Chapter 85: Visiting
Zhang Zheng said excitedly, “Big Sister Shen, I successfully formulated the glaze recipe you gave me last time! The color is so beautiful! I also fired a few porcelain pieces. Take a look, are the colors I mixed right? Do they look good after firing?”
As he spoke, he was about to put down his back basket.
Seeing that he was covered in sweat, Xingnong said, “Come in and have some water first.”
“Okay!” Zhang Zheng said happily.
Xingnong pushed open the courtyard gate, and Zhang Zheng walked in with his goat.
Chu Tiankuo glanced inside. There was no one else at home, just a man and a woman alone.
Chu Tiankuo lifted his foot…
“Goodbye, Senior Brother!” Xingnong said to Chu Tiankuo, who was going to inspect the construction of the imperial decree archway, and then closed the courtyard gate.
Now there were chicks and puppies in the courtyard, so it wasn’t suitable to keep the door open.
Chu Tiankuo: “…”
Songbai: See! See! This is the consequence of visiting without bringing a gift and not understanding social etiquette.
Chu Tiankuo reached out and pushed open the courtyard gate.
The two of them turned to look at him.
Chu Tiankuo glanced at Zhang Zheng and said calmly, “I have something to discuss with him.”
Zhang Zheng was surprised and said, “What business does Young Master have with me? Do we know each other?”
“Regarding the oil-saving lamp.”
Upon hearing this, Xingnong said, “Then come in too, Senior Brother!”
～
In the courtyard, the wild bull, two piglets, a flock of chicks, and ducklings were eating strawberries, corn kernels…
Little Mountain Goat watched, drooling: It knew that following its young master out would lead to seeing the fruits it had eaten last time.
Everyone in the family had gone to the backyard to help build the courtyard wall, so there was no one in the house.
The three of them sat around a square table with a basket of strawberries and corn on it.
Xingnong picked up a few strawberries and two ears of corn and placed them on the ground for Little Mountain Goat to eat.
Little Mountain Goat immediately lowered its head and started eating: The food here was too good!
Zhang Zheng, as if presenting a treasure, picked up one exquisite famille rose porcelain piece after another and placed them on the table: “Big Sister Shen, these were all made according to your method. What do you think?”
These porcelain pieces mainly consisted of vases, teapots, brush holders, bowls, and plates. The texture was delicate, the colors were soft and elegant, the flowers and birds had distinct layers of light and shade, fresh and clear, warm and realistic, as if they were leaping from the surface of the porcelain.
Xingnong’s eyes were filled with amazement: “You did a great job, better than anything I’ve ever seen.”
In this dynasty, porcelain development had reached the stages of blue and white porcelain, five-color porcelain, and doucai porcelain. Famille rose porcelain did not exist.
What Xingnong wrote to Zhang Yu was the method for making famille rose porcelain.
Famille rose porcelain had more color gradations, obvious transition effects, and a strong three-dimensional feel. Compared to the blue and white filled colors of doucai porcelain, its three-dimensional effect was much stronger.
Looking at the teapot, Xingnong thought of purple clay teapots.
It’s just that she didn’t know where in this world there were purple clay mineral deposits.
She decided to write down the characteristics and color matching methods of five-color purple clay mineral deposits next time and give them to him to see if he could find them.
Chu Tiankuo picked up a teapot and glanced at the bottom, his eyes flickering: There was a “Zhang” character on it.
However, it was not the “Zhang” from Zhang Family Porcelain Kiln, but a newly written “Zhang.”
But he could already confirm that it was from the Zhang family.
“Your surname is Zhang?”
“Yes, my name is Zhang Zheng. Big Sister Shen, thank you. Because of you, my grandfather finally allowed me to imprint my own “Zhang” character on the porcelain!”
Xingnong smiled: “You did well.”
Chu Tiankuo: “Young Master Zhang, the imperial court intends to make ten thousand oil-saving lamps. How about entrusting this task to you?”
The Zhang family had suffered a fire in the past, and all the direct descendants of the Zhang family perished in the fire. Only Liang Shi, the wife of the young master of the Zhang family, who had been married for three years, escaped the fire, and the Zhang Family Porcelain Kiln disappeared.
Song Family Porcelain Kiln gradually began to dominate Chu State.
He had investigated and found that Liang Shi remarried two years later to the head of Song Family Porcelain Kiln as his second wife, and then Song Family Porcelain Kiln became even more famous.
The time of the Zhang Family Porcelain Kiln incident was just six months before his maternal grandfather’s family was implicated.
✿✿✿
Several major events happened that year.
Zhang Family Porcelain Kiln disappeared; Xu Family Shipyard had an accident, the head of the family was killed, the shipyard was burned down, and the matter of opening up maritime trade was shelved for many years; his maternal grandfather’s family was executed…
One after another, he didn’t think these incidents were unrelated.
And he had been unable to find the Zhang family members. He didn’t expect that after searching high and low, it would come so easily.
He wanted to know if this young man’s grandfather was the head of the Zhang family, or if he had any connection to the Zhang family, and if he knew what happened back then.
Zhang Zheng hesitated for a moment: “I have to go back and ask my grandfather about this. I’ll give you an answer tomorrow!”
He had sneaked out, and his grandfather didn’t know!
Chu Tiankuo: “Okay.”
Zhang Zheng realized that he had been out for a while and immediately stood up: “Big Sister Shen, I have to go! I’ll come find you tomorrow.”
After speaking, he picked up the rope holding Little Mountain Goat and tugged: “Little Mountain, let’s go!”
Little Mountain Goat looked at the wild bull, piglets, and others eating strawberries and corn in the distance. It didn’t move.
Zhang Zheng pulled the rope hard, trying to drag it away: “Let’s go home!”
Little Mountain Goat stretched out its four legs and firmly planted itself on the ground, one of its hooves even hooked around the table leg.
It wouldn’t leave!
It hadn’t eaten enough!
Zhang Zheng: “…”
This glutton who wouldn’t budge when it saw food!
Zhang Zheng let go of the rope: “If you don’t leave, I’ll give you to Big Sister Shen!”
Little Mountain Goat immediately ran towards the wild bull and the others.
Zhang Zheng: “…”
In the end, Zhang Zheng still couldn’t drag Little Mountain Goat away, so he left with a basket of strawberries and corn.
～
The next day, early in the morning.
Madam Gu was helping to build the courtyard wall at the back, while Shen Ruoxi and Xingqing went to the river to wash clothes.
Xingnong was weeding and watering the vegetables in the courtyard. The vegetables had already grown several leaves, and they would be ready to eat in half a month.
The corn grew faster and was already half the length of Xingnong’s arm.
At this moment, there was a knock on the courtyard gate. Xingnong thought it was Zhang Zheng, so she said, “Just push the door and come in.”
Gu Ping and Zhou Jingjin pushed open the gate and walked in, carrying two boxes of pastries and a basket of eggs.
Gu Ping glanced at Xingnong and said with a smile, “Oh, isn’t this Xingnong? You’re getting prettier and prettier. We were in a hurry to return to the city the day you moved and didn’t come over. We have some free time today, so we came over. Where’s my aunt?”
Zhou Jingjin subtly looked Xingnong up and down. Her features were quite delicate, but she was too thin. Once she grew a little older, she wouldn’t be a bad dark-skinned beauty.
He wondered what Xingqing looked like. How could such a family take a fancy to her?
Xingnong thought for a moment and recognized her as the daughter of her maternal great-uncle Gu Yuxia. She heard that she married into a family in the city that ran an oil pressing workshop and was living a decent life.
Xingnong shouted towards the backyard, “Grandma, someone’s here to see you!”
Gu Ping smiled, “I’m your eldest cousin, and this is your cousin-in-law. Xingnong, don’t you recognize us anymore?”
“I don’t.” Xingnong continued weeding after she finished speaking, ignoring them.
Gu Ping: “…”
Why was this child so impolite? She really lacked proper upbringing.
Zhou Jingjin frowned.
As expected of a bastard with a mother but no father to teach her.
They had already introduced themselves, but she didn’t even greet them or invite them into the house to sit.
Even if she received the emperor’s reward, she wouldn’t get far!
He thought she was capable. If he had known, he wouldn’t have come!
Madam Gu hurried out at this time and said happily when she saw Gu Ping, “Ah Ping, you’re here! Is there something you need? Come in and talk.”
