Chapter 555 (Part 2)

Liu Tan held the jade handle in his hand and silently repeated three times that his surname was Chen and he was Chen Ajiao's nephew, thus suppressing the thought of beating this man up.

He spoke very straightforwardly, "I came up with some new things a while ago, and the Queen Mother really liked them, so I planned to open a beauty salon. However, the Queen Mother is in charge of the six palaces and is busy with all kinds of affairs. I will be returning to my fiefdom soon, and this beauty salon will need someone to look after it. The Queen Mother wants you two to keep an eye on it, but you don't have to do anything. If you don't want to do all this, just invest in it. With your names on the list, no one would dare to take over the beauty salon without the Queen Mother's involvement."

Zhao Pingjun's eyes lit up when he heard this: "Beauty salon? That's a good idea. What are these things?"

Liu Tan glanced at him, then looked at Princess Yi'an, feeling a little strange. Why was it different from what he expected?

He originally thought that Princess Yi'an would be more interested, but Princess Yi'an's expression did not change at all, while Lord Zhaoping looked very excited.

Liu Tan thought about it and thought that maybe Princess Yi'an was not close to Lord Zhaoping, so she felt that this beauty salon had nothing to do with her?

He had some thoughts in mind, so he didn't say much and asked someone to bring him a set of makeup.

The outer box of the makeup is a ceramic box that he specially asked someone to customize. It is relatively light and thin, and there are some simple paintings on the outside. Apart from anything else, just looking at this box makes it look like a work of art.

Princess Yi'an seemed quite interested in the ceramics and said with a smile, "Let's not even mention what's inside. Just looking at this ceramic box is enough to make everyone fight over it."

Logically speaking, there were actually quite a few porcelain kilns in the Han Dynasty. After all, the emperor liked it, and Liu Tan didn't hold on to the recipe. Naturally, someone would open a kiln to make porcelain. Even if it couldn't be used as tribute, many people in the folk liked it. If that didn't work, it could be shipped to the Western Regions. In any case, there would be no loss.

But the price of their porcelain is always lower than that of the porcelain kilns under the Northern King.

In terms of quality, the quality of the porcelain kilns under the Northern King is indeed good, but everyone else's is not bad either. If you have to compare them, there are a few places that are actually better than the products of the Northern King's porcelain kilns because of naturally suitable soil.

But everyone just recognized this person, and as long as the porcelain was produced by this person's kiln, they would fight for it.

After hearing what Princess Yi'an said, Liu Tan smiled and said, "This is just a temporary order. If we need more in the future, we'll still need everyone's help."

When Liu Tan said this, he even wanted to set up a ceramic alliance in order to set standards for customized ceramics. However... he was just thinking about it. Standards can sometimes eliminate many inferior products, but in many cases they are just weapons in the hands of capital.

Once everyone accepts this standard, and then advocates that anything that does not meet this standard is not acceptable, then businesses that do not join this standard will inevitably face bankruptcy.

Even if a giant wants to establish a monopoly or dislikes someone, they can simply kick those porcelain kilns out of the standard recognition range. At that time, because there is no such recognition, these porcelain kilns will either not be able to sell or sell at a low price.

So the so-called standard is actually that the giants set the rules of the game, and everyone at the same level must abide by the rules of the game, while the people below have to give blood transfusions to the giants above.

Liu Tan felt that he was far away in the Northern Border Country and had no time to deal with these things, so he simply suppressed the idea.

Because Zhao Pingjun and his wife were sitting on each side and not together at all, Liu Tan could only ask someone to bring two sets of makeup.

When you open the cosmetics box, you will find many things sorted into different categories, including common rouge, powder, essential oil, facial cream and lip balm, as well as more special eyeliners and eye shadows.

The partitions inside are made of thin wooden boards with soft cloth. Each grid is customized according to the size of the items, and almost every item has a ceramic shell.

Even the eyeliner is celadon with tiny specks of gold.

Anyway, just do it in the most high-end and elegant way.

Princess Yi'an was indeed not very interested at first. She was not very well-informed, and Chen Ajiao did not show off to her, so she did not see these things until this time.

She had already seen rouge and powder, so her attention was focused on eyeliner and eye shadow.

She gently picked up the eyeliner and asked, "What is this pen for?"

Liu Tan immediately clapped his hands, and two maids walked in from outside, one of whom had no makeup on.

Liu Tan said to Princess Yi'an, "Let them demonstrate it to you."

Of course, the maid was definitely not using such a perfect set. They were all relatively scattered items. The makeup steps at the beginning were similar, but when it came to the eye makeup at the end, both Zhaoping Jun and Princess Yian stared at the maid who was being made up. She had a layer of powder on her eyelids and also drew on the roots of her eyelashes with the pen.

When she opened her eyes again, she was completely different from before!

Liu Tan couldn't help but sigh that this painting was much better than his own.

Princess Yi'an widened her eyes slightly: "This pen is so magical?"

Zhao Pingjun even waved to the maid who had put on makeup and said, "Come here."

The maid walked over in small steps and half-knelt beside Zhao Pingjun.

Zhao Pingjun reached out and pinched the maid's chin and observed her carefully for a long time, even getting very close, making the maid blush.

Liu Tan felt that if he continued like this, Zhao Pingjun might kiss him, and he couldn't help but cough lightly.

Zhao Pingjun turned his head to look at Liu Tan, and reluctantly let go of the maid's chin.

Alas, if it were someone else, he would definitely ignore it. Even the princes could do anything to him?

But, the King of the North... forget it, I can’t afford to offend him.

Liu Tan knew that he had actually done something wrong. According to current customs, maids and servants could be given away at will. If the guests liked them, the host would usually give them to the guests. This was the right way to treat guests.

Some hosts will even personally entertain their guests, and this entertainment usually involves physical contact.

As for men and women...gender is not an issue, and many times it even happens between male guests and male hosts.

But he still felt a little uncomfortable about sending a living person away like a commodity. As for the fact that he didn't feel anything when trading the Huns like commodities... who doesn't have double standards?

Liu Tan pretended not to notice Zhao Pingjun's resentful look, turned to look at Princess Yi'an and said, "If you like it, this set is for you."

Princess Yi'an was immediately delighted. After seeing the effects of these two new items, she immediately became interested in the beauty salon: "Your Highness, do you want to sell these items in the beauty salon?"

Liu Tan thought for a moment and said, "It's not just about selling these products; it's a combination package. Simply put, there are two approaches. The first is that the salon is responsible for providing skincare and makeup for the customer, ensuring that the cosmetics used are only the best. Payment can be based on the number of times, or on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. The second is that the customer purchases this skincare and makeup package at the salon, but they can't take it away. It can only be used by the salon's professional makeup artists to perform the skincare and makeup."

Zhao Pingjun asked in confusion, "What's the difference between these two?"

Liu Tan said: "Of course there are big differences. The first one charges according to the number of times or time, and the cosmetics used are customized according to the desired makeup look, and there is a chance to use new products. The second one uses the same set of cosmetics that he bought no matter what kind of makeup he wants. If the customized makeup uses new products, he either has to change the makeup look or pay more."

Princess Yi'an also understood his idea at this time. She couldn't help but glance at Liu Tan and said, "No wonder everyone says that Your Highness is Qian Tong's reincarnation. There really is a way. However... if you don't let them take the cosmetics they bought, I'm afraid they will be unhappy."

It is obvious that Liu Tan's beauty salon is aimed at wealthy ladies. Of course, there may be affordable beauty salons in the future, but no matter how affordable they are, they will not be affordable for ordinary people.

Ladies have bad tempers and distinct personalities, so they may not accept this approach.

Liu Tan said indifferently, "If you're not happy, you don't have to come."

Anyway, he has unique eye shadows and eyeliners, and he does this to prevent others from taking them away for analysis.

Princess Yi'an was somewhat helpless: "It's good that you know what's going on."

Liu Tan also knew that Princess Yi'an meant well, so he simply said, "In that case, let's add one more thing. If you spend a certain amount of money at the beauty salon, you will be eligible to purchase a limited edition beauty and skincare set."

Princess Yi'an was slightly stunned: "Unlock... qualifications?"

Liu Tan nodded. The consumption amount cannot be low, and the price of the limited edition itself will not be low. So even if someone wants to analyze the ingredients, it depends on whether they are willing to spend such a large amount of money and take the risk of offending the royal family.

Of course, if the benefits are great, some people will take the risk. However, by that time, their beauty salons will surely have established a firm foothold, just like this porcelain.

If Liu Tan hadn't had time recently, he would even have wanted to work on a patent bill.

It's a pity that patents are a whole system that requires a lot of energy and material resources to support. Now... the Han Dynasty's treasury is not that full, and it is meaningless to customize patent laws only for our own country. The best thing is to have more frequent exchanges with neighboring countries in the future, customize them together, and use the Han Dynasty's patents as the standard. Then we can make a fortune, wouldn't it be great?

This idea went around in Liu Tan's mind and was finally thrown aside.

Princess Yi'an and Liu Tan discussed the matters concerning the beauty salon. Liu Tan once again confirmed that Lord Zhaoping was a fool. He didn't understand many things and just stared at him.

After they had come up with a rough outline, all that remained was to write a detailed proposal. Princess Yi'an volunteered to go back and get one, and Liu Tan was naturally happy to have someone to help.

After the couple left, Liu Tan finally felt relieved. However, before he had even finished his cup of tea, he saw a young eunuch hurried over. Miao Rui went over to ask about it, and his expression suddenly became very strange. He turned to Liu Tan and said, "Your Highness, Lord Zhaoping and Princess Yi'an just... had a fight."

Liu Tan: ???