Qin Ge summoned a maid.
"Qingzhu, come here and smell me. Do I have any fragrance?"
Qingzhu approached with a grin, "Young master, you never use incense, so where would you find any fragrance?"
Upon hearing this, a thoughtful look flashed across Qin Ge's eyes. He casually tapped his knee with his slender fingers and pondered for a moment before saying, "Go to the Imperial Household Department and fetch some incense."
The palace was not as free as it had been in the Prime Minister's residence. Everything the concubines ate, wore, and used, from the furnishings in the palace to every stitch, had to be inspected by the Imperial Household Department to prevent anything from being prohibited or causing harm to the Emperor's health.
Qin Ge hadn't used incense before, and the very little 'dowry' she brought from the Prime Minister's residence to the palace didn't include any incense, so she had to obtain it from the Imperial Household Department.
Fortunately, in the eyes of the palace servants, Consort Xian of Huayin Palace is deeply favored by His Majesty. As the first consort to serve the emperor, everyone in the palace tries to please her. Qingzhu easily obtains all kinds of precious incense from the Imperial Household Department.
"Besides the ambergris that only His Majesty can use, and the incense that the Empress and Imperial Concubine can use, I have brought a portion of each of the various incenses that are appropriate for a Concubine's rank," Qingzhu said.
There was one more thing Qingzhu didn't say: when she went to the Imperial Household Department to get incense, the eunuch in charge of the department treated her, a mere maid, with great courtesy, his face beaming with smiles, calling her "Miss Qingzhu" repeatedly. Upon hearing that Consort Xian wanted incense, he brought out all the precious incense in the Imperial Household Department for her to choose from.
Qingzhu didn't know why her young master suddenly wanted to use incense, and because she didn't know which kind her master liked, she couldn't help but hesitate and struggle.
As a result, the eunuch packed all the incense into a package and sent it to Huayin Palace. He also saw Qingzhu off in a rather ingratiating manner, saying that if Consort Xian ran out of incense, the Imperial Household Department would send more to Huayin Palace.
Today, Qingzhu experienced firsthand what it felt like to be treated with respect and deference, a feeling completely different from being a maidservant to the fourth young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion.
Therefore, Qingzhu couldn't help but sigh to Qin Ge, "This servant finally understands what it means when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven!"
Qin Ge, "..."
Only that foolish girl, Qingzhu, felt quite proud to compare herself to chickens and dogs.
Various kinds of incense were placed in small silver boxes and lined up on a tray. Qin Ge got up, casually opened one of the silver boxes, and picked up a bit of incense powder with her fingertips. The powder was pale yellow, dry, and finely ground. It was well preserved and had not been damp, which showed that it was indeed a precious incense used by nobles in the palace.
Then, Qin Ge gently sniffed the small pinch of powder and detected the aroma of more than a dozen raw materials ground and combined together. The fragrance was enticing, yet not overpowering or complicated; rather, it was just right.
However, the flavor was too feminine, with a girlish softness, which was not Qin Ge's style.
Although he is a bottom, he has always considered himself a top and essentially thinks he should be a dominant top. Qin Ge would not like this kind of sweet and seductive fragrance.
Finally, he selected a cool fragrance from among many spices.
It is called the Foggy Snow Pine.
As the name suggests, the fragrance smells like pine and cypress trees standing in the morning mist, their branches covered with a touch of fresh snow. It has a crisp, icy scent, reminiscent of the mysterious Tianshan Mountains, where the snow is melting slightly and the cool breeze carrying fresh snowflakes from afar...
Even though Qin Ge is not a fan of incense, he found the cool fragrance called "Misty Snow Pine" quite pleasant.
I immediately decided that this was the one.
Qin Ge kept only this fragrance, and had Qingzhu use it to scent her clothes.
During the Yongzheng era, the art of incense appreciation was popular. Noble families, even the imperial family, and even moderately wealthy merchant families all knew how to appreciate, light, and burn incense.
Back in the Prime Minister's residence, even the most prominent maids would grit their teeth and use their monthly allowance to buy two ounces of incense to scent their clothes.
Put the clothes you're going to wear into a chest and fumigate them with incense. Clothes fumigated this way will retain their fragrance for a long time.
In the past, the fourth young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion was not valued and lived a less respectable life than some of the maids. She never had the chance to enjoy expensive incense. Later, Qin Ge transmigrated into the mansion and secretly built his own power. He was no longer short of money, but he was born with a dislike for incense and showing off his refined taste.
The maidservant followed her mistress's lead. Qingzhu had a carefree personality, and it was better for her to buy food to fill her stomach than to spend two taels of silver to buy spices to scent her clothes.
Although Qingzhu didn't know why her young master had thought of using scented clothes, she would obediently do as Qin Ge said without question.
Qingzhu scented all of Qin Ge's clothes with the "Misty Snow Pine" fragrance, and surprisingly, it smelled quite nice.
Young master has excellent taste.
Moreover, this fragrance has a... well, it suits the young master's temperament very well.
As a die-hard fan of her young master, Qingzhu quickly got the job done and ran to Qin Ge to claim credit, "Master, all the clothes are fumigated!"
"...All of them?" Qin Ge's lips twitched slightly. He had only intended to scent one or two items to test the emperor.
Qingzhu, however, managed to stain all her clothes with the fumes.
However, considering that he personally selected the incense, it was within an acceptable range.
Qin Ge stood up, tossed the chess piece back from her fingertips, the jade pieces clashing together with a melodious ringing, accompanied by the man's clear voice: "Let's go, let's give it a try."
Clothes scented with the "Misty Cedar" fragrance won't have a strong aroma, but Qin Ge himself, wearing the clothes, can detect a faint, cool cedar scent.
It emanated from his collar, cuffs, and hem, and seemed to be his own body fragrance.
Smelling the faint scent of pine wood after the snow, Qin Ge suddenly thought of—
What if that question was just something the tyrant asked casually?
His elaborate mobilization made it seem as if he was... complying with the emperor's wishes and trying to please the other party.
However, since things have already come to this, and the clothes have already been completely scented with pine needles and cedar, there's no point in worrying about it anymore.
…
The headache didn't flare up until the end of the court session, when Jun Chenbi spent most of the day reviewing memorials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Only then did the feeling of needles constantly pricking his head slowly begin...
This pain was still within Jun Chenbi's tolerance range.
After all, so many years have passed.
However, he couldn't help but become more and more restless and a violent impulse rose in his heart.
The young emperor, enduring a headache, finished reviewing all the memorials. When Eunuch Xia saw his slightly pale face, he knew that His Majesty's headache had flared up again, and he quickly offered him a cup of hot tea with heartache.
He thought to himself:
Everyone says His Majesty is a tyrant, cruel and ruthless, and his fearsome reputation among the people is enough to stop children from crying at night. But who knows that even when His Majesty suffers from a headache, he still insists on finishing his state affairs every day...
well.
Eunuch Xia sighed inwardly. After serving hot tea, he first asked the young emperor if he wanted to order dinner. He was not surprised to receive a negative answer.
Then, after a moment's hesitation and careful consideration of his words, Eunuch Xia asked, "Your Majesty, would you like to summon Consort Xian to your bedchamber tonight?"
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