That day, Madam Hu Jiang took her people and returned to the Hu family with Old Madam Hu. Whatever happened afterward was the Hu family’s private matter behind closed doors, of no concern to others.
Li Zhenniang wouldn’t inquire into such things, but some news inevitably leaked out. It was said that after returning home, Madam Hu Jiang was confined by Old Madam Hu for three months, and the old Madam had taken over the marriage arrangements for all the Hu family granddaughters.
The next day, Wang Yan and her group also left, suddenly bringing peace to Wang Sifang’s household. That very evening, Wang Sifang regained consciousness, and after two days of rest, he could stand and gradually began taking charge of Sifang Money House affairs again.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With Wang Sifang’s recovery, Madam Hu’s spirits lifted, her illness improved significantly, and she resumed managing household affairs.
At this point, Zhenniang no longer needed to stay at the Wang residence. She returned to the ink workshop with Hua’er to prepare for their return to Huizhou. After all, the Li family had just earned the title of “World’s Finest Ink,” and their imperial tribute ink sign hadn’t been hung yet.
This matter was of utmost importance to the Li family.
Word came from Huizhou that the entire clan would gather for ancestral worship, so their return to Huizhou would happen within the next two or three days.
Meanwhile, Luo Wenqian remained busy with the complex reorganization of Sifang Money House.
Although the Hui merchants had stepped in to take over Sifang Money House, the impact on Nanjing’s Hui merchant community was enormous—one could say it cut to the bone.
The Sifang Money House affair affected far more than just the money house itself. Even Li Ink Workshop was affected when some Hui merchants’ capital chains broke, delaying payments. Additionally, with the Li family receiving the imperial tribute commission this year and overseeing a batch of imperial ink production, even though Li Zhenniang had made substantial profits last year through the tung oil venture, the workshop’s expansion had consumed significant capital. The imperial tribute competition had also been costly, leaving them somewhat short on working capital and forcing them to abandon some mid and low-end markets.
Of course, from a development perspective, this abandonment was inevitable. The Li family would focus on tribute ink and high-end ink production in the future—they couldn’t possibly dominate all market segments.
“This time, Hu Zonglin will be the Merchants’ association president,” Han Yigui said that afternoon while chatting with Li Jingfu at the Li residence, discussing the upcoming Merchants’ association presidential election. Wang Sifang was the original president, but after such an incident, he obviously couldn’t continue, so the election had been moved up.
As they were talking, Li Zhenshen also arrived. He had been doing quite well in Nanjing lately, especially profiting from the foreign goods Li Zhengping had brought.
“Wenqian invested too little in Sifang Money House this time. If he’d invested more and gotten a forty percent stake, he could have competed for the association presidency,” Li Zhenshen added as he joined them.
“Wenqian lacks the seniority—what use would there be in competing for that position?” Chou Po, sitting at the entrance enjoying the cool air, remarked calmly.
“That’s true,” Li Jingfu agreed from the side.
While keeping Chou Po company, Zhenniang understood the situation clearly. Insufficient seniority was one aspect, but another reason Luo Wenqian had invested less in the money house was to reserve funds. Firstly, he needed capital for the military sword business. Secondly, there was the matter of the Tian Ink Workshop. If Sifang Money House had been caught up in the Imperial Textile Office case, the Tian family would have truly fallen into the Xu family’s trap.
This time, Hai Rui targeted the Xu family because of Niu Suan’er’s land donation case, which Tian Er had facilitated. Thus, the Tian family couldn’t extricate themselves.
If things went badly, the Tian family’s fate might mirror that of the Luo family years ago. While this wasn’t good for the Tian family, it presented an opportunity for Luo Jiu, who had always wanted to reclaim the Luo ink business.
Therefore, Luo Wenqian kept money in reserve, planning to buy back what had been the Luo family workshop when the Tian family could no longer sustain it. After all, the Tian family still had outstanding loans from Yihou Sheng, giving them priority purchase rights.
Reclaiming the Luo Ink Workshop had always been Luo Wenqian’s wish—one could say he was determined to succeed.
As they were talking, firecrackers suddenly started exploding outside.
“Which business is opening now?” Li Jingfu asked curiously.
“That can’t be right—who would open a business at this time?” Han Yigui frowned.
Chou Po, sitting at the entrance watching the setting sun in the courtyard, said: “Firecrackers at this hour—someone probably died.”
Sure enough, as soon as Chou Po’s words fell, Hua’er rushed in: “Something’s happened! News from Huizhou—Old Master Tian has passed away. The Tian Ink Workshop has set off firecrackers and hung white lanterns.”
“Old Master Tian passed away?” Everyone was stunned at first hearing this news. Old Master Tian was only a few years older than Jingfu’s father, and much younger than the recently deceased Eighth Master Li.
However, given Old Master Tian’s health condition, while the news was sudden, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Old Master Tian’s health had been poor, and with the family facing such major troubles, it was understandable that he couldn’t withstand the anxiety.
“That’s not even the biggest news. The most shocking part is that after Old Master Tian’s death, he left the family property and Tian Ink to his concubine Chunzhi. Chunzhi has appointed Wang Decai as Tian Ink’s head manager—essentially, Tian Ink has changed hands,” Er’gou, who had followed Hua’er in, reported with surprise.
Zheng Fuli, who entered with Er’gou, also wore an expression of disbelief. The Tian family had truly suffered endless misfortunes these past two years, and the situation became increasingly incomprehensible to outsiders.
Needless to say, everyone present was shocked by this news.
“How is that possible? Has Old Master Tian gone mad?” Li Zhenshen was the first to cry out. This was unprecedented in Huizhou—with two sons in the family, no matter how unworthy they might be, how could a concubine inherit the family property?
“This must be just a rumor, right? If nothing else, how could the Tian clan’s relatives stand by and watch this happen?” Zhenniang couldn’t help saying. The situation was too incredible.
Even if Tian Er was troublesome and Tian Da had lost Old Master Tian’s favor, there was no reason to give the family property to a concubine. To put it bluntly, once Chunzhi received the family property, she must have been freed from her concubine status—if she remarried, wouldn’t the Tian family property go to another family?
This whole situation seemed utterly unreasonable!
“It’s because of the Tian family’s current predicament. They’re caught in the Xu family’s trap, and no one knows how it will end. Therefore, although the clan relatives question Chunzhi’s inheritance, no one dares to step forward. Speaking up now, if the Tian family can’t escape the Xu family’s trap, wouldn’t that be bringing trouble upon themselves?” Luo Wenqian entered with a grave expression.
He had long ago agreed with Old Master Tian that if Tian Ink couldn’t sustain itself, Luo Wenqian could use the loan to have priority in purchasing Tian Ink. This had been the true purpose behind Luo Wenqian’s loan to the Tian family. Yet unexpectedly, the situation had taken another sudden turn.
“But I still don’t understand why Old Master Tian would leave the property to Chunzhi?” Li Zhenniang frowned again. Even with the Tian family’s current difficulties, with Tian Da still in prison and Tian Er now also implicated, there was still Tian Ronghua.
That girl was no pushover—Old Master Tian could have temporarily entrusted the family to Tian Ronghua. Then, with the family wealth behind them, even if the Tian family couldn’t escape the Xu family’s trap entirely, they could spend some money to minimize the disaster and possibly emerge relatively unscathed.
But now, Old Master Tian giving the family wealth to Chunzhi had essentially cut off the path for all three Tian siblings. In the current situation, with both Tian brothers in prison and Tian Ronghua’s position precarious, the Xu family could barely take care of themselves, let alone help her. Moreover, this incident had started with the land donation case in Huizhou, with Tian Er as the facilitator—the Xu family had probably already turned against the Tian family, leaving Tian Ronghua’s future bleak.
Yet in this situation, Chunzhi had received the Tian family property. If for nothing else than to protect the property in the future, Chunzhi might well take harsh action against the Tian siblings. Adding to what Wenqian had said about the clan members fearing involvement and staying out of it.
Hadn’t Old Master Tian essentially sealed the Tian family’s fate with his own hands?
Thinking of how decisively Old Master Tian had given the thousand-year coal to the Li family, he didn’t seem like someone who would be so confused. Unless…
At this thought, Li Zhenniang looked up at Luo Wenqian.
Luo Wenqian naturally understood the question in her eyes and nodded, though he said nothing.
Anyone hearing this news would inevitably suspect that this might not have been Old Master Tian’s true intention, especially since he had been bedridden for over half a year.
At this point, everyone sighed deeply, never imagining that the once-glorious Tian family would come to this. But with the Tian family members themselves not speaking up, outsiders could at most gossip and express sympathy.
When a family is harmonious, all affairs prosper—the Tian family’s troubles stemmed from their lack of harmony.
In the evening, after dinner, everyone dispersed.
Luo Wenqian stayed behind to talk with Zhenniang.
The two sat by the well platform in the back courtyard. After sunset, the evening breeze carried a hint of coolness—it was already August, and the weather was becoming pleasant.
Their hands rested together on the well platform as Luo Wenqian gazed at the distant sky, his face half-hidden in the twilight, appearing somewhat profound.
“Brother Luo, Chunzhi and her people aren’t true ink makers—they may not be able to sustain the workshop. You still have a chance to reclaim the Luo ink business,” Li Zhenniang said, also looking at the distant sky where the last streak of sunset glowed brilliantly against the gray haze.
“Mm, I know,” Luo Wenqian smiled lightly, then furrowed his brow slightly and warned, “By the way, after you return to Huizhou, be especially careful of this Wang Decai from the Tian family. The man’s intentions run deep, and he views your Li family as enemies. Now that he controls Tian Ink, he may try to cause trouble for you.”
Pausing briefly, Luo Wenqian continued, “This time, regarding the Tian family matter, there’s a rumor in Huizhou saying that Chunzhi and Wang Decai were having an affair, which Old Master Tian discovered—he was angered to death.”
Hearing this, Zhenniang snorted coldly. Actually, from the time Wang Decai entered the Tian family, enduring in silence while Madam Su accompanied Tian Er, Zhenniang had calculated that Wang Decai would eventually gain power in the Tian family. At the time, she had even warned Tian Ronghua.
Unfortunately, Tian Ronghua had ignored the warning.
“I understand, I’ll be careful,” Zhenniang replied. She had never underestimated this Wang Decai—after all, in her previous life’s clan records, the Li family had suffered greatly at his hands.
Thinking of this, Zhenniang felt a strange sensation. In her previous life, Wang Decai had acquired the Li Ink Workshop, and the Li family had fallen apart. Could it be that now Wang Decai had set his sights on Tian Ink instead?