Section 15: The Cruel Tea

“Tea leaves, I want tea leaves, I want fresh tea leaves.”

Grandma Yun was in a panic. When her grandson returned from the river, he told the housekeeper that he wanted fresh tea leaves. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with them. There weren’t many places in Chang’an where tea trees were grown.

Qian Tong ran all over the 30-mile radius and heard that there were only a few dozen trees in the home of a wealthy merchant who sold Shu brocade. He said that they were not for sale and that they were planted specifically for his own lord.

Who is it? How dare a merchant talk to a nobleman like that? Even if you have a big background, if the nobleman is nice, you have to give in. You don’t want to deal with the Yun family, but you have to give them face. You don’t know what you’re doing! You’re inviting trouble for yourself. You can’t expect someone like that to be able to do business for a long time. You’re looking down on the power of a marquis.

He dared not say this to his grandson. When he came back today, he smashed cups and bowls, and I don’t know what kind of anger he had suffered outside.

What kind of anger can he take? Who would give me any anger? Yun Ye was furious.

Mr. Yushan was intoxicated by the elegant atmosphere of Shu’s green tea and couldn’t help but make a broken stove, a few clay pots, and a few black tea bowls, learning Zhao Yanling’s green tea, which must include green onions, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. He thought that mutton fat didn’t quite fit his old man’s identity, so he asked someone to find some butter and added vinegar to it, saying that it would be a change for another generation.

After tasting, Li Gang, Li Wenji, He Tu and He Yuan Zhang, Gu Yuan and Gu Lishi all thought it was feasible and encouraged him to do more experiments before tasting again. They also highly recommended Yun Ye and Yun Buqi to replace them in appreciating Xin Xuan Yu Xin Yushan’s tea-making skills.

Poor Yun Ye didn’t even accept the raw tea leaves from Chang’an, and now you want him to drink Lao Xin’s soup?

He couldn’t escape it. Every morning, Lao Xin’s class required a lot of memorization, so the old man was always the first to arrive at class. By the time Yun Ye arrived, it was almost noon. The old man always waited outside the classroom with a smile on his face.

“Yun Hou, I have specially changed the recipe today, increasing the amount of pepper and nutmeg. Come and taste it again.”

In order to escape his miserable fate, Yun Ye even used the outrageous excuse that his grandmother was sick, but he still couldn’t escape the fate of being a guinea pig.

Li Tai, who was not aware of his own death, rushed out and said that Mr. Yushan’s exclusive secret skills must be tasted, and he even dragged his brother Li Ke to insist on going.

This is a good disciple! The old saying that a disciple should be willing to do the hard work is so good.

Mr. Yushan felt that it was a great honor that his craftsmanship was recognized by the royal family. He held Li Tai on his left and Li Ke on his right, and had no time to care about the little marquis Yun Ye.

We are not going home to eat dinner, we are going to confiscate their property. If we don’t give the marquis of Yun face, it will be a laughing stock for all the families with titles in Chang’an. Whoever you are, as long as you are not the emperor, we will smash you to pieces today. A few pieces of broken tea leaves are not rare for a marquis.

The old killer who retired from the army now stays at the Yun family’s happy home and guards the courtyard, and also grows some land. The marquis has built a new courtyard for everyone, with a row of green tiles and green tiles on the slope, which makes the villagers speechless. This is when he moved into his new home with his head held high, and he heard that the marquis had been insulted, his eyes were red, and he had no choice but to copy the tools.

Qian Tong led the way, riding a horse with style, and more than forty riders rode into the place called Hu Village, which was not a good place to hear the name.

Zhuang San stopped his horse, and the Zhuang Ding who was blocking the road was beaten to the ground by his whip. The black horse’s front hooves kicked heavily on the tightly closed gate, and the gate was covered in dust. It did not kick open, and it retreated.

Behind him, an old man with a muscular body stood on the ground and let out a loud breath. A watermelon-sized mace flew out, and after a loud noise, a miserable hole was made in the gate. Two flying claws hooked the gate, and the two guards of the Yun family retreated on their horses. The gate was easily dragged away like straw.

The sword was unsheathed, and Zhuang San stopped and led the way into the mansion.

For a moment, the entire mansion was in a panic, with more than 40 horses running amok inside the mansion. The cries of the servants, the pleas of the master, the weeping of the women, and the sobs of the children, all filled the more than ten acres of the mansion.

A fat old man was dragged by Zhuang San Ting to Yun Ye’s horse.

His legs were shaking like a lute, his crotch was wet, and sweat was trickling down his face like a brook. All he could say was, “This is the Jiang Gong Mansion’s secondary residence. Please save some face.”

“Chen Shuda? Jiang Guogong? Huangmen Shilang? It turns out that you are a former minister of Chen, no wonder you don’t take the small mansion in your eyes. Are you a son or grandson of the Chen family?”

“I am a merchant of brocade from Jianan, and I live here.”

“Break his leg. I want to take a good look at those rare tea trees.” Yun Ye was impatient to grind his teeth with him. He was just relying on Chen Shuda’s official authority to act big in the countryside. There was no need to give this kind of dog thief face.

The guards next to him swung their sticks and hit the guy in the knee. The fat old man curled up on the ground and screamed like a pig, and the other men kneeling under the porch all trembled and begged for mercy.

There were indeed dozens of tea trees in the garden, but unfortunately the first leaves had already been picked, and the second leaves had only been picked not long ago. The whole tree was full of young green buds, which were just right for making tea. When you put a piece in your mouth, the faint aroma of tea fills your mouth, but it is a bit bitter, and the grassy smell is a bit stronger.

With a wave of his hand, the guards cut down the tea trees one by one with their swords and carried them on their backs.

We have no intention of leaving any for him. We will do exactly what Sun Wukong did at the Wuzhuang Temple.

He said to the fat old man, who had already fainted, “I like to look at tea trees, so I’m taking them home to take a closer look. When I’m tired of looking at them, I’ll naturally send them back to you.”

The crowd rode home on horses carrying the tea trees, leaving behind a scene of miserable wailing.

The tea was brought back, and the maidservants were sent home to pick it off little by little and put it in a winnow to dry.

Yun Ye hid in the house and thought about how tea was made. Did you use firewood? Did you use an iron pot? Did you stir it by hand? Did you knead it?

What is “green tea”? Why can’t I remember?

Green tea, oolong tea, black tea, what exactly do they mean?

Jasmine tea is made by putting jasmine buds in it. What is the difference between it and green tea?

Yun Ye’s head was as big as a bucket. He had thought the matter too simple. It had taken thousands of years for history to figure out how to make it, and he thought he could figure it out in the morning.

The spirit of experimentation is still needed. Look at your own paws and think about your stomach. There is no such thing as the best of both worlds. If you want one place to be comfortable, you have to make another place suffer. Thinking back to Mr. Yushan’s terrible tea ceremony, I decided to sacrifice my paws.

From noon to sunset, the screams of Yun Ye could be heard from time to time in the back garden. The little girls were in tears, and Grandma kept telling her grandson, “We don’t need anything good. We have enough good things at home. Ye, you must not hurt yourself.”

Finally, the door to the back garden opened, and Yun Ye, covered in soot, came out holding a glazed pot. His hands were wrapped in cloth, and he was constantly wiping his mouth. When he saw his grandmother, he said happily, “I finally know how to make tea.”

After the grandmother’s heartache, Yun Ye looked at his hands, which were wrapped in cloth, sadly and said, “No one is allowed to drink this tea!”