Porcelain (1): Seeking Porcelain Skills

In the courtyard, bamboo shadows rustled softly as the two sat facing each other.

Zhou Yao recounted what had happened, but to her surprise, the man merely smiled lightly.

"I understand all that Your Highness has experienced," he said, then turned the question back: "What does Your Highness think?"

She was at a loss, but her gaze caught the smile that had lingered on Qi Yanhan's face the whole time. Her delicate brows furrowed as she asked, "Seeing me in such a sorry state, are you mocking me?"

Qi Yanhan suppressed his smile, his fox-like eyes glistening with a hint of moisture. "Not at all."

She quietly observed his slender, well-defined fingers gripping the cup, then replied, "There must be some hidden reason."

"Correct. My guess is that Your Highness went to the Jiuyao Kilns. That place lies deep in the market alleys. In previous years, it crafted cups exclusively for the palace, but later, due to a trivial matter, it was abandoned. I never imagined anyone would still be there."

His fox-like eyes lowered, appearing quite refined, but Zhou Yao knew that what he called a "trivial matter" would, in the eyes of others, be a crime warranting the execution of an entire family.

Her throat tightened unconsciously, and she turned her gaze to the scenery outside the bamboo window. The long summer brought frequent rain, and the hazy, misty view was leisurely and pleasing. Zhou Yao could no longer sit still. She rose and walked out, leaving behind a single line: "Thank you for the hint, Young Master Qi."

She did not notice that after she left, the smile on Qi Yanhan's lips vanished, a darkness surfacing in his watery eyes as he set the cup on the table. After she was gone, he called for Duyun. Duyun attended to the task immediately, leaving Qi Yanhan alone in the room, gently stroking the rim of the cup.

——————

Zhou Yao hurried to the Jiuyao Kilns, recalling the man from last time. It always made her wonder—this matter would not be as difficult to persuade as it seemed.

This time, the door was not wide open as before; it was tightly locked, with government seals still visible on the latch.

She was about to step forward and knock when, before she could even make a move, someone covered her mouth and half-dragged her away from the place.

Zhou Yao blinked her deer-like eyes, surveying the surroundings without moving a muscle, until the person turned a few corners and set her down. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

When she turned to look back, she realized that the person who had kidnapped her was the very man who had thrown the teacup at her last time!

She thought to herself: I haven't provoked him, so why does he keep opposing me? Even if there's a hidden reason, his attitude shouldn't be so harsh.

Though dissatisfied, she kept her composure and said politely, "What is Young Master doing? Are you trying to abduct a woman in broad daylight?"

The man gave her a sidelong glance. "You're a woman—why don't you take the bright and open path instead of coming to this remote alley repeatedly?"

"I believe I've already made my intentions clear to you, Young Master. Please consider it again."

"Impossible. Please go back."

His tone was cold, as if he didn't want to say another word. Even his handsome face showed impatience.

"Why?" Zhou Yao refused to give up and wanted to try once more, but he only gave her a contemptuous glare. "Go. Stop asking." Having said that, he turned and left, his elegant figure fading away.

All that was left for Zhou Yao was his back; she had not yet come into contact with the craft of porcelain.

This skill she was determined to learn.

Even if it was not for her grand dream, it was for the silver she owed the innkeeper.

If she could combine colored glaze with the palace's porcelain craft, she believed it would become immensely popular in the market and bring thriving business.

Then she would achieve financial freedom, turn things around, and formally propose a divorce to Qi Yanhan. No matter how she looked at it, the future was bright.

She exited the alley and spotted a shop that claimed to be a century-old establishment. Seeing that the business was slow, Zhou Yao stepped forward and asked, "Auntie, I'd like to ask—what happened in this alley? Why is it so empty now?"

The auntie said reluctantly, "This used to be the territory of the Chen Family's Nine Kilns. In previous years, they enjoyed great imperial favor, but for some reason, a bunch of officials came and took the whole family away. We never saw them again. The only one who ever came was a disciple the Chens had taken on. He'd occasionally look in on it. It's a pity about their imperial craft."

Zhou Yao nodded in understanding, thanked the woman, and moved on to ask the next household.

The information she gathered along the way was largely the same, and she pieced together the story from the neighbors' accounts.

The Jiuyao Kilns had once been greatly favored by the emperor. During a palace banquet, the current emperor had ordered the Chen family to appear before him. When they returned, there was nothing unusual, but that very night, a eunuch came with an imperial edict ordering the entire family to be executed.

The man she had just seen was named Chen Yuwen. He was the only one of the Nine Kilns who had survived, which explained the present state of things.

Zhou Yao's eyelashes lowered, casting a small shadow.

She had arrived early at dawn, and now the sky was tinged with rose, the sun setting in the west.

As she prepared to head back the way she came, she noticed a woman being forcibly pulled along by a man at the street corner.

A wooden hairpin, once neatly placed, hung precariously from the woman's disheveled hair arrangement. Though messy, one could still see it was the style of an unmarried maiden.

Zhou Yao's brows furrowed tightly. She did not want to invite trouble, but seeing a woman being humiliated, she could not help but want to help.

Her gaze turned cold, and she slowed her steps, trying to overhear what they were saying.

"Please, just let me go this once..." The woman spoke with a soft Southern dialect, and from her coarse clothing to her bare wrists, it was clear she was not from Chang'an and was all alone.

"Oh my, look at this pitiful little thing. What you're saying doesn't sound right. How about you come to my place tonight, and I'll teach you proper Chang'an speech." The man reached out again, and no matter how the woman begged, no one stepped in to stop him.

"Hey, I'll show you what the real heart of the imperial city is like."

Zhou Yao gritted her teeth, pulled out her hairpin, and flung it. It flew unerringly and grazed the man's "heart of the imperial city."

The man was furious, cursing and turning his head around, trying to find the culprit. But when he looked around, all he saw were the goods of peddlers and vendors, and no one else.

The rose-colored clouds faded, and the sky gradually darkened.

As if feeling guilty, the man spat a vicious curse, "Bah, you fake." Then he stumbled away, abandoning his harassment and leaving the Southern woman alone to stand there in disarray.

The woman had evidently heard the rustling from the nearby grass, and she fell to the ground in fear, her legs trembling uncontrollably, muttering words Zhou Yao could not understand.

Her tearful eyes softened Zhou Yao's heart.

Considering that the woman might be afraid of her, Zhou Yao placed a small packet of dried rations and the thirty copper coins she had earned from her stall by the corner of the exit wall.

What Zhou Yao did not notice was that a carriage bearing the Qi family insignia was parked not far away...

Qi Yanhan watched Zhou Yao's receding figure disappear into the distance before slowly stepping down from the carriage.

When she returned to the inn, she found the innkeeper already waiting at the door. Although he greeted her with a smile, Zhou Yao could not shake an uncanny feeling, afraid that he might ask her for compensation again.

It was not that Zhou Yao was unwilling to repay the debt. It was simply that she was powerless to do so! And when a poor woman appeared on the road to earning money, how could she not help?

Zhou Yao suppressed her furrowed brows and sighed as she watched the innkeeper approach.

"Miss, when might you be able to pay today's room fee? I'm not rushing you, but we're a small business, and three thousand and eighty copper coins is quite a sum. That's why I'm asking. How about this—you stay tonight, and tomorrow, see if you can borrow a bit from any acquaintances in Chang'an."

The innkeeper spoke sincerely, and Zhou Yao smiled apologetically, repeatedly saying sorry.

She thought back to her earlier days when, in desperation, she had fought with a favored concubine's dog over food in the palace; she had never been so embarrassed.

"Sigh."

Owing money was better than marrying.

Though she was now nominally Qi Yanhan's wife, that was no better.

"Woof woof woof!" As soon as Zhou Yao entered the inn, she heard the piercing bark of the beagle from upstairs.

She had been out all day, and she dared not even think whether it had escaped its bamboo cage.

Her lower lip was bitten red from anxiety, and disregarding all decorum, she dashed upstairs at the fastest speed.

When she reached the door, the dog's barking suddenly stopped. What came instead was a deathly silence.

She knew something was wrong!

Indeed.

When she opened the door, the bamboo cage she had carefully placed before leaving in the morning lay in shredded pieces, chewed by the beagle. The floor was covered with scraps of cloth and wood shavings, marking its "glorious achievements."

Zhou Yao covered her eyes, unable to bear looking.

It was an illusion.

It had to be!

She tried to close the door and reopen it, hoping the scene might change.

No such luck.

"Woof woof!" The beagle, seeing the door open and Zhou Yao at it, joyfully rolled twice on the floor, then pawed at the bedding.

In the next moment, Zhou Yao's fist came down on the beagle's solid head with a loud "thump."

The beagle made as if to bark again, but Zhou Yao, with practiced ease, tore a strip of cloth it had chewed and tied its mouth shut.

Unable to bark, the beagle's resentful gaze seemed to solidify. Taking advantage of Zhou Yao's turn, it leaped, sending her head crashing against the door.

The two stared at each other—person and dog—neither willing to yield.

Until the innkeeper knocked on the door, asking, "Miss, do you need any help?"

Zhou Yao looked at the mess of the room and sighed. She intended to answer through the door, but as she stepped closer, she overheard the two people outside whispering.

"Are you sure she's inside?" A somewhat deep male voice asked.

"Certain, certain!" The innkeeper responded with a flattering laugh. "As you described—a young girl with a dog that barks exceptionally loud—she's the only one in Chang'an these days."

There was silence for a moment outside, and before Zhou Yao could recall where she had heard that voice before, the innkeeper started knocking again.

"Miss, if it's convenient, let me bring you some hot water. You've been out all day, so it'll be nice to have some."

Zhou Yao's heart raced with nervousness. Who was the man talking to the innkeeper, and why was he inquiring about her whereabouts? Who could it be?

Author's Note:

The currency terms in this chapter are not strictly accurate. During the Han dynasty, the term "guan" for currency had not yet been coined; it came about in later dynasties. So I've made corrections in this chapter (later chapters may not be strictly accurate either; please don't scrutinize too closely. Thank you.)