When the Tea Trembles

About the book

Gongye Min is the youngest Grandmaster in the history of Wusha, a tea school that once served an imperial court. Wusha is known for tea without a ripple. Its first precept is no private feeling, and he has recited it since he was seven.

Qin Tian runs Tian Hall, the antique and tea-vessel shop she took over from her father, and she mends broken vessels for a living. Their paths cross over a tea kettle lost for decades and a bidding war at an auction in Kyoto. Afterwards he invites her into Wusha as an outside disciple, with himself as her sponsor.

He doesn't remember that they have met before. She does. And the tea in front of him has started to move.

No wind, no movement, and still a very shallow ripple rose.
It was not the water that moved.
It was the heart.

— When the Tea Trembles, Chapter 15

Questions readers ask

Where is it set?

Present-day Taiwan: the Wusha tea school, Qin Tian's shop in Taipei, and an old kiln in the mountains, with an early chapter at an auction house in Kyoto.

What kind of romance is it?

Slow burn and forbidden. He is her master in a lineage that forbids feeling between master and disciple. He is also bound by an arranged engagement, and a rival suitor wants her too. She carries a memory of him that he doesn't share.

How steamy is it?

Open door. The first half is a slow build; the second half has several explicit love scenes. For adult readers (18+).

Anything I should know before reading?

For part of the book the hero is in an arranged, political engagement to another woman. There is a public scandal and heavy pressure from the tea school's elders and both families.

Does it have a happy ending?

Yes. It's a complete standalone with a happy ending and no cliffhanger.

Where should I start with YT Soultype?

Here. Every book stands alone, and When the Tea Trembles is the easiest way into the shared world. See the YT Universe map for how the books connect.

Which other books does it connect to?

Pei Xu and Ku Yanyun, the couple from The Spring She Stole, appear early on. Gongye Min returns in The Spring She Stole and Illegal Bloom. The artist Bai Pufei is the heroine of Nobody's Man, where Su Li and Wei Minghui return as well.

How long is it?

42 chapters, about 57,000 words. Ebook on Amazon Kindle, free with Kindle+ (formerly Kindle Unlimited).