Glory

Zhou Xiang followed Ye Yaming and her two maidservants out, his heart tense with anxiety, unsure how this third young lady would retaliate against him for his offense.

If she spoke ill of him before Old Master Ye, the old master would undoubtedly dismiss him without a second thought. As a trusted aide privy to many of the Ye family's affairs, Old Master Ye would never simply demote him to an ordinary servant or sell him off casually.

His fate was truly unpredictable.

It was currently mid-afternoon, the Hour of the Monkey. If there were no pressing matters at the teahouse, Ye Chongming would return around this time; otherwise, he would be later.

Ye Yaming was in no hurry, walking leisurely to the main courtyard.

She asked the matron guarding the gate, "Has the old master returned?"

"He just returned, Third Young Lady," the gatekeeper replied with warm enthusiasm. "He likely just changed clothes and sat down for tea. Your timing is perfect."

Ye Yaming nodded and entered, indeed finding Ye Chongming drinking tea in the main hall with Old Madam Ye seated beside him.

She paid her respects and exchanged a few pleasantries.

When asked about the teahouse's situation, Ye Chongming beamed with joy: "Business is excellent. With Meng Chengwei colluding with bandits to trouble our Ye family, no one believes the Yang family is innocent. After all, if anything happened to me, Yang Hong would be the most likely candidate to become guild leader."

"Thus, tea merchants formerly friendly with him are now on edge, fearing he might target them with underhanded schemes. Patrons also scorn his character, avoiding the Yang family teahouse and flocking to Gathering Fragrance Pavilion instead. I sent someone to check—the Yang family teahouse is practically deserted now."

Ye Yaming was equally pleased to hear this.

With Meng Chengwei captured, Old Madam Ye had set aside her worries, her primary concern now being Ye Yaming's broken engagement.

During this period, Ye Yaming had taken charge of the matter personally, and Old Madam Ye, unable to summon Zhou Xiang for details, had been deeply unsettled.

Seeing Ye Yaming arrive, she promptly asked, "How is your engagement annulment proceeding?"

Ye Yaming smiled at her. "I came specifically to discuss it with Grandfather."

"Oh?" said Ye Chongming. "If there are any issues, just speak freely. Your grandfather will do everything in his power to help."

"I not only want to annul the engagement but also make him return everything he's taken over the years," Ye Yaming stated. "Focusing solely on his womanizing is far from sufficient, so I plan to target his character."

"How do you intend to do that?"

Not only Ye Chongming but also Old Madam Ye and the anxiously following Zhou Xiang perked up with interest.

"I want someone to leak information to him about the illicit tea," Ye Yaming said slowly.

"What?" Ye Chongming started, his first instinct to shake his head. "No, absolutely not."

Ye Yaming maintained her calm smile without responding.

Old Madam Ye cast a sidelong glance at her husband and said to Ye Yaming with a gentle smile, "Your grandfather is just overly concerned—don't mind him."

She then turned to Ye Chongming. "Don't dismiss it so hastily. Hear what Ming'er has to say. She's not one to act recklessly. If she suggests this, she must have sound reasoning."

The moment he refused, Ye Chongming realized his mistake. With Ye Yaming's intelligence, how could she possibly endanger the Ye family?

He apologized to Ye Yaming, "You're right, your grandfather was being foolish, only thinking of suppressing this matter and rejecting it without consideration. Your grandmother is correct—you would never harm our family."Ye Yaming then said, "If Meng Chengwei hadn't been sentenced to exile and sent away from Lin'an, I naturally wouldn't have suggested this. After all, if Meng Chengwei decided to throw caution to the wind and bite back, our family would face considerable trouble."

"Now that Meng Chengwei has been sent south, and Ding Jian and the other staff involved in the matter have been sent west to mine, only a few confidants—Qi Zhifu, Master Wu, and Manager Song—are aware of the situation. As long as Master Wu, or even Qi Zhifu, helps clarify things for us, this matter will be put to rest."

Qi Zhipei, determined to deal with Meng Chengwei and worried that delays might lead to complications from the capital, had already informed the Provincial Surveillance Commission before making the arrests. Thus, as soon as the trial concluded, the case files were submitted the following day, and on the third day, the commission approved them. He immediately arranged for Meng Chengwei to be sent out of Lin'an city without waiting a single night longer.

By now, Meng Chengwei had already been gone from Lin'an for two days.

Ye Yaming had deliberately postponed the matter of breaking off the engagement until after resolving the Meng Chengwei affair, intending to use the illicit tea as bait to lure Song Yifeng.

"But keeping this matter hidden always worries me. After all, the position of prefect changes every three years. If Qi Zhifu were to leave his post, and the Meng family, seeking revenge, bribed the new prefect to use this incident to smear us, it would be easy to cast aspersions but difficult to prove our innocence—especially since it's a factual matter."

"Bringing it to light now is better than having it exposed later. With a year or two as a buffer, even if someone brings it up, the impact will be minimal. After all, we were passively caught in Meng Chengwei's trap, not actively involved in buying or selling illicit tea," Ye Yaming added.

"Moreover, at present, we've only signed a contract with Young Master Lu and haven't truly begun collaborating. The agent is still Master Zhineng. I don't know whether Qi Zhifu has informed Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi about the illicit tea. If he hasn't, and they find out later, it could ultimately affect our cooperation. It's better to bring the matter into the open now, while we only have a contract and nothing has been done. If they mind, the cooperation ends here; if they show no concern, it means they don't care, and we can proceed with confidence in working with Young Master Lu and Qi Gongzi."

After hearing these points, Ye Chongming was instantly convinced and nodded repeatedly, saying, "You're right, absolutely right."

To be honest, although the illicit tea matter wasn't his doing, it was his son who was responsible. This was the only stain on him and the Ye family.

Keeping it from Master Zhineng and Lu Guanyi had already made him feel guilty. The possibility of someone learning about it in the future and publicizing it, damaging the Ye family's reputation, hung over Ye Chongming like the Sword of Damocles, often keeping him awake at night.

It would be better, as Ye Yaming suggested, to bring the matter into the open now, while cooperation hasn't yet begun and Qi Zhipei is still the prefect. This way, there would be no fear of anyone using it against them later.

"Do what you think is necessary and how you want to do it," Ye Chongming said. "Your grandfather trusts you."

Then he turned to Zhou Xiang: "You are to follow the Third Young Lady's instructions in everything. Do not disobey or act on your own initiative in the slightest."

"Yes," Zhou Xiang replied respectfully, his emotions deeply conflicted.

He had misunderstood the Third Young Lady.

She was truly exceptionally intelligent and wholly devoted to the Ye family's welfare. How could she harm the Ye family or the Old Master? He had been judging a noble person by his own mean standards and had missed an opportunity to pledge his loyalty to the future head of the Ye family.

When Ye Chongming mentioned Zhou Xiang, Ye Yaming recounted the earlier incident and said with a smile, "Grandfather, Zhou Xiang is truly very loyal to you."