Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 24 Inviting Wang Qingci Again

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Today is the opening day of the perfume shop at the Northern King's Palace.

After the girls from Baihualou promoted it for the past two weeks, the whole of Yancheng now knows that the perfumes made by the Wangfu are excellent.

In the morning, as soon as the perfume shop opened, the young ladies and wives of the noble families of Beijun flocked in.

In less than half an hour, all the perfumes produced by the Prince's Mansion in the past two weeks were sold out.

Lu Chen didn't go to the perfume shop; he stayed home studying a map of the world.

Now that he has decided to compete for that position, he can no longer lie around doing nothing like before.

At this moment, Mu Zixuan and Zhou Xiaoxiao returned. Seeing that they had returned so quickly, Lu Chen put down the map in his hand and asked, "My dear consort, how are the perfume sales?"

Mu Zixuan did not answer directly, but said, "Your Highness, I think the price of the perfume is still too low."

Hearing this, Lu Chen paused for a moment, then asked, "Why do you think that?"

Mu Zixuan replied, "Our royal palace only produced less than two thousand bottles of perfume in half a month, and they were all sold out in less than half an hour."

Lu Chen said in surprise, "So fast?"

Lu Chen wasn't stupid. The price he set for the perfume at one tael of silver per bottle was actually based on the economic situation of Beijun.

After all, Beijun was so poor that there weren't many wealthy families who could afford perfume. But Mu Zixuan told him that all the perfumes were sold out in less than half an hour.

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoxiao said from the side, "Your Highness, there are also many people from other places who come to buy perfume, especially merchants from other places. They are very interested in perfume and buy dozens of bottles at a time."

Lu Chen instantly understood the reason. It seemed that the perfumes in the Prince's mansion had caught the eye of those merchants, which was why they were selling so quickly.

Those merchants most likely didn't buy perfume for their own use, but rather to resell it elsewhere, such as in wealthy places like the capital.

Lu Chen pondered for a moment and realized that he couldn't be so narrow-minded.

In the future, he will need to maintain an army, which will require a lot of money. His economic and trade activities certainly cannot be limited to the Northern Commandery.

The people of Beijun didn't have much money in their pockets, so it was basically unrealistic to try to squeeze money out of them to support the army.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen looked at Mu Zixuan and the other two women, then asked, "My dear consort, if you were currently in the capital, still a young lady of the Mu family, and unmarried, and you heard someone in the capital selling this kind of perfume, how much silver would you be willing to spend on a bottle?"

Mu Zixuan thought for a moment, then replied, "Your Highness, if it were me, I would be willing to spend at most twenty taels of silver to buy a bottle of perfume."

Mu Zixuan represents the young ladies and wives of wealthy families in the capital. If Mu Zixuan is willing to spend twenty taels of silver to buy a bottle of perfume, then other young ladies and wives are probably the same.

Lu Chen then said, "I have decided to open another perfume shop in the capital and another in Sufeng City. From now on, the price of the perfume will be set at twenty taels of silver."

"Once the perfume production volume increases, the price will be appropriately increased based on the exquisiteness of the small porcelain bottles."

Lu Chen thought to himself that although he couldn't return to the capital, there shouldn't be any problem with his shop selling things there.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, Mu Zixuan immediately said, "Your Highness, I must inform my father about this matter."

Lu Chen has no way to return to the capital, and perfume will definitely be a highly profitable product in the future, so it's inevitable that some people will be envious. Therefore, if he wants to open a shop in the capital, he still needs someone in the capital to keep an eye on things.

Lu Chen naturally understood this principle, and he said with a smile, "Then I'll have to trouble you, my beloved consort."

At this moment, Mu Zixuan continued, "Your Highness, if you wish to open a perfume shop in Sufeng City, you will probably have to speak with Aunt Chu and have her inform the Chu family."

Sufeng City is located in Jiangnan, a city where major aristocratic families of Jiangnan gather, and also the most commercially developed place in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Of course, that place could also be considered the territory of the Jiangnan aristocratic families.

For a perfume shop to open in Sufeng City, it needs someone to oversee it, and that person must be from a prominent family. If it's not from a prominent family, it definitely won't be able to keep things under control. Without a prominent family overseeing it, the shop might be snatched away in just a few days.

Lu Chen said, "I'll talk to Aunt Chu about it later."

At this moment, Chu Yuqin was patrolling the outer courtyard and was not here, so Lu Chen was not in a hurry.

Things need to be done gradually. Opening a shop also takes time; it can't be done immediately.

At this moment, Zhou Youyou quietly approached Mu Zixuan from behind and gently nudged her, as if to hint at something.

Mu Zixuan immediately understood. She smiled and asked, "Your Highness, the perfume's current fame is largely thanks to Baihualou's promotion. Shall we invite Miss Wang to the palace to personally thank her?"

For the past two weeks, Lu Chen has been in Zhou Youyou's room almost every night, and Zhou Youyou can't take it anymore.

Mu Zixuan and the other two girls also noticed that it seemed Lu Chen had to cultivate a relationship with them every day.

Mu Zixuan and Zhou Xiaoxiao would occasionally serve Lu Chen, but since they had children, Lu Chen wouldn't let them serve him excessively.

For him, the children are still more important.

Zhou Youyou wanted Wang Qingci from Baihualou to share some of the pressure, but she knew that it was not something a concubine like herself could say, so she asked Mu Zixuan and Lu Chen to do it.

They could use the excuse of thanking Wang Qingci to invite him to the Wang residence as a guest.

Upon hearing Mu Zixuan's suggestion, Lu Chen said, "Yes, that's fine, but you have to invite her in your name."

Half a month has passed, and Lu Chen's heart still burns with desire whenever he thinks of Wang Qingci's soft and boneless body.

There was nothing he could do; he hadn't broken through to the ninth rank yet, and he couldn't suppress his inner desires.

Mu Zixuan smiled gently, "I understand."

Then Mu Zixuan said to her maid Xiaorou, "Xiaorou, go and invite Miss Wang to the palace. Tell her that I want to thank her in person."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Xiao Rou then went to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.

Not long after, Wang Qingci met Xiao Rou.

When she heard that the princess wanted to thank her in person, Wang Qingci frowned slightly.

She suffered a loss at the Prince's mansion last time, so she is still wary of it.

She still doesn't understand how she got drugged. For the past two weeks, she has been trying to recall the details of that day, but she still can't find any clues as to how the other person drugged her.

This time, Mu Zixuan invited me to the Prince's mansion. It's possible that it was that lecherous man who instigated it again.

The thought of Lu Chen made Wang Qingci's delicate body tremble uncontrollably.

Last time, that demon wouldn't let her leave for several hours, treating her like a plaything.

Wang Qingci hesitated. Should she go to the Prince's Mansion today, or wait a few more days until the people from Blood Moon Tower arrived?

After pondering for a moment, Wang Qingci still decided to go to the Prince's Mansion.

Firstly, it was an order from the Prince's Palace, and as a nominal courtesan, she couldn't refuse.

Secondly, she was more cautious this time and confident that she wouldn't fall for it again. Moreover, she planned to bring some muscle-softening powder with her. Once she entered the Prince's mansion, if she was alone with Lu Chen again, she would use the muscle-softening powder to deal with him.

This time, she refused to believe she would be manipulated again.

Book recommendation: "Ancient Apocalyptic Crisis, Luckily I Have Many Children and Many Blessings"

(End of this chapter)