It was late May in Nanjing, the height of summer. The scorching sun baked the earth, and misty vapor rose from the surface of the Qinhuai River. The long leaves of ancient willows along both banks drooped listlessly.
The restless hearts of Nanjing’s people matched the weather.
Since the first batch of ships returned after the trade ban was lifted, foreign goods had flooded Nanjing’s market. While the people of Nanjing were dazzled by these novelties, their minds grew ever more enterprising. They had no choice but to be—each shipment that went out brought back hefty amounts of silver, and with foreign goods entering the market, silver poured into their pockets.
Now, every merchant dreamed of getting involved in foreign trade.
Of course, such ambitions belonged to the merchant class. For Nanjing’s idle folk, the Japanese diplomatic mission was the preferred topic of gossip.
Unlike usual gossip where people maintained detached indifference to matters that didn’t concern them, this topic stirred righteous indignation. Everyone who discussed the Japanese delegation inevitably brought up the upcoming ink competition, which led to increased anticipation for the Li family’s performance.
“Tang, I heard your Young Miss Zhen and the others are coming back,” said Miss Yao from the fabric shop next to Li Family Ink Shop. It was high noon in the peak of summer, and even the cicadas’ calls had grown hoarse, sputtering intermittently as if gasping their last breath.
She too had succumbed to laziness, sitting on a small stool in the shade before her shop, with her head turned toward Li Family Ink Shop as she addressed their clerk Tang.
“Yes, they should arrive soon. Manager Zheng took Wenjie to the dock to receive them,” replied Tang from inside the shop, muttering abacus calculations under his breath.
“I figured they must be coming soon—any later would be too late,” Miss Yao said excitedly upon hearing they’d gone to receive the arrivals. She turned to spread the news to others along the street.
After speaking, Miss Yao noticed Luo Wenqian from Yihou Money House across the street, leisurely walking with a teapot in hand. She called out, “Master Luo, you just returned from Huizhou. Tell us, what are the Li family’s chances in the ink competition against the Japanese?”
“Yes, yes, do tell us!” others chimed in with worried expressions.
Truth be told, nobody had taken the Japanese seriously at first. The people of Great Ming had their dignity and composure—they hadn’t considered the Japanese worth noting. However, after Ren Jiyingsung presented that extraordinary ink that thoroughly defeated Nanjing’s ink masters, people couldn’t help but grow concerned.
“Miss Yao, when has Young Miss Li ever disappointed anyone?” Luo Wenqian responded with a rhetorical question.
He had come from Huizhou and, though departing later than Zhen’er, he had taken the land route and arrived in Nanjing a few days earlier.
“That’s true. I must say, Young Miss Li never gives cause for worry. I have complete faith in her,” Miss Yao declared, patting her chest.
Others agreed. Though Zhen’er was just a woman and had faced much skepticism when she first came to Nanjing, after two years of hard work, everyone along Official Street had to give her a thumbs up. She truly embodied the spirit of Hui merchants.
Speak of the devil, and they shall appear.
The Li family arrived in Nanjing at high noon. As soon as they disembarked, they found the ink shop’s carriage waiting at the dock, with Zheng Fuli and Sun Wenjie there to receive them.
They headed straight for Official Street.
“Manager Zheng, how’s business in Nanjing?” Zhen’er asked from inside the carriage, poking her head out to inquire about the ink shop’s affairs…
“It’s been good since last year, especially after obtaining the tribute ink rights. Recently, we’ve had many orders. The shop was working overtime through spring, and it’s only now in summer that things have quieted down a bit,” Zheng Fuli replied, giving a general overview of the first half year’s business.
Zhen’er nodded—this was within expectations.
By then, they had reached the ink shop’s entrance.
The people chatting outside various shops warmly greeted the Li family’s arrival, though seeing them all in mourning clothes drew sighs. News of Old Master Li’s passing had reached them through the constant flow of merchant caravans between Huizhou and Nanjing.
Normally, they should have observed three months of mourning at home, but given the imperial decree and their merchant status, they couldn’t be too strict about such matters.
Zhen’er followed her father out of the carriage.
After half a year away from Nanjing, Zhen’er noticed significant changes upon her return. Just on their way in, they had passed several shops selling foreign goods—a direct result of the lifted trade ban.
With the opening of trade, the pace of life seemed to have quickened as well.
Zhen’er felt this immediately upon entering Official Street. Usually at summer noon, when the ground was scorching hot, there would be few pedestrians, but now the street was bustling with activity.
The Li family briefly acknowledged the greetings from the crowd and were about to enter when suddenly, an argument erupted from Yihou Money House.
“Everyone, this is outrageous! This is a Yihou Money House draft note—how can you refuse to honor it?” A dark-faced man in his forties stood at the entrance, shouting furiously.
“This is not our money house’s draft note, so naturally we cannot honor it,” Luo Wenqian replied coolly from the doorway.
“Nonsense! How is this not your money house’s note? Look at the seal, the pattern—what’s wrong with them?” the dark-faced man continued angrily.
“The seal is correct, the pattern is correct, but even so, this draft note is still fake,” Luo Wenqian said with narrowed eyes. Then he waved to several guards inside the money house, “Seize him and take him to the magistrate’s office. Report that he attempted to defraud us with a counterfeit draft note.”
Luo Wenqian’s accusation wasn’t baseless. Although this was a bearer note, each draft note had a unique seal. The fact that this dark-faced man’s note had the correct seal and pattern suggested he must have had close contact with the genuine noteholder to know the seal pattern and create such a convincing forgery.
Even if that weren’t the case, the note’s origin needed investigation.
Therefore, taking him to the authorities was necessary.
“Luo, you dare! So you not only refuse to honor the note but try to turn this around on me? Fine, tell me exactly why you say this note is fake!” the dark-faced man shouted frantically. Then he turned to the crowd, “Everyone, please judge this situation for me!”
As he finished speaking, the onlookers turned to Luo Wenqian. From a distance, Zhen’er felt anxious for him—such situations were extremely tricky. Unlike modern times with various anti-counterfeiting measures, if someone broke a money house’s seal and pattern system in this era, it could spell disaster for the establishment.
Just then, Li Jingfu stepped forward swiftly: “Feng Daniu, have you lost your mind? You’re trying to swindle my future son-in-law?” He grabbed the dark-faced man by the collar, fuming.
This dark-faced man called Feng Daniu was a bandit from beyond the Great Wall who had once worked in the gold mines. Li Jingfu had met him briefly before.
Feng Daniu hadn’t expected this intervention. He was about to argue angrily but, upon recognizing Li Jingfu, laughed instead: “Haha, if it isn’t Master Fu! Meeting you here in Nanjing must be fate.” Then he turned to Master Fu and teased, “What’s this, Master Fu? This is your son-in-law? You finally managed to marry off your daughter?”
Feng Daniu’s words made Zhen’er roll her eyes in annoyance, while Li Jingfu, having his shortcomings exposed, looked quite displeased.
“Never mind whether my daughter is married or not, you better explain what’s going on here. I won’t let this go without a proper explanation,” Li Jingfu glared at Feng Daniu—this fellow had never been up to any good.
“Master Fu, that’s not fair! I worked hard to close a deal and got this draft note, but when I came to cash it, Yihou refused to honor it. You say you won’t let this go? Well, I won’t let this go either! You’re all in this together, aren’t you?” Feng Daniu glared back at Li Jingfu.
Li Jingfu was so angry he was breathing heavily.
“Fine, since you won’t believe it until you see the coffin, I’ll explain it clearly,” Luo Wenqian said, then addressed the crowd: “Everyone, besides the seal and pattern, Yihou Money House’s draft notes have another anti-counterfeiting measure—the ink color of the pattern. Those of you who have our draft notes can verify this: normally the pattern appears black, but if you hold the note level with your eyes and look at it against the light, the pattern changes to a dark purple color. This gentleman’s note shows no such color change, which proves it’s counterfeit.”
Hearing this explanation, the crowd was amazed. Yihou Money House had never publicly disclosed this feature before, though people had heard that their anti-counterfeiting measures were very sophisticated.
Several merchants who happened to be conducting business in the money house immediately held their notes up to eye level against the light, and sure enough, the patterns turned dark purple.
Just like Purple Jade Light Ink, it emitted a dark red glow.
The crowd burst into excited chatter, surprised that Yihou Money House had such a clever measure in place. Though, considering Luo Jiu’s background, it wasn’t too surprising that he could produce such special ink.
Meanwhile, Feng Daniu was stamping his feet in frustration: “Could my note be fake? Damn it all, I’ve been thoroughly duped!”
“Whether you were duped or not, let’s discuss this at the magistrate’s office.” Yan Xilai, annoyed by how much trouble the dark-faced man had caused, ordered the guards to take him away.
Feng Daniu naturally resisted—most of his dealings were done without capital, so he couldn’t afford to go to the authorities.
“Luo Jiu, Master Feng is quite renowned in the northern territories. He surely wouldn’t intentionally try to swindle you. He must have been deceived himself. Why not give me a face and let me mediate this situation?”
At this moment, several horses galloped up, and a young man around twenty years old jumped down, cupping his hands toward Luo Wenqian.
“Ah, Fourth Young Master Qin, it’s been a long time,” Luo Jiu narrowed his eyes and returned the gesture.
“Fourth Young Master, how have you been?” Li Jingfu also laughed heartily.
Zhen’er raised her eyebrows, understanding dawning—the Qin family had arrived!