The Heir

The four great ink families compete for imperial Tribute Ink status. Luo Hanzhang presents the Ziji Dragon Light Ink while Li Jinshui offers The Way of Tao, resulting in a stalemate until young Li Zhen proposes a decisive test. The Li family wins the prestigious Tribute Ink designation.

Involved: Li Zhen — Participant · Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Tian Benchang — Participant · Li Jinshui — Participant · Luo Hanzhang — Participant · Wang Rujun — Participant

During the victory celebration, child Li Zhen rescues a bullied boy she later learns is Luo Wenqian, the rival Luo family's son raised in the Capital. They share a mischievous escapade and confide their dreams to one another before his furious father retrieves him. This early bond plants the seed of their lifelong connection.

Involved: Li Zhen — Participant · Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Luo Hanzhang — Participant

While delivering the tribute ink to the capital, a fire destroys the shipment, killing Li Jingqi and crippling Li Jingdong. Li Zhen's father, Li Jingfu, is blamed for the disaster after admitting to drinking, though he insists he had inspected the ink beforehand.

Involved: Li Zhengliang — Participant · Li Jingdong — Victim · Tian Jiangyue — Affected Party · Li Jinshui — Affected Party

An imperial decree strips the Li family of its Tribute Ink rights, awarding them to the Luo family. Li Jinshui entrusts the family workshops to Wang Rujun but refuses to preserve his secret recipes, declaring they will be buried with him.

Involved: Li Zhen — Participant · Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Li Jinshui — Participant · Wang Rujun — Participant · Luo Hanzhang — Beneficiary

Under Tian Jiangyue's cruelty, the eighth branch is forced out of the Li family estate with nothing, losing even a dowry item to the vengeful clan. The family relocates to a humble shack near the city gates, beginning years of hardship.

Involved: Li Zhen — Victim · Tian Jiangyue — Antagonist · Du Qiu'e — Victim

Barred from help by Jiangyue and reached too late by a doctor, Li Zhen's father Li Jingfu dies in the wake of the family's expulsion. Her mother urges the children to move forward and build a new life rather than dwell on the family that abandoned them.

At some point after their rise to power, the Luo family is destroyed by political entanglements, killing Luo Wenqian's elder brother and aunt. He survives only through a General's protection, which conceals him under the false identity Qi Jiu.

Under the alias Qi Jiu, Luo Wenqian establishes the Yihousheng pawnshop as a front to safely re-enter the ink trade while hiding his true identity. Wang Cuiqiao, now his sworn sister, helps run the shop and source materials for his covert plans against the Tian family.

Involved: Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Wang Cuiqiao — Supporter

Li Zhen seeks work at the main Li workshop on Sibao Street to help her struggling family, facing scorn from workers who mock her family's expulsion. She asserts her three years of self-study and fights to prove her right to work with ink.

When relatives brand the eighth branch as jinxes and Tian Jiangyue strikes the elderly Li Jinshui, Li Zhen confronts the clan and publicly declares her intent to enter the ink-making industry to reclaim her family's dignity.

Involved: Li Zhen — Protagonist · Li Jingdong — Antagonist · Li Jinshui — Victim

Pressured by his father, Tian Benchang manipulates Li Zhen's brother into surrendering the Li family's secret ink recipe. The betrayal forces Li Jinshui to swear off ink-making forever and shatters trust between Li Zhen and Benchang.

Involved: Tian Benchang — Betrayer · Li Zhengliang — Victim · Li Jinshui — Victim

Following the loss of the family's secret recipe, Li Zhen works to recreate or surpass the lost formula through her own skill and innovation, a pivotal step toward restoring the Li family's standing in the ink trade.

Involved: Li Zhen — Participant · Li Jinshui — Participant

Luo Wenqian's true identity behind the Qi Jiu persona is exposed, triggering a major confrontation and imperial involvement that threatens his safety and forces a reckoning with Li Zhen and Tian Benchang.

Involved: Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Tian Benchang — Participant · Li Zhen — Affected Party

Li Zhen succeeds in restoring the Li family's reputation, and Huizhou ink earns the title 'The Best Ink Under Heaven.' She and Luo Wenqian become a couple, working together to preserve and promote Huizhou ink culture for generations to come.

Roughly a decade passes as Li Zhen grows into a capable young woman, working at Shui Bo's tea stall where her sharp wit and hospitality make her a local favorite. She hones observational and people skills that later serve her well in business and negotiation.

Li Zhen trains under her grandfather Li Jinshui for three years, mastering ink techniques despite the family's disgrace. Her success in producing supreme-grade lampblack moves him to perform an ancestral ritual declaring her a worthy successor to the Li Ink legacy.

Involved: Li Zhen — Participant · Luo Wen Qian — Participant · Li Jinshui — Participant