“This is outrageous! At our Tian family’s ink testing ceremony, the Li family ended up benefiting instead.”
After the ink testing ceremony, Second Master Tian was jumping with anger.
“Second Brother, please calm down. Why concern yourself with such small gains? You must know that at today’s ceremony, our Tian ink received everyone’s praise, especially the ink evaluations from Instructor Tian and Master Sun. Brother, you should have people publish their ink evaluations. I heard from the Xu family that Master Sun has already been appointed to the Yinbu Yingtian position and will take office soon. His ink evaluation will add considerable prestige to our Tian ink,” Tian Ronghua calmly stated. Everything was still within her control.
The Li family might have State Graduate Shen’s ink evaluation, but now the Tian family had Lord Sun’s evaluation—neither side held an advantage.
At this moment, Tian Ronghua wondered whether the Li family would take the bait she had cast with the Su He ink.
…
In the afternoon, the Li family’s fourth branch gathered together to carefully study the ink painting that young Wen You had brought back.
“Judging from these ink colors, the Tian family has surpassed everyone in Su He ink development,” Old Master Li said, reclining in his chair. Though his health had improved these past few days, he still appeared somewhat weak.
His eyes, however, were fixed intently on the landscape painting. Though uncolored, it showed perfect gradation of light and dark, layer upon layer, truly magnificent in scale. The layered effect achieved through the gradients was entirely due to Su He ink’s distinct separation of its five tones: black, white, gray, light, and pale.
One could say that Sun Kehong’s painting demonstrated all the advantages of Su He ink.
“The Tian family has controlled the tribute ink for three years, and with the Luo family’s support, it’s no wonder their Su He ink has reached this level,” Seventh Grandmother contemplated.
After all, Su He oil had always been classified as a foreign oil, forbidden to common people. Only the original Luo family and Tian family, who controlled the tribute ink, could obtain Su He oil and thus develop Su He ink.
It was only now, with the lifting of restrictions, that the ban on Su He oil had been removed.
“Su He ink is very valuable. Plus, the Tian family’s ink-testing ceremony was quite grand. Especially Master Sun’s ink evaluation for their Su He ink—I hear many people from the academy are seeking copies. Paper prices have soared on our Si Bao Street. The Tian family’s reputation will surely soar from this, and no matter how well other inks are made, they might not be able to compete with the Tian family’s Su He ink,” Old Manager Shao worried.
For many people, an ink’s superiority was largely determined by its value.
“In that case, doesn’t our Li family need to research Su He ink to compete with the Tian family?” Madam Li, née Cheng, asked anxiously.
“Aunt, if we do that, we’ll be falling right into the Tian family’s trap,” Zhen Niang said with a fox-like smile as she carefully stored the painting and returned it to Wen You.
Wen You preciously tucked it away and sat obediently beside his mother, Madam Sun.
Seventh Grandmother and Old Master Li exchanged glances and nodded slightly, knowing this clever girl wouldn’t be easily fooled.
However, the others looked confused.
“Oh? What do you mean by that?” Madam Da Huang, who had spent the most time with Zhen Niang in Nanjing, asked first.
Zhen Niang explained that Su He ink’s cost was too high—if used for tribute ink, it might lead to criticism that the court was wasting the people’s wealth.
“If that’s the case, isn’t the Tian family’s grand promotion of Su He Ink pointless?” Aunt Jin Hua was confused by Zhen Niang’s explanation.
“The Tian family isn’t foolish—otherwise, the Cheng family wouldn’t have fallen into their hands before. By making a name with Su He ink, they can demonstrate their ink-making achievements. When the time comes for the tribute ink selection, they can simply explain their reasoning and enter a different but equally good ink for the competition. If we believe they’ll enter Su He ink in the tribute selection, we’ll be deceived. And if we start researching Su He ink ourselves, we’ll fall even deeper into their trap. Not to mention, how could we catch up to their technique in such a short time? We’d not only waste effort but also delay our tribute ink preparation,” Zhen Niang explained.
Though seemingly simple, today’s ink testing ceremony had dug two traps for their tribute ink competitors.
The first was the obvious ploy of “repairing the walkway while secretly crossing elsewhere”—making everyone believe the Tian family would enter Su He Ink in the competition. Zhen Niang was now certain they would not use Su He ink for the selection. After all, if the Tian family hadn’t thought of certain implications, surely the Xu family would have.
She had discovered the second trap when Wen You was set up. While the first trap targeted all tribute ink competitors, the second was aimed specifically at the Li family.
Creating a new type of ink wasn’t easy. Zhen Niang had already examined the Tian family’s Su He ink at the testing ceremony, but in such a short time, she couldn’t understand too much about it. The Tian family had likely used the servant incident to try to force the Li family into bidding. At that moment, if Zhen Niang hadn’t known Master Sun so well and needed to preserve the Li family’s reputation, they might have had to participate in the bidding. The price was already quite high—if the Li family had made a bid, the painting would have been theirs.
Though Zhen Niang’s diversion meant the Li family didn’t spend any money, the result was the same.
With such a landscape painting in hand, the Li family would have more means to study Su He Ink’s colors. The Tian family clearly understood the Li family well—as technical enthusiasts, they wouldn’t pass up such an opportunity. Given the importance of the tribute ink rights, the Li family might have thrown themselves into Su He ink research.
This was the Tian family’s deep trap for the Li family. Then the Li family would be the ones accused of wasting the people’s wealth.
However, the Tian family had underestimated the Li family. Not just Zhen Niang, but Seventh Grandmother and Old Master Li were all extremely shrewd people. At their age, they could see through many things at a glance.
“Oh, when you put it that way, it makes perfect sense. The Tian family is crafty,” Aunt Jin Hua slapped her forehead in sudden understanding.
“So what should we do next?” Madam Huang asked.
Seventh Grandmother nodded to Zhen Niang. It had already been decided that Zhen Niang would lead this tribute selection process—everything would follow her arrangements. The two elders would just fill in any gaps.
“Seventh Grandmother, Grandfather, here’s what I think: we should maintain our own pace, proceed step by step, and not let others lead us by the nose. No matter what tricks others employ, we’ll let our technique speak for itself,” Zhen Niang said.
The Li family naturally wouldn’t fall into the Tian family’s trap.
“Good, that’s how ink makers should be.” Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, Seventh Grandmother and Master Li were extremely satisfied. Although the competition for tribute ink rights involved all sorts of schemes, certain principles must be maintained.
Thus it was decided: that the Li family’s ink testing ceremony would be held in ten days.
The ink tester would still be Ding Yunpeng. Master Dong Tu had passed the provincial examinations last year and was now in the capital for the metropolitan examinations, so he couldn’t help with the Li family’s ink testing anymore.
However, in the following days, the weather was unfavorable. The previously clear skies had turned to heavy rain starting the day before.