HLnovel Chapter 395 Silverware for Cups and Dishwares, Adding Flowers to Brocade
Chapter 395 Silverware for Cups and Dishwares, Adding Flowers to Brocade
Dai Lan didn't know why the old lady would indulge Xue Lan so much.
However, when the piled-up rocks at the porcelain kiln site, which had been sealed for many years, were opened, the old lady's eyes were dazzled, perhaps because the dust inside was too thick.
Otherwise, why would there be tears in the old lady's eyes?
Xue Lan followed behind Dai Lan and Sui Hong, looking at the ancient porcelain kiln in front of her.
"Xiaoxiao!" the old lady called out to Xue Lan from ahead, and the woman immediately followed.
The old man's gentle and benevolent gaze fell upon Xue Lan, and his words flowed like a babbling brook, calm and gentle yet carrying the unwavering determination of a journey westward to the sea:
"Grandma will ask you one more time, do you really want to learn porcelain making?"
Xue Lan nodded: "Yes."
The old lady looked at Xue Lan's thin frame.
In this slightly desolate wind, Xue Lan was like a reed by a stream in autumn.
Snow drifts freely on the empty rooftop, slender yet unyielding...
"Come in with me."
Xue Lan was led gently into the dark cave by the old lady, who took her hand.
Dai Lan and Sui Hong were left outside and did not come in.
The old lady lit a lamp in the kiln.
A warm, bright yellow flame danced before Xue Lan's eyes, and the woman looked up.
Above their heads was a dome, its surface stained with the black marks left by years of smoking.
Xue Lan slowly raised her hand and touched the dome.
A deep black mark appeared on his fingertips, resembling the pine soot ink Xue Lan had used before.
The old lady held a lotus lantern in her hand and smiled at Xue Lan.
The old lady slowly raised her hand and, imitating Xue Lan, groped around on the dome a few times, holding the candle high in her hand as if searching for something.
Xue Lan held her wrist and pointed to a spot, saying:
"Grandma, there are words here."
The warm candlelight was held near the inscription.
"Lujia Kiln".
Xue Lan softly uttered these three words and saw a look of nostalgia on the old lady's face.
"Before I got married, my name was Lu Zhaoyue, and I was in charge of the Lu family kiln."
Xue Lan looked at Old Madam Lu with bright, sparkling eyes.
"Grandma Lu is amazing."
“You think so too? I thought I was amazing back then!” A sharp glint appeared in Madam Lu’s gentle eyes.
Having lost her parents at a young age, she single-handedly kept the Lu Family Kiln running, watching the raging fire burn and the pure white porcelain emerging from the scorching flames, flowing to every corner of the Great Yu Dynasty.
The fire burning in the stove, the slightly choking soot, and the warm, smooth feel of the porcelain blank in her hands gradually formed all her memories of her youth.
She thought she was really amazing at the time.
Later, she met Xing Lingchong.
"When I met your Grandpa Xing, he wasn't the high and mighty Lord Xing yet. He was just a small porcelain mender in the east of Wuci Town, studying the classics while supplementing his family's income with his porcelain mending skills."
Xue Lan watched as Old Madam Lu gently stroked each brick in Xiaoxiao Porcelain Kiln.
Ignoring the black coal dust, the old man's eyes were clear, as if he were seeing an old friend rather than an old object.
"Later, he achieved the third-highest rank in the imperial examination, repaired my mother's belongings, and came to propose to me with all the proper betrothal gifts and formal marriage proposals." The old lady's tone was light and cheerful.
"So I sealed up the kiln, married him, and went to the capital with him."
Xue Lan couldn't help but speak up:
Have you ever regretted it?
The old lady looked at Xue Lan and slowly shook her head, her tone firm:
"Never!"
When Xing Lingchong came to propose to her, he brought with him his mother's belongings, which he had repaired using the silver repair technique.
On the jade-white, thin-walled cup, the cracks that had been broken by the fall were now carefully filled with silver, the lines of which resembled a lone branch hanging with the moon.
At that time, Xing Lingchong was not the high-ranking censor.
He was not a destitute old man who had retired to his hometown due to the emperor's suspicion.
But this is the young master, recently passed the imperial examination. He spoke with an air of great pride:
"Zhaoyue, since I can repair your mother's belongings, I can naturally repair the Great Yu's kingdom!"
"Xiaoxiao, the moon hanging on a lone branch above the broken cup, and the marriage between me and your Grandpa Xing, are essentially just icing on the cake."
"In the first half of my life, I, Lu Zhaoyue, lived a carefree life, and it was the same after I was with him."
Xing Lingchong was indeed someone she cherished, but not her whole heart.
The cups and saucers were made of silver, and cups and saucers were precious items, part of her mother's dowry, and were rare treasures used by noble ladies in the palace.
To add the finishing touch, Lu Zhaoyue was like a magnificent brocade, while Xing Lingchong was like a trumpet creeper she had personally selected and delivered to the branch.
Xue Lan smiled gently, her eyebrows curving like crescent moons.
Lu Zhaoyue tapped Xue Lan's forehead and asked again:
"Are you really going to learn porcelain making?"
Xue Lan nodded: "Yes!"
In the Xing residence, Lord Xing Lingchong, who had been reading in his study all morning, slowly stood up from his carved chair and stretched his aching shoulders.
The old man's voice was steady: "Is it almost noon? Where is Madam?"
The old butler who had always been by his side immediately spoke up upon hearing this:
“Master, Miss Dai Lan from the Madam’s side has come to say that the Madam wants to open the kiln.”
I hadn't heard the words "opening the kiln" in a long time, so I was slightly taken aback when I heard it.
But after a moment's thought, the old man remembered what opening a kiln meant.
The old butler was startled when he saw his master's face suddenly darken.
"Master, should I go and fetch Madam?"
He spoke in a trembling voice.
Xing Lingchong slowly suppressed the dejected look between his brows, then waved his hand at the butler:
"Let Madam do whatever she wants. You may leave now."
After the butler slowly left the study, Xing Lingchong walked slowly to the bookshelf behind the sandalwood table and took out a long, rectangular box from a hidden compartment.
The box was opened, revealing a porcelain scepter broken in two.
High-ranking officials in this dynasty often used jade tablets when attending court, symbolizing that a gentleman is like jade, pure and noble.
Only Xing Lingchong used a porcelain scepter personally made by his wife, a special privilege granted by the emperor to his longtime friend.
But that person himself smashed the tablet.
In the imperial palace, after years of conflict between the emperor and his ministers, the man frantically knocked the ceremonial tablet from his hand, the sound like a sharp knife hanging over his head:
"Xing Lingchong, who do you think you are? I'm being too polite to you!"
With a soft sigh, the old man closed the box and placed it back in the hidden compartment.
The old man put away the box, and without any guards, put on a coat and headed to the location of Lu Family Kiln.
When they arrived, the old man saw his wife in the distance. The Lu family kiln was currently being opened with a gentle fire. The old woman, dressed in an indigo blue dress, stood before the slowly burning flames.
In a daze, Xing Lingchong seemed to return to many years ago, to the time when he first saw the head of the Lu family.
Sui Hong was the first to notice Xing Lingchong's arrival, and she stepped forward and spoke:
"Madam, Master is here." Lu Zhaoyue turned her head and saw Xing Lingchong walking towards her.
As they clasped hands, Xing Lingchong saw a bright and radiant smile on his wife's face, a smile he hadn't seen in recent years.
“This child wants to learn how to make porcelain. So I brought her here to take a look.”
"Then bring her to see her." Xing Lingchong nodded.
Lu Zhaoyue held Xing Lingchong's hand and whispered in his ear:
"I will open the kiln and refire the official tablet for you. If that person really comes to ask you to come out of seclusion, my lord, please do not refuse."
"Firstly, it fulfills your relationship with him as ruler and subject; secondly..."
"The mountains and rivers of the Great Yu Dynasty are still not finished by the official..."