On the second floor of the Taibai Tower.
In the north, the prefectural magistrate, Master Xu, occupied the head seat. To his left and right sat Ink Affairs Official Master Huang and Ink Supervisor Eunuch Yan, along with Cloud Pine Daoist, a court-appointed Daoist priest in full religious garments.
Following them were the main representatives from the Cheng and Tian families.
The Cheng family was represented by Third Master Cheng and the family’s rising talent Cheng Dayue, while the Tian family was represented by their patriarch Tian Huai’an and eldest son Tian Benchang.
At this moment, everyone’s attention was focused on the center of the hall.
The middle of the hall had been cleared, and two long tables were set up. On either side of the tables sat an ink block, with ink stones beside them. Between the two ink stones sat an incense burner, releasing delicate wisps of fragrance.
On either side, two palace-dressed ladies were grinding the ink on the stones, their red sleeves adding an elegant touch to the scene.
Several scholars were wielding their brushes, and in no time, several pieces of calligraphy and paintings took shape.
Of course, what was being evaluated wasn’t the calligraphy or paintings, but rather the ink used to create them.
“The Cheng family’s ‘Xuanyuan Lingqi’ ink appears to use a formula combining pine soot and lacquer soot. The color is deep black, with a clean transparency when held to light. Particularly impressive is how it maintains distinct layers when diluted, without any bleeding between levels. Truly exceptional,” Wang Shizhen, examining his painting, assessed the gathered crowd.
Wang Shizhen, a descendant of the Lang’ya Wang clan, was a leading literary figure of the mid-late Ming Dynasty. Previously, after his father was murdered by Yan Hao, he resigned from his official position to observe the mourning period and devoted himself to literary pursuits. Now that Yan Shifan had been executed and Yan Hao’s property confiscated—leaving him as nothing but a weak old man awaiting death—the Yan family’s court influence had been eliminated. Wang Shizhen was merely waiting for an appropriate time to return to official service, with limitless prospects ahead of him.
Ink Affairs Official Huang had gone to great lengths to invite him to evaluate the ink, sparing no effort for this tribute ink selection.
Following Wang Shizhen’s guidance, the assembled guests examined the painting. Indeed, the ink showed clear transparency. Particularly in the diluted areas, it didn’t appear weak but rather showed distinct layers with an endless, flowing quality.
The assembled guests were either elite ink officials or renowned scholars, each with their unique insights about ink. They naturally understood that under these conditions, this ink had achieved what was known as “ink bone.”
“Excellent ink! Excellent ink! It truly lives up to its name of ‘Xuanyuan Lingqi,’ mysterious yet flowing with spiritual energy,” the crowd praised in unison.
“Master Fengzhou, what are your thoughts on the Tian family’s ink?” At this point, Ink Affairs Official Huang, seated on the left, asked. Fengzhou was Wang Shizhen’s style name.
“Naturally, the Tian family’s ‘Xuanxiang Wan’ is also quite remarkable. The ink color is steady without feeling heavy, and it has a bright quality to it. The ink is rich without being sluggish, and writing with it releases a subtle fragrance. It’s also top-tier ink, though being newly made, it’s slightly dry. Therefore, in my opinion, the Tian ink is marginally inferior to the Cheng ink,” Wang Shizhen explained.
The assembled guests exchanged glances. Previously, Master Dongtu had also determined that the Cheng ink was superior. Thus, the tribute ink selection was essentially decided.
Uncle and nephew, Third Master Cheng, and Cheng Dayue exchanged looks after hearing the assessment and breathed sighs of relief. They knew the tribute ink position was about seventy to eighty percent secured, though, of course, they couldn’t relax until the final announcement.
In truth, this had been a close call. Initially, they hadn’t considered the Tian family a serious threat, and their original entry for the competition wasn’t the Xuanyuan Lingqi, but rather a different ink that cost less to produce.
It was well known that manufacturing tribute ink was a money-losing proposition. The reason ink workshops competed for tribute ink status was primarily for the priority access to materials and the prestige that came with the tribute ink designation, rather than any direct profit from the tribute ink itself.
Therefore, when competing for tribute ink status, if a workshop was confident in securing the rights, it was customary to enter a lower-cost ink into the competition to minimize losses in future tribute ink production.
Earlier, with Li Ink’s withdrawal, Cheng Ink stood unrivaled among the competing workshops, essentially without competition. Following custom, Cheng naturally entered a lower-cost ink into the competition.
It wasn’t until Third Master Cheng heard from Zhen Niang that the Tian family might have something else prepared that, taking no chances, the Cheng family ultimately switched out their original entry for their treasured Xuanyuan Lingqi for safety’s sake.
Sure enough, when the competition at Taibai Tower began, the Tian family had entered the newly developed Suhe ink from the Luo family. Fortunately, the Cheng family had switched their ink; otherwise, they might have suffered an unexpected defeat.
Meanwhile, Tian Benchang frowned and turned to look at his father, but Tian Huai’an remained composed, still wearing the expression of someone holding all the cards.
At this moment, Official Huang on the platform whispered briefly with Eunuch Yan and the prefectural magistrate before standing up to announce: “Therefore, this tribute ink…”
“Wait…” Before Official Huang could finish, Cloud Pine Daoist stood up.
“What does Daoist Cloud Pine wish to say?” Official Huang asked with clasped hands.
“Originally, this Daoist had no intention of interfering with the tribute ink selection. However, when I left the palace, His Majesty specifically instructed that this batch of tribute ink would be used for communicating with immortals. Therefore, it would be best to have the immortals evaluate it,” Cloud Pine said, holding his whisk.
Cloud Pine’s words left everyone stunned. Ask immortals to evaluate. How would immortals conduct such an evaluation?
However, given Emperor Jiajing’s belief in immortals and his habit of seeking divine guidance for difficult matters, such a decision wasn’t entirely surprising.
Thus, Official Huang asked Cloud Pine, “Daoist Cloud, how will the immortals descend to evaluate?”
“Simple enough, we shall invite the divine to descend,” Cloud Pine replied somewhat proudly, then ordered servants to set up an incense altar.
Soon the altar was prepared, and Cloud Pine Daoist purified himself and changed clothes before beginning to invoke the divine at the altar.
Before long, the spirit possessed him, and Cloud Pine Daoist picked up a brush and began writing on paper placed on the altar. After finishing, Cloud Pine Daoist seemed to return to himself, picked up the paper to look at it, and finally handed it to Official Huang: “Official Huang, the immortal’s evaluation is complete. Please proceed accordingly.”
Official Huang accepted the paper and saw written: “Though the Cheng ink is fine, it is impure. The Tian ink should be selected.”
“Daoist Cloud, what does this mean? What do you mean by ‘though the Cheng ink is fine, it is impure’?” Third Master Cheng, hearing Official Huang read the paper, asked Cloud Pine Daoist with a dark expression.
“These are the immortal’s words. How can we mortals guess their meaning?” Cloud Pine Daoist replied mysteriously.
“Then for this tribute ink right…” Third Master Cheng said, looking at Official Huang, leaving the rest unsaid.
Official Huang frowned at this point. Truth be told, he didn’t believe in this divine evaluation at all. But who dared defy the Emperor’s wishes? Though it was possible Cloud Pine was falsely using the Emperor’s name, no one dared take that gamble.
With this in mind, Official Huang whispered again briefly with the prefectural magistrate and Eunuch Yan, then addressed Third Master Cheng: “Since this is the immortal’s evaluation, it must be heaven’s will. Heaven’s will cannot be defied, so this tribute ink right shall be awarded to the Tian family workshop.”
“This… but this isn’t fair!” Hearing Official Huang’s decision, Third Master Cheng exclaimed angrily.
“Well, Third Master, I suggest you accept reality. Perhaps you should go home and investigate carefully. Could there be some dark matter in your Cheng household? Perhaps some young lady engaged in improper relations, or maybe some maid or servant woman committed some filthy deed? Tsk tsk. How unexpected,” Tian Huai’an teased Third Master Cheng from the side.
“Tian Huai’an… you…!” Third Master Cheng’s face turned purple with rage at Tian Huai’an’s words. He understood that Cloud Pine Daoist must have been bought by the Tian family. But since Cloud Pine had invoked the Emperor’s will, even Official Huang couldn’t object, let alone a mere ink workshop owner.
He knew the Tian family conducted business irregularly, but he hadn’t expected them to stoop to such levels.
Thinking of this, Third Master Cheng could no longer contain himself. He felt a sweetness in his throat, spat out a mouthful of blood, and his vision darkened as he collapsed.
“Third Uncle!” Cheng Dayue quickly caught his uncle and called for servants waiting outside. After a brief apology, they hastily withdrew.
The hall’s occupants showed various expressions—some sympathetic, some entertained, some resentful. In any case, this grand ink event ended in such a manner, leaving most people disappointed.
Only the Tian family was truly happy.
“Make way, make way…” Cheng Dayue carried his uncle out of Taibai Tower on his back.
“What happened? What happened? Are the results out? What’s wrong with Third Master Cheng? Did he faint from joy?” Many curious onlookers eagerly inquired.
Though Zhen Niang stood far back in the crowd, seeing Elder Brother Cheng carrying Third Master Cheng through the crowd gave her an ominous feeling.
“The results are out! The results are out! The tribute ink right went to the Tian family!” At this point, the previously gossiping Er Gouzi immediately spread the newly learned news.
“How could it be the Tian family?” The surrounding crowd erupted in surprise, as everyone had favored the Cheng family before.
“It’s not surprising. You know the Tian family took over the entire Luo family ink workshop, so their ink-making ability can’t be bad. Besides, this time it was evaluated by immortals, who said the Cheng ink was impure and couldn’t be used,” Er Gouzi explained with a gossip-loving expression.
“Evaluated by immortals? Is that real?” Some in the crowd doubted.
“Get out of here, how dare you question the immortals’ words!” Someone nearby warned.
Zhen Niang, listening to all this from the side, first felt bewildered—immortal evaluation? However, considering this was ancient times, with Emperor Jiajing as a believer, talk of immortals naturally held sway.
Hadn’t her cousin even tried to refine an elixir of immortality before?
But she also understood in her heart that, without a doubt, Cloud Pine Daoist must have been bought by the Tian family. Thinking of this, and considering all the twists and turns since the beginning of the tribute ink competition, she could only conclude that the Tian family had been playing a grand game from the start.
First, the Tian family deliberately exaggerated their rescue of Miss Yan, creating an impression that the Li family was participating in the selection through Eunuch Yan’s relationship. In this dynasty, eunuchs and the pure stream faction were absolute opponents, so Official Huang would have no goodwill toward the Li family, and even the scholars testing the ink would similarly have no goodwill. Thus, if not for the pine plague, had the Li family continued in the competition, it would surely have been a futile effort.
Though the Li family’s withdrawal was heaven’s will, the Tian family also played a part. Then the Tian family deliberately produced controversial ink to make the Cheng family underestimate them, only revealing their superior ink at the end. With preparation defeating non-preparation, they gained a significant advantage. However, given the Cheng family’s deep foundation, even so, the Tian family still struggled to win. Therefore, the Tian family’s final move was to buy off the Daoist surnamed Cloud and arrange this divine evaluation as their trump card.
Thus, step by step, the Tian family had truly calculated well.