Chapter 27: Identity Swap

Ye Chongming and Old Madam Ye’s faces turned very ugly.

If Ye Yaming had said this a few days ago, they would have dismissed it, thinking she couldn’t judge people and was overthinking, or perhaps she had a dark mindset, thinking too badly of others.

Song Yifeng was such a polite young man; how could he be like Ye Yaming described him to be?

But now, Ye Yaming had just demonstrated her incredibly shocking abilities. Her deep thinking, far-sightedness, and keen insight made Ye Chongming, who had been in business for decades, feel ashamed.

Don’t forget, she had immediately seen through Meng Chengwei’s inappropriateness.

As Song Yifeng’s fiancée, she naturally paid more attention to him and understood him better than anyone. If she said Song Yifeng was inappropriate, then he really was.

Thinking of Meng Chengwei, Ding Jian, and Song Yifeng, Ye Chongming suddenly felt a deep fear and self-doubt. His judgment of people was really poor. The Ye family almost fell because of him. He wanted to pick up the teacup to calm his mind, but his trembling hand almost spilled the tea.

He quickly put the tea cup down, withdrew his hand, and took several deep breaths.

“What do you think about this engagement…” he looked at Ye Yaming.

“He is not a good match. I want to break it off,” Ye Yaming said. “But breaking it off now would give people something to use against us. We’ve waited so many years, and he said he wants to pass the imperial exam before getting married. This matter is not urgent; let’s deal with Meng Chengwei first.”

Even if she wanted to break off the engagement, she wanted Song Yifeng to be disgraced and return the money the Ye family had given him.

Although women were treated better in the Great Jin Dynasty than in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, society was still harsh on women. Based on her understanding of Song Yifeng, he would definitely create public opinion to put her and the Ye family on the pillar of shame, while he would appear as an innocent victim. Breaking off the engagement would not bring criticism to Song Yifeng but would make people point fingers at her and the Ye family.

Song Yifeng had used the Ye family’s money to study for many years and succeeded. If the engagement was broken off, he would be free, but she would bear the bad reputation of being rejected, and the Ye family’s years of effort would be criticized.

She needed to plan carefully to disgrace him first.

“Yes, yes,” Ye Chongming said, realizing the urgency of the matter and returning his thoughts to the family’s major issues.

“While I was on the mountain, your uncle from the Tao family came to inform me about Meng Chengwei. He is an imperial merchant from the capital and has an aunt who is a concubine in the palace. But this is all what he told others, and we don’t know if it’s true.”

Mentioning Meng Chengwei gave him a headache.

Over the years, the Ye family has conducted business with integrity and has never used underhanded methods. Due to ancestral blessings and family background, the Ye family had some reputation in Lin’an, and Ye Chongming had never encountered such a ruthless opponent without any grievances.

People like Meng Chengwei made Ye Chongming deeply fearful. The Ye family had shallow roots, while Meng Chengwei had a strong background and ruthless methods. Facing him, the Ye family could only be passively beaten.

Thinking of this, Ye Chongming began to consider Ye Yaming’s suggestion of finding a partner.

“Ming’er, tomorrow you bring a jar of osmanthus tea and come with me to Chongshan Temple,” he said.

Ye Yaming searched the original owner’s memory and found no knowledge of Chongshan Temple. The old madam preferred to take the family women to Jingde Nunnery for incense offerings.

She asked, “What are we going to Chongshan Temple for? To see someone?” She didn’t think Ye Chongming was taking her to the temple for incense offerings at this time.

Ye Chongming nodded, “Master Zhinen of Chongshan Temple loves tea. Although Chongshan Temple also grows and makes tea, he prefers the loose tea made by your father and buys some every year. I have some acquaintance with him. He is kind, noble, and has many connections with the powerful. I want to take you there to brew some osmanthus tea for him to taste.”

Ye Yaming thought for a moment and gently reminded, “Grandfather, I think we should sell the osmanthus tea first. After we start selling it, you can send some to Master Zhinen, saying that our family has developed a new tea for him to taste. Don’t mention anything else for now.”

Ye Chongming’s pupils contracted, and he nodded vigorously, “You’re right.”

He was too concerned to think clearly. Now that the Ye family was in crisis, having decided to find a partner, he immediately thought of Master Zhinen and wanted to send the new tea to him.

Ye Yaming’s words made him realize his mistake.

Yes, presenting the new tea and brewing technique to Master Zhinen would certainly impress him and might even help find a good partner through him. However, by proactively offering it, the Ye family would lose the opportunity to choose a partner and be passively selected. The final partner would depend on luck.

Of course, he trusted Master Zhinen’s character. But what if? Master Zhinen had no obligation to vet partners for the Ye family.

Seeing that Ye Chongming understood, Ye Yaming continued, “We should now purchase a large amount of osmanthus flowers under the pretext of making osmanthus honey or brewing osmanthus wine. Then, I will make osmanthus tea at home with the maids. If the loose tea at home is not enough, we can buy some from other tea shops.”

“After the osmanthus blooming season is over, we can start selling the osmanthus tea. By then, no osmanthus flowers will be available, and even if someone wants to figure out the osmanthus tea-making method, they won’t be able to.”

“This way, we can buy time for next year’s osmanthus tea production and have the opportunity to choose partners at our leisure.”

“Yes, yes, this way, we can maximize our benefits,” Ye Chongming nodded vigorously.

He also understood why Ye Yaming suggested buying tea from other tea shops.

The summer and autumn tea made into rough tea was available at the Tea Bureau, and even after paying taxes, the price was cheaper than other tea shops, as the Tea Bureau had to leave some profit margin for tea merchants. But buying from the Tea Bureau meant raw tea that needed processing, and with osmanthus flowers not waiting, they had no time to process the rough tea. Moreover, if they bought a large amount of tea from the Tea Bureau and osmanthus flowers in the city, it would be easy to guess that the Ye family was making osmanthus tea.

So, the loose tea had to be bought in small batches from other tea shops under individual names, not in bulk from the Tea Bureau.

As for the higher price of loose tea, it was not worth worrying about now. Compared to the confidentiality of the osmanthus tea-making method and the future profits, the higher price of loose tea was insignificant.

Old Madam Ye looked at her granddaughter and then at her husband, suddenly feeling an absurd thought.

Why did she feel that Ye Yaming was like a stabilizing force, the one making decisions in the family, while the usually smart and steady old man had become a subordinate taking orders? The most absurd thing was that he seemed completely convinced and satisfied.