Glory

He immediately wrote invitation cards and had them delivered to Lu Guanyi, Qi Ji, and Master Wu. An hour later, the messenger returned—all three had agreed to attend the banquet.

The banquet was naturally scheduled for the evening.

Ye Chongming spent the entire day at the teahouse and only returned home at dinnertime. By then, Song Yifeng would have also returned from the prefectural school. Song Yifeng was expected to come directly to the Ye residence to propose breaking off the engagement to Ye Chongming.

Upon receiving the replies, Old Mrs. Ye quickly drafted the menu for the next day’s banquet, sending servants out to purchase ingredients and hire a chef from a restaurant to prepare the dishes.

As the matter of breaking off the engagement was not yet settled, Zhou Xiang continued to have Song Yifeng closely monitored. Song Yifeng went about his day as usual, though Wang Wenzhi summoned him again for questioning.

Knowing that Old Master Ye was concerned, Zhou Xiang promptly relayed this news to the teahouse.

Upon hearing it, Ye Chongming immediately felt relieved: "It’s settled."

With Wang Wenzhi pressing him, Song Yifeng was certain to come to the Ye residence that evening to propose breaking off the engagement. If Yin De’an were to interfere, complications would arise, so Song Yifeng would surely not inform him or seek a matchmaker first. He would likely come alone to the Ye residence to dissolve the engagement.

Everything was proceeding according to their plan.

Ye Chongming patiently watched the water clock and, seeing that the time was almost right, hurried home by carriage.

"Are the dishes for the evening banquet all prepared?" he asked Old Mrs. Ye.

"Don’t worry, everything is ready," Old Mrs. Ye replied.

"Father."

"Grandfather."

Ye Hongchang and his son, Ye Jiaxing, entered one after the other.

Ye Chongming glanced at them both.

Ye Hongchang had only suffered minor injuries and was now mostly recovered. For the important guests today, he had dressed up and looked quite spirited. As for Ye Jiaxing, he needed no mention.

"Jiaxing, go to the main gate to welcome the guests," Ye Chongming instructed. "Hongchang, come with me to the outer courtyard to wait."

Ye Jiaxing acknowledged the order and asked, "Should we send someone to fetch Third Sister?"

Since the banquet was for male guests, it would naturally be held in the side hall of the outer courtyard.

However, as this concerned Ye Yaming’s lifelong matter, it was best for her to be present. Moreover, since Lu Guanyi and the others were coming to discuss cooperation, Ye Yaming needed to participate as well. Sitting at the same table for the meal was out of the question, so the arrangement of the banquet required careful consideration.

Ye Chongming had already thought of this and said, "When I sent the invitation to Master Wu, I included his wife as well. Later, your grandmother and Ming’er will go to the outer courtyard to help entertain Madam Wu."

Ye Jiaxing praised, "Brilliant," and added, "Then I have no further questions."

With that, he hurried out the door toward the main gate.

Just then, Ye Yaming also arrived, so Ye Chongming led everyone to prepare for the outer courtyard.

Before leaving, Ye Yaming reminded him, "Grandfather, it would be best to send someone to explain the situation to Fourth Uncle. If we host esteemed guests at home without notifying him, he might be displeased."

Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang immediately understood.

Right, there was still that troublemaker at home. He had been caned some days ago and was now almost able to walk again.

In principle, as the Fourth Master of the Ye family, Ye Hongrong should be notified when male guests visited—this was a matter of respecting his status. If he was home when guests arrived, etiquette dictated that he should also come out to help entertain them.

If they acted as if he didn’t exist and hosted guests without informing him, that scoundrel might get angry and even have someone carry him to the front courtyard to cause trouble.Ye Chongming said to Li Fu, "Go to the Fourth Branch and tell them that due to his mistakes, our family owes Master Wu a great favor. Today, I have invited Master Wu and his wife for a meal to thank him for suppressing this matter."

"If he asks for details, explain that someone previously arranged for tea customers to cause trouble, which even reached the authorities. Master Wu was the one who suppressed it. Song Yifeng caught wind of this and tried to use it as an excuse to break off the engagement. I plan to leverage Master Wu's status to pressure Song Yifeng, hence hosting this banquet for Master Wu and his wife. It would be inconvenient for him to attend today's banquet, so he should focus on recuperating in his courtyard."

He then added, "Send several Manor Guards to stand guard at the entrance of the Fourth Branch's courtyard and prevent anyone from moving about freely. You must personally oversee this matter—no mistakes are allowed."

"Yes."

Old Mrs. Ye had originally gone to the kitchen herself to arrange the dishes. Upon hearing that the Old Master had sent people to the Fourth Branch's courtyard, she also thought of Ye Hongrong, that troublesome one, and promptly dispatched several matrons to keep watch.

The entire family treated Ye Hongrong as a major threat to be guarded against.

After everyone had gathered in the outer courtyard's hall for a while, Ye Jiaxing ushered in Lu Guanyi, Qi Ji, and Master Wu and his wife.

Master Wu was in his fifties, and his wife, née Yue, was someone Old Mrs. Ye had met before. In this era, restrictions on women were not overly strict, so Old Mrs. Ye and Ye Yaming did not escort Madam Wu to the inner courtyard. Instead, they all sat together with the male guests in the main hall of the outer courtyard.

After a few exchanges of pleasantries, Madam Wu immediately began praising Ye Yaming.

Since Qi Zhifu was her husband's superior, and Ye Yaming had contributed significantly to the business ventures of Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, with the Ye family now in a cooperative relationship with them, it was only natural for Madam Wu to flatter Ye Yaming.

Ye Yaming feigned embarrassment and modestly deflected the praise.

Old Mrs. Ye quickly interjected, "Please don't praise her too much—children are easily spoiled by flattery and may become arrogant."

Witnessing this, Ye Chongming felt deeply moved.

Merchants held a low social status; while they had wealth, they lacked power and were easy targets. Thus, everyone went to great lengths to build good relations with the authorities. Every year, they donated money for bridge repairs, road construction, and various taxes and levies, all while pretending to be enthusiastic contributors, flattering Master Wu, who represented Qi Zhifu in dealings with them.

Any friendship he had with Master Wu was built on a foundation of money. If he hadn't been among the top donors, served as the head of the tea guild, and presented generous gifts annually, would Master Wu even know who he was?

But now, thanks to Ye Yaming's demonstrated abilities, they had formed a cooperative relationship with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, and Master Wu's attitude had done a complete about-face. Unable to openly change his stance, he had his wife adopt the role of the flatterer.

Indeed, following Ye Yaming's advice to seek one or two high-status and reliable partners was the right path for the Ye family to take.

While Madam Wu was praising Ye Yaming, Qi Ji and Master Wu were also exchanging pleasantries with Ye Chongming.

Once the small talk subsided, Lu Guanyi addressed Ye Yaming, "Miss Ye, these are tea sets I had made by porcelain craftsmen in Xinping Town. Please take a look and see if there are any issues."

The Page standing behind him stepped forward upon hearing this, carrying a rattan box. Bai Rui quickly approached, took the box, opened it, and carefully arranged the tea sets on the small table beside Ye Yaming.