The Heir

Сhарtеr 127: Вirthday Ink

"Ваng!" Тiаn Вenchang slаmmеd the tablе hard and sсоldеd Тiаn Еr, "Are уou an idiot? Is it worth it for us to соmpеte with thе Li fаmilу likе this? Thе Li fаmilу is а nоbodу in Nanjing. Comреting with them is just lоwering our own stаtus, isn't it? I remembеr telling yоu whеn уоu саmе here thаt wе arе thе tоp ink-mаking familу in Нuizhou. As lоng аs our Ink Мanor is oрen, we won't hаvе tо worrу about business. Whаt dоеs the Liquid Ink businеss аmоunt tо? It саn nevеr bе cоnsiderеd refined, undеrstand? Аs lоng аs we hоld оntо thе Tribute Ink seсtor, our position аs the leading ink mаker in Huizhоu is seсurе. But lоok at you—seeing the Li family's Liquid Ink selling well, you had to go and try it too. When you couldn't figure it out, you tried to steal their ink formula, and ended up ruining our own reputation. You... what am I supposed to say to you? Pig brain."

"Don't just blame me. Weren't you also competing with the Li family back in Huizhou?" Tian Er retorted defiantly.

"Is that the same? At that time, our Tian family had just entered the Ink Industry, and we needed to establish our authority. Besides, later when we requisitioned pine materials, it was out of necessity. Under the Pine Blight, without good pine materials, how could we produce the ink that Master Yun demanded? In business, it's all about profit—it had nothing to do with the Li family. If it had been the Cheng Family who had that batch of pine materials back then, I would have requisitioned from them just the same." Tian Benchang glared at Tian Er with a sinister expression.

Tian Er felt a chill under his gaze.

"Enough, I won't say more to you. I've already booked your boat ticket back to Huizhou in a few days. Now go back to your room and stay there." Seeing his younger brother's current attitude of being unafraid of any consequences, Tian Benchang couldn't be bothered to argue further. Their father would deal with him once he returned home.

"I'm not going back." Upon hearing about returning, Tian Er refused. Nanjing was a dazzling world. Going back to the village meant he wouldn't get to enjoy these things anymore. Besides, returning like this would completely humiliate him.

"If you don't go back, I won't mind breaking both your legs and carrying you back." Tian Benchang said coldly. He really wanted to teach this kid a harsh lesson, but with so many matters at hand, he truly didn't have the time to deal with him.

"Brother, you..." Tian Er was furious.

"Go back to your room." Tian Benchang's expression turned even colder, leaving no room for further argument. Seeing his brother's stern face, Tian Er knew he was serious and couldn't be provoked. He could only return to his room resentfully.

"Brother, don't be angry. It's not good for your health." Tian Ronghua advised from the side.

Then she shifted the topic: "Actually, Second Brother tried very hard. This time, he fell into the Li family's trap. You're not in Nanjing, so you don't know how formidable their Liquid Ink is. The profits from Liquid Ink are quite substantial, and it's extremely convenient to use. Although it can't be considered refined yet, as long as the formula is further improved, its future development is hard to predict. Moreover, Liquid Ink can quickly capture the market. It's precisely because of Liquid Ink that the Li family managed to establish a foothold in Nanjing. Otherwise, they might have had to slink back to Huizhou in disgrace by now. So, regarding the Liquid Ink matter, Second Brother wasn't wrong. His mistake was trusting the wrong person."

After all, they were siblings from the same mother, so Tian Ronghua still had to speak up for her second brother.

"Is Liquid Ink really that powerful?" Tian Benchang, after all, wasn't in Nanjing and didn't know about the current reputation of the Li family's Liquid Ink.“I need not elaborate further. If you stay in Nanjing a few more days and visit the various Ink Pavilions and stationery shops, you’ll understand for yourself,” Tian Ronghua said.

“I’ll certainly go and see,” Tian Benchang nodded.

“By the way, why did you come to Nanjing so quickly?” Tian Ronghua then asked curiously. Her letter had been sent only a few days ago, so in principle, her elder brother shouldn’t have received it. His sudden arrival in Nanjing must have been for some other reason.

“I didn’t know about the trouble at the Ink Manor when I came to Nanjing. I only heard about it after disembarking from the boat,” Tian Benchang explained.

“Then what brought you to Nanjing?” Tian Ronghua inquired.

“I received news from the Ink Affairs Bureau that Noble Consort Shen’s birthday is approaching. Princess Ning An intends to commission a batch of Longevity Ink for her and is currently selecting candidates. If our Tian family can secure this order, Tian ink might catch the eye of the imperial household. With that, our family would have the capital to compete with the Imperial Ink Supervision for the opportunity to produce imperial ink. Who knows, we might even contend for the position of Ink Affairs Official,” Tian Benchang said with excitement.

Princess Ning An was born to Consort Duan, but after Consort Duan was executed during the palace coup, Princess Ning An was raised by Noble Consort Shen. The princess regarded her as a mother, making this batch of Birthday Ink exceptionally significant.

As for imperial ink, it was exclusively for royal use, while Tribute Ink was merely supervised by local ink makers for official court business—the two were not on the same level.

Throughout history, those who produced imperial ink were invariably promoted to Ink Affairs Official, elevating them beyond mere merchant status.

In this dynasty, imperial ink had always been produced by the palace’s Imperial Ink Supervision, with outsiders rarely getting a chance. This time, Princess Ning An wanted to present Birthday Ink to Noble Consort Shen, hence the selection from among the people. For folk ink makers, this was a rare opportunity to leap through the dragon’s gate.

“Brother, this is a truly rare opportunity,” Tian Ronghua’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

“Indeed. I just didn’t expect to arrive and find you all causing such a stir. I’ll have to visit the Ink Affairs Bureau more often. If we can’t get past their scrutiny, this opportunity will be lost,” Tian Benchang said, his anger rising at the thought. His second brother was truly hopeless.

At this, Tian Ronghua also looked somewhat embarrassed.

“By the way, keep an eye on your second brother these next few days. Make sure he doesn’t cause any more trouble. Also, notify the masters below to focus all their efforts on developing the Birthday Ink,” Tian Benchang added.

Fortunately, he had brought several Ink Masters with him this time. The Birthday Ink had already been roughly developed in Huizhou; now it just needed a bit more refinement and depth, which shouldn’t be a problem.

In the meantime, he would have to busy himself mitigating the impact of the Ink Incident caused by his second brother.

Additionally, before the news spread further, he would work on building connections to see if he could directly secure the Birthday Ink commission. After all, with the Tian family’s qualification to produce Tribute Ink, they should have an easier time obtaining this opportunity to make the Birthday Ink.

…Early morning, Zhen Niang was up as usual. Last night, she had spent most of the night making ink, having essentially restored the ancient Yu Mi ink technique. She had also made further improvements, making the ink color even blacker and more translucent. She thought that once it was released, it should make some impact, though of course, she would still need to find a suitable person to test the ink.

"Sister, you were up late again last night, weren’t you? Mother has been nagging me all morning, telling you not to push yourself so hard." At that moment, her eldest brother Li Zhenliang was standing at the back door, holding a bucket of something, clearly having just returned from outside.

"Brother, what did you buy so early in the morning?" Zhen Niang asked curiously.

"Tung oil. I’ve been asking around lately, and Yunnan tung oil is selling quite well here in Nanjing. I bought a small bucket to compare with our family’s tung oil and see the pros and cons. That way, I can promote it more effectively." Li Dalang chuckled.

Zhen Niang gave her brother a thumbs-up. Although he wasn’t the most flexible person, he was very down-to-earth and dedicated to whatever he did. Back when he was working on the coal stove, and later with inkstones, he gave it his all. Nowadays, the inkstone business was handled by their eldest cousin Zhengsheng. Truth be told, neither the coal stove nor inkstones were her brother’s strong suit.

Her brother’s real strength lay in oils. After all, he had started as an apprentice in an oil workshop at the age of thirteen and had been at it for a full decade now. Of course, the past two years spent on the coal stove and inkstones had been a bit of a detour, but his skills in pressing oil and judging its quality hadn’t been forgotten.

Then, Li Dalang took out a five-hundred-tael bank draft from his pocket, issued by Wang Cuiqiao’s Huiyuan Bank, and handed it to Zhen Niang.

"Brother, what’s this for?" Zhen Niang asked, staring at the draft in her hand.

"You forgot? This is your share of the profits from the inkstone business. I withdrew it for you, and now I’m handing it over." Li Dalang explained.

"Oh." Zhen Niang nodded and accepted it without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, Li Dalang then gestured toward Zhao Shi, who was approaching, and said, "Give the draft to Mother. She said that once I give it to you, it means I’ve paid you, but she’s afraid you’ll just pour the money back into the Ink Workshop. She wants to manage it for you—it’s all meant to be part of your future dowry."

Zhen Niang couldn’t help but laugh. So the money was just passing through her hands.

Zhen Niang’s mother, Zhao Shi, came over and directly took the draft from her. "I’ll give this money to Mother to manage for you. She’s already looked into it—Sixth Grandfather knows someone who wants to sell land. Mother will buy some for you. That’s the real foundation. How can a young woman spend her whole life making ink?"

As she spoke, Zhao Shi shot Zhen Niang a glance, worried she might not be pleased.

Zhen Niang smiled and nodded. "Alright, I’ll listen to Mother." She understood her mother’s intentions—she was still thinking about her future. Besides, buying land was a sensible path, much like how many people in good times would invest in property. It was a solid investment.

Just as they were talking, they heard another commotion outside.

They stepped out from the back door onto the street to see what was happening. To their surprise, they saw a team of tax office officers pushing Ge Qiu Jie out of her raw silk shop, then slapping two large seals on the door, sealing it shut.

"Ge Dana is finished for good this time. He’s been thrown into prison, and I hear he’s going to be exiled. All his family’s wealth has been confiscated," someone nearby who knew the inside story remarked.Ge Qiu Jie was desperately screaming and squeezing her way to the front of her raw silk shop, trying to stop the bailiffs from sealing it. A small blue-flowered cloth bundle had scattered on the ground, containing nothing of value except for a few changes of clothes.

"What are you doing? Trying to rebel?" The bailiff shoved Ge Qiu Jie hard, and she fell to the ground, sitting there with a face ashen with despair.

Hua'er emerged from somewhere in the crowd and went to help Ge Qiu Jie up.

After all, they had once been sisters-in-law. Though their relationship hadn’t been great, they had lived under the same roof for several months. Seeing the Ge family in such a state now, Hua'er couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.

Unexpectedly, after standing up, Ge Qiu Jie pushed Hua'er away forcefully and spat, "Don’t pretend to be kind."

With that, she gathered the blue-flowered cloth bundle from the ground, glanced back at the sealed raw silk shop, gritted her teeth, wiped away a tear, and turned to walk toward the official street entrance.

Hua'er felt wronged. How had she been pretending? Zhen Niang stepped forward, pulled her back, and patted her shoulder without saying a word. In truth, Zhen Niang understood Ge Qiu Jie’s feelings. Ge Qiu Jie was a proud woman. The reason she had opened her raw silk shop in this area, aside from her father’s influence, was to show the Li family that she, Ge Qiu Jie, could do even better after leaving the Li household.

Now, the last thing she wanted was the Li family’s sympathy.