Chapter 89: Hosting a Banquet

He immediately wrote invitation cards and sent them to Lu Guanyi, Qi Ji, and Advisor Wu. An hour later, the person who delivered the invitations returned, and all three had agreed to attend the banquet.

As for the time of the banquet, it was naturally during dinner.

Ye Chongming spent his days at the tea house and only returned home for dinner; at that time, Song Yifeng would also return from the academy. Song Yifeng would likely come directly to the Ye residence to discuss canceling the engagement with Ye Chongming.

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

Since the engagement cancellation was not yet finalized, Zhou Xiang continued to keep a close watch on Song Yifeng. Song Yifeng went about his day as usual, but Wang Wenzhi called him in for a conversation.

Knowing that the old master was concerned, Zhou Xiang immediately relayed this information to the tea house.

Upon hearing this, Ye Chongming felt relieved, “It’s settled.”

With Wang Wenzhi urging him, Song Yifeng would definitely come to the Ye residence tonight to discuss the engagement cancellation. If Yin De’an were involved, it would complicate matters, so Song Yifeng would not inform him or seek a matchmaker first. He would likely come alone to the Ye residence to cancel the engagement.

Everything was going according to their plan.

Ye Chongming patiently watched the time and hurriedly took a carriage home when it was almost time.

“Are the dishes for the banquet ready?” he asked the old madam.

“Don’t worry, everything is ready,” the old madam replied.

“Father.”

“Grandfather.”

Ye Hongchang and Ye Jiaxing entered one after the other.

Ye Chongming glanced at the two of them.

Ye Hongchang had only suffered minor injuries and was now mostly recovered. Today, with important guests arriving, he had dressed up and looked quite spirited. Ye Jiaxing, of course, looked even better.

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

Ye Jiaxing agreed and asked, “Should we call the third sister over?”

Today’s banquet was for male guests, so the meal would naturally be in the outer courtyard’s side hall. However, since it concerned Ye Yaming’s future, it was best for her to be present; moreover, Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji were coming to discuss cooperation, and Ye Yaming needed to be involved. But having her at the same table for the meal was not appropriate. So, the arrangement of the banquet required careful consideration.

Ye Chongming had already thought of this and said, “When I invited Advisor Wu, I also invited his wife. Your grandmother and Ming’er will go to the outer courtyard to help entertain Madam Wu.”

Ye Jiaxing praised, “That’s a great idea.” He then said, “Then I have no problem.” With that, he quickly left for the main gate.

At this time, Ye Yaming also arrived, and Ye Chongming led everyone to the outer courtyard.

Before leaving, Ye Yaming reminded, “Grandfather, it would be best to send someone to explain to Fourth Uncle. He might be unhappy if we entertain important guests without informing him.”

Ye Chongming and Ye Hongchang immediately understood.

Oh right, there was still a troublemaker in the family. He had been punished recently but should be able to move around by now.

As the fourth master of the Ye family, Ye Hongrong should be informed when male guests visited, as a sign of respect for his status. According to etiquette, he should also help entertain the guests if he was at home. If they ignored him and entertained guests without informing him, he might get angry and cause trouble.

Ye Chongming instructed Li Fu, “Go to the fourth household and explain that we owe Advisor Wu a great favor for covering up the recent incident. Today, I invited Advisor Wu and his wife for dinner to thank them.”

“If he asks for details, say that someone arranged for tea customers to cause trouble, which reached the authorities, and Advisor Wu suppressed the matter. Song Yifeng heard about it and wants to use it to cancel the engagement. I plan to use Advisor Wu’s status to pressure Song Yifeng, so I invited Advisor Wu and his wife for dinner. It’s inconvenient for him to participate, so he should rest and recover.”

He added, “Send a few guards to the fourth household’s courtyard entrance to prevent anyone from moving around freely. You must personally oversee this and ensure nothing goes wrong.”

“Yes.”

Old Madam Ye had personally gone to the kitchen to arrange the dishes. Hearing that the old master had sent someone to the fourth household, she remembered the troublesome Ye Hongrong and quickly sent a few maids to keep watch.

The whole family treated Ye Hongrong as a major threat.

Everyone gathered in the outer courtyard’s hall, and soon Ye Jiaxing brought in Lu Guanyi, Qi Ji, and Advisor Wu and his wife.

Master Wu, in his fifties, was accompanied by his wife, Yue, whom Old Madam Ye had met before. In this era, the restrictions on women were not too strict, so Old Madam Ye and Ye Yaming did not take Madam Wu to the inner courtyard but sat with the male guests in the outer courtyard’s main hall.

After some pleasantries, Madam Wu praised Ye Yaming.

As the wife of Advisor Wu, who worked for Prefect Qi, and given Ye Yaming’s significant contribution to the cooperation with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji, she naturally wanted to flatter Ye Yaming.

Ye Yaming modestly responded, looking a bit embarrassed.

Old Madam Ye quickly said, “Don’t praise her too much. Children can’t handle too much praise; it might make them arrogant.”

Seeing this, Ye Chongming felt deeply moved.

Merchants had low social status, and although they had money, they lacked power and were easily targeted. Therefore, they tried their best to maintain good relations with the authorities, donating money and materials for public works and taxes while pretending to be enthusiastic about it. His relationship with Advisor Wu was built on money. If he hadn’t been a major donor and the head of the tea guild, bringing generous gifts every year, Advisor Wu wouldn’t have known who he was. But now, thanks to Ye Yaming’s abilities, their cooperation with Lu Guanyi and Qi Ji had changed Advisor Wu’s attitude. He couldn’t openly change his stance, so he had his wife show their flattery.

Indeed, following Ye Yaming’s advice to find a few high-status and reliable partners was the right path for the Ye family.

While Madam Wu praised Ye Yaming, Qi Ji and Master Wu exchanged pleasantries with Ye Chongming.

After the small talk, Lu Guanyi addressed Ye Yaming, “Miss Ye, these are the tea sets made by the master craftsmen in Xiping Town. Please check if there are any issues.”

The servant behind him brought a rattan box, and Bai Xin quickly stepped forward to receive it. She opened the box and carefully placed the tea sets on the table next to Ye Yaming.