Resumen del episodio 21 de The Heir
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Li Jingdong's desperate attempt to burn himself along with the warehouse was thwarted when his son, Li Zhengshen, rushed into the flames to save him. However, the fire destroyed almost all the finished ink sticks prepared for upcoming deliveries. Manager Shao anxiously reported that the earliest order was due the next day. Though some boxes of ink sticks were pulled from the flames looking intact, Li Zhen firmly refused to use them.
She explained that ink exposed to high heat would easily crack and become unusable, and Li Ink's century-old reputation must never be compromised. To protect their standing, Li Zhen decided to pay the contract penalties in full and asked Manager Shao to negotiate with the merchants, offering a thirty percent profit cut to delay future delivery dates. Compensating for nearly ten thousand ink sticks required a massive sum that far exceeded the workshop's accounts.
Determined to solve the crisis, Li Zhen offered five hundred taels of silver from her personal wages and the profits of the New Li's Ink Workshop. Her eldest aunt, Sun Wanyi, stepped forward, offering to surrender her entire dowry of one thousand taels. Though Manager Shao protested that a woman's dowry was her lifeblood, Sun Wanyi insisted that nothing was more important than preserving the family's honor. Hearing of the trouble, Li Zhengshen and his mother, Ying, arrived to help.
Ying declared that since the disaster was caused by the Sixth Branch, they had to take responsibility, offering her own savings and jewelry. The rest of the family quickly joined the effort. Li Jinshui and Zhao Jin also sent their savings, and even the eccentric Li Zhengshen vowed to sell his precious pills and talismans to raise a hundred taels. Manager Shao volunteered to defer his salary for half a year, and Aunt Chunhua contributed her estate's earnings.
United under Li Zhen's leadership, the family managed to scrape together enough money to satisfy the merchants. As Li Zhen worked to stabilize the business, Qi Jiu came to find her. Having heard of the fire, he warned her that the disgruntled merchants were preparing to demand an explanation. Rather than withdrawing his shares, Qi Jiu offered to increase his investment to help Li Ink tide over the crisis.
Li Zhen politely declined his kindness, asserting that this was an internal family matter they needed to resolve themselves. Soon after, the merchants were peacefully settled, leaving with high praise for Li Ink's integrity. Just as the crisis cooled down, a messenger from Lord Yan delivered an invitation to the Tribute Ink selection ceremony, scheduled to take place in two days by the Xin'an River. Missing the ceremony would mean automatic disqualification.
Given the ongoing chaos and her uncle's condition, Li Zhen decided to wait until Li Jingdong woke up before making a final decision. When Li Jingdong finally regained consciousness, he showed no gratitude, repeatedly screaming that he did not deserve to live and begging to be allowed to die. Angered by his cowardly display, Li Zhen ordered Li Zhengshen to carry his father to the mourning hall of the late Sixth Master, Li Jinhe.
Standing before the coffin, Li Zhen fiercely rebuked her uncle, challenging him to smash his head and die right there if he was truly so eager. She laid bare the painful reality: his fire had destroyed their inventory, forcing the entire family to sacrifice everything—their dowries, savings, and wages—to save the family name.
She pointed out that Li Zhengshen had severely burned his arm just to drag him from the fire, and that Sixth Master had died in the mountains for the sake of the family's legacy. Calling him a coward and a weakling who was running away from his responsibilities, Li Zhen left him to make his own choice. Li Zhen's harsh but honest words finally shattered Li Jingdong's despair.
Looking at his son's burned arm, he wept with regret, begging for forgiveness from his wife and son. Ying embraced him, weeping as she confessed she had waited thirteen long years for him to recover his spirit and warned him that she would never let him go, even in the afterlife, if he abandoned them. The next morning, Li Jingdong waited early at Li Zhen's door.
The moment she stepped out, he knelt down to apologize for his years of bitter resentment and for throwing the family's burdens onto her shoulders. Li Zhen quickly helped him up, and the two sat down to plan the future of Li Ink. Li Jingdong lamented that he had failed his more talented brothers, but Li Zhen comforted him, noting how clients always praised the reliable delivery and quality he had maintained.
To show his complete trust, Li Jingdong handed over the Sixth Branch's secret top-grade pine soot ink recipe to Li Zhen, willingly breaking the strict family rule of keeping recipes private. They agreed to collaborate on refining this traditional pine soot ink for the upcoming Tribute Ink selection. Meanwhile, Qi Jiu discussed the situation with his sister, Cuiqiao. He guessed that Li Zhen would not withdraw from the selection, using the event to unite the demoralized family.
To secure military supplies for Marshal Qi without relying solely on one outcome, Qi Jiu asked his sister to invest in the rival Chen family's ink in her own name, while he continued to back the Li family. On the day of the ceremony, Lord Yan gathered the local workshops, but the Li family was initially absent as they were still performing the funeral rites for Sixth Master.
Seeing the auspicious time slipping away, Qi Jiu stepped forward to delay the proceedings. He engaged Lord Yan in a complex debate about the elements, arguing that the scheduled Xinwei hour contained Earth, which would clash with the Water element of the ink, whereas the Renshen hour was the true auspicious time. Although some dismissed his claims, Qi Jiu successfully bought enough time.
Just as the ceremony was concluding, Li Zhen and Li Jingdong rushed to the altar, presenting their participation document. Lord Yan warmly welcomed them, praising Li Ink's unwavering commitment to their craft despite their immense grief. Back at the workshop, Li Zhengshen enthusiastically helped prepare the new ink. Soon after, the Chen family invited them to an ink testing event, where Lord Yan highly praised Chen's "Lingyun Ink" for its exquisite, multi-layered black luster.
When Lord Yan asked how it compared to Li Ink's product, Li Zhen tactfully replied that in literature and ink-making, there was no absolute first place; for every master, their own creation was always the first in their heart. Lord Yan then evaluated Tian Benchang's "Styrax Ink" but criticized its vulgar scent and overcomplicated ingredients.
Though Tian Benchang humbly accepted the critique, Qi Jiu and Li Zhen sensed that the cunning merchant was merely using it as a distraction and kept a backup plan in reserve. Despite the successful preparation, Li Jingdong grew insecure, pointing out that their pine soot ink was only deeply black and could not compete with the nuanced layers of Chen's lacquer-soot ink. He suggested switching to Li Zhen's successful medicinal Fu Jin Ink instead.
Li Zhen refused, reminding him that the ultimate purpose of ink was to be reliably black for scholars and merchants, an essential truth his own brother, Jingfu, had once taught him. She emphasized that this pine soot ink carried the combined spirit of the entire family and was the perfect representative for Li Ink. Finding his confidence restored, Li Jingdong asked her to name their creation, and Li Zhen proudly christened it "Yiyuan Ink."
