Chapter 54: CH 54

Not long after the Zhirong Study closed down, various book stores also launched color-printed books and paintings, series of color print products like “Authentic Color Printing”, “The Ancient Techniques of Color Printing”, “Inviting the Cui Beauty as a Painter”, and “Cui Beauty’s Legacy” flooded the market.

Some of these books were printed using outlines and then colored in, some were line drafts painted in pieces and some used overlaid color printing…this fully reflected the copycat skills and great imagination of the artisans of the Great Ming Dynasty.

Originally, Cui paper, 《Integrated Fragrant Diaries》and the《Three Kingdoms》had been in great demand in the market and the quality of such counterfeits compared to the real product had been a world of difference. Occasionally, such bookstores would advertise such color-printed products on the market, but readers would rather save money to buy the authentic versions than buy it from others. But ever since the Zhirong Study closed down, some people have been more willing to buy such counterfeits. 

Just like when Apple first released, mobile phones would never return to the era of the flip phone and external keyboards. After the publication of color-printed novels, any novels, storybooks and playbooks printed in monochromatic colors did not sell well. No matter how rough the color-printing was in a book, it was still colorful and it  was more comfortable to look at compared to the single-ink versions. If one took such color-printed products out, it also gave some face in front of one’s guests.

Xu furen sent some investigators to find out which bookstore’s artisans had taken over the color-printing technology of Cui Xie’s bookstore. This was to the point that the investigators had become dizzy and confused from the shops they visited: Today, one family  had directly inherited the techniques, tomorrow’s family had their techniques handed down from generation to generation. There were quite a few talented girls who claimed to be the Cui beauty or her sisters, aunts and nephews. They ended up spending quite a bit of money, but in the end, it was all a wild goose chase.

Even the person who had bought the bookstore was not in a hurry to open the store, so he closed the doors and no one knew what he was fixing up inside. The servants of the Cui family approached to inquire, but runners patrolling the street immediately herded them away.

Even after saying they were sent by the Master of the Cui family, those runners bewilderedly laughed: “Just what kind of character does Young Master Cui have, how could his family send someone like you over? You better not be like that thief who stole his own Master’s belongings like last time, right? Go go go, let’s arrest them and let them stand in the prison all day, let’s see if he will tell the truth or not!”

The Cui family servant immediately swiveled around and ran. Because Cui Ming had been imprisoned after coming to Qian’an County to teach the eldest young master a lesson and his entire family had been sold off, such an outcome was still freshly imprinted in their minds. He did not dare to try to find Cui Xie and reason with him, nor did he dare to go to Xu furen to complain, so he could only eat such a loss silently. Upon returning to the capital and when Xu furen began her questioning, he only said that the new owner of the bookstore had a deep and profound background, so he could not find out what had happened.

Xu furen’s private savings were limited, and her husband who was seeking an official position needed to use money. The income coming from the outer courtyard would hardly pass through her hands before it disappeared like petals washed away by flowing water. She could not continue to support this kind of expense so she was forced to cease such thoughts for the time being. She then instructed that servant to head over to Qian’an every few days, watch the bookstore and once the bookstore opened again, he needed to investigate the person behind it.

The servant only responded dully, turned around and put this matter on the backburner. When he was short of money he would make an excuse to go to Qian’an and then ask the furen for some travel expenses, but he never ended up making the trip and just found a comfortable place in town to drift along for a few days.

The Xu family’s investigation had been temporarily suspended, but the hints of the person they were looking for finally showed up on the marketplace. Among the relentless tide of merchants that continuously asserted that they were the source of such new color printing techniques and claimed that the portraits they printed were all genuine portraits made by the Cui Beauty, a copy of the 《Diamond Sutra》, which was only sold in small vendor’s stalls and bookstores, with seemingly “authentic color-printing” attached to the name, silently appeared in the market.

This book appeared silently and wordlessly, as if it had covered all the bookstalls and bookstores in Qian’an, Tongzhou and the capital overnight, and it was even strongly recommended by the booksellers.

This was the true technique of color printing!

Before Zhirong Study had closed, it had printed this work!

This painting  method was really Cui Beauty’s handiwork!

All those books were blindly following the crowd to churn out large quantities without regard for quality, only the Tranquil Bamboo Hall was a conscientious bookseller!

The people who had bought the《Diamond Sutra》in the first half of the year as well as those who had wanted to buy it but couldn’t, started to buy the books in a frantic manner. When those elderly gonggong[1] who practiced Buddhism in the Imperial Palace heard of the matter, they quickly sent their family members to buy them and even intensely questioned people asking just which bookstore this Tranquil Bamboo Hall was a part of and just where did such a good Buddhist painter come from.

It was a pity, however, that no matter how much they questioned, the owners of the bookstores in the capital would not divulge the identity of the seller and only said, “It seems to have been printed by a private company, and although there is a paiji, that Tranquil Bamboo Hall’s bookstore is nowhere to be found. Furthermore, they do not usually sell it during normal times and one can only see their family delivering goods during these three holidays: Tomb Sweeping Day, Bathing Buddha Day, and Xiayuan Festival.[2] They don’t even have a store that sells it year round.”

You are a seller of Buddhist scriptures, not some seller of those erotic Spring Palace paintings, why not just open your business in a decent and honorable manner, must there be a need to be so elusive?!

In any case, at least they learned of the good reputation of the Tranquil Bamboo Hall in advance this time, and snatched up some Buddhist scriptures and at long last, they had a good thing to make as an offering. And for Buddhist scriptures, the less copies there were, the more rare it became. Only one copy could be regarded as a precious tribute, and only one such offering could be called filial piety. If every person held up dozens of these books in their hands as an offering, wouldn’t it just become a pile of useless trash? How could it please the Emperor’s Empress or Imperial Concubines?

When Gao taijian returned to his residence on his day off, he lamented about this matter with his adopted  son, Gao Qian, his nephew that he had personally raised himself since the youth was a toddler.

Although he was not favored as Liang Fang who had the Eastern Depot in the palm of his hand, he still had a bit of face in the Palace. Gao Qian had also been bestowed the title of a Company Commander in the Jinyiwei and had quite a few connections outside. After  hearing such news, he said, “I have also read that scripture and the printed portrait cannot be considered to be very fine and it is incomparable to the gilded porcelain blue papered scripture made by the Inner Palace. The only point that it surpasses the one made by the Inner Palace is that the face is well painted, similar to Cui Beauty’s handiwork. Why doesn’t Father call the painter to enter the capital and commission a few paintings?”

Gao gonggong said, “How could I not know this! But I am in the Palace, and the people under my hands are not capable enough, just how can I find this painter? If I was like Liang gonggong who has the entire Eastern Depot under his grasp, there would be no need to worry about finding such individuals.”

Gao Qian confidently comforted: “Father need not feel so disheartened. That Cui Beauty is not difficult to find, I heard that the Rear Commissioner-in-Chief, Chen Ying, is in possession of her portraits. Besides, there are so many imitations of her works available on the market currently, so even if the original painter cannot be found, just find a painter who is good at imitation instead. Copy a portrait from the scriptures and enlarge it to offer it to the higher-ups, wouldn’t it far surpass those small portraits from the scriptures?”

Gao taijian wrinkled his brows, “That Cui Beauty is good at painting romantic women, and even painted the chests of half-naked males, most likely not from a decent and proper family. If it is truly her, I would not dare to offer up her painted Buddhist portraits. Forget it, I’ll head to the Bureau of Fine Crafts[3] to find a good worship offering, but it is just that his Majesty had already seen all of the Palace painters’ techniques, it will always be less novel compared to the techniques outside.” 

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Gao Qian replied, “It is better if I help Father look for the painter on your behalf, once the painting is drawn, just put someone else’s name on the final work.”

Gao gonggong sighed, “The Xiayuan Festival is almost upon us, and even if we try to recruit someone, we will  not be able to finish the innumerable matters and rituals we have to handle before then. Our family does not have as many underlings as the Eastern Depot, who have quick hands that can be immediately employed. We can never compare to those individuals above us, it is better to forget it this time. If you are able to find a good painter, request for him to carefully draw a portrait of an Immortals’ Banquet. It will be good to present as an offering to the Emperor on New Year’s Day.”

What ideas he thought of, naturally, others could also think of. The rituals held in the Imperial Palace for the Xiayuan Festival had just begun and Liang Fang, Li Rong and other trusted taijian started presenting their various paintings to the Imperial Consort’s palace: there was Guanyin holding a vase, the face like a moon and the white robes flowing like water, remarkably alike to Cui Beauty’s painting techniques; there was also a portrait of Buddha preaching the scriptures and the Buddha in the painting had solemn, yet dignified facial features with two earlobes that extended to the shoulders. The portrait included the 32 Signs of a Great Man[4] and the 80 Secondary Characteristics[5]. Each of the arhats[6] seated below Buddha all had their own distinct expression and  were all drawn according to the portraits and scrolls included in the Tranquil Bamboo Hall’s scriptures.

Gao Liang had missed the chance to present his offering with this wave of eagerly attentive individuals, and when he gazed upon the portraits that all seemed to originate from the same person, he could not help but secretly despise them for coming——they all used imitations to curry favor with the niangniang[7] and weren’t even ashamed of it! They were worse off than him, at least he had tried to find someone to draw a fresh portrait of an Immortals’ Banquet.

While his mind was constantly churning in the Palace, his heir and adopted son, Gao Qian, diligently and painstakingly ran around outside, and almost broke his leg from all the trips. During the period leading up to and during the Xiayuan Festival, he had asked his subordinates to buy and compare all the color-printed pictures available on the market that imitated the Cui Beauty’s techniques. The best painters were summoned and instructed to draw a portrait of an individual attending the Immortals’ Banquet imitating Cui Beauty’s style.

Drawing a large portrait wasted too much time so it was better to draw a portrait of a single person and then have his Father evaluate the results.

These painter craftsmen were all master copyists and often drew designs for the taijian in the Directorate of Ceremonial[8]. They all hurried to meticulously and carefully paint the portrait and once they were properly mounted, the finished portraits were sent to the Gao Residence. After Gao Qian was done with his duties for the day and returned home, he opened each portrait one by one to look at and wanted to pick the best one for his father to look over.

Unexpectedly, when he opened the first one, he became so angry that he nearly tore the portraits in half——there was a portrait of Liu Bei wearing a hibiscus-colored lotus crown and a yellow-purple cape; a portrait of Cao Cao with a black crown and green, brown and yellow colored cape; a portrait of Zhao Yun donning a suit of golden armor and a golden crown; there was also a portrait of Lady Zhen[9] dressed in a Taoist robes….there was even a painter who completely skimped the clothes and disinclined to even change the attire, directly copying the portrait of Guan Yu from the Six Talents edition, with the inscription: “Prince of Xianling Yiyong Wu’an Yingji”[10], treating it as a likeness of Emperor Guan!

How could he show these kinds of things to his father? How could these things be presented as an offering?

It would have been better just to have someone copy a Buddhist scripture and send it up as an offering!

He furiously smashed the scroll and when he returned to his Company Commander office, he continued to grumble to others that there were too many unscrupulous, dishonest businessmen in the world today, even daring to deceive a taijian! A few of the other taijian’s adopted sons and heirs who were Jinyiwei angrily joined in, “There is still such a person? Don’t mention anything else, he even dared to use Emperor Guan to deceive you. How can us Jinyiwei take this insult? Let’s arrest him!”

It was  no good, there were only just these few bookstores that published colored editions of books. The portrait of Lady Zhen was rumored to be published soon by the painter that had drawn it and the family that drawn the portrait of Emperor Guan was also planning on selling a portrait booklet depicting the Ode to the Bronze Sparrow Platform[11], if they arrested them, then one wouldn’t be able to read it!

In the office, there were those who added fuel to the fire and there were others who tried to pacify the situation, but the news slowly circulated until it reached the ears of Xie Ying, who was currently supervising the military drills of the soldiers of the Front Military Commission. 

He had heard this involved Cao gonggong’s heir and he couldn’t help but recall the circumstances when he had journeyed together with Cao taijian to issue the Imperial edict: At that time, donned in Confucian scholarly robes from head to toe, Cui Xie had stood in the middle of the courtyard, looking at them with eyes full of gratitude. Later on, upon learning that it was Xie Ying who had helped him request for a commendation, the other had nearly knelt to give him a kowtow in the courtyard. Then, before he had left, Cui Xie had also mentioned his desire to give him something in return.

True to his word, he had sent him two portraits and they were all much finer than the other portraits Cui Xie had gifted to others.

What if he let the other know that Gao gonggong was in need of such a portrait to use as an offering? Would he also draw a portrait of Gods and Buddhas that were so lifelike that it seemed that the subjects were on the verge of jumping out of the painting?

But, in the eyes of the literati, having connections with a taijian would ruin his reputation in the future. Furthermore, such a glamorous name had already been given to Cui Xie and he was unwilling to expose his real identity, always continuously using other names to produce such portraits. If he made such a Immortals’ Banquet portrait for Cao gonggong, all of his arrangements would have been a waste!

It was just that, with Cui Xie’s upright and outstanding temperament, if he became aware of Cao gonggong’s requests, but wasn’t able to help, would his heart feel that he owed the other one and would want to make up for it?

In the court, such thoughts were unacceptable. Otherwise with the Earl of Weining’s prestige and military merit, how could he have been banished from court because of Wang Zhi’s hampering…

When Xie Ying met Gao Qian later on, he seemed to inadvertently mention the Six Talents and their commentaries on the Three Kingdoms which caused the other to ferociously complain about those painters for a bout.

Xie Ying listened patiently, and slightly smiled to say,”Gao gonggong is intending to present a painting to the Emperor. When selecting renowned masters, must it be the Cui Beauty? Furthermore, I can see that their paintings are not difficult to imitate and the ones circulating in the market are not too different. It is just that the Company Commander had urged a bit too hard that day so the craftsmen inevitably did things half-heartedly. If you find a true master and have them slowly paint a portrait, certainly, a masterpiece can be obtained. If the Company Commander does not believe so, I will ask someone to find a master painter and have him carefully and meticulously revise the portrait for two months, he should be able to create a good one in time for the New Year.”

As if he did not quite believe Xie Ying, Gao Qian inquired, “Can such a person really be found? I have already asked the painters to repaint it, but those people cannot paint such vivid characters without the original portraits of the Three Kingdoms.”

Gao Qian shook his head and deeply sighed, “I heard that there is a man named Ruan Sheng in Luanzhou who can imitate it well. He painted the four beauty portraits currently hanging in Chen Ying, the Rear Commissioner-in-Chief’s residence. I even went to borrow it and took a look, and it was nearly just as good as the real ones drawn by the Cui Beauty. It is a pity that just a few months ago, the painter’s whereabouts became suddenly unknown and it will be hard to track down such a person. Even if I were to find him, I am afraid he will be like those other painters and be unable to draw that kind of appearance without the original painting as reference ….”

Xie Ying raised his long eyebrows slightly, exposing a faint air of arrogance, “That Cui Beauty’s paintings are merely full of vivid colors and novel painting methods, is it possible that under the sun, only their painting can be considered good? Forget it, since I have already brought up this manner, I will be sure to give Gao gonggong an explanation——even if the Cui Beauty’s painting style cannot be imitated, will Xie-mo still be unable to bring out a Immortals’ Banquet portrait worthy of gifting to others?”

Just like giving medicine to a dead horse[12], Gao Qian was willing to try anything at this point and gritted his teeth, “If this matter is not possible, I will admit defeat and don’t dare to ask for Colonel’s Immortals’ Banquet portrait; But, if it can be done, the qianhu’s hard work will bound to be noted in my heart and my father will naturally learn of it as well.”

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