“Madam, Second Madam Xu has sent an invitation requesting your presence at tomorrow’s spring blessing ceremony at Chengren Temple,” the steward came up and presented a card to Madam Han Li.
“I won’t go.” Madam Han Li took the card and tossed it aside. She had been badly burned by Second Madam Xu this time and had no desire to associate with the Xu family anymore.
Zhen Niang waved the steward away, then picked up the card to examine it. “First Aunt, we must attend this blessing ceremony.”
Zhen Niang advised this because with First Uncle buying so much land as a merchant family, they would certainly draw attention, and how could they withstand scrutiny then? Eventually, these lands would need to be absorbed by the Xu family; otherwise, with the Han family holding so much land, they would be devoured alive. When she had originally planned this with First Uncle, the Xu family had been an essential part of the strategy.
After all, this land acquisition was merely for self-preservation.
Moreover, without these lands, how would Hai Rui investigate the Xu family’s affairs years later? Zhen Niang hadn’t altered history at all.
“Ah…” Madam Han Li sighed deeply as she took back the invitation. Saying she wouldn’t go was just an expression of anger – how could she not attend? If she offended Madam Xu, it might bring trouble to her husband. She understood the weight of such matters.
“First Aunt, don’t be discouraged. Debts will always be repaid,” Zhen Niang said calmly. The three Xu brothers were destined for exile, after all.
“Zhen Niang, come with me. Although these ladies are all quite crafty, you’ll need to interact with them sometimes while doing business in Nanjing. It won’t hurt to get acquainted,” Madam Han Li said.
“Yes,” Zhen Niang nodded, understanding completely.
“Indeed, Zhen Niang has been in Nanjing for some time now. She should go out more,” Madam Huang nodded in agreement. Her thoughts differed from Madam Han Li’s – she mainly wanted Zhen Niang to socialize so the ladies would recognize her worth, and marriage proposals would naturally follow.
Thus, it was decided.
Chengren Temple was built near Three Mountains Street during the Jingtai era at the request of Great Eunuch Wang Jin. It wasn’t far from either the Li or Han residences. Unfortunately, historically, Chengren Temple was destroyed by a great fire in 1900, leaving only underground ruins.
The next day, at the spring equinox, a light rain was falling.
With a bamboo rain hat and green reed cape, one need not hurry home in this slanting wind and fine rain.
Zhen Niang followed Madam Han Li into Chengren Temple. Second Madam Xu had reserved the peach garden behind the temple. When Madam Han Li arrived with Zhen Niang, Second Madam Xu hadn’t yet arrived. However, several ladies had already gathered, enjoying the scenery and drinking tea in the garden pavilions, mainly engaged in conversation.
When Madam Han Li led Zhen Niang over, it aroused the ladies’ curiosity.
Upon learning that Zhen Niang was now the chief manager of Li’s Ink Shop, they were even more surprised. Of course, some merchant families connected to the Tian family had heard about Zhen Niang being rejected as an “ill-fated wife,” which led to some whispered discussions.
Since her broken engagement, Zhen Niang had heard countless such whispers. She had grown immune to them and couldn’t be bothered to care anymore. She simply performed the proper greetings with appropriate etiquette.
This composure, in the ladies’ eyes, showed a remarkable indifference to favor and disgrace. Combined with the unusual circumstance of a young lady engaging in business, it won the goodwill of several merchant wives, especially Madam Qin from a tung oil business. Zhen Niang received her welcoming gift and was invited by several families to visit privately.
This was similar to modern business gatherings – mainly for introductions, exchanging contact information, and possibly following up later for further interaction.
Just then, Second Madam Xu arrived with several officials’ wives. Among them were Madam He, wife of the Tax Commissioner; Madam Wang, wife of the Yingtian Prefecture clerk; and Madam Zhao, wife of the County School Instructor.
On such occasions, wives of higher-ranking officials wouldn’t attend; only these few with some connection to merchant circles would come.
Immediately, the ladies who had arrived earlier went to greet these officials’ wives. Madam Han Li led Zhen Niang to pay respects to Second Madam Xu.
Second Madam Xu paid little attention to Zhen Niang – she met plenty of merchant wives and daughters who wished to become acquainted with her every day, so she saw no need to take notice. She simply invited Madam Han Li to sit: “I’ve been busy at home these past few days and haven’t had the chance to ask about the land matters. I know land prices have dropped severely recently. Don’t worry, we’ll pay what we owe you. But I heard you’re still buying large quantities of land – what’s that about? Isn’t that somewhat deceptive?”
As she spoke, her expression darkened, her words carrying an accusatory tone.
Having discussed their response with Zhen Niang beforehand, Madam Han Li naturally replied with a rueful expression: “Oh, that matter… It’s my fault for misjudging. We bought quite a lot of land at high prices before, and I couldn’t bear to let the ladies lose money because of me. So these days, I’ve made the hard decision to mortgage Li’s family’s Nanjing shops to Yihousheng Money House for loans, taking advantage of the current low prices to buy more land. This way, we can average out the high previous prices, and the ladies who invested with me will lose less.”
“That’s thoughtful of you, but have you considered that Official Hai is coming soon, and he’ll be investigating land issues? Your land buying has put everyone in a difficult position,” Second Madam Xu complained.
“It won’t be a problem. The land is in my hands, so if anything happens, I’ll take responsibility. Besides, Official Hai hasn’t arrived yet. We merchant wives lack foresight and don’t understand government affairs well. I just know that until Official Hai arrives in Nanjing, nothing is certain. If he comes, all this land was bought with real silver, and we’ve done nothing wrong. Those with clear consciences fear no midnight knock. Even if Official Hai is like King Yama himself, he must still be reasonable,” Madam Han Li said.
“Oh, so that’s your thinking. Then I’ve wrongly blamed you,” Second Madam Xu said with a relieved expression.
“It’s nothing. Everyone who knows my old Han says he’s gone mad. But we understand – no matter how much we lose, we can’t lose the money the ladies entrusted to the Han family. That was their show of trust in us,” Madam Han Li spoke with complete sincerity.
Zhen Niang watched from the side, deeply impressed. The older ginger was indeed spicier – First Aunt’s response had demonstrated loyalty while explaining the situation. Though they had planned the general meaning, First Aunt’s improvisation was quite remarkable.
“Yes, I understand Madam Han’s intentions,” Second Madam Xu now had no more doubts and even felt somewhat guilty about her previous unwillingness to acknowledge their agreement. However, thinking about how these merchants usually relied on her connections, she felt at peace again.
At this point, several ladies gathered around. The light rain outside had stopped, and the peach garden was shrouded in mist, creating a beautiful scene. They invited each other to walk around.
“Let’s go see the pagoda forest in the back garden. I heard a visiting monk has arrived at Chengren Temple who’s building a Buddhist relics stupa with his bare hands. We can pay our respects there,” suggested Madam Zhao, the instructor’s wife.
“Buddhist relics stupa? What’s that?” asked Madam He, the tax commissioner’s wife.
“I heard that in the fifteenth year of Jiajing’s reign, when the Emperor was building the Empress Dowager’s palace, he demolished the Yuan Dynasty Buddhist hall in the palace and found many Buddhist relics. Since the Emperor believed in Taoism and not Buddhism, considering it a way to deceive the common people, he ordered them to burn, keeping only one urn of relics’ ashes in the palace. They say Master Fohui kowtowed at the nine gates and obtained this urn of relics, which is now kept at Chengren Temple. He’s building a stupa for them, and to show his sincerity, he’s constructing it entirely by himself. The foundation stones are even stained with spots of his blood, which mysteriously look like peach petals,” explained Madam Zhao, relating what she had heard from her husband, the instructor.
This story aroused everyone’s interest in seeing it.
So the ladies proceeded together to the pagoda forest in the back garden.
Arriving at the back garden, they indeed saw through the light mist a monk in gray-green robes laboriously moving stones and bricks. Along the newly laid brick wall, there were indeed bloodstains that resembled peach petals of varying shades.
The scene inspired solemnity among the group. Those who believed in Buddhism began reciting sutras with clasped hands.
Zhen Niang, being neither Buddhist nor particularly religious, with ink always on her mind, was reminded of collection inks. Master Fohui’s actions, from carrying bricks to laying the wall, would make perfect scenes for collection ink designs.
Thinking this, Zhen Niang beckoned a young novice monk and asked him to bring some paper. She then took out a piece of ink from her sleeve – one she had specially made, similar to ancient eyebrow pencils used for drawing eyebrows.
Using this ink block, Zhen Niang began drawing ink line drawings directly on paper, somewhat similar to modern sketches, sharing some common artistic principles.
Zhen Niang had practiced sketching diligently to create good ink line drawings, and in less than a quarter hour, she completed several pieces, simple yet expressive.
The first drawing showed ox and horse ink lines, followed by Master Fohui’s back view carrying bricks, then his side profile bearing the heavy load, and finally the Buddhist relics stupa with its peach petal-like marks. Before the stupa, the thirty-something Master Fohui emanated an otherworldly presence.
Finally, she drew some dragon and elephant ink line drawings.
Zhen Niang knew that this Master Fohui would later become Master Lianchi, also known as the Cloud Dwelling Monk for his later residence at Yunqi Temple in Hangzhou, becoming one of the Ming Dynasty’s four great Buddhist masters.
She believed that once she turned these ink line drawings into collection inks, in a few years, these collection inks would achieve great prominence. They might even become the crown jewels of Li’s Ink Shop.
This thought led her to consider another type of ink – Buddhist ink.
Buddhist ink was a branch of ink-making, developed by Sichuan monks. It was said that Su Dongpo had learned the Buddhist ink-making method, and when he was exiled to the south, he combined South Sea pine soot with Buddhist ink methods to create South Sea Dharma ink. Unfortunately, his ship met with an accident on the return journey, and all the prepared ink fell into the sea, making Su Dongpo’s South Sea Dharma ink a lost art.
Buddhist ink had flourished during the Song Dynasty, but after declining during the Yuan Dynasty, by the Ming Dynasty, it had virtually disappeared. Even the occasional pieces that appeared only captured the form of Buddhist ink but not its spirit, and couldn’t be considered true Buddhist ink.
This was deeply regrettable.