Resumen del episodio 20 de The Heir
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Li Zhen and Li Zhengshen caught Li Decai red-handed at the luxurious Suzhou mansion he had purchased for his mistress. Stunned and defensive, Li Decai tried to assert his authority, demanding if they had any respect for their elders. He sneered that he was their uncle-in-law and warned them that Aunt Chunhua would never forgive them if she found out. Li Zhen was furious that he had the audacity to mention her aunt.
She confronted him for living off the Li family’s wealth while ungratefully embezzling and reselling their raw lacquer. She revealed that Chunhua had quietly cooked the books to protect him from the family, only for him to spend those stolen profits on a mistress and another child. Li Decai desperately tried to justify his actions, claiming the raw lacquer belonged to his own branch and that it was only natural for a man to have multiple wives.
Refusing to listen to his excuses, Li Zhen beat him with a stick. She declared that a man like him deserved to have his hands broken, be banished from the family, and be handed over to the authorities. She warned him that once Chunhua left him and the Literary Association exposed his crimes, no ink workshop in Suzhou or Huizhou would ever employ him.
Terrified of losing everything, Li Decai wept and begged for mercy for Chunhua's sake, asking for a chance to reform. Li Zhen ignored his pleas and ordered him dragged away to be taken straight back to Huizhou. Surveying the grand Suzhou property, Li Zhengshen lamented that his uncle was a complete disgrace to the Sixth Branch.
Li Zhen instructed him to sell the mansion immediately to recoup the losses from the raw lacquer and cut off Li Decai's retreat in Suzhou. She urged him to handle the transaction with extreme caution, keeping the main family in the dark to preserve Chunhua's dignity. Back in Huizhou, a weeping Li Decai threw himself at Chunhua's feet, begging for forgiveness.
Loyal to a fault, Chunhua chose to let the past go, stating she would be content as long as he treated their son, Run'er, well from then on. Deeply moved, Li Decai expressed his deep gratitude and announced his intention to resign from all his duties at the ink workshop so he could stay home and dedicate himself to his wife and son. Chunhua agreed, noting that the constant travel between regions had been exhausting.
However, she worried that the merchants he had contracted with would demand their money now that the raw lacquer supply was cut off. Li Decai reassured her that he had resolved the issue by selling his large estate in Suzhou—which he claimed he had originally bought as a surprise for her—to cover the entire deficit. Meanwhile, Li Jingdong remained entirely in the dark about the scandal.
Believing Li Zhen had dismissed Li Decai simply to humiliate the Sixth Branch, he grabbed his cane and prepared to confront her. Li Zhengshen quickly stopped his father, explaining the truth about Li Decai's embezzlement, his mistress, and his second child in Suzhou. When Li Jingdong reacted with disbelief, Li Zhengshen sat him down and explained that Chunhua had tolerated the affair solely for the sake of her son.
He pointed out that Li Zhen had handled the matter perfectly by cutting off Li Decai’s options in Suzhou without causing a public scene. Had Li Zhen approached Li Jingdong directly, he likely would have accused her of sowing discord. Furthermore, given his fiery temper, Li Jingdong would have taken Li Decai to court, which only would have humiliated Chunhua, ruined her family, and made their branch a public laughingstock.
Li Jingdong fell silent, finally understanding that Li Zhen’s discretion and foresight had saved them all from ruin. At the workshop, Manager Shao informed Li Zhen that most of the lacquer-soot ink orders had been successfully delivered, and the raw lacquer retrieved from Suzhou would cover the rest. He praised her exceptional management, and Li Zhen expressed her relief at not failing the trust of her Sixth Grandfather, Li Jinhe.
Li Jingdong, watching her run the workshop so successfully, approached Li Zhen and quietly admitted that the Sixth Branch owed her a debt of gratitude that he would keep in his heart. Late that night, Li Zhen returned home to find her grandfather, Eighth Master Li Jinshui, still awake and rolling lamp wicks. She sat down to join him, sensing his deep anxiety over Li Jinhe’s safety in the mountains.
To comfort him, she mentioned how Chunhua had told her of Li Jinhe's youth, when he braved the elements to secure pine wood for the family. Li Jinshui smiled and reminisced about their younger years when the family had lost the Tribute Ink rights and fallen into decline. He recalled how Li Jinhe had ventured into the mountains, fought off a fierce tiger, and shot it dead with a single arrow.
By selling the tiger skin, they expanded the workshop, and alongside their late Seventh Brother, the three of them worked tirelessly to regain the Tribute Ink rights. Li Zhen fondly remembered seeing the massive tiger tooth hanging in Sixth Grandfather's study as a child, and Li Jinshui explained that Li Jinhe used to sleep with it under his pillow as a reminder of the time he saved the family's legacy.
Inspired by the story, Li Zhen decided to prepare a special ink stick for his return, naming it "Wild Youth." Deep in the mountains, Li Jinhe and his crew were busy loading pine wood. Jixiang noticed that the scales on the pine cones had closed, a clear sign of an impending storm that would flood the valleys.
He urged Li Jinhe to take a detour, but Li Jinhe insisted on taking the shortest route to save time, as the Tribute Ink deadline was fast approaching. Back at the village, the Seventh Old Madam, Lady Wang, stood waiting anxiously at the road entrance. Despite her family's pleas for her to rest, she refused to leave. When the transport team finally appeared, the atmosphere was deathly quiet.
A battered Jixiang approached Li Jinshui with a heavy heart, delivering the devastating news that Li Jinhe had been swept away by a sudden flash flood while trying to cross the river. It had taken the men half a day to recover his body downstream. The shock of Li Jinhe's sudden death was too much for the Seventh Old Madam, who collapsed during the funeral and fell into a deep coma.
Dr. Gu examined her and warned the family that her advanced age and chronic illness made her survival a miracle, prescribing a strong medicine in a desperate bid to wake her. With the matriarch unconscious, Sun Wanyi gathered the family in the main hall to reveal a written testament left by the Seventh Old Madam, witnessed by the Literary Association.
Huang Ying read the document, which detailed that because the Seventh Branch lacked a mature successor, Li Jingdong was ill, and Li Zhengshen was untrained in ink-making, the family properties and the ink workshop would be temporarily managed by Li Zhen of the Eighth Branch, due to her talent and integrity.
Jiangyue immediately protested, arguing that the Eighth Branch had been expelled from the clan and that the direct lineage should belong to the young You'er, with Li Jingdong managing the workshop until he grows up. She demanded that Li Jingdong reject the decision. Li Zhen humbly stated that she could not accept the title of manager while her elders were present, though she was willing to assist.
Sun Wanyi begged her to look after the workshop for a few days while she considered the position. At the funeral, Jiangyue caused a scene, loudly crying and accusing the Eighth Branch of bringing ruin to the family. Li Zhen confronted her to stop the disruption, but Jiangyue continued to make a scene and eventually ran off crying. Later, Li Zhen kept a quiet vigil by the Seventh Old Madam’s bedside, praying for her recovery.
The next day, during an inspection of the workshops, Li Zhen noticed a strange smell. Manager Shao reported that the extremely precious medicinal herbs gathered for the Tribute Ink selection had completely rotted. Because of the tragedy, Li Jingdong had neglected to air them out. To shield her uncle from further heartbreak, Li Zhen ordered Manager Shao to secretly purchase new herbs, regardless of the cost, and to keep the matter strictly confidential.
However, Li Jingdong was already spiraling into despair. Li Jinshui had recently confronted him about Li Zhen's successful recreation of the ancient lacquer-soot lampblack, criticizing him for his bitter attitude and lack of accomplishments. Overwhelmed by the outbreak of pine wilt disease in their pine plantation, Li Jingdong declared they should withdraw from the selection. When Li Zhengshen protested, an unstable Li Jingdong threatened to set up his own business and split from the family.
Driven to madness, Li Jingdong locked himself in his ink-making room and set it on fire, intending to burn the warehouse and end his life. Li Zhen and the workers rushed to the scene as flames engulfed the room. Trapped inside, Li Jingdong screamed that he was a useless sinner who had failed his ancestors, comparing himself to the spoiled herbs. Despite Li Jingdong's warnings to stay back, Li Zhengshen bravely charged into the raging fire.
He managed to drag his unconscious father out, but his own clothes caught fire in the process, prompting a frantic effort by the workers to extinguish the flames. As Sun Wanyi wept over the family’s endless misfortunes, Jiangyue arrived and began berating the semi-conscious Li Jingdong, accusing him of ruining the family and warning him that his death would throw everything into Li Zhen's hands. Disgusted by her selfishness, Li Zhen slapped Jiangyue.
When Jiangyue screamed in outrage, Li Zhen coldly asserted her authority as the manager officially appointed by the Seventh Old Madam and ordered Manager Shao to drag her away. She then instructed Li Zhengshen to carry his father home for treatment. Li Zhen comforted the weeping Sun Wanyi, promising that she would not stand by and would officially take charge of the family.
Just then, Manager Shao ran up with more devastating news: the fire had spread to the smoke shed and the warehouse, destroying the majority of the finished ink sticks prepared for delivery. With the earliest order due the very next day, Li Zhen was left facing an immediate crisis.
