In the legitimate Li Family residence, deep into a spring night.
The Seventh Madam still lay in bed, with her eldest daughter-in-law Chen Shi and second daughter-in-law Huang Shi attending to her. Both women wore worried expressions.
A faint medicinal scent permeated the room. The lamp on the table was covered with a gauze shade, casting a soft yellow glow that wouldn’t disturb anyone.
“Cough, cough…” The Seventh Madam, who had been unconscious in bed, let out a light cough and slowly opened her eyes.
“Madam, you’re awake!” Upon hearing the Seventh Madam’s movement, Chen Shi and Huang Shi immediately rushed forward, asking with delighted faces.
It had been three days – the Madam had been unconscious for three days, truly causing anxiety among everyone in the household.
As soon as the Seventh Madam opened her eyes, she felt disoriented, seeing double images. After a while of adjustment, she looked at Chen Shi and Huang Shi and sighed deeply, “What a long dream.”
In truth, although the Madam had been unconscious for three days, she hadn’t been completely unaware. She had vaguely understood the comings and goings of people around her and what they said.
Towards the end, even though she couldn’t open her eyes, she could think clearly. This unexpected collapse had thrown the household into chaos, and not only that, but the ink workshop was also in disarray. She had even wondered what would happen to the ink workshop and the Li family’s seventh branch if she didn’t wake up.
These thoughts made her increasingly frightened, so she kept telling herself to wake up, wake up, and finally, she did.
The previous sensation had felt like a long dream, which was why she sighed about it being such a long dream.
“Madam, this long dream truly frightened everyone,” Chen Shi said with a smile. She helped the Madam sit up and fed her a bowl of ginseng soup.
Meanwhile, Huang Shi brought a small bowl of egg custard.
The Madam hadn’t eaten a grain of rice in three days and was surely hungry, but a small bowl of ginseng soup wasn’t enough. However, given her advanced age and recent recovery from illness, she couldn’t eat much else. A small bowl of egg custard would be perfect to fill her stomach.
“These eggs were sent by Miss Zhenniang. While you were ill, she was worried about disturbing you, so she just left them at the gate without coming in,” Huang Shi chatted while feeding the egg custard.
“Speaking of which, we owe thanks to Zhenniang this time. She’s so thoughtful and considerate. When Ninth Uncle had his accident, she was worried about you, Madam. It was her suggestion to keep a physician in the house, which enabled timely treatment. It wasn’t in vain that you’ve been thinking of her these days,” Chen Shi added.
“That girl has indeed been considerate,” the Madam’s eyes flashed with appreciation when speaking of Zhenniang.
Speaking of the Eighth Branch’s daughter, previously she was only known for her love of food, with little else noteworthy about her. It wasn’t until last year when she fought desperately for herself while transporting pine wood through the city gate, that the Madam began to pay attention to her.
To be honest, the Madam wasn’t surprised by the girl’s sharp tongue when dealing with the Tian family – with a mother like Zhao Shi, how could the daughter be weak?
But what truly earned the Madam’s appreciation was Zhenniang’s conduct afterward.
Most young women labeled as ill-fated and having their engagement broken off would either become resentful of the world or resign themselves to weakness. Yet Zhenniang maintained a peaceful disposition, always greeting people with a smile, naturally drawing others closer. She didn’t show weakness like Zheng Shi but instead worked hard to live earnestly.
Moreover, she demonstrated impressive skills in the ink business. Behind those ordinary smoke-collecting and ink-making tasks, the girl had put in countless times more effort than others.
This girl possessed a practical, hardworking attitude toward life that was truly precious.
Of course, the Seventh Madam’s evaluation of Zhenniang wasn’t complete. Regarding the ill fate and broken engagement, with her dual-lifetime perspective, Zhenniang didn’t consider these matters significant. But if Zhenniang had lived her entire life in the Ming Dynasty, it would be hard to say if she could have remained so calm and composed after being labeled ill-fated and having her engagement broken off.
However, one thing was certain – her practical and diligent approach to life, never giving up or abandoning hope. This was the quality of an ink maker that Zhenniang had developed under her grandfather’s nurturing since childhood.
Ten thousand pestles for light glue – only through steady pounding could one possibly achieve ink as precious as jade.
“Gather everyone in the family. I want to make my will,” the Seventh Madam suddenly announced.
“Madam…” Chen Shi and the others cried out in alarm – she had just woken up, why was she already talking about making a will?
“Don’t say more. During my unconsciousness, I wasn’t completely unaware. Though I’ve awakened now, I know my body well. No one can guarantee this won’t happen again. It’s better to make preparations early,” the Madam said.
“Very well.” Hearing the Madam’s words, Chen Shi agreed and went personally to summon everyone.
[…To be continued in the next section…]
The next morning, the Li family’s Eighth Branch received news of the Madam’s awakening.
The whole family was naturally overjoyed.
“Second Sister, aren’t we going to sell ink on Fourth Treasure Street today?” Xiaoer finished his breakfast and wiped his mouth, pleading.
“Why wouldn’t we go? Are you trying to slack off again?” Zhenniang glared at Xiaoer. This boy was always finding ways to be lazy; they couldn’t encourage such behavior.
“Not at all! Second Sister, don’t you remember? Today is the tribute ink competition. I heard people on the street saying that the Ink Affairs Bureau had rented out the Taibai Tower and invited several literary celebrities to judge. There are even courtesans from Jinling – they say they’re incredibly charming. Let’s go take a look!” Xiaoer said with a wink.
Oh, Zhenniang only then remembered that today was indeed the final day of the tribute ink competition.
However, Xiaoer’s words nearly made Zhenniang spit out her food. This boy was only nine years old, yet he already knew about watching charming courtesans. He must have heard it from the idlers on the street. But the boy’s pleasure would turn to grief – how could their mother let such words slide?
Zhenniang smiled secretly, waiting to watch the show.
Sure enough, when Zhao Shi heard Xiaoer’s words, she furrowed her brow and grabbed his ear: “You little rascal, is your skin itching? What do you know about courtesans and charm? If you dare go, watch how Mother makes your bottom bloom like a flower. To help your Second Sister mind the stall properly.”
“Mother, Mother, it hurts!” Xiaoer clutched his ear and begged for mercy for quite a while before Zhao Shi finally let up.
“Second Sister is so mean,” Xiaoer muttered, seeing his sister secretly enjoying his predicament.
Zhenniang ignored him and after breakfast, shouldered her prepared ink case and headed out. Xiaoer could only follow dejectedly.
But unexpectedly, after leaving the house, Zhenniang looked back to check that Zhao Shi wasn’t watching the door, then quickly turned around and headed toward the other side of the city gate – the direction of Taibai Tower.
“Second Sister?!” Seeing the direction, Xiaoer immediately called out joyfully and followed.
“Shh…” Zhenniang turned back and made a gesture of silence.
Xiaoer was quick to catch on, nodding immediately. The siblings’ faces both wore mischievous expressions as they ran off toward Taibai Tower.
Zhenniang also wanted to check out such a grand event.
Du Shi was standing on the stairs at this moment, putting a basket of beans on the roof tiles to dry, and through the courtyard wall, she happened to see Zhenniang and Xiaoer’s sneaky behavior, making her burst out laughing.
“Those siblings must be heading to Taibai Tower,” Zhao Shi said irritably.
“Mother knew?” Du Shi asked with a laugh.
“They’re my flesh and blood, how could I not know what they’re thinking?” Zhao Shi snorted. She hadn’t intended to stop them. As if those two siblings could fool her?
So, nobody was foolish here.
At this time, outside Taibai Tower, was packed with people.
Since Taibai Tower had been rented out, ordinary folk obviously couldn’t enter. However, this didn’t affect people’s enthusiasm for joining the excitement.
Just think of the modern era, when fans would gather outside hotels where celebrities were staying.
“Today, Official Wang Shizhen and Master Dongtu are here…” a well-informed person leaning against a willow tree by the river bank said mysteriously.
“Never mind all that. Ergou, tell me, which courtesans came from Jinling?” a man nearby called out. This immediately drew agreement from other idlers – this was what everyone cared about.
“I heard the Ten Fragrances House sent Miss Yan, they say her dance rivals Zhao Feiyan. But of course, that’s not the main attraction – the real highlight is the great Wang Cuiqiao…” the one called Ergou said with exaggerated expressions.
Zhenniang, standing at the edge of the crowd with Xiaoer, was startled when Ergou mentioned Wang Cuiqiao.
Wang Cuiqiao was no ordinary woman – in later generations, countless versions of operas would be written about her.
It was said she was originally a famous courtesan from Jiangnan, later kidnapped by the pirate Xu Hai and made his chief concubine. Later, when Hu Zongxian wanted to eliminate the pirates, Luo Longwen came forward to persuade Wang Cuiqiao to convince Xu Hai to submit to imperial authority. Xu Hai agreed, but it was all a trap – as soon as Xu Hai came ashore, he and his men were immediately arrested, and the pirates were eliminated.
Of course, Xu Hai wasn’t innocent either – he had countless connections with Japanese pirates.
Wang Cuiqiao ultimately committed suicide by jumping into the river.
The whole incident had happened just a few years ago.
Yet now Wang Cuiqiao had appeared again – could it be someone with the same name? They would have to wait and see.
At this moment, the idlers around them grinned excitedly upon hearing about Wang Cuiqiao.
“By the way, Ergou, how’s the tribute ink competition going inside?” someone in the crowd asked – unlike the surrounding idlers, this person had come to watch the ink competition.
“The Pan family, Xu family, and Fang family are all out. Now it’s just the Tian family and Cheng family competing,” Ergou said, waving his arms.
“That’s impossible, right? The Pan family isn’t weak, and the Fang family is decent too. How did it end up being the Tian family and Cheng family in the final round? Weren’t there earlier rumors saying the Tian family’s ink formula was stolen? The recent incident with the Sun family was connected to the Tian family – even their harmony ink formula was stolen from the Cheng family, but the Tian family made unnecessary changes and messed it up. Everyone was saying the Tian family had no chance,” the questioner called out.
“Everyone fell for the Tian family’s plan. Their preliminary harmony ink was indeed flawed, but today at the Taibai Tower competition, the Tian family brought out their true harmony ink. Though it can’t compare to the Xiangbi Deputy Ink Master, it’s still an excellent ink. I know for sure this ink was developed over several generations by the Luo family’s technicians, but in the end, the Tian family benefited from it. The other families naturally couldn’t compete, and the Cheng family has met their match – it’s hard to say who will win in the end,” Ergou said, clicking his tongue.
The Xiangbi Deputy Ink Master was the Jin Zhangzong Harmony Oil Smoke Ink – equal weights of this ink and gold had the same value, and even then it was hard to obtain.
The surrounding crowd burst into an uproar.
Zhenniang secretly stamped her foot – she had warned Third Grandfather Cheng about this point earlier. Who knew if the Cheng family had prepared for it?