Resumen del episodio 3 de The Heir
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At the Li family estate, Madame Qi gathered the family for breakfast. The atmosphere was somber as Li Jinhe reported that the ink business was struggling; rising wages for master craftsmen were eroding their profits. During the meal, Jiangyue complained that Wanyi had withdrawn twenty taels of silver for Li Zhen’s dowry. She argued that since the Eighth Branch had been expelled from the clan, the family should no longer support them.
Madame Qi firmly disagreed, insisting that Zhen was still a daughter of the Li family. Li Jinhe then offered to deliver the gifts himself, intending to caution Li Jinshui before the wedding. When Li Jinhe arrived at the humble home of the Eighth Branch, he presented jewelry as a blessing but quickly shifted to a stern warning.
He reminded Li Jinshui and Li Zhen that once she married into the Tian family, she must not take the Li family's secret ink recipe with her. Li Jinshui felt deeply insulted by the implication that he would betray his trade’s honor. Offended by the distrust, Li Zhen pushed the gifts back, declaring she would rather have nothing than accept gifts shadowed by such suspicion. Meanwhile, a distraught Tian Benchang met with Li Zhen to confess his family's dire situation.
Their new production method had failed, resulting in defective lampblack. The penalty for their pending orders was high enough to bankrupt them, and Luo Wensong would only help if they provided a Li family ink recipe. Although Zhen sympathized with his plight, she refused to hand over her grandfather’s legacy, offering her personal savings instead. However, the pressure intensified when Benchang’s parents pleaded with Li Zhen’s mother, hinting that the wedding might be called off if the recipe wasn't produced.
Desperate to save his family from ruin and ensure his sister didn't marry into poverty, Li Zhen’s brother, Li Zhengliang, met with Benchang. Moved by Benchang's lament that Zhen would suffer if the Tian business failed, Zhengliang’s resolve broke. He secretly stole the ink recipe to help the Tians, hoping to secure his sister's future happiness. On the wedding day, as the festive procession reached the center of town, Li Jingdong blocked the path.
Supported by crutches, he publicly accused the Eighth Branch of smuggling the Li family recipe within the dowry. Li Jinshui, confident in his innocence, swore on his honor and invited a search of the bridal sedan. To his utter shock, the men searched the belongings and pulled out the secret manuscript. Li Zhengliang fell to his knees in tears, confessing that he had stolen it for Benchang to protect Zhen. The public shame was a devastating blow to Li Jinshui.
To give the ancestors a final accounting for the scandal, he invoked the "Founder's Black Banner." Using the Ancestral Ink Stick, he performed a grim ritual, smashing one of his own teeth into a house pillar as a blood oath to never step foot in the ink industry again. Heartbroken by the betrayal of the man she loved and the pain caused to her grandfather, Li Zhen stepped out of the sedan.
Realizing Benchang had conspired to exploit her family's secrets, she tore the recipe to pieces before the crowd. She announced that the wedding was over—not because the Tians rejected her, but because she refused to marry into such a family. In the aftermath, the Tian family realized they had been outmaneuvered; Luo Wensong had taken over their business orders, a move intended to prove the Tians were incompetent and isolate them from the trade.
Back at the Li estate, Madame Qi, moved by the tragedy, ordered her staff to quietly support the Eighth Branch by purchasing their goods. Meanwhile, Li Zhen returned home and tried to cheer up her family with meat she had bought from a local butcher. Having returned the remaining manuscripts to the Li family, she declared that they would now live for themselves, free from the entanglements of the great houses.
