Shang Shaoyan paused for a moment, then sighed softly: "He will return to Northern Zhou sooner or later. Our spies in Northern Zhou have already sent back news that the struggle for the throne there has come to an end, and the Third Prince Qiao Yu will soon be made crown prince. Once his position is secure, he will eventually bring Qiao Zhuo back."
As she spoke, she pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's a good thing that no one will bother me like this anymore."
Cheng Chu replied, "Your Highness, I have overstepped my bounds—I see that the Seventh Prince is truly innocent and pure, and Your Highness doesn't seem entirely indifferent to him either, you..."
Shang Shaoyan was in a good mood at the moment and was willing to talk more about his relationship with Cheng Chu, who was considered a retainer: "The day I left Shengjing, he chased after me to the city gate to see me off. I told him then that I should give him three years. If everything settled down after three years, I would be with him. But what we were going to do was no different from putting our heads on the line. It was a life-or-death matter. How could I delay him? Saying it was a three-year agreement was just to coax him."
She paused, then smiled with a hint of regret: "He is a prince of Northern Zhou, and I am a county princess of Southern Chen. Northern Zhou is eyeing Southern Chen covetously, so our positions are naturally opposed. If I were fortunate enough to ascend to the heavens, unifying the North and South would surely be part of my plan. How would he then position himself?"
Cheng Chu asked, "Isn't there a way to have the best of both worlds?"
Shang Shaoyan stood up, turned to look out the window, her back to Cheng Chu. Sunlight caressed her cheeks. Cheng Chu looked up and saw the girl's slender back revealing an inexplicable loneliness.
Then he heard the ambitious woman laugh and sigh: "Since ancient times, emperors have often referred to themselves as 'I, the lonely one' or 'the widowed one.' What will you say?"
To sit in that position, to ascend to the throne of the supreme ruler, one must give up far more than just personal feelings.
Cheng Chu remained silent.
...
Southern Chen Dynasty, Shengjing.
Recently, everyone in Beijing knows that Mr. Qian's perfume shop has launched a floral scented soap that leaves a fragrance on the body. The soap looks beautiful too, a semi-transparent smoky pink with a whole double-petaled rose, or peony or peony petals inside. There is also a semi-transparent jade white floral scented soap with pine branches, bamboo leaves or tea leaves inside.
The smoky pink floral soap left a rich fragrance, suitable for ladies; the jade white floral soap had a delicate and cool scent, suitable for gentlemen. Both types of floral soaps were immediately loved by all the nobles of Shengjing upon their release.
After listening to Shang Yunlan's words, Boss Qian set the price of each flower-scented soap high at five taels of silver, and only four were available each day on a first-come, first-served basis. If someone wanted one later, it was not impossible; as long as they bought fifty taels of silver worth of goods at the incense shop, they could buy one.
For a time, the powerful and wealthy in Shengjing considered it an honor to own a bar of floral-scented soap.
Naturally, some people were jealous and dissatisfied, but after making inquiries, they discovered that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was standing behind Boss Qian, and their petty thoughts vanished.
Boss Qian can only take 30% of the profits, but this is already an extremely considerable amount. Just this 30% profit is still more than 10,000 taels, and Shang Yunlan will probably get tens of thousands of taels.
That day, Boss Qian came to Shang Yunlan with a cheerful smile: "My lord, I have made that perfume and fragrance as you instructed. When shall we start selling it?"
Shang Yunlan was playing chess with himself. He slowly placed a white piece and said unhurriedly, "What's the rush? Once their obsession with the floral soaps has worn off, we'll launch the fragrance. The fragrance will last longer and be more intense. And we won't sell it individually; we'll make it into a gift box, with two floral soaps and a bottle of fragrance in each box. We'll pack it in a beautifully carved wooden box, decorated with a light white ribbon, and add some real flower petals inside. The price... for good luck, let's set it at sixty-six taels of silver per box. Of course, we'll limit it to ten boxes per month."
Boss Qian: "..."
To be honest, this Duke Zhenguo is a real business whiz.
Shang Yunlan thought for a moment and then said, "We can also introduce a points system. For every tael of silver spent in the incense shop, one point will be earned; reaching one hundred points will earn a free bar of floral soap, and reaching five hundred points will earn a free bottle of fragrance. If one reaches one thousand points, a 5% discount will be given, and for every additional one hundred points thereafter, an additional 0.5% discount will be given. Not to mention we have many other good things to offer, so Boss Qian doesn't need to worry."
Boss Qian: "..."
He was completely dumbfounded.
But he gradually figured out from Shang Yunlan's words—the Duke of Zhenguo's methods were really good! Although they might seem like unscrupulous merchants, this way there was no need to worry about sales at all!
The cost of floral soap is no more than half a tael of silver; the cost of fragrance is no more than five taels of silver per bottle.
A beautifully carved wooden box costs at most one or two taels of silver, while the cost of ribbons and petals is almost zero, so it's worth half a tael.
The cost of this gift box is at most seven taels of silver, but the Duke directly priced it at sixty-six taels...
The Duke is truly kind-hearted; he robs people of their money and even gives them a gift box.
He left the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion with a series of exclamations of admiration.
After he left, Li Langxuan came to visit Shang Yunlan, bringing several bars of floral-scented soap, hoping to entrust Shang Yunlan to send them to Yan Xuening.
He always kept to himself and rarely went out, so he didn't know that Shang Yunlan was behind the incense shop: "These few pieces were hard-won. A-Ning likes exquisite things, she will be very happy to receive them."
Shang Yunlan frowned: "No need, she has a whole box of these things. I gave her all the defective products I made before. If you like them, I'll have someone send you a box, just don't take them out and tell people that I sent them to you."
Li Langxuan: "...?"
He stood frozen in shock: "You're the swindler?!"
Shang Yunlan was displeased: "How can you talk like that?"
Li Langxuan snapped out of his daze and smiled, "Sorry, I accidentally blurted out what was on my mind."
He paused, then asked, "Does His Majesty have any objections?"
Shang Yunlan was very straightforward: "What's the big deal? I handed over four-fifths of the money I received to His Majesty, and His Majesty was very pleased."
Actually, that's not the case.
Shang Yunlan falsified accounts (this is not something to be encouraged; everyone should not break the law), and in reality, she only handed over one-tenth of her income. However, that amount was still quite considerable, and Emperor Chen was indeed very pleased. He then turned his attention to the project of building the Langyu Tower for Consort Zhao.
Li Langxuan naturally knew what Emperor Chen had done with the money, and immediately felt somewhat uneasy. After all, Consort Zhao was his elder sister, and she was indeed no different from the wicked concubines recorded in history books.
Shang Yunlan saw what Li Langxuan was thinking and chuckled, “This is not entirely related to your sister. It is wrong to attribute a man’s mistake to a woman. Think about it, if His Majesty wanted to use this money to do something practical, no matter how much the Imperial Concubine pleaded, he would not agree. This may sound disrespectful, but I do not want to see you blaming your sister. She loves you very much, just as I love Heyang.”
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