On the eighth day of the sixth month, an auspicious day, during the Chen hour (7-9 AM), it was time for the ink testing gathering.
Si Bao Street was extraordinarily lively.
The Li family had rented out the entire tea house next door to Mo Xuan. The second floor was reserved for guests, while the first-floor hall was filled with people hoping to request calligraphy and paintings. As for mere onlookers, they could only gather in layers around the entrance.
In the middle of the first-floor hall stood a long table finished in date-red lacquer. At the center of the table sat a large wooden box. Soon, merchants seeking paintings and calligraphy would place their request slips into the box, and a spectator would be selected to draw them out. Whoever’s slip was chosen would receive artwork from Master Dong Tu – similar to a modern-day lottery.
It was purely based on luck, which made everyone even more excited.
The Li family’s ink testing gathering was presided over by Manager Shao. Zhen Niang only needed to observe from the inner room, where she was currently making small talk with Madam Ma, though her attention wasn’t on the conversation. Through the door curtain, Zhen Niang kept her eyes fixed on the outside.
After all, this was the first ink testing gathering since she had taken charge of the Li family’s ink workshop. Despite thorough preparations, it was impossible not to feel nervous.
“Miss Zhen, the auspicious hour has arrived. Shall we begin?” Manager Shao addressed Zhen Niang.
After a moment’s thought, Zhen Niang replied: “Wait.”
Manager Shao didn’t know why Miss Zhen said to wait, but if she said to wait, then wait they would. He wondered whom she was waiting for, as it seemed everyone who had received an invitation had already arrived.
Just then, an announcement came from the entrance: “The Ink Supervisor has arrived.”
Manager Shao was startled – how had this official come? He knew Miss Zhen had sent invitations to both the Ink Affairs Bureau and the Ink Supervision Bureau as a formality, showing respect and avoiding future nitpicking. It was merely a routine courtesy, with no real expectation that officials from either bureau would attend.
This was something both bureaus understood, and they typically wouldn’t attend. At most, they would send a lower-ranking official to make an appearance.
Yet today, Lord Yan had unexpectedly appeared.
The crowd burst into murmurs of surprise. Their astonishment was understandable – this was unprecedented in the history of ink-testing gatherings. However, Zhen Niang understood that Lord Yan’s appearance had no other meaning than to repay a favor.
Previously, she had used medicinal ink to cure Young Miss Yan’s back sores. While this wasn’t a major matter – Zhen Niang hadn’t helped with the expectation of earning a favor, but merely because she couldn’t afford to offend Lord Yan – the timing of her assistance had been crucial for Lord Yan. Her help had left him feeling indebted, which was why he had later hinted about the Li family participating in the tribute ink competition, clearly intending to repay the favor then.
However, unexpected events had followed. Between the Tian family’s scheming and the pine epidemic, the Li family had withdrawn from the tribute ink competition.
This meant the favor remained unpaid.
Later, under the Tian family’s financial pressure, Lord Yan maintained a wait-and-see attitude toward the Li family’s ink workshop. Under these circumstances, this so-called favor had become like a thorn in Lord Yan’s side, causing him some discomfort.
It was similar to how a small favor can turn into resentment if left unaddressed for too long.
Zhen Niang understood this favor couldn’t continue to hang between them. Lord Yan wasn’t the type of straightforward gentleman who would let such matters slide – if it dragged on too long, it might turn into enmity. Therefore, this time she sent the invitation not in the name of the ink workshop, but in her name Li Zhen Niang.
She also understood that Lord Yan would welcome such an easy opportunity to clear this debt.
Sure enough, Lord Yan appeared as she had anticipated.
Zhen Niang and the workshop managers hurriedly came forward to pay their respects, as did the other guests. After exchanging courtesies and having a cup of tea, Lord Yan departed. Both parties were satisfied.
Regardless, Lord Yan’s appearance had elevated the entire ink-testing gathering to new heights.
Following a string of firecrackers heralding prosperity and longevity, the Li family’s ink-testing gathering officially began. First, they displayed samples of the reprocessed ink for everyone to examine.
Being in the ink trade, none present lacked the eye to judge quality. The ink was evaluated by its texture, color, and sound.
This batch of the Li family’s reprocessed ink had silk-like patterns, fine texture, and a color that was black with purple undertones, exhibiting a lustrous sheen like purple jade. When tapped, it produced a clear, resonant sound. Anyone with even minimal expertise could tell this was exceptional ink.
Amidst a chorus of praise from the crowd, several attendants dressed in dark robes collected the ink samples. Then came the actual ink testing phase, as people began submitting their request slips.
One by one, those seeking paintings eagerly placed their slips into the wooden box. Next, two people would be chosen to draw the slips.
The two selected were an eighty-year-old elder and an eight-year-old child.
Soon, two slips were drawn. One was from Scholar Wang from the southern part of the city, requesting a birthday celebration painting for his father. The other was from a merchant surnamed Xi who dealt in tung oil, an out-of-towner who had come to join the excitement and unexpectedly been chosen. He hadn’t specified any requirements, just requesting any painting would do.
Scholar Wang specified that Master Dong Tu should create his painting.
The merchant Xi, having other business to attend to and not wishing to wait, requested that Ding Nanyu, Master Dong Tu’s apprentice, create his painting.
The two slips were then delivered to Master Dong Tu and Ding Nanyu.
The crowd continued drinking tea and examining the ink.
Before long, the paintings were completed and displayed by two dark-robed attendants for everyone to admire. Master Dong Tu and Ding Nanyu then gave their evaluations of the ink, both expressing great satisfaction with the Li family’s reprocessed ink.
Master Dong Tu’s birthday celebration painting for Scholar Wang needed no praise – Scholar Wang was thoroughly satisfied as he accepted it.
Ding Nanyu’s painting of Merchant Xi, depicted a scene of picking osmanthus in the Moon Palace. Some present sighed that youth lacked wisdom – merchants couldn’t participate in the imperial examinations, so presenting such a painting seemed like an insult.
However, while they were sighing, Merchant Xi was delighted. Though merchants couldn’t take the imperial examinations, which merchant didn’t dream of their descendants leaving trade to enter scholarly ranks? This merchant happened to have a son studying under a relative who was a successful examination candidate, and the son was preparing for the prefectural examination that year. The painting perfectly matched his hopes, bringing him great joy. He even offered two additional monetary gifts.
Just as he was carefully collecting his treasure, a cup of tea somehow spilled onto the painting, completely staining it. Merchant Xi cried out in distress.
“It’s fine, we can just wash it,” Zhen Niang stepped forward, directing attendants to bring clean water.
Hearing Zhen Niang’s words, those around shook their heads. Such naivety – how could the painting be washed? What state would it be in after washing?
By then, attendants had brought clean water.
Ignoring others’ concerns, Zhen Niang had several people spread the paper flat and place it in a copper basin, then gently wash away the tea stains. After floating and washing for a while, two attendants laid the painting flat on the table to dry.
Everyone discovered that the ink lines remained clear and elegant, without any bleeding.
“Excellent ink!” All present were shrewd people – how could they not understand what had happened? The painting had endured being splashed with tea and washed with water, yet the brushstrokes remained completely undamaged. This demonstrated the ink’s extremely strong adhesion and water resistance – truly the mark of superior ink.
At this point, some of the more perceptive guests suspected that the tea spilling might have been deliberately orchestrated by the Li family.
Immediately, some eager merchants began placing orders with the Li family. Only Merchant Xi had to wait for his painting to dry, and Zhen Niang had someone give him a box of ink as compensation.
Thus, everyone was satisfied.