Song Tao?
Song Jiyun was a bit surprised and yet not completely surprised.
She raised an eyebrow.
Li Zixiu smiled and said, "I’ve mentioned before, I don’t have many hobbies, just like to enjoy a little drink. A few days ago, I was drinking with Old Master Wang at Boundless of Moon Wind, and your cousin Third Miss Song and several master craftsmen from her kiln factory were sitting next to me. Hearing Third Miss Song’s tone, she thought the varieties at Liangyu Kiln Factory were too simple and wanted to make blue and white porcelain. However, the biggest fear in making blue and white porcelain is Shocked Glaze. It requires finding a familiar glaze supplier.
"Originally, going to Yan Ji to procure the glaze would have been fine. But her father, Song Daliang, had a fallout with the Song Family and opened another kiln factory to make Jade Porcelain, competing with the Song Family Kiln Factory. She feared that the people from the Song Family might sabotage her by replacing the Egalitarian Green with Cobalt Blue Glazed, and then she would be utterly helpless."
"I didn’t think much at the time. I just mentioned it casually while drinking with Old Master Wang."
He lamented, "Looking at it now, was I not calculated by her as well, falling into her trap!"
Song Jiyun didn’t believe a word.
She retorted sarcastically, "It also depends on the person. You heard it, and that was just it. But Old Master Wang heard it and directly targeted our Song Family Kilin Factory. It shows that this kind of thing doesn’t depend on the speaker, (but) on the listener."
She then pointedly asked, "Boss Li, don’t you think that’s the case?"
Li Zixiu beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying, "Isn’t this just because I’m afraid you might be deceived like me?"
"Then I thank you very much!" Song Jiyun replied noncommittally with a smile, "It’s getting late, I should head back now. If there’s a chance in the future, I’ll seek advice from you again."
Having said that, without waiting for Li Zixiu to speak, she got into her sedan chair.
Li Zixiu, seeing that she was implacable, chuckled coldly a few times as he watched her departing sedan chair.
When she arrived at the Song Family home, Zhou Zheng couldn’t help but say to Song Jiyun, "I’m thinking, it’s really possible for Third Miss Song to do such a thing."
"So what?" Song Jiyun replied indifferently, "Li Zixiu is clearly watching the ship capsize from Yellow Crane Tower; could I let him get his way? If he thinks he can lead me by the nose, his methods are still too clumsy."
While speaking, she looked up and saw the carriage stopped in the carriage hall.
She beckoned to the on-duty servant boy, asking, "Has this carriage just gone out?"
The servant boy nodded repeatedly and said, "Young Master Yuan just came back."
The carriage she had seen earlier was indeed Yuan Yunzhong.
Why didn’t he greet me?
Did he not see me?
As the thought flashed by, Song Jiyun realized it had been quite a few days since she had seen Yuan Yunzhong.
She asked Steward Wu, "What has Young Master Yuan been busy with these days?"
As Steward Wu walked with her toward the accountant’s office, he replied, "Most of the time he’s at home reading and writing; occasionally he goes out with Young Master Shao, sometimes with Liu Zi, sometimes without. To know specifically what he’s been doing, we would have to ask Liu Zi."
The implication was asking her if she wanted to inquire further.
Song Jiyun shook her head, thinking that she would need to make Alum-Red porcelain at Prince Huai’s Mansion in a few days; she went to Yinyu Hall.
Yuan Yunzhong, as Steward Wu said, was bent over drawing birds and flowers.
She presented Yuan Yunzhong with the bird and flower painting by Li Gonglin she had obtained from Li Zixiu that afternoon, saying, "What are you drawing?"
Yuan Yunzhong stood up.
Song Jiyun saw on the slightly yellowish Xuan paper two magpies looking back over their shoulders. The color on the magpies’ feathers was incredibly vibrant, appearing as if it was done with malachite.
Yuan Yunzhong set down his brush and took the handkerchief handed over by the servant boy to wipe his hands, saying, "What brings Miss Song here?"
His tone was somewhat unnatural.
"I came to ask if there’s any specific porcelain you’d like." Song Jiyun told him about the plan to set up an Alum-Red kiln for Prince Huai.
Yuan Yunzhong replied, "No."
Song Jiyun smiled and said, "Then I’ll make a few hexagonal boxes for you! They can hold pigments or seal paste!"
Yuan Yunzhong looked at Song Jiyun deeply and slowly uttered, "Oh."
Song Jiyun smiled brightly, Yuan Yunzhong was slightly stunned, and Song Jiyun asked about the carriage, "Did you just pass by Peach Blossom Residence? Didn’t you see me? I was right outside the residence!"
"Oh!" Yuan Yunzhong said slowly, tossing the handkerchief back to the servant boy, he said indifferently, "I didn’t notice."
Song Jiyun smiled, "If I had known, I would have stopped you and could have hitched a ride back in your carriage!"
She spoke humorously about today’s diplomatic banquet, "It was supposed to be an apology, but all the accusations were directed at others, he was just deceived by others... still expecting things to go back to normal, thinking I was foolish..."
Yuan Yunzhong listened quietly, while Shao Qing who was waiting outside with the tea, upon hearing the noise inside, couldn’t help but lean against the red-lacquered pillar and mutter softly, "What exactly is he trying to do? He specifically took a detour to pass in front of Peach Blossom Residence but didn’t stop to greet Miss Song, yet he claims he didn’t see her!
"He even mentioned wanting to keep a distance from Miss Song!
"I didn’t see any distancing, but when it comes to accepting her gifts, he isn’t the least bit reluctant, I’ve noticed!"
...
*
The news of Li Zixiu setting up a banquet to apologize to Song Jiyun spread throughout Jingde Town, reaching Song Tao’s ears, several days after the event.
She was accompanying Old Grand Master Hong, who occasionally visited the kiln factory, as they wandered through the various workshops.
Old Grand Master Hong was very satisfied with the production of the kiln factory, standing under the big tree outside the molding workshop, he smiled at the Hong Family’s Grand Steward, saying, "Third Miss Song has been working hard recently, I think we don’t necessarily have to stick to the deed, splitting the profits biannually. We could share the profits earlier. Third Miss Song could buy some makeup she likes."
The Grand Steward of the Hong Family agreed with a smile.
Song Tao hesitated.
Old Grand Master Hong smiled, "You’re even two years younger than our Hong Zhao, I treat you like my own granddaughter, what can’t you say to me?"
"I thought wrong!" Song Tao immediately admitted her mistake and pondered, "I think there’s no rush to share the profits. I want to learn from Song Jiyun and fire a dragon kiln."
She also explained, "Our kiln factory’s variety is too limited, and to make a mark in the industry, we need to produce blue and white porcelain."
"You know how to fire a dragon kiln?" Old Grand Master Hong had only caught the part about firing a dragon kiln.
He was quite shocked.
But after the shock, there was an unmistakable excitement, "I had no idea!"
Song Tao humbly said, "I only learned a little when I followed my second uncle to the kiln factory. The main thing is insulation. But I’ve heard from others that my cousin has already solved this issue. If we are to fire a dragon kiln, we might need to pay a significant amount to hire people from the Changjiang Gang to build it."
Old Grand Master Hong understood.
Since it was a technical issue others could resolve, and Song Jiyun had solved it, the Changjiang Gang that helped the Song Family Kiln Factory build kilns must have some agreement with Song Jiyun, otherwise, Song Jiyun wouldn’t have told people from the Changjiang Gang how to build a new type of dragon kiln.
Old Grand Master Hong pondered, "Hong Family has never been in the porcelain business before, and we don’t have any connections with people from the Changjiang Gang..."
Song Tao smiled, "If you think it’s feasible, then I’ll take care of it!"
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