Chapter 64

5.8 – He was probably about to be inextricably intertwined with this person

A few days ago, a small, exquisitely decorated shop appeared in the Capital. It wasn’t very well frequented, but most of the clientele were noble ladies.

They gave the store’s products a very positive review, and were willing to spend a lot of money. Even the shop attendant’s hand was tired from all the collecting.

The Capital was a place that could not be understood through common sense; business here had its own set of rules. No matter how high the status of one’s backer was, one’s master’s name could not be brought up when one was outside. It was one thing for it to be known behind the scenes, but there were some things that could not be shown on the surface.

Although this dynasty did not regard businessmen as the lowest caste, the rule that members of the royal family could not be involved in business absolutely had to be obeyed. The Emperor could keep one eye closed while the other remained open and pretend not to notice, but one definitely could not attract fame and be caught by others, otherwise the Emperor would definitely not easily let it go.

It was the same for everyone.

Many people knew that the backer behind this shop was Gongqin Prince’s Palace, because Princess Mingyue, whose personality changed so much recently, was often seen coming in and out of the shop. But having such an identity did not mean that she had the ability to hold onto the things that belonged to her.

Only orphans and widows were left in the Gongqin Prince’s Palace, and in a place like the Capital where one could encounter a noble personage every three steps along a road, they carried no weight at all. People whose backing was stronger than theirs could be found everywhere, so when they saw that their business was doing well, many others also came up with the idea of opening a store to do the same business.

The shop was called Mingyue Pavillion, and it sold rouge powder and other similar products. It was only because the products’ effects were very good that the noblewomen in the Capital all liked to make purchases there, which led to many people coveting their recipes.

After beating back several waves of people both in the open and in the dark, Wenren Yingyue felt that going on like this was impossible. She would never be able to hold onto the store by herself, and finally could only give up a portion of the earnings and find a partner.

Wenren Yingyue picked and chose from several options as the situation in the Capital was complex nowadays, before finally deciding to embrace His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s golden thigh.

The Prince had too many people and needed a lot of money. He had always dabbled in business; as long as it could make money, he would most likely be involved. This was not a secret in the Capital, but because he did not go too overboard, nobody actively went against His Highness the Prince.

Wenren Yingyue straightforwardly found a shop that was run by the Prince, looked for the manager, and put forward a proposal for cooperation.

Everything went smoothly after that. In a sense, she and the Crown Prince were cousins, and she even called him ‘royal cousin’. Although the Prince did not appear in person to handle this affair, according to the plot, he would not be surprised at the change in this royal cousin of his until he learned that Wenren Yingyue had made him a lot of money. He would then start looking out for her, and his feelings would develop from there.

After experimenting with Wenren Yingyue’s products, the shopkeeper felt that the business opportunities were bigger than he had imagined as women were always willing to spend money on these kinds of things in any era. So, they invested a lot of money in order to increase the output of the products.

Wenren Yingyue was sitting at home waiting for a lot of money to come her way when the maid brought over a box of things.

“Princess, this is from the palace. They said it was a gift from the Empress, and every Palace was sent some. This maidservant has taken a look – there is rouge powder inside.” The maid held up a small box. It was very small, and beautifully decorated, but Wenren Yingyue was not interested in it at all.

“I see. Put it away.”

Wenren Yingyue did not plan to make use of it even though it was gifted from the Empress. Although it might be considered a token of privilege to people from ancient times, she was not confident that there was anything contained within that might be harmful to her. Her rouge powder came from her own hands, and had never been touched by another. For a vigilant assassin like her, this was the right choice.

But it was also because of this choice that she missed the only means with which to save herself.

When he had the final product, Xue Ling had brought it into the palace and gifted it to the Empress as well as all kinds of young ladies. They had all praised it after giving it a try, and even the Emperor complimented him, saying that with such talent, she was really deserving of her beautiful face.

Her Royal Highness, who normally did not wear makeup at all, laughed very shyly, making those who saw her feel all kinds of tender affection. Even the Emperor was coaxed into laughing heartily, and when he heard that she researched these things in order to add some extra income for the General’s Manor so that the General could have more than a few sets of clothing every year, he even joked that he had married her off to benefit others.

Perhaps because it was a casual joke from a woman, the Emperor did not pay any special attention to it. He waved his hand and permitted Xue Ling to do some small business. The next day, he even rebuked Zhan Shaoxi during morning court for being unable to coax his wife, causing her to worry about the household’s livelihood.

This caused rare laughter to sound out in the hall, and Zhan Shaoxi also had a trace of laughter on his face. A few people to the side who already had wives felt somewhat blinded by this display of love.

General Zhan had never shown this kind of expression before. It really was different when one had a wife.

The Emperor was gratified that this marriage that he had arranged was proceeding well; it seemed that the sentiments between the two were pretty good.

As for the nonsense about the General never entering his wife’s room that was circulating in the marketplace of the Capital, well, everyone who attended morning court disdained this gossip. If they could still say that their feelings for each other was not good after seeing Zhan Shaoxi’s foolish way of showing affection, then they could only be praised for being blind.

After Xue Ling carefully spent some effort to increase awareness of his products to the group of Princesses and Imperial Concubines, people who tried his products turned into fans and showed up at the door one after another, hoping to meet with the Royal Princess and ask for more.

Xue Ling used this to spread word that he intended to open a shop, and that he had imperial approval to do so. Many people began to look forward to it.

The people who originally used Wenren Yueying’s products, but later received Xue Ling’s, all compared the two and discovered that Xue Ling’s products had a better effect. They naturally switched over. One had to understand that within the circle of noblewomen in the Capital, if any one of their cosmetics lagged behind other people’s, then that would mean that they themselves were also one level behind, and they would no longer be able to raise their heads in front of their peers when they admired flowers and compared poetry together.

Once several Princesses from the royal family began to use the products, the ladies who were close to them would naturally also learn of them. One person told ten, who then spread it to a hundred, and when Xue Ling’s shop opened, business boomed and absolutely no one could match up to it.

In addition to the rouge powder and cosmetics, Xue Ling also sold some fabrics for clothing that were provided by the Imperial Palace. It was an opportunity that he and the Empress obtained after much coaxing and pestering, using the excuse of helping the back palace earn some revenue when they pleaded with the Emperor in order to get his approval, and finally taking quite a few things from the Imperial Palace storage.

They wrapped it up with pretty words, saying that she was helping her brother the Emperor to save money for the Imperial Treasury.

The Emperor had always loved her, and as it was rare for her to take the initiative to do anything, he had no intention of denying her. In fact, it was because of her actions that he also began to have the idea of selling some things in order to fill the treasury.

One must know that just maintaining the back palace costed a lot, and sometimes even an Emperor would worry about these things.

Good things were stored in the storehouse, but if nobody wanted them, they would just be left there to be looked at. The idea of taking them out to resell sounded great, and the key point was that it could all be passed off as the Royal Princess amusing herself, and would not be criticized by the previous generation’s ministers.

At most, he would only need to scold Zhan Shaoxi a couple more times and it would be fine.

Because they had the backing of the Emperor as well as the General’s Manor, business in this shop was very good. Nobody dared to covet their business or question anything.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince blew a fuse, furiously flipping over a table and smashing the cups all over the ground. He angrily said, “You said that it would definitely make a profit, but now we have lost it all. We produced these products but nobody is buying! What are you going to do?!”

The shopkeeper knelt on the ground with his head down, not daring to speak at all.

Bai Changyan stood to one side. He took a step forward and spoke, “Your Highness, right now the General’s Manor’s products are only being sold in the Capital. Although there is no market for our things in in the Capital, they can be taken to other cities to be sold. We can still recover our losses.”

The Prince stopped his actions upon hearing his words. His expression was ugly as he said, “Ha, Wenren Yingyue almost harmed me to death this time. If this investment can’t be recovered in a timely manner and ruins my grand plan, I will probably have to disrespect my Imperial Uncle’s spirit in Heaven and make a move against that mother and daughter pair.”

Bai Changyan was the son of the current Prime Minister Bai and the second man in the book. Originally, he was hooked by the heroine when he was sent over by the Prince, and from then on he began to take the path of silent guardianship over the Princess. But now, Xue Ling had stirred things up with the hand that he played, and his first impression of Wenren Yingyue was somewhat negative.

“Fine.” The Prince nodded and said, “I’ll leave this matter to you. Don’t let us miss out on this business.”

“Yes.” Bai Changyan looked down and said, “We still need to have a clear discussion with the Royal Princess’ side. Although we are not opposing them on the surface, we can still be considered an invisible opponent. It is not worth offending the General’s Mansion and the Royal Princess over a person like Wenren Yingyue.”

“Royal Aunt’s side… I will speak with Zhan Shaoxi after morning court. You should go and look for people from the store and tell them that we have no intention of competing. We must not make them get suspicious of us. There are some places where we can still cooperate in the future, and we must ensure that problems will not arise.”

“Good. I’ll go there myself.”

Xue Ling had been monitoring them through the system, and when he heard their arrangements, he rolled around the bed laughing before asking for a youth to be called over.

In the past, this youth had always been responsible for carrying out his orders, but today, Xue Ling hypnotized him to change into women’s clothes and arranged for him to replace Xue Ling in his rooms. Xue Ling changed into menswear, and with the help of the system, straightforwardly left the Manor and made his way to the store.

The shopkeeper knew Xue Ling, and Xue Ling also did not plan to hide his own identity. Upon seeing him, the shopkeeper greeted him in a panic and somewhat disapprovingly frowned as he asked, “Why did the Royal Princess come in person?”

“Later, a distinguished guest will arrive, and I want to talk to him about some business matters.” Xue Ling smiled wide and knocked on the table. “When someone arrives in a while and asks to see the person in charge, you can just bring him in to meet me.”

All the staff in the shop had been hypnotized by Xue Ling, and would not say a word even if he did something even more strange. After agreeing, they turned around and went out.

Xue Ling was dressed in men’s clothing, but because he was still young and had not reached adulthood, he only used a hair band to tie up his long hair. Although it was still the same face, after he had changed into men’s clothing, his body’s original temperament became more prominent and it was completely impossible to see any hint of femininity. If one had to praise him, one could only say that he was like a jade tree facing the wind, handsome and elegant.

It was fortunate that Her Highness the Royal Princess had had very few opportunities to show her face. She has been raised in deep in the back palace and stayed there all year round, so many people have never seen her, which helped facilitate Xue Ling’s activities while dressed as a man.

Bai Changyan came for a visit shortly after Xue Ling arrived.

He handed over his identity token, and the manager acted according to Xue Ling’s orders and brought him inside directly.

Bai Changyan had looked into the operator of this store before he came over. It was a young man, and it was unknown how he had gotten lucky enough to be noticed by the Royal Princess and sent here to run the business. He originally thought it would be easy to discuss things with this person, but when he entered the room and saw him in person, he immediately overturned his initial idea.

An elegant and graceful youth with an extraordinary appearance was carrying a teapot, pouring the water contained within into a potted plant. When Bai Changyan entered, the youth turned and looked sideways at him.

Just one glance was enough to throw Bai Changyan’s thoughts into disorder.

When he was a teenager, Bai Changyan was definitely considered elegant and graceful. Because he had both looks and talent, he was ranked first amongst the gongzi of the Capital. The two words ‘handsome’ and ‘elegant’ seemed to have been created just for him. His every move, every word, and every deed was the perfect reflection of what a young gentleman should be; both elegant and tranquil.

At that time, his appearance could be considered at the peak of the Capital, but compared with the youth in front of him now, Bai Changyan suddenly felt a little ashamed of himself.

Both of them were dressed in white, but the young man wore his clothing more gracefully than he did, even just a simple turn of his head was executed perfectly and could not be criticized.

Just looking at him made him feel a little foolish. Bai Changyan suddenly had a strange premonition that his life was probably about to be inextricably intertwined with this person’s.

“It seems that I guessed correctly.” Xue Ling put down the teapot in his hand and smiled. “This should be the Bai gongzi of the Bai Prime Minister’s Manor, Bai Changyan, right?”

Bai Changyan suddenly regathered his wits and felt that his thoughts just now had been rather funny.

He did not come here today in order to stare at people in a daze.

editors: alamerysl & BlueBug

Chinese New Year is tomorrow~ i’ve been busy at my parents’ place helping to get ready for it, which is why there weren’t any double posts this weekend & i haven’t had much chance to look at the comments. we’re still on track for daily updates, but anything more than that will probably have to wait till next week. Happy New Year!