Liuli (Part One): Making Liuli for the First Time

The deed to the most central plot in the East Market.

Zhou Yao studied it, then set it down. "Back in the palace, I heard the most expensive plot in the East Market had been bought and left unused—a waste that many lamented. I never imagined the deed would end up in the hands of the eldest son of the Qi family."

"To be honest, Your Highness, though I'm watched by my clan's elders at home, I don't need to trouble anyone else for a gift to show my sincerity."

A hint of helplessness crossed Qi Yanhan's face, but he changed the subject. "From what I understand, Your Highness's porcelain doesn't sell well in the West Market. It's mostly frequented by commoners—few households there can afford such precious wares."

She hesitated. "And you want to recruit me?"

Qi Yanhan smiled and corrected her. "It is both a partnership and a compensation."

"If I had my people manage this East Market land, anyone with a discerning eye would easily find out. Given the current circumstances... it's not suitable for outsiders to know too much. A real headache. Rather than leave it vacant and wasted, I might as well offer it to you as a favor." His fox-like eyes held a smile as he looked at Zhou Yao tenderly and said slowly, "I hope Your Highness will accept it."

"Sir Qi, your schemes are meticulous. Since you claim you don't wish to disturb my rest, I can say that fortune never falls from the sky."

Zhou Yao hated to part with such a prime location, but thinking that the benefits Qi Yanhan offered did not match what she would have to give, she hesitated and pushed the box back.

"Besides, managing a shop for others is better left to the help."

The man gave a faint smile. "Your Highness views me as a flood beast, doesn't she? Very well, I'll stop being cryptic." He poured tea from the chess set into a cup, dipped his pale fingers into the liquid, and unhurriedly wrote a few characters on the wooden table.

Zhou Yao looked at the characters he had traced in water, gave a light laugh, and said, "Fine, I agree. But I have two conditions."

"Please speak, Your Highness." Qi Yanhan's eyes lifted slightly, and the gleam in them was eager, barely concealed.

"The first is that I want to dissolve our superficial relationship," she said seriously, looking at Qi Yanhan. "Though there are rules like the Seven Outs and Three Nos, what I seek is not a man's condescending charity, but a fair and peaceful separation."

Qi Yanhan was taken aback, his expression hurt, a hint of dejection in his demeanor.

He hesitated. "But..."

"Don't worry about the legal matters. I'll handle them," Zhou Yao said firmly.

"Why should women be inferior to men? Must women always defer to men, their only fate confined to the inner courts, relying on others? Since there's no precedent, I'll create one and fight for a path for women who desire power."

He seemed stunned for a moment, the anticipation in his eyes dissolving into smoke. He said gently, "Indeed, Your Highness's thoughts are always novel, even... unconventional."

Qi Yanhan saw the ambition in Zhou Yao's eyes. He knew the feelings he had built on lies would eventually crumble, but when that day truly came, he found himself hesitating.

He was unsure what expression he wore, but he seemed to disregard such externals. "Since Your Highness has decided, I shall agree. What is your second condition?"

Zhou Yao glanced at the unfinished game on the chessboard, picked up a black stone, and placed it down with a smile. "Naturally, I want to add some stakes to our cooperation."

"Oh?" Qi Yanhan showed interest. "Please speak plainly, Your Highness."

"During our cooperation, your people must obey my commands, and you must hand over your shops and carriage businesses in the city to me."

"Shops, carriages, salt, millet, iron." Qi Yanhan appeared thoughtful, slowly savoring the words, and then let out a soft laugh.

"Does Your Highness know that the Qi family is aligned with the Crown Prince? And I am the eldest son of the Qi family." He didn't finish—that he had to put the interests of the Qi family first—but Zhou Yao understood.

"Naturally," Zhou Yao said nonchalantly. "Since you've been secretly undermining the Crown Prince's spies, why pretend our positions are at odds?"

"Moreover, Old Qi has invested far more effort in that good-for-nothing Qi Xiaohan than in you, the eldest son."

Qi Yanhan gave a low, amused hum, silently agreeing with her words.

"In that case, Your Highness should rest early. If there is nothing else, I shall take my leave." He rose to go, but Zhou Yao quickly called him back.

The moment he was called back, a flicker of expectation rose in Qi Yanhan's heart. But there was nothing—nothing at all.

"Before the banquet, the Crown Prince was displeased with me over the Western Regions affair and punished me by making me memorize and copy the rules and precepts for women. Can you take care of that?" Zhou Yao studied Qi Yanhan.

He responded leisurely, "Naturally. I understand."

Half a month later, Zhou Yao had mostly recovered from her injuries.

Beagle was in the courtyard, craning its neck and barking, "wer, wer, wer."

The once-level pebble path in the courtyard had been dug into many deep pits by Beagle. At this moment, the backyard of the Qi Mansion looked like a desolate, long-abandoned house in the wilderness.

Zhou Yao let out a helpless sigh, propped her cheek with one hand, and sat at the table worrying as she tapped the abacus.

"I'll have to pay the steward for damages again this month," she thought helplessly.

Though Qi Yanhan had said Beagle was mischievous and she didn't need to pay extra, Zhou Yao couldn't let it go. She would convert the value of the items Beagle destroyed each month into silver and hand it to the steward.

Since her injury, her stall had gone unattended for a long time, leaving her strapped for cash, let alone the extra expense caused by Beagle.

"Income can't keep up with expenses!"

She had agreed with Qi Yanhan to operate the shop. If that got sorted out, the profits would be split nine to one.

After thinking it over, Zhou Yao sent people to fetch the craftsmen skilled in making liuli whom she had brought from the Western Regions. Without much effort, she learned the remaining steps.

She rose, had the maids in the mansion help her wash and dress, and went to the West Market in a low-key manner.

There were many vendors hawking fruits and vegetables. Though crowded and noisy, it was orderly and everything was well organized—except for the homeless refugees clustered in the street corners.

Zhou Yao wanted to help, but she didn't have the ability to do so at the moment.

In principle, every consort and princess in the palace had her own fief income, but Zhou Yao's share was never distributed each month. She could only guess that the palace staff had taken it. Without a fief and out of favor, she had become the "outcast" of the palace.

Now she truly had no money left, not even a last resort.

She often wondered if she had treated Linglong improperly. Linglong had been at her side since the deep palace, and Zhou Yao could honestly say she had never treated her poorly.

Yet this was how it ended, chilling her heart.

Finding the black market with ease, Zhou Yao browsed around and discovered that there were few materials for making liuli there. Even if they were available, the cost was exorbitant.

There was clay available. Zhou Yao bought it, along with various other materials, and brought them back to the Qi Mansion to begin experimenting.

Making liuli and making porcelain actually share similar principles.

She poured out the dried clay, added fired brick and Qingtian stone, and ground them until they were as fine as flour. Then came wetting and mixing the clay. Every time Zhou Yao repeatedly kneaded and threw the clay, Beagle would cause trouble, nearly forcing her to start over.

When these preparatory steps were done, another half month had passed.

Qi Yanhan was busy with his duties, but he occasionally ran into Zhou Yao, whose face was smeared with mud.

Whenever he encountered her, he would pause his busy steps, smile, and wipe the mud off her face. Afterward, he would have the steward prepare a bayberry drink for Zhou Yao.

Her days passed fairly smoothly.

The remaining steps for liuli were similar to firing a kiln, but they are commonly called the "Three Upper Techniques": stability, kilning, and glazing. Since she already knew how to fire and glaze, she could greatly shorten the learning time for making liuli.

Thinking she could start with simple liuli tiles, Zhou Yao took the materials and went to the Jiuyao Kilns.

Once everything was ready, she adjusted the temperature in the kiln, placed the dried bisque pieces inside, and began firing. Drawing on her past experience with porcelain, she imitated the process and controlled the temperature as she fired.

Bamboo leaves occasionally fell from the grove outside the window. The sunlight was blocked by the bamboo, casting little onto the ground.

The sounds of children babbling, the townsfolk living in peace, and vendors hawking their goods could all be heard drifting in.

For nearly half a month, she basically ate and slept at the Jiuyao Kilns, rarely returning to the Qi Mansion, which made its residents restless.

Yesterday they said Beagle's barking had them on edge; today they complained of chest tightness and dizziness.

Zhou Yao thought to herself, "Honestly, doesn't the Qi Mansion have a physician? If they're unwell, they should summon an imperial doctor. She couldn't cure them, so why say all this?"

When the liuli was fully fired, the product was of excellent quality, and Zhou Yao was satisfied. She had her servants carry the items and rushed eagerly to the most central shop in the East Market.

Though the shop had been vacant, it had been maintained. When Zhou Yao and her people arrived at the door with the finished liuli tiles, they were stopped with hostility by someone.