Su Xuerong then immediately began checking on the spice situation in various markets throughout Hangzhou.
As she had predicted, after several years of civil war, many trade routes from all over the country were blocked, and spices were extremely scarce in various places, making it difficult to produce high-quality blended incense.
But Su Xuerong wasn't in a hurry.
Those scarce, high-quality spices could be purchased at high prices on the black market, thus eliminating their competitiveness.
She needs to figure out a spice blend that is only produced locally in the south, enough to meet market demand for the next three years.
So she took Xiuchun to various morning markets and made a list of all the spices and ingredients that could be found locally.
Looking at the list of honey and various fruits, Xiuchun was extremely puzzled: "Wife, do we need these for making incense?"
Shouldn't we use expensive spices all the time?
Su Xuerong smiled and said, "Most people like to blend incense with agarwood, sandalwood, borneol, camphor, and other similar ingredients, but little do they know that to create a unique incense that suits their own taste, they need to add other auxiliary ingredients..."
Xiuchun didn't really understand either.
In her view, these sachets and incense sticks made from expensive spices are things that only rich people play with.
But her wife was willing to patiently teach her, so she happily studied and researched.
In addition to making incense balls for scholars and literati to burn, Su Xuerong also taught Xiuchun how to make incense beads.
Burning incense requires a quiet and elegant environment. People who want to be surrounded by fragrance when they go out often use a copper sachet with a small incense ball inside, which they hide in their sleeve.
However, many people find it too troublesome to carry burning sachets when going out, so they combine various spices to make fragrant beads and string them together to make bracelets or necklaces.
Su Xuerong felt that these were all too common in Hangzhou; her focus was on the special blend of incense.
It's currently summer, and lychees from the south are being continuously transported to Hangzhou. Once they're widely available, the price will drop.
She decided to first make a kind of "Four Harmonies Incense" for Lu Chongzhi, the honest and down-on-his-luck official who was ostracized by the court in her previous life.
The ingredients are very simple: lychee peels, orchids, chrysanthemums, and cypress fruits are crushed in a certain proportion and then mixed with honey.
While making this inexpensive and high-quality incense ball, Su Xuerong thought that since this Mr. Lu was never given important positions in the North in his previous life, it would be better to have Ling Qingxue find a way to bring him to the North to serve Xiao Yuan.
Thinking of Ling Qingxue, Su Xuerong felt a little melancholy.
A few days ago, Ming Shu came to deliver a message, saying that Ling Qingxue was waiting for the Princess of Fenyang in Yingtian Prefecture and escorting her back to Hangzhou, which delayed her for more than half a month. She will not be able to arrive in Hangzhou until next month.
Su Xuerong had already paid Ge Cong'an one hundred taels of silver as rent and no longer wanted to have anything to do with that person, but she still wanted to find out about the future actions of the Prince of Fenyang, so she still had to ask Ling Qingxue to step in.
Ming Shu was also a little strange that day. After learning that she had already rented a house in Xingqingfang, he looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. In the end, he left without saying anything.
Su Xuerong's incense shop has opened. The various incense displayed in the shop are not much different from those in other incense shops, but there are a few more types of incense that make the people of Hangzhou feel quite different.
Among them, "Sihexiang" is the most affordable and of the best quality. Not only does it have a fresh and elegant fragrance when burned, but it is also inexpensive and affordable for almost everyone.
So, after only half a month of operation, the residents of Zhonghefang knew about the newly opened "Su Ji Xiangpu".
Su Jingxuan was worried about his daughter, and since he came from a background in accounting, he decided to become the manager of the incense shop to prevent his daughter from showing her face in public all the time.
However, this made Zhou feel lonely staying in Mingxiu Garden with her grandson, so she also came to help out at the incense shop in Zhonghefang, leaving Li to take care of her grandson.
Su Xuerong was both amused and exasperated. She had originally intended for the elderly couple to enjoy themselves at Mingxiu Garden for a few more days, but they insisted on coming to the incense shop, so she let them have their way. She told Steward He that she had moved out of Mingxiu Garden ahead of schedule.
Steward He immediately returned the thirty taels of silver to her, saying it was the master's order.
Su Xuerong didn't stand on ceremony; after all, the family hadn't stayed for a full month, so she accepted the money.
Su Xuerong only felt at home when her whole family settled into the house in Xingqingfang.
After careful calculation, she realized that her parents and family had already passed the time when they were murdered in the capital in her previous life, and only then could she finally feel completely at ease.
The incense sold very well, so Su Xuerong hired a few more helpers.
She then carefully observed the situation in the Zhonghefang and Yangming Academy area, and selected two slightly larger houses to buy directly.
Both houses originally belonged to several nearby temples, but due to the war in recent years, many monks left the temples, leaving the once large temples vacant. In order to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, the temples divided up the extra monks' rooms for sale.
Ordinary people were unwilling to buy houses near temples, but Su Xuerong took a liking to it and easily purchased nearly ten acres of land at a low price.
"You purchased nearly ten acres of land?"
Xiao Yuan raised his eyes, his eyes narrowing.
Ming Shu said, "That day, Changji Temple finally found a customer willing to pay a price, so it was practically a sale or a giveaway."
Xiao Yuan frowned.
What is she doing buying so many temple properties?
“When I went to the incense shop that day, I casually asked Xiuchun a few questions. She said that the reason why Madam Su bought those temple properties was because of Yangming Academy, but she didn’t know the specific reason.”
The silver notes that Su Xuerong used to purchase temple property were all her own, and neither Su Jingxuan nor Zhou Shi questioned them.
"I can understand if the incense shop is located in a place frequented by scholars, but what is she doing buying so much temple property? Is she planning to build a nunnery in the future?"
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