“Sister Xuerou, this woman has so brazenly insulted us, are we just going to let her off?” Zhou Yanran asked resentfully.
In her entire life, she detested prostitutes the most. If her father hadn't taken a fancy to that singing and dancing prostitute and then made her a concubine, her mother wouldn't have lived such a humiliating life.
And this cosmetics shop actually allowed prostitutes to enter and buy things. She absolutely refused to use the same rouge and powder as those lowly wretches!
Dong Xuerou said, “Yanran, don’t be fooled by this woman’s appearance as a mere merchant’s wife; she’s actually quite formidable. We absolutely cannot act rashly. Let’s first investigate her background thoroughly before making any plans. Moreover, even if we want to teach her a lesson, we don’t have to do it ourselves.”
“Are you saying… we should go find Princess Xinyao again?” Zhou Yanran covered her mouth and laughed.
Dong Xuerou nodded approvingly, “Clever. That one, doesn’t she always flaunt that she’s the fifth princess? Let’s make good use of the fifth princess’s influence.”
“Sister Xuerou, you’re so brilliant. This way, if anything goes wrong, it won’t be our responsibility,” Zhou Yanran said with a triumphant smile.
“Of course,” a hint of coldness flashed in Dong Xuerou’s eyes.
When they were children, these scions of noble families all grew up alongside the princes and princesses of the palace.
Dong Xuerou had initially believed she and Princess Xinyao were good sisters, but Princess Xinyao had publicly declared in front of so many noble scions that she was too ugly, and her Crown Prince brother would never favor her, and that she was being delusional.
Dong Xuerou’s lifelong aspiration was to marry the Crown Prince and become Empress. She would not allow anyone to jeopardize her ambition.
After those two arrogant young ladies left, Hongfen Jiaren returned to its usual tranquility.
Bai Sheng turned around and said with a smile to all the customers, “Everyone, please continue. Feel free to purchase anything you like from our shop. If you don’t like anything, it’s still fine to just take a look!”
The customers then resumed their activities with laughter and chatter.
A Qiu said, “Master, I think those two women won’t give up so easily. We need to be more cautious in the future.”
Bai Sheng sighed slightly and nodded, “You are absolutely right. We do need to be careful. However, there are endless villains in this world. We cannot let the interference of a few bad people severely affect our own lives. We should live our lives as we normally would, and face whatever comes our way.”
“Yes, Master, you are right,” A Qiu said with a smile.
Bai Sheng saw the enchanting woman who had slapped her twenty times trembling as she tried to get up, and immediately stepped forward to help her.
The enchanting woman had lost all her dignity and felt embarrassed facing Bai Sheng, “Bai… Boss Bai, thank you just now.”
Bai Sheng said gently, “Sister, there’s no need to be so polite. Come, let me help you to a seat to rest for a while.”
Bai Sheng helped the enchanting woman to the resting area and applied a soothing ointment to her swollen red cheek.
The enchanting woman looked ashamed and lowered her head, “Boss Bai, it was my own impatience today, being easily provoked by malicious taunts. I deserved to be dealt with. However, no matter what, I must thank you for giving us women of the pleasure quarters dignity.”
Bai Sheng said solemnly, “Women already have a difficult time surviving in this era. If given a choice, I believe no one would choose to be in the pleasure quarters. Most sisters are likely forced by circumstances.”
The enchanting woman’s eyes became moist, and she held Bai Sheng’s hand, saying, “Boss Bai, my name is Li Qing. I am the manager of Chunfeng Lou on Chang Le Street. Although I, Li Qing, am just a lowly woman of the pleasure quarters, from this day forward, if Boss Bai ever needs my help, I will spare no effort.”
“Thank you, Sister Li Qing,” Bai Sheng smiled. “Sister Li Qing, it doesn't matter if others look down on us; what matters is that we respect ourselves. So, as long as we don’t care, the opinions of outsiders are simply not important.”
Li Qing nodded, “Yes, I understand.”
“Let’s go, I’ll have someone escort you back. You should stay indoors for the next few days. Those two young ladies are not to be trifled with, so be careful from now on,” Bai Sheng cautioned.
“Alright, I will. Thank you, Boss Bai,” Li Qing said, gratefully squeezing Bai Sheng’s hand.
Bai Sheng had Lu Tong drive the carriage to send Li Qing back to Chunfeng Lou.
Outside Chunfeng Lou, many flamboyant courtesans stood to solicit customers, their skin exposed and their expressions seductive.
Seeing Lu Tong turn his head away, his eyes daring not to glance at Chunfeng Lou, Li Qing playfully invited him up for a seat and a cup of tea.
“No tea, no tea,” Lu Tong waved his hands repeatedly, shaking his head. He jumped onto the carriage and fled at top speed.
Li Qing watched the carriage’s frantic retreat, laughing heartily.
Hongfen Jiaren continued to receive a steady stream of customers. In the afternoon, Eunuch Zhu arrived.
He came with a large order, saying it was a gift from Consort Mei.
It turned out that Consort Mei had known long ago that Bai Sheng wouldn’t ask her for promotional help. A few days prior, when Hongfen Jiaren distributed flyers, Consort Mei had sent palace maids to the shop to collect many flyers and then distributed them to the consorts in the harem.
Just having flyers was not enough to convince the consorts. Consort Mei then had the imperial consorts try the perfume Bai Sheng had given her.
Where had these consorts ever seen such exquisite incense? It was liquid, not only rich in fragrance but also convenient to use, and the scent lasted for days.
Because of this bottle of perfume, the consorts’ attitude towards Consort Mei did a complete 180-degree turn, and they all eagerly placed orders with her for their preferred perfumes.
Consort Mei seized the opportunity to promote the shop’s rouge, lip rouge, moisturizing cream, sanitary napkins, as well as the new styles of underwear, tightening, and aphrodisiacs designed by Bai Sheng.
In short, the shop her friend opened sold items that were all weapons for women to vie for favor. Whoever used them first gained the upper hand.
Upon hearing they were “weapons for vying for favor,” the consorts went mad and immediately placed orders for all the products.
Bai Sheng was astonished by the order, thinking it was enough to buy out her entire shop.
The tightening and aphrodisiac drugs had been sold discreetly, as the market had not yet opened. Unexpectedly, the consorts were so generous in their spending to gain the Emperor’s favor.
Alas, she wondered if the Emperor could handle it. Why had the consorts forgotten to buy some tonic for the Emperor?
Intimacy required mutual compatibility, didn't it?
No, they hadn't forgotten.
How could Consort Mei forget?
Just as Bai Sheng was lamenting, a head poked out from behind Eunuch Zhu; it was the head of a young eunuch.
The young eunuch walked up to Bai Sheng and shyly handed her a list.
Bai Sheng looked at it and was satisfied.
Now, there was mutual compatibility.
Consort Mei’s move was indeed extraordinary.
Bai Sheng decided to send a carrier pigeon to her master, urging her to speed up the refinement of the medicinal herbs, as the intimate medicines were about to be a huge seller in the capital.
Bai Sheng herself also planned to dive into the business quickly and personally refine the medicines to improve the intimacy life of the Great Xia Kingdom.
With her master’s original recipes and her own talent, the intimate medicines would be elevated once more.