Song Jiyun’s father, Song Youliang, was very fond of porcelain. His greatest wish in life was to continuously create unique and exceptional porcelains.
When he was young, he went to Nanjing to purchase raw materials and met a businessman from Fujian, who introduced him to the porcelain of Dehua from his hometown. The pure white glaze that was as smooth as jade and the finely crafted delicate engravings astonished him as if they were celestial. He made a special trip to Dehua and brought back the white mud Qi clay used in Dehua porcelain. With this, he produced the unique "Jade Porcelain" of the Song Family, which became the sacrificial tribute porcelain used by the Imperial Family.
To prevent others from discovering the secret of Song Family Jade Porcelain, he not only renamed the white mud Qi clay but also commissioned people at high prices to specifically transport the clay from Dehua, Fujian, just for him.
However, there are no impenetrable walls in the world, and over time, some potters inevitably became suspicious. Yet because there was a very subtle difference in the firing temperatures between Dehua porcelain and Jingde Town porcelain, no one was ever able to truly discern the reason.
But in the end, it was still Dehua white porcelain that was being fired.
This was also the reason why Song Jiyun, when she first took charge of the Song Family Kiln Factory, sought to launch sweet white porcelain.
Now, she was about to publicly announce the recipe for Song Family Sacrificial Porcelain and use this formula to produce Song Family Sacrificial Porcelain in full view of everyone. Her first course of action would certainly be to find a way to get white mud Qi clay. Moreover, for safety, she had secretly placed orders with several business owners from the Glazed Factory who sold white mud Qi clay, agreeing on a huge sum as penalty for breach of contract.
But now, Zhou Zheng was telling her that he couldn’t buy any white mud Qi clay.
Song Jiyun felt a sudden sinking in her heart, yet her face showed no sign of it.
"Don’t panic just yet, take a breath," she said as she walked inside. "Yesterday when I asked you, didn’t you say there were two families who couldn’t obtain white mud Qi clay and were willing to compensate us according to the deed? There were also three families who guaranteed they would deliver the goods to Diagonal Street No. 2 Alley as promised, and one of them even said the goods were already at Tongzhou Wharf. They had sent people out of the city to fetch them, and at the latest, they would arrive by this noon."
She stood under the eaves, her expression somber: "What exactly happened? Did you find out any news?"
Zhou Zheng was very dejected and said, "When you went to the palace, you instructed me to buy white mud Qi clay no matter what because you must have wanted to fire a kiln in public. I not only visited all the shops selling white mud Qi clay in the market but also quietly found two runners from Dehua, Fujian, offering a high price to have them bring the goods."
"Fearing discovery, I even found a middleman. Who could have known that in the end, things would still go awry.
"The owner of the shop that said the goods were at Tongzhou Wharf explained that the white mud Qi clay they had paid a high price for in Tianjin was confiscated by the Tongzhou Patrol Inspection Office last night. They were accused of hiding private salt in the clay and faced severe penalties. Their second store manager, who was sent to retrieve the goods, was also locked up in the Inspection Office’s prison, and their main Store Manager had already notified the Owner, who is currently rushing over from Nanjing."
This was not the time to investigate who caused these incidents.
Song Jiyun immediately summoned Wang Hua, recounted the details to him, and said, "Could you rush to Tongzhou immediately and find a way to get those baskets of clay out for me?"
Wang Hua agreed at once and took several servant boys to Tongzhou.
But what if someone hindered Wang Hua on his way?
Song Jiyun felt she couldn’t just wait idly.
After some thought, she asked Zhou Zheng, "Is there a way to contact the Deng Family? Since they came to the Capital to compete for the Cining Palace order, they definitely brought white mud Qi clay with them. We’ll try to get it from them."
If the person trying to trip her up had also blocked this path, then she would have to consider asking for a postponement of the trial to a later date.
During this time, it would be best to come up with some kind of story to make everyone interested in such turns of events, making the matter even more widely known.
Song Jiyun mulled over whom she could ask to write this story when Hong Xi arrived.
He had brought two carts of clay over.
"You have such superb skills in pottery making, I think if I were you, I would surely slap those people’s face by firing a kiln in public to prove my innocence." He had some people move the clay for Song Jiyun. "I got this White Mud Qi Clay from Deng Yun, see if it’s enough. If not, I’ll get some more."
He also explained, "I originally wanted to help you get more, but Deng Yun is very suspicious, and I was afraid of spooking him. So I bribed the porter who was moving his household and offered a high price. Pretending to be clueless, I told them that their clay would be just perfect for my wall construction, and it took quite some maneuvering to finally deceive them."
This truly was finding a new village through a grove of willows; an unexpected turnaround.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Song Jiyun repeatedly expressed her gratitude, taking a few more glances at Hong Xi.
She had not expected Hong Xi to come up with the same idea as her.
If she still couldn’t think of a solution later, she had planned to trick the Deng Family out of their White Mud Qi Clay.
"What you’ve done is really like sending charcoal in snowy weather, you’ve helped me greatly," Song Jiyun said.
Those standing by had come to their senses, some helped to unload thresholds, others carried sacks, and some went to open the storeroom doors.
Song Jiyun invited Hong Xi to sit inside.
Hong Xi shook his head with a smile, "I’m glad I came one step earlier—I had just pulled the goods and hadn’t left the hutong when I ran into people from the Five City Armed Forces Office. They said someone had reported that the Deng Family was hiding iron crossbows. By the looks of it, they were here to search. Seeing that something was amiss, I quickly ran. I didn’t dare to take a detour or to deliver the items to Diagonal Street for you, afraid of being intercepted halfway."
After all, Diagonal Street was outside the city gate, and Shuntian Prefecture’s patrols were scarce; it was very possible that by the time you could call Shuntian Prefecture’s men, the robbers would have long disappeared.
"We’d better watch it here," he said, and took a glance outside towards the door, "This place is only a few streets away from the Forbidden Palace; surely no one would have the audacity to rob us in broad daylight, right?"
"Probably not," Song Jiyun said, inwardly very much agreeing to store this hardly-earned White Mud Qi Clay right here.
Lord Yuan Yunzhong had originally helped her settle down here because it was close to the Imperial Palace, with more than half of The Twenty-Four Yamen located nearby. Ordinary people did not dare to linger around let alone cause trouble. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Hearing this, Hong Xi hesitated, "Do you know who is targeting you in such a way? Doesn’t Lord Yuan take care of these matters?"
"Now I still don’t know," Song Jiyun said, with Prince Ning and the Yuan Family swirling in her mind, "Even tigers nap sometimes; even if Lord Yuan is willing, there may be times when he can’t manage everything. It is most reliable to depend on oneself."
She thanked him again, "If it weren’t for you, I would certainly have suffered a major setback this time. Great kindness does not require thanks—as long as there’s something I can help you with in the future, just say the word. I won’t hesitate to go through fire and water."
A hint of bitterness flashed through Hong Xi’s expression, but then he laughed heartily, "If you want to thank me, just give me a bigger share of the profits from our joint venture."
Of course, the help he gave her couldn’t be repaid by just a greater share of profits, but he said it jokingly. Jiyun also smiled, "Don’t worry, you’ll get both the profits and my gratitude."
But she couldn’t help feeling suspicious—Hong Xi’s expression was similar to the last time he came to see her.
Could he be harboring some unspeakable difficulties?
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