After more than a month of intensive preparations, Yihua's tavern is finally ready and waiting for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
It only took Ninth Princess Consort a month to go from being indifferent at first to thinking about it all the time.
Only by personally working to build a small shop from scratch can one truly cherish it.
Shops are like that, and so are people.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, there's still one very important thing we haven't done yet." Ninth Princess Consort suddenly remembered something and excitedly said to Yihua.
"What is it?" Yi Hua just wanted to lounge around like Ge You at that moment. If she wasn't afraid of startling the people around her, she would have already lay down.
“A name? The shop doesn’t have a name yet.” Ninth Princess perked up. “The name has to be easy to pronounce, have a nice rhythm and a story behind it, and be unforgettable.”
"Fourth Sister-in-law, how about calling her Du Kangyuan?"
Yi Hua gave a forced smile. She looked at the teacup on the table, and suddenly a long-forgotten name came to mind. She blurted out, "Let's call it Tea Beauty."
"What is that?" Ninth Princess Consort looked bewildered.
Yi Hua dipped her finger in tea and gently wrote the four large characters on the table. The Ninth Princess Consort studied them for a moment before she understood: "This won't do. We're selling wine, not tea. This is just putting up a false front."
“I think this is a good idea. If we just say it’s wine, noble ladies won’t try it easily for the sake of their reputation. We’re going in a roundabout way, and it sounds better.” Yi Hua thought about it more and more and found it interesting that she could run Cha Yan Yue Se in the Qing Dynasty.
Ninth Princess Consort was skeptical, but Yi Hua had always been in charge of opening the shop. Although she had also put in a lot of effort, she still listened to Yi Hua in making decisions.
"Why don't we consult Master Minghui for a reading?" Ninth Princess suggested.
"Master Minghui?" Yihua was unfamiliar with this name.
"She's a very skilled Taoist nun, and she's been quite popular in the capital lately. It's said that she prescribed medicine for the wife of the Vice Minister of Revenue, and the woman became pregnant in just two months. Her medical skills and personality are both remarkable. She can predict a person's short-term future and guide people in the right direction. Why don't we look for her too?" Ninth Princess Consort clearly believed in fortune telling.
Yi Hua was disgusted by this and shook her head in refusal: "This Taoist nun may have real skills, but she is most likely a charlatan. Fourth Sister-in-law, I advise you not to offer yourself up to be a fat sheep."
"A fat sheep?"
"It's just getting ripped off," Yi Hua said bluntly. She didn't want to see her business partner being completely manipulated by a Taoist nun one day. Besides, the Ninth Prince and Yinzhen were getting closer and closer, so she also appropriately became closer to the Ninth Prince's wife.
Upon hearing this, Ninth Princess laughed and said, "Fourth Sister-in-law is always so witty. I'll listen to you."
"And these first batches of wines should also have unique names," said Ninth Princess Consort, pointing to the ten samples that had been decided on on the table.
“That’s easy.” Yi Hua thought of her wallet, which had been controlled by bubble tea shops in her previous life, and felt that even ten of them might not be enough to go around.
"Orchid, Sheng Sheng, Osmanthus, Peach Blossom, Agarwood..." Yi Hua wrote ten names in one go, as if guided by a divine hand.
The Ninth Prince's wife found it interesting and compared the names with the ingredients or stories associated with the drinks, thus being able to identify the drinks corresponding to the names.
"When does Fourth Sister-in-law plan to open her business?"
"The Empress Dowager's flower-viewing banquet is in a few days. Our first guests will be the Empress Dowager and the principal ladies of the various palaces. If they say a good word about us, we'll immediately have a celebrity effect. Then we can open our shop and sell limited quantities every day, targeting the high-end market." Yi Hua counted on her fingers. "Once our reputation is fully established, we can then sell at different prices so that ordinary people can also enjoy our wine."
"Okay, I'll do whatever Fourth Sister-in-law says."
******
The Empress Dowager was a very quiet person. She lived deep in the palace for a long time, and there were no people from the court or the harem who served her. Therefore, she lived like a transparent person.
This old lady's only purpose in life is to live well and fulfill the tasks assigned to her by Emperor Kangxi, just like now.
Emperor Kangxi wanted to give his new crown princess a respectable occasion, so the Empress Dowager took the opportunity to prepare a flower-viewing banquet.
When the time comes, if you push Tong Guining forward in front of the families of important officials and imperial relatives, everyone will know Kangxi's attitude.
Yihua was still wearing the pear blossom hairpin that Yinzhen had given her. Yuxue had learned how to comb hair from Yuxiao, and she was the one who did Yihua's hair and makeup. Yuxiao had gone to take care of Liuliu.
Seeing that Yihua's gaze fell on the hairpin, Yuxue smiled and said, "You look really good in this, Your Highness. You have such good taste. This is unique to you. Your Highness is thinking of you."
"You don't need to say that again." Yi Hua looked away, her expression unchanged, her tone somewhat cold. "How could you possibly fathom the Master's thoughts!"
Yihua wore it from time to time, just to make Yinzhen feel that she liked it. As his wife and consort, she had to provide him with enough emotional support.
Actually, compared to this plain color, Yihua herself prefers Honghui's magnificent aesthetic. A profusion of flowers is what spring is all about, and this pear blossom hairpin is a bit too austere.
Yu Xue never expected that her flattery would backfire so badly, and immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
Yi Hua applied some lip rouge to herself: "You've got a lot of trouble coming out of your mouth. Go kneel in a shady place for half an hour and reflect on your actions. Think about how you should serve me."
It's okay if you can't figure it out, just try another one; that's the privilege of her identity.
Today, when Yihua entered the palace, she had Yuxiao accompany Liu Liu and the eldest princess the whole time, while she herself brought along the taciturn Yuling. She just didn't know what kind of personality the soon-to-be Crown Princess would have, or whether she would harbor hostility towards the Fourth Prince's residence because of what happened before.
Therefore, Yi Hua made the worst-case scenario plan. She herself was not afraid of those conspiracies and tricks, but she was afraid that the children would fall into their traps. Therefore, she gave Yu Xiao, who was more thoughtful and familiar with the palace, to the children.
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