“Bang!” Tian Benchang slammed the table hard and berated Tian Er: “Are you an idiot? Why did we need to compete so fiercely with the Li family? The Li family is nobody in Nanjing – competing with them only diminishes our status. I remember telling you when you came here that we’re Huizhou’s number one ink maker. Our shop will never lack business just by staying open. What’s liquid ink worth? It will never be respected in refined circles, understand? As long as we maintain our hold on tribute ink, our position as Huizhou’s premier ink maker is secure. But you – seeing the Li family’s liquid ink selling well, you had to copy it. When you couldn’t make it, you stole their formula, ending up damaging our reputation. You… what am I supposed to say about you? Pig-headed fool!”
“Don’t lecture me – weren’t you also opposing the Li family back in Huizhou?” Tian Er retorted defiantly.
“How is that the same? When our Tian family first entered the ink business, we needed to establish our authority. Besides, later when we requisitioned pine wood, it was out of necessity. With the pine plague, without good pine wood, how could we produce the ink that Daoist Yun wanted? This was purely business – it had nothing to do with the Li family. If that batch of pine wood had belonged to the Cheng family, I would have requisitioned from them just the same.” Tian Benchang glared viciously at Tian Er.
Tian Er felt a chill from that glare.
“Enough, I won’t waste more words on you. I’ve already booked your boat ticket back to Huizhou in a few days. For now, go to your room and stay there.” Seeing his second brother’s stubborn demeanor like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Tian Benchang couldn’t be bothered to say more – their father would deal with him back home.
“I won’t go back.” Hearing about returning, Tian Er refused. Nanjing was a world of pleasure – he couldn’t enjoy such things back in their hometown. Moreover, returning like this would mean a complete loss of face.
“If you won’t go back, I don’t mind breaking both your legs and carrying you back,” Tian Benchang said coldly. He wanted to teach this youngster a harsh lesson, but with so many matters at hand, he truly didn’t have time to wrestle with him.
“Big Brother, you…” Tian Er fumed.
“Go to your room.” Tian Benchang’s gaze grew colder, allowing no argument. Seeing his brother’s expression, Tian Er knew his brother meant business and couldn’t be defied. He could only return to his room resentfully.
“Brother, don’t be angry. It’s not good for your health to get so upset,” Rong Hua consoled from the side.
Then she changed tack: “Actually, Second Brother tried his best. He was tricked by the Li family this time. You’re not in Nanjing, so you don’t know how formidable liquid ink is. The profit margin is considerable, and it’s very convenient to use. Although it’s not respected in refined circles now, who knows about its future development if the formula is further improved? Moreover, liquid ink quickly captured the market – it’s solely because of liquid ink that the Li family could establish themselves in Nanjing. Otherwise, they might have had to slink back to Huizhou by now. So, regarding liquid ink, Second Brother wasn’t wrong – he just used the wrong people.”
Being born of the same mother, Rong Hua still had to speak up for her second brother.
“Is liquid ink really that powerful?” Tian Benchang, not in Nanjing, was unaware of the Li family’s liquid ink’s current reputation.
“You don’t need me to explain – just stay in Nanjing for a few days and visit the ink pavilions and study supply shops, and then you’ll understand,” Rong Hua replied.
“I’ll certainly look into it,” Tian Benchang nodded.
“By the way, how did you come to Nanjing so quickly?” Rong Hua asked curiously. Her letter had been sent just days ago. By rights, her elder brother shouldn’t have received it yet. His sudden arrival in Nanjing must have been for other reasons.
“I came to Nanjing unaware of the ink shop’s situation – I only heard about it when we docked,” Tian Benchang explained.
“Then what brought Brother to Nanjing?” Rong Hua asked.
“I received news from the Ink Affairs Bureau that Consort Shen’s birthday is approaching. Princess Ning’an intends to commission a batch of birthday ink for Consort Shen. They’re currently selecting candidates. If our Tian family can secure this business and our ink catches the royal family’s attention, we’ll have the capital to compete for the opportunity to produce imperial ink. Then perhaps our Tian family could even vie for the position of Ink Affairs Official,” Tian Benchang explained excitedly.
Princess Ning’an was born to Consort Duan, but after Consort Duan was executed during the palace upheaval, Princess Ning’an was raised by Consort Shen. The Princess regarded her as a birth mother, making this birthday ink extremely important.
As for imperial ink, was used by the royal family, whereas tribute ink was merely supervised by local ink makers for the court’s official use – tribute ink and imperial ink were not of the same rank.
Historically, those who produced imperial ink would be promoted to Ink Affairs Officials, elevating them beyond mere merchant status.
Throughout this dynasty, the palace’s imperial ink had always been produced by the Imperial Ink Supervisory Office, with outsiders rarely getting the opportunity. This time, because Princess Ning’an wanted to present birthday ink to Consort Shen, they were selecting from civilian ink makers, making it a chance for common ink makers to achieve greatness.
“Brother, this is indeed a rare opportunity!” Hearing this, Rong Hua’s eyes lit up.
“Indeed it is. I just didn’t expect to arrive and find you’ve created such a mess. I’ll need to make multiple visits to the Ink Affairs Bureau – if we can’t pass their scrutiny, this opportunity will be lost.” Speaking of this, Tian Benchang felt angry again – his second brother was truly hopeless.
Hearing this, Rong Hua looked sheepish.
“By the way, watch over your second brother these few days – don’t let him cause any more trouble. Also, notify the masters below to focus all their efforts on developing the birthday ink,” Tian Benchang added.
Fortunately, he had brought several ink masters with him, and they had already worked out the basics of the birthday ink in Huizhou. Now they just needed to refine the details, and there shouldn’t be any problems.
During this period, he would be busy mitigating the impact of the liquid ink incident his second brother had caused.
Additionally, before the news spread, he needed to work on relationships and see if they could directly secure the birthday ink commission. After all, with their tribute ink qualification in hand, they should have a better chance at obtaining this birthday ink production opportunity.
…
Early morning, Zhenniang rose early as usual. Last night, she had again spent half the night making ink. She had recovered the technique for Guyu Mi ink, and had even made some improvements – the ink color was now darker and more translucent. Once released, it should have some impact. Of course, they would still need to find a suitable ink tester.
“Sister, you worked until midnight again? Mother has been nagging me all morning, telling you not to work so hard.” At this moment, Elder Brother Li Zhengliang stood at the back door holding a bucket, obviously just returned from outside.
“Brother, what did you buy so early in the morning?” Zhenniang asked curiously.
“Tung oil. I’ve been asking around these days – Yunnan’s tung oil sells well in Nanjing. I bought a small bucket to compare with our oil, to identify the strengths and weaknesses. This way, I can market more effectively.” Li Dalang chuckled.
Zhenniang gave her brother a thumbs up. Though not particularly quick-witted, her brother was very thorough, giving his full attention to whatever he did. He had been the same with the coal stoves before, and later with inkstones – though now Elder Cousin Zhengsheng handled the inkstone business. Truth be told, neither coal stoves nor inkstones were her brother’s strong suit.
Her brother’s strength lay in oils. After all, he had started as an apprentice in the oil mill at thirteen, and it had been a full decade since then. Though he had neglected it somewhat in the past two years while working with coal stoves and inkstones, his skill at oil pressing and oil assessment hadn’t diminished.
At this point, Li Dalang pulled out a five-hundred-tael bank note from his chest – issued by Wang Cuiqiao’s Huiyuan Money House – and pressed it into Zhenniang’s hand.
“Brother, what’s this for?” Zhenniang held the note, staring at her brother.
“Don’t you remember? These are the dividends from the inkstone business. I withdrew them for you, and now I’m giving them to you,” Li Dalang explained.
“Oh.” Zhenniang nodded, accepting it without ceremony.
But then Li Dalang’s mouth twitched as he spoke to Madam Zhao, who was approaching: “Give this banknote to Mother. Mother said that my giving it to you means I’ve paid you, but she’s worried you’ll invest it all in the ink workshop again. She says she’ll manage it for you – it’s all part of your future dowry.”
Zhenniang laughed, realizing the money was just passing through her hands.
Madam Zhao came over and directly took the banknote from Zhenniang’s hand: “I’ll help manage this money for you. I’ve already looked into it – your Sixth Uncle knows someone selling land. I’ll help you buy some land – that’s the foundation. Can a daughter make ink her whole life?”
As she spoke, worried Zhenniang might object, she gave her a stern look.
Zhenniang smiled and nodded: “Fine, I’ll do as Mother says.” She understood her mother’s thoughts – still worrying about her future. Besides, buying land was a proper investment, just like in modern times when people invested in houses – it was considered a good investment.
As they were talking, they heard a commotion outside.
They walked from the back door to the street to see what was happening. They saw a team of tax office runners pushing Ge Qiujie out of her silk shop, and then placing two large seals to close the shop.
“Ge is finished this time. He’s in prison and they say he’ll be exiled. All his property is being confiscated,” someone familiar with the situation explained.
At this moment, Ge Qiujie was screaming desperately, pushing through to her silk shop, trying to prevent the runners from placing the seals. A small blue floral cloth bundle had scattered on the ground, containing nothing valuable except for a few changes of clothes.
“What are you doing? Trying to rebel?” The runner forcefully pushed Ge Qiujie, who fell to the ground. She sat there, her face ashen.
Hua’er ran out from somewhere in the crowd to help Ge Qiujie up.
Though they had been sisters-in-law and hadn’t gotten along well, they had lived under the same roof for several months. Seeing such changes in the Ge family’s fortunes, she couldn’t help feeling sympathetic.
Unexpectedly, after standing up, Ge Qiujie forcefully pushed Hua’er away and spat: “Stop pretending to care.”
With that, she picked up her blue floral bundle from the ground, looked back at her sealed silk shop, gritted her teeth, wiped away a tear, and turned to walk toward the entrance of Official Street.
Hua’er felt wronged – how was she pretending? Zhenniang came forward to pull her back, patting her shoulder without saying anything. She understood Ge Qiujie’s thoughts. Ge Qiujie was proud – why had she opened her silk shop in this area before? Apart from her father’s influence, she wanted to show the Li family that she could do better after leaving them.
Now in this situation, the last thing she wanted to see was kindness from the Li family.