Chapter 41
While Cui Yunshu and Tang Pu were far away in the East China Sea, striving for a "divine ship" carrying completely different dreams, another silent war belonging to women was unfolding in the capital, this huge and intricate cage.
In this war, there is no smell of gunpowder, only the fragrance of flowers.
A strange fragrance called "Jade Complexion Cream".
It's not like the somber ambergris in the palace, nor is it as sweet as ordinary cosmetics. It's like the first ray of morning sunlight, filtering through the bamboo forest and falling on the dew-kissed orchid petals—a refreshing fragrance full of life.
"The Mirror Flower Romance," Cui Yunshu's second and more private and powerful business empire after "Yunjian Pavilion," has completely conquered the top group of women in the capital within just a few months.
Its flagship product, "Yu Rong Gao" (Jade Complexion Cream), is no longer just a simple moisturizing cream.
It is an identity.
A privilege.
A secret weapon that allows women to achieve decisive victory in the silent social battlefield.
In the back garden of the Yongning Marquis's mansion, the afternoon sun shone lazily, and the fragrance of osmanthus was carried by the wind.
Several noblewomen sat together, seemingly chatting idly, but in reality, they were engaged in a silent battle, their eyes darting around without making a sound.
Today, Madam Li acquired a new South China Sea pearl hairpin, and Madam Wang wore a pair of exquisite imperial green earrings.
But when Madam Sun, the wife of the Minister of Personnel, received the pure white jade box carved with lotus patterns from her maid, all the glitter and jewels instantly paled in comparison.
"Sister Sun, you actually...you actually managed to snag this month's 'Jade Complexion Cream'?" Madam Li's smile froze for a moment.
Madam Sun gently scooped up a small amount of the ointment with a tiny silver spoon. The ointment was as white as snow and as smooth as cream, gleaming softly in the sunlight.
"It's not stealing," she said casually, spreading the small amount of ointment evenly on the back of her hand, feeling the refreshing coolness and the wonderful sensation of her skin instantly becoming moisturized and firm. "It's just that girl Yunxi saw that my skin was dry the other day and specially took a box from the palace."
Yunxi.
Crown Princess, Cui Yunxi.
Everyone present knew perfectly well what was going on. This wasn't the Crown Princess showing her affection; it was clearly the Cui family using this method to divide into factions and consolidate their power.
They were all kept out of the circle.
Jealousy, like tiny ants, gnawed at their hearts.
The remarkable whitening and moisturizing effects of "Jade Complexion Cream" have become an open secret among the wealthy women of Beijing. Anyone who uses it has skin so supple it looks like it could be squeezed for water, and appears to look five years younger.
More importantly, possessing it means you are one step closer to the core of power.
The seemingly peaceful tea party was decided the moment Madam Sun took out the box of "Jade Complexion Cream".
Storms always brew their most ferocious killing intent in the calmest of times.
...
The first scream came from the backyard of the Duke of Chengen's mansion.
That sound didn't seem like something a human could make.
Sharp, piercing, filled with extreme fear and despair, like a rusty knife slicing through the tranquility of the morning.
Zhao Wan'er, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Cheng'en's mansion, has gone mad.
She smashed everything in the room that could reflect a person's image—the bronze mirror, the basin, even the slightest reflection in the teacup—all of which drove her to hysteria.
"My face! My face!!"
Her maids knelt on the ground, trembling, not daring to lift their heads.
They saw it.
They saw that the young lady's face, which was once as beautiful as a flower and even more fair and delicate because of the "Jade Complexion Cream," was now covered with large patches of ugly red rashes. On the rashes, tiny pustules had even emerged, slightly oozing a yellowish liquid.
That's not an allergy.
That's... ulceration.
one.
two.
Three.
Like a silent plague, it quickly spread within a single day among the elite socialites of Beijing.
The wife of the Vice Minister of War suddenly felt an unbearable itch on her cheek at the flower-viewing banquet. She couldn't help but rub it with her handkerchief, and as a result, she rubbed off a thin layer of skin with blood streaks.
The daughter of the Imperial Censor woke up to find that her once flawless skin was now covered with horrifying red spots, as if it had been gnawed by poisonous insects.
All people who develop symptoms have one thing in common.
They are all the most loyal fans of "Yu Rong Gao" (a type of cosmetic cream).
Panic spread like wildfire, becoming uncontrollable.
The white jade box, once treasured by them, has now become the most deadly poison, and is being thrown away in a corner in terror.
The once crisp, orchid-like fragrance now smells like a rotting corpse.
"The Jade Face Cream from 'Flowers in the Mirror' is highly poisonous!"
"It's the Cui family! The Cui family will stop at nothing to make money, even using poison to harm people!"
"Heartless merchants! Murder for profit!!"
Rumors spread faster than any urgent military report.
The once bustling "Jinghuayuan" shop, where customers were hard to come by, became deserted overnight. In its place came angry, crying families of victims demanding answers, and government officials who, having caught wind of the situation, sealed off the shop.
The once-glorious beauty empire built by Cui Yunshu collapsed in just three days.
From a business legend to a pariah, he became a pariah, a rat crossing the street.
...
The Second Prince's Residence.
The study was filled with an extremely sweet and cloying fragrance of acacia wood, so sweet it was suffocating.
The Second Prince's Consort, Wei Shuyu, was slowly and methodically using a small pair of gold scissors to trim a sprig of white plum blossom that was placed in a Ru kiln vase.
Her movements were elegant and composed.
A faint, gentle smile graced her face.
A eunuch dressed in black appeared silently behind her, reporting the commotion outside in a low voice.
"...The young lady of the Chengen Duke's Mansion has consulted all the famous doctors in the capital, but they are all helpless."
"...All of 'Jing Hua Yuan's' shops in the capital have been sealed off by the Dali Temple."
"...In front of the Cui residence, hundreds of victims' relatives gathered, crying and demanding that the Cui family pay with their lives. The Crown Princess sent people to appease them, and they almost overturned the carriage."
As Wei Shuyu listened, the smile on her lips deepened.
She cut off the last plum blossom that was in full bloom and casually tossed it aside.
She doesn't like things that are too showy.
Because that often foreshadows the approaching end.
For example, Cui Yunshu.
For example, her seemingly glamorous business empire.
"Was the matter handled cleanly?" She didn't turn around, but asked calmly.
"Your Highness, it's extremely clean." The eunuch's voice was like a boneless snake. "The clerk we bribed was a gambling addict. He took the money and died that very night in a fight at the gambling den. Our men examined the body and found no trace of it."
"Um."
Wei Shuyu nodded in satisfaction.
She recalled that a few days ago, her husband, who had suffered repeated defeats in business and was overshadowed by the Crown Prince in court, showed a dejected expression for the first time in front of her.
At that moment, the hatred in her heart, and a long-suppressed ambition to prove herself, ignited simultaneously.
She hated Cui Yunshu.
She had never even met that woman.
But she hated everything about her. She hated that her "Cloud Pavilion" had stolen everyone's attention, and she hated that her "Mirror Flower Fate" had driven her family's already precarious cosmetics business to the brink of collapse.
She hated her even more; she was the Crown Princess's sister, the sharpest and most profitable weapon in the Crown Prince's faction.
So, she wanted to destroy her.
Not to kill her.
It is to use what she is most proud of to completely destroy her.
Using beauty to create ugliness.
Use hope to create despair.
She sent people to find a rare, colorless, and odorless poisonous herb from her family's fiefdom. This herb could react with a certain fragrance in the "Jade Complexion Cream" and slowly corrode the skin.
Instead of casting a wide net, she precisely targeted only those few boxes of "Jade Complexion Cream" destined for the most influential or rival noblewomen of the Cui family, and tampered with them.
This was a perfect, precise, and deadly murder.
A murder aimed at defamation.
"Well done," she said softly, placing the golden scissors aside. "Go to the accounting office and get a thousand taels of silver to reward the staff."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The eunuch quietly withdrew.
She was alone in the study again.
She walked to the window and looked in the direction of the Cui residence in the distance, as if she could hear the cries and curses from there.
Finally, an undisguised, smug, and cold smile appeared on her face.
Cui Yunshu.
Are you back?
Come back and see how everything you built with your own hands has turned to ashes before your very eyes.
...
Cui Yunshu is back.
When her carriage was blocked by an angry crowd two streets away from the Cui residence, she knew something was wrong.
Something terrible has happened.
She returned from the East China Sea, still carrying the scent of that vast ocean in her heart, and the sense of control over the future brought about by Master Lu's almost fanatical fervor.
But when she opened the car door and saw the hellish scene before her, all her sense of control shattered instantly.
The shop was sealed off by the government.
The family members, their eyes bloodshot, blocked the entrance and screamed at the top of their lungs, "Heartless merchants, give me back my daughter's life!"
The air was filled with a sour, putrid smell, a mixture of despair and anger.
She saw her haggard mother, Song, in the crowd.
She saw her elder brother, Cui Yuanjue, standing beside their mother, his face ashen, yet helpless.
She saw the once glorious business myth she had built up, now like a magnificent rag doll torn to shreds, trampled underfoot and covered in mud.
For a moment, her mind went blank.
A huge, absurd, suffocating sense of exhaustion swept over her.
It's always like this.
It's happening again!
Why is it that every time she solves a problem, an even bigger and more insidious trouble awaits her?
All she wanted was to make some money, build a ship, and escape this damn world!
Why is it so difficult!
She gripped the carriage shaft, her knuckles turning white from the force.
Then, she saw a familiar figure.
The wife of the Vice Minister of War, the woman who once mocked Madam Sun at a tea party because there was no "Jade Complexion Cream".
At this moment, she covered her face with a thick veil, revealing only a pair of bloodshot and resentful eyes, staring intently at the gate of the Cui residence.
Cui Yunshu's gaze met hers for a fleeting moment in the air.
That instant.
In Cui Yunshu's mind, which was a jumbled mess of anger and exhaustion, something seemed to be suddenly cleaved open by a bolt of lightning.
Her modern, logically trained brain began to work frantically.
Precise.
That's incredibly accurate.
Why are those who get into trouble always these kinds of people... those who are either close to the Cui family, those who are at odds with them, or those who have a great deal of influence over them?
This was not an accident.
This was not an indiscriminate accident.
This was a... meticulously planned, targeted elimination.
Cui Yunshu slowly straightened up.
In her eyes, which looked somewhat tired from days of travel, all emotions vanished in an instant.
Instead, there is an extreme coldness, an absolute calmness that seems to freeze one's soul.
The corners of her mouth even curled up in a very faint, almost invisible, cold arc.
very good.
She thought.
You've finally stopped using those underhanded business tactics.
You've finally started... risking your lives.
So, the game is only just beginning.
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