Chapter 564: The Porcelain Competition

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

At this point, it was already midnight.

After killing the enemies and exhausting himself out, Third Master Lu fainted.

Tang Jinghong sheathed his sword and helped Third Master Lu up. He then said to Third Master Lu’s surviving comrades, “Let’s go back to the general’s mansion to tend to your injuries.”

“Thank you, General Tang.”

In the morning.

The Chu family members woke up early, freshened up, had breakfast, and joined Li Zhenzong and others. They all arrived at Xilin Garden together.

Xinlin Garden was the venue for the annual porcelain competition. Many people interested in porcelain had already gathered there, making it a lively scene with people coming and going.

Outside the main gate, stalls selling breakfast items lined the streets, and vendors were continuously shouting their food, creating a bustling atmosphere.

Chu Xuyuan took a sniff and remarked, “If only we had breakfast here, it smells so good.”

Chu Xuyao agreed, “The porcelain competition lasts for two days, so we can come early tomorrow to have breakfast.”

Chu Xuyuan looked at Chu Xuyao, “How do you know it lasts for two days? Sixth Sister didn’t mention it.”

“She didn’t mention it, but I asked,” Chu Xuyao said, thinking that his seventh brother wasn’t very sharp. When he heard about the porcelain competition, he asked all the details.

The porcelain competition was held on the nth and 12th of September at Xilin Garden.

It was organized by the Daling Dynasty’s number one porcelain merchant, the Cai family. The person in charge was Cai Yuting, the Cai family’s First Master.

The Cai Family had been an imperial merchant for many years. Ever since Old Master Cai passed away, the Cai Family had been in charge of First Master Cai. However, First Master Cai was not good at doing business, and the family was on the decline.

Despite their family facing a period of decline, the Cai family was still a family to be reckoned with.

Many porcelain merchants were secretly eyeing the Cai family’s position as the Imperial Merchant. If the Cai family failed to win this competition, their position as the Imperial Merchant would be in jeopardy.

Currently, two families were most likely to challenge the Cai family for the position of Imperial Merchant: the Zhang family and the Yang family.

Both of them were former Imperial Merchants who had once thrived but later declined. However, their younger generations had displayed great talent, leading their families back to prosperity.

There were many porcelain merchants in the Daling Dynasty. Each porcelain merchant could nominate three people to participate in the porcelain competition.

The three nominees from the Li family were Chu Qingshuang, Li Zhenzong’s eldest disciple, Li Shaoya, and Li Zhenzong’s third disciple, Xue Yigang.

Hearing Chu Xuyao’s words, everyone looked at him with appreciative gazes. This little guy had a knack for gathering information.

Chu Xuyao calmly accepted the attention of everyone.

At this moment, members of the Yan family approached. The Yan family and the Li family exchanged greetings, and the Chu family members stepped aside since it had nothing to do with them.

Yan Yanrong pointed at Chu Qingshuang and said to her elder brother, Yan Helin, “Big Brother, she is Chu Qingshuang.”

Yan Helin frowned. Yan Yanrong had told him that Chu Qingshuang always used her talent to mock and ridicule her. She looked like a very obedient person, but in reality, she was very narrow-minded.

“I heard that you’re the best porcelain maker in the Li family?”

Chu family members felt uncomfortable listening to this, and Li Qingyu was about to defend her daughter, but Chu Qingzhi stopped her, “Mother, let Qingshuang handle it herself for now.”

As one climbed higher, the obstacles became greater. They had to learn to grow independently; if others lifted them up, the chances of falling were much higher.

Li Zhenzong was engrossed in a conversation with the Yan family members and didn’t notice the undercurrents among the younger generation.

Chu Qingshuang glanced at Yan Yanrong, who coldly snorted and turned her face away.

“I think you must have heard wrongly. No matter how smug I am, 1 wouldn’t dare to say such things. But 1 should have said that…” Chu Qingshuang pointed at Yan Yanrong. “I’m better than her!”

Yan Helin thought to himself that it was indeed not easy to deal with this girl. His frown deepened. “Yanrong is a rich young lady, unlike you, a village girl. Before you went to the Li family, you had never touched porcelain. Your hands did farm work every day, so they are naturally more flexible.”

Chu Qingshuang nodded. “That’s right. Is it a very honorable thing for a rich young lady to be inferior to a village girl? Is it worth your special mention?”

Yan Yanrong scolded, “You have a glib tongue, Chu Qingshuang. In the Li family, Master spoils you, but outside, no one spoils you.”

Chu Qingshuang said with a cold expression, “I’ll return these words to you, Yan Yanrong. You, lacking in skill, resort to bringing your elder brother to confront me. You truly are a wonderful sister.”

Yan Yanrong pointed at Chu Qingshuang. “You…”

Chu Qingshuang turned her head, ignoring Yan Yanrong. She then said to Yan Helin, “I understand that you want to protect your sister. If you have the ability, win against me in the competition. Don’t keep chattering in front of me. It’s annoying.”

Yan Helin didn’t know what to say.

The Chu Family lowered their heads and laughed. Qingshuang, this girl, had quite the sharp tongue.

After Li Zhenzong finished talking, he walked over to his three participants, gave them some final advice, and then led them into Xilin Garden.

The others followed suit and entered Xinlin Garden together.

Yan Yanrong clenched her fist, “Big brother, you must win against Chu Qingshuang and dampen her spirits.”

Yan Helin glanced at Yan Yanrong, “Let’s go.”

Yan Yanrong stomped her foot and followed, Chu Qingshuang was really not easy to deal with.

After entering Xilin Garden, the spectators went to the left, and the competitors to the right, all in an orderly manner.

Chu Qingshuang and her two companions arrived at the place to pick up their number plates and each received a wooden board engraved with large numbers.

To ensure fairness, the competitors would be anonymous.

After receiving their number plates, the competitors put them away carefully, not to be seen by others. If caught cheating, they would be announced during the competition and permanently banned from participating again, which was very strict.

After getting the number plates, they queued up.

Each competition only registered a hundred porcelain businesses, totaling three hundred competitors, with seventy-five competing at the same time in one round, and a total of four rounds, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.

After shaping the porcelain blanks, specialized personnel would take them for firing. The next day, ten judges, all prestigious seniors in the porcelain industry, would evaluate them.

Xilin Garden had a special square for shaping porcelain blanks. After receiving their number plates, Chu Qingshuang and her companions went to the square to queue up.

There were four queues in total, with participants free to choose which one to join.

The first queue was for the first group of competitors, the second queue for the second group, and so on.

The three members of the Yan family participating in the competition, along with Chu Qingshuang and her group, were all in the second queue, as the first queue was already full.

Once all four queues were full, a person in charge came to where everyone was lined up, “The first group, please go to the square to participate in the competition, timing one hour. Please manage your time well.”

Those who came to participate in the porcelain competition were all experienced, and they walked to the square steadily upon hearing the instructions of the person in charge..

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