthus Tea can be considered my third granddaughter's contribution to Ye Jia and a gesture of sincerity toward our partners. But we, a group of grown men, cannot keep taking advantage of a young girl."

"Therefore, for any new tea formulas Ming'er creates in the future, I suggest we pool funds to purchase them from her. The price will depend on the value of the tea formula and whether it is an exclusive license."

This idea came to Ye Chongming last night after Ye Yaming left, recalling her mention of receiving tea formulas through divine or ancestral blessings.

The term "exclusive license" was something Ye Yaming had mentioned earlier in the carriage.

Why would the deities or Ye family ancestors guide Ye Yaming instead of her father or brothers? Aside from her intelligence, it must be due to her profound blessings.

Such a child naturally had to be kept within the family. But to keep her, she must be given adequate benefits. How could it be fair to expect the horse to run without letting it graze, while the eldest branch reaped most of the rewards?

Since Ye Yaming had expressed dissatisfaction with the family's wealth distribution, if Ye Jia failed to satisfy her, given her shrewdness and intelligence, she would undoubtedly choose to marry a man with no parents, brothers, or siblings.

As long as she could control such a man, she could take charge, and all the money she earned would be hers. Why would she need to involve the entire Ye family?

Therefore, she must be given sufficient benefits to ensure she stayed with Ye Jia and worked for the family's interests.

In Ye Chongming's eyes, the eldest and second branches were the same—both were his descendants. Originally, his eldest son was capable, and his eldest grandson was promising, while the other branches had no one to rival the eldest, so he favored the eldest branch. Moreover, family laws and customs dictated that the eldest branch inherit seventy percent of the family property, so he had never considered favoring the second branch.