The Heir

At thе sоund оf Оld Мaster Li's roаr, Wu Shi hurriеd over, with Zhаo Shi leаding Du Shi аnd Zhеn Niаng сlоsely bеhind.

Li Jingfu returned with injuries all over his fасe—сleаrlу bеаten аftеr lоsing аt thе gambling tаble and unablе tо pаy his debts.

At thаt moment, Оld Mastеr Li's fасе wаs flushеd сrimson, his breаthing rаgged likе а bеllows, аs he stаrеd fixedlу аt Li Jingfu, who stоod stubbornly tо the side. Li Jingfu snortеd dеfiаntly, "Finе, I'll leave thеn."

With thаt, hе aсtuаllу turnеd аnd wаlked аwаy.

"Jingfu, whаt arе you dоing? Don't уоu knоw yоur fаthеr is ill? Нow can уou still be so stubborn? Hurrу and apоlogize tо yоur fаther. Рromise you'll never gamble again, find a job, and take care of the family properly," Wu Shi urged anxiously, stepping forward to pull Li Jingfu back.

"Mother," Li Jingfu's eyes reddened slightly. "Father has never liked me since I was young. He'd rather teach his ink-making skills to my elder cousin Li Jingxian than to me. Back then, I finally managed to enter the Ink Workshop and became a supervisor, but what did Father do? He outright dismissed me, saying I was incompetent, humiliating me in front of the entire clan. What else can I do but gamble? Father made me feel like gambling is the only thing I'm good for in life." Li Jingfu nearly roared the words.

"Pfft—" Old Master Li spat out a mouthful of blood, slumping weakly into his chair. He pointed a trembling finger at Li Jingfu, unable to utter a single word.

"Old man..."

"Grandfather..."

"Father..."

"Dalang, go fetch a doctor quickly," Zhao Shi urged Li Dalang, who rushed out the door.

"Father..." Li Jingfu rushed forward, clearly terrified as well.

"Slap—" Wu Shi struck Li Jingfu heavily across the face. "You wretched child, you wretched child! Do you know why your father withdrew from the Li Family Ink Workshop back then? Why he announced his retirement from the Ink Industry? Why he swore never to touch ink again in his lifetime? Do you think it was really because he lost to your elder cousin Jingxian in a power struggle, as outsiders claim? Is your father that kind of person?"

Here, Wu Shi paused heavily. "It was because of you. Do you remember that batch of ruined Tribute Ink? When the glue was being boiled for that batch, your father entrusted you to watch over it, didn't he? He told you to add the ingredients on time and in order, didn't he? But what did you do? Someone deliberately flattered you, invited you out for drinks, and you actually went, leaving the glue boiling to someone else. But do you know what happened? They swapped the glue. The ink made with that glue cracked as soon as it reached the capital. Your Seventh Uncle was beaten dozens of times, nearly losing his life. He had to remake a batch and send it again, and how many gifts did we have to give to settle the matter? But your Seventh Uncle was severely injured, and his health was already poor. He couldn't hold on and passed away two years later. Your father took the blame for you, you unfilial son! I could beat you to death..." As she spoke, Wu Shi's tears fell in large drops, and she slapped Li Jingfu's back repeatedly with her palm.

Listening from the side, Zhen Niang finally understood the grudge between her grandfather and Seventh Grandmother. It seemed Seventh Grandmother blamed her grandfather and father for Seventh Uncle's death.

At this moment, Li Jingfu was stunned. He had never imagined things were like this. No one had told him back then. Recalling the past, Li Jingfu suddenly closed his eyes and fell heavily to his knees with a thud, then began kowtowing fiercely to the ground. "Father, I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong..."

With each "I was wrong," he kowtowed heavily. In just a couple of times, his forehead was already bruised and swollen, looking terrifying."What are you doing? As long as you understand your father's heart, that's enough, you foolish child." Wu Shi sobbed as she helped Li Jingfu up. Although Zhao Shi usually gritted her teeth in anger at Li Jingfu, they were still husband and wife after all, and now her heart ached for him.

"The doctor is here." At that moment, Li Dalang arrived with the physician.

Old Master Li had a chronic illness—a lung condition. The first step in ink-making, smoke generation, involved burning kilns to collect soot. The finer the soot pigment, the lighter and more delicate it was, making it easy to inhale into the trachea and lungs during collection. Moreover, the smoke-filled workshops were perpetually shrouded in flames and fumes, with heat and smoke lingering year after year. How could one avoid falling ill under such conditions?

"This illness requires rest. Avoid anger and exhaustion, and maintain a tranquil environment," the physician prescribed medicine and carefully advised.

Afterward, Li Jingfu followed the physician back to fetch the medicine, personally brewed it, and brought it to Old Master Li's bedside to feed him. After drinking the medicine, Old Master Li refused to even glance at Li Jingfu.

Zhen Niang, along with the rest of the family, stood by to attend to him.

"It's so late now. All of you, return to your rooms. I'll stay here and keep watch," Wu Shi waved to the others.

"Father, I'll go back now and come early tomorrow morning to attend to you," Li Jingfu said.

"No need. Have you forgotten that I told you to get out?" Old Master Li's voice was hoarse.

"You stubborn old man," Wu Shi nudged Old Master Li.

"My words are as good as gold," Old Master Li still said with his eyes closed.

"I understand," Li Jingfu replied.

"If you understand, then go find Chairman Qin," Old Master Li instructed.

"Yes," Li Jingfu nodded and left.

Zhen Niang was still pondering the meaning behind Old Master Li's words when she heard him say, "Zhen Niang, Seventh Grandmother helped you today. Remember, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a fountain of gratitude."

"Grandfather, your granddaughter understands," Zhen Niang nodded earnestly, clenching her fist subtly as the image of Seventh Grandmother surfaced in her mind.

In truth, since crossing into this world, Seventh Grandmother was the person she felt most familiar with—familiar, not merely acquainted, because Zhen Niang had read about her deeds in her previous life.

Before her transmigration, Zhen Niang was named Li Zhen, also a descendant of the Li family. In her previous life, her family possessed a genealogy recording the direct lineage of the Li clan.

The Li family originally hailed from the Yi River Xi clan. During the turmoil of the late Tang dynasty, the Xi clan migrated to Huizhou, where they passed down the craft of ink-making through generations. During the Southern Tang dynasty, Xi Tinggui's ink won the favor of Emperor Li Yu, who bestowed the surname Li upon him and appointed him as an ink official. This was the Li family's most glorious era. By the Song dynasty, Li Mo was still regarded as the finest ink under heaven, with the saying, "Gold is easy to obtain, but Li Mo is hard to come by."

However, the Li family was far from peaceful. Due to their deep ties with Emperor Li Yu of the Southern Tang, they were viewed with suspicion by the Song court. Despite the Li family's reputation in the Ink Industry, they struggled to survive. To preserve the Li lineage, the clan head dispersed the family, dividing the vast Li clan into over a dozen branches for continuation.

By the Yuan dynasty, the ink-making industry had fallen into decline, and the various Li branches naturally achieved little.

When the Ming dynasty arrived, the ink industry revived, but the most promising branch of the direct Li lineage ultimately died out due to a lack of descendants. In her previous life, this had always been a regret for her grandfather, as the essence of Li Mo's techniques lay within this direct lineage. With its extinction, the core techniques of Li Mo were lost, preventing the Li family from ever securing a place in Huizhou's ink-making industry thereafter.And now, the branch of Seventh Grandmother should be the one that vanished in the clan records. Seventh Grandmother would be the last matriarch of this main lineage. At this time, the main branch of the Li family consisted entirely of widows. Seventh Grandfather had died due to past events, and afterward, several uncles and cousins either fell to their deaths while searching for inkstones on Huangshan or succumbed to illness. Now, there was only one great-grandson, Li Tianyou, who was about the same age as Xi Ge'er—belonging to the same generation as Little Official Xiao. Zhen Niang remembered from the clan records of her previous life that after Seventh Grandmother passed away from illness, young Tianyou died mysteriously, and the other collateral branches of the Li family began to divide the main lineage's assets.

As for the rest, Zhen Niang could no longer recall clearly, but the last few lines of the records remained etched in her memory.

Wife of the Heir: Chen Shi, became a nun.

Wife of the Heir: Madam Tian, returned to the Tian family, not long after, died.

Wife of the Heir: Huang Shi, lived in a cold kiln, died that winter.

Wife of the Heir: Madam Sun, remarried, not long after, died.

In her previous life, whenever she read these lines, if not for the word "died" following each entry, it might not have felt so heavy. But the thought of those "died" characters always weighed heavily on Li Zhen's heart. After all, they were only around thirty years old.

Now, she would be the one to protect them.