Glory

Madam Wu also looked over with curiosity.

Ye Yaming was quite satisfied upon seeing the texture of the tea set.

This sweet white porcelain was considered extremely high-end ceramics in the Great Jin Dynasty.

Last time when Ye Yaming took out the tea set, she had told Lu Guanyi to let Master Zhineng arrange the tea setting first, and wait until the tea arrangement and the use of tea sets spread among the upper class before selling the tea sets. It seemed Lu Guanyi had understood the meaning behind her words.

Tea, although a beverage, is consumed by everyone from royalty and nobility down to street vendors and laborers. However, the pursuit of the ultimate taste of tea and tea brewing techniques belongs to the scholar-official class—those with wealth, leisure, culture, and a touch of bourgeois sentiment. It is this pursuit that forms tea culture.

Since it is a culture, it must be elegant, artistic, and inevitably high-end, grand, and classy. Therefore, the formation and promotion of tea culture must start from the upper class.

Thus, from the very beginning, these tea sets must follow a high-end route.

The reason pressed tea is highly sought after is not because of its taste, but because it embodies elegance. The reason loose tea is currently considered lowbrow in the Great Jin Dynasty is precisely because it lacks the means to convey elegance.

So, starting with the tea sets, then providing the scholar-officials with opportunities to showcase their cultural level and aesthetic taste through tea arrangement. Finally, introducing innovations in flavor, allowing them to discover that after experiencing one new tea, there is another to explore, with various brewing methods for different types of tea.

In this way, how could they not abandon the pressed tea they have been playing with for decades and turn to the endlessly varied loose tea?

She didn’t need an emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang to "abolish pressed tea and promote loose tea" to still replace pressed tea with loose tea and bring everyone back to the true essence of tea.

Looking at the styles of these tea sets, which were exactly the same as the ones she had drawn, Ye Yaming nodded and looked up at Lu Guanyi with a smile: "Very good, nothing inappropriate. Young Master Lu, it’s truly impressive that you managed to find a master craftsman who makes sweet white porcelain and produced these tea sets in such a short time."

"Hey, you don’t know—after you handed over the drawings last time at Chongshan Temple, he couldn’t even wait a single night. He immediately sent someone out of Lin’an City, galloping south to Xinping Town, found the best master there to fire a kiln, and rushed back without stopping. These tea sets were delivered to Zi Mo less than an hour ago," Qi Ji said.

Lu Guanyi did not refute him and only said to Ye Yaming, "People in the capital highly praise sweet white porcelain, so I had someone make sweet white porcelain. If Miss Ye has any other ideas, feel free to share them."

After a pause, he added, "Don’t worry, we will pay for them."

Master Wu, upon hearing this, gave Ye Yaming a surprised look, his expression quite subtle.

Ye Yaming naturally understood his meaning.

She knew that at this time, people of status and position were ashamed to discuss money openly; only street vendors and laborers would lower themselves to bargain. As merchants, the Ye family, having chosen to cooperate with Lu and Qi, should also adhere to this norm. Especially since the Ye family was in a passive position in their cooperation with Lu and Qi.

In Master Wu’s view, although he could lower himself to flatter the Ye family, it was only out of respect for Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji. The Ye family, in the presence of Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, should do their utmost to please the two. Any good recipes or valuable items should be offered up entirely.As for the benefits, if Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji were honorable, they would share some profits to compensate the Ye family for their contributions; if they were not honorable and did not distribute any benefits, the Ye family should not harbor any resentment.

The Ye family must clearly understand their position in terms of hierarchy and status.

Despite knowing Master Wu's thoughts, Ye Yaming remained expressionless, felt no discomfort inwardly, and intended to remain unrepentant.

Coming from an era that advocated equality for all, she lacked the servility characteristic of people in this time. If, from the very beginning of their cooperation, the Ye family or she herself had acted subserviently and assumed a subordinate role, they would never be able to stand tall again.

What she sought was equal collaboration and mutual benefit. The fifty-fifty split was not arbitrarily proposed.

She responded to Lu Guanyi with a smile and a nod: "Thank you, Young Master Lu."

Her attitude not only surprised Master Wu and his wife but also made Lu Guanyi raise an eyebrow slightly; Qi Ji, on the other hand, was thoroughly intrigued and found it fascinating.

Ye Yaming was unlike any other woman they had ever encountered.

"The tea arrangement I set up last time, due to the solemn and dignified atmosphere of Master Zhineng's meditation room, aimed to express the theme of 'Zen.' Therefore, I used tablecloths, vases, and floral arrangements that harmonized with this theme and ambiance. The vase featured rustic, withered branches, symbolizing the withering and 'death' of tea leaves during the processing stage."

"Yet, when tea is awakened by boiling water, it unfurls and releases its sweetness, much like a phoenix reborn from ashes—it comes back to life. This represents glory and life. Hence, I chose white porcelain to brew the tea, creating a contrast with the color of the withered branches. The tea arrangement thus achieved a dynamic interplay of colors. This is the aesthetic and insight that a tea arrangement can evoke."

Master Wu was a scholar. Although he had only attained the rank of Recommended Man and progressed no further, he was still a man of letters with a romantic and artistic side.

When he first heard Ye Yaming speak, he was full of disdain, thinking that a Merchant's daughter, whose eyes were only on money, could offer no profound insights. But now, hearing such eloquent discourse, he was deeply astonished.

Even Lu Guanyi, Qi Ji, and Ye Chongming, who had previously heard Ye Yaming's views on tea ceremony at Chongshan Temple, found her words refreshing and enlightening.

It was hard to imagine that such insights came from an uneducated fifteen-year-old girl. Even Master Zhineng, a lifelong scholar who had devoted himself to the pursuit of wisdom, could not have articulated such a theory.

Of course, "uneducated" here was relative to those who had studied for ten years in harsh conditions and held the credentials or level of a Presented Scholar.

Ye Yaming did not think she was particularly remarkable. She was merely standing on the shoulders of giants, articulating later generations' understanding of tea ceremony and tea arrangements. Of course, this understanding was not copied verbatim but was her own interpretation, built upon those foundational theories.

Calmly, she continued: "What if I wanted to express the vibrant vitality of spring? Spring Tea emerges, lush and green, with the scent of spring in the air; in the scorching summer, we seek cool relief as lotus flowers bloom across the lake; in winter, the stunning moment when red plum blossoms burst forth amidst white snow. If we wish to convey these in a tea arrangement, what kind of tea ware should we endow it with?"

Everyone in the room fell into thoughtful contemplation.

Ye Yaming turned to Lu Guanyi, her eyes filled with seriousness: "Therefore, tea ware is not monotonous. Its color, texture, and style can all vary. We can design it based on various themes, as long as its functionality remains consistent."