Chapter 42: Furious

After hearing Ye Yaming’s words, Ye Chongming was very worried. He returned to the main courtyard and repeatedly instructed his wife to take good care of the girls at home and not let them go out. Only then did he set off for Baiteng County.

Ye Hongchang watched his elderly father with white hair leave, feeling uneasy.

Although Ye Chongming still insisted on going up the mountain once a year to visit the Li Zhengs and maintain relationships, the two Li Zhengs did not live deep in the mountains. The carriage could reach them, and the road was relatively flat.

Now, to pre-order tea and sign contracts with them, he had to visit each household. The mountain roads were rugged, and many places were inaccessible by carriage, so he had to ride a horse.

Ye Chongming was sixty years old, and Ye Hongchang was really worried about his health. But he had injured his leg. Although the injury was not serious, running around with an injury would definitely cause problems.

His second brother had gone to Tongxiang, and his fourth brother was unreliable. After being beaten with dozens of boards, he was still lying in bed recovering.

As for Ye Jiaxing, someone had to stay in Lin’an City to handle things. He was not experienced enough to go to the mountains to sign contracts, so he had to stay in the city.

“You ride to Huichun Hall and ask the doctor to prescribe some pills. Send them to the city gate for the old master,” Ye Hongchang instructed the servant.

Watching the servant leave, he felt a little relieved.

…

Half a day after Ye Hongchang returned to Lin’an City, Meng Chengwei also received news from the bandits.

“What? The person only suffered minor injuries, and the tea silver was not stolen? What are they doing? They took so much of my silver and did such a poor job. Are they just taking money without doing anything?” he roared.

The room fell silent, and no one dared to speak, fearing to provoke Meng Chengwei’s anger.

It was known that not only did the bandits fail to seriously injure Ye Hongchang and steal the tea silver, but one of the bandits was also captured and sent to the authorities. Fortunately, they did not show up themselves but sent a disguised servant to contact the bandits. Otherwise, they would be worried about the authorities coming after them.

After venting his anger, Meng Chengwei gradually calmed down. He slowly drank a cup of tea and said, “Meng Liang, I asked you to send someone to watch the third girl of the Ye family. How is it going?”

He really liked the third girl of the Ye family, Ye Yaming.

When Meng Chengwei was in the capital, he was a playboy. He was most interested not in brothel girls but in good family girls. He loved seeing those girls fall for him because he was young, rich, talented, and handsome. He enjoyed the process of seducing them.

Seeing that Ye Yaming fit his aesthetic, he planned to put some effort into her. Initially, he only asked Meng Liang to send someone to track her movements for a chance encounter. If he could make her fall for him and want to marry him, it would be fun.

The important thing was not the result but the process. But now, after repeatedly failing to tamper with the Ye family and with the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Meng Chengwei had lost patience with the Ye family. He now planned to use underhanded means on Ye Yaming.

He would set a trap, make something happen to Ye Yaming, use a drug to make her faint, and then he would “coincidentally” rescue her. As a result, she would cling to him, and he would be forced to marry her.

Thinking about Ye Chongming’s reaction to this, he wanted to laugh.

At that time, even if Ye Chongming was unwilling and Ye Yaming’s fiancé was a scholar, he would have to beg him to take Ye Yaming as a concubine.

Note, “beg”!

Once Ye Yaming became his concubine, the Ye family would be at his mercy. They would have to give him the tea-making recipes and everything else. The garden households and tea would all be his.

He didn’t want to do this, but the Ye family forced him to this point.

Meng Liang, who had been with Meng Chengwei for two or three years, knew his distant cousin’s temperament well.

Seeing him half-close his eyes with a determined expression, Meng Liang had a bad feeling. He lowered his head and trembled, “I sent someone to watch her. But that third girl of the Ye family is really strange. She has been staying at home these days and hasn’t gone out.”

As expected, a teacup was thrown at his face. Meng Liang skillfully used his elbow to protect his face, but the teacup still hurt his arm.

Fortunately, Meng Chengwei had drunk the tea in the cup. Otherwise, it would have been more than just a painful arm.

Meng Chengwei’s servant was relieved. Luckily, they had taken a few steps back when they heard the news, fearing their master would hurt someone in his rage.

Meng Chengwei was usually calm and didn’t get angry easily, mostly just scolding people. But when his schemes repeatedly failed, his accumulated anger was terrifying.

Meng Liang was his cousin, so Meng Chengwei couldn’t offend all his relatives. When he was angry, he threw things at Meng Liang, who could dodge or block them.

But if it were the servants, they couldn’t dodge or block. The punishment would be more severe. They had to stand there and take it, whether they were injured or not. It was their fate!

“What about the other girls in the Ye family? As long as they are of the right age, any of them will do,” Meng Chengwei said, no longer caring about his preferences.

Because he was cunning and ruthless, even his parents and brothers didn’t dare provoke him. His aunt, who was a concubine in the palace, admired his cunning and ruthlessness, so he was a little tyrant at home and outside.

Over the years, he had always gotten what he wanted.

Of course, there were many powerful people in the capital. Although his aunt was one of the four concubines, she was not favored. The Meng family was not a prominent family. He was smart and knew when to back down. He didn’t dare provoke those he couldn’t afford to offend. Even if someone offended him, he wouldn’t easily retaliate, fearing they would trace it back to him.

Lin’an City had many connections with the capital. He didn’t dare touch those with backgrounds. The small Ye family, with no power or influence, was easy to manipulate. But he had repeatedly failed with the Ye family. How could he not go mad?

“Yes, I’ll go find out,” Meng Liang said, eager to get away from Meng Chengwei.

Meng Chengwei looked at his advisor, Liu Qilin, “Manager Liu, do you have anything to say?”

Liu Qilin wanted to say he had nothing to say but didn’t dare. After thinking for a moment, he said, “The day after tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. We should find an opportunity to act against the Ye family girls. It won’t be easy to make the Ye family come to us for cooperation in a short time. How about we target the garden households that cooperate with the Ye family? Spend more money to win them over.”